Hi! Firstly, thanks for having me.
I started writing as a teenager, though it was a long time before I had anything worth sharing with the wider world. (A long, LONG time.)
My first book, a Dystopian Sci-Fi, 'Dead and Buryd', was published in 2013, and I just kept going from there. I currently have 4 books out, three in the Out of Orbit series (of which Dead and Buryd is book 1,) and one in the paranormal thriller series, 'Teeth'.
Mostly, I write a little bit of everything. I'm not clinging to one genre. Generally, I'll connect more if there is something a little above real life, so I'll probably be hanging around the SFF genres for quite a while, but I like to add little things, like historical mashup elements, or adding a little extra humour or romance.

2) What got you into writing?
I started out by writing Fanfiction in the Harry Potter fandom. Some of them are still out there if you look around. Mostly, it's short stories and missing scenes, things that always interested me but were never shown in the books. Those sorts of things always interest me, knowing the random side-shoot stories, and how things came to be, and they're still things I really like creating for my own works. From there, I expanded when my ideas became impossible for the HP universe. I began writing my own stories (mostly unfinished) until I found Dead and Buryd and it all spiralled from there.


3.) What was the first idea you had for your book, and how did the story grow from there?

Teeth was a funny one. I had an idea of two vampires having to hide at sunrise and ending up in a coffee shop. I imagined that the cafe owners would want them to keep buying coffee in order to stay, and so they'd end up on a murderous caffeine high. Though this scene didn't make it to the final draft of Teeth, it did inspire the plot heavily. It had that mixture of blood, thrills, and humour that I wanted from a vampire story and hadn't seen in other books in a while. I often find that, even set in the modern day, there is something very traditional about vampire stories, and I wanted something different. I wanted something truly modern, vampires who aren't grand and splendid on money earned a thousand years ago, but who have jobs (at night, obviously) and who have to manage modern life alongside their afterlives. I wanted humour in a new vampire learning the ropes, and the thrills of the dangers they face. I'm really enjoying where it's going in Teeth and the sequels.

4.) Among your characters, who's your favourite? Could you please describe him/her?

That is a cruel, cruel question, as I love them all in different ways. But, I'm going to pick August here.
August has been a vampire for just over a century, and in the Teeth world, he's considered an authority. He's been tasked with the training and punishment of the younger vampires, ensuring they stick to some very heavily regulated rules. He's a gentleman and was raised to be proper, but in the end, it made him all the more ruthless. He's been doing this for a long time, and he won't take betrayal lightly.
Out of my vampires, I'd say he's probably the most traditional in a fiction sense. He's pale, attractive, smart, and wildly possessive. August certainly made for an interesting character to write.


5.) What's your favourite scene from your novel? Could you please describe it?

Ooo, see, I don't want to give away too much... Actually, though, one of my favourite scenes from the novel is the first scene. Thomas wakes up in a basement with no idea where he is. The confusion and horror of that scene made it very fun to write. At that point, I didn't know where the story was going, I was just writing it for fun. Exploring as I wrote was thrilling for me, as I usually plan from top to bottom. It was also very entertaining for me when people began reading the story and talked about how gory it was, which wasn't really what I'd been intending. I'd been imagining it as being funny with little bits of thriller in there, and suddenly I had a horror thriller with snippets of humour. It was great.

6.) What's your favorite part of writing? Plotting? Describing scenes? Dialogue?

I think that probably depends on the story, but for Teeth, it's been the dialogue. The back and forth between the characters, slipping from vicious to funny within a few lines has been a real challenge for me, and one I've enjoyed immensely.

7.) How long does it take you to write a book? Do you have a writing process, or do you wing it?

Again, it varies from story to story. I wrote Teeth with a chapter a week because I was posting it to Wattpad, others I'll write faster (I'm currently taking part in NaNoWriMo, for example.) I'm a huge planner when it comes to story, so there will be about six months of me making notes and jotting down ideas before I'll start chapter one. Once I do start, it depends how well it's going. I just took almost a year off writing for personal reasons, so I'm trying to get back into it. (50,000 words in a month will do it, don't you think?)


8.) What is it about the genre you chose that appeals to you

There is so much that is fascinating about the paranormal genre, and I'm surprised I am writing it, to be honest. It hadn't really been my intention before the idea for Teeth came along. But I think that what I like about it is how wildly different each story can be. As soon as you look as Twilight vs Dracula, you can see the different ends of the spectrum, even on a singular subject such as vampires. The lore and theories change with each story, and so taking something already well known and making it my own was great to play with.

9.) Are there any books or writers that have had particular influence on you?

When it comes to Paranormal, I'm a big fan of Buffy and Joss Whedon's writing. I think the mix of humour and thrills was fantastic, and Whedon wasn't afraid to explore the downsides of these powers his characters had been given. If there is one thing I hate about powerful characters, it's when the powers don't come with a downside. You better give me a reason to question where I'd want to be a vampire or not, because if it's all sunshine and eternal life, there's no reason I'm scared of these guys.
Admittedly, I am also really enjoying The Originals (the spin off of The Vampire Diaries) as it's less focused on the romantic lives and more on the action and wars. It's great fun.

10.) Did you ever surprise yourself when you were writing your book? Characters who took on lives of their own? Plot elements that took unexpected turns?

Absolutely! Things are constantly coming up that I hadn't intended. There is a certain relationship in Teeth that I never planned, but it was so perfect that I couldn't stop it. You can see the surprise of it in readers too, though they tend to be happy with the pairing. It even has a ship name on Wattpad thanks to one reader.
I'd say about a third of Teeth was surprising and came along as I wrote it. I began plotting ahead when I was a couple of chapters in, and I'd reach it to write, and suddenly whole other stories were popping up. Paige, for example, was only meant to be in a couple of chapters. Now, she's an integral character over the series. I love it when writing can surprise me.

Thanks again for having me, I hope I haven't rambled too much.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I was glad to have you on my author spotlight and no, you did not ramble too much.

That's it guys, what do you think of Chele? Have you read any of her work? If you have, what did you think? Please drop your answers down below in the comment section. 

Thank you for reading.

~ Stanly.