Pokémon Book Reviews

Interview with Sheare

Sheare has been a Wattpad member since 2014 and has written several Pokemon fanfictions including Velvet Crescent, which won first place in the Romance Category in 2016. Some of her other works include the corporate political drama Monopoly, her book that is entered in this year's Pokemon Watty Awards, and the ongoing Monopoly II. Yes, you heard me right, a corporate drama involving Pokemon! How's that for originality? Her writing style in the recently reviewed Velvet Crescent was praised as being vivid, realistic, fresh and just plain addictive. Although critics lamented the minimal presence of Pokemon material and criticized the romantic aspect of the story for being a bit too subtle, the book received much praise and scored highly among most reviewers. Overall, the book took home a solid 8/10.

Glitter: I'd like to start this interview off by asking, what inspired you to write Velvet Crescent?

Sheare: You'll find that I get inspiration almost spontaneously—as a lot of authors do, so I'm not much different. There's everything from Broadway, television, movies, video games, people, fellow authors, and even history in some cases. I think it's really great to channel other mediums into works to diversify people's tastes and one's personal allusion repertoire.

All I know for certain is that this story stemmed from two primary ideas: city life and time travel. I really wanted those two aspects into one book because Wiki's time traveling power(although slightly different) was becoming popular because of a video game during the time. And the city for me moving from an urban area outside of Newark(aka poor man's New York City).

Glitter: Did your personal opinion on Velvet Crescent change at all after it took home 1st place in the romance category, and did you learn anything about your writing style after getting your book reviewed?

Sheare: I'm super hard on myself when it comes to writing. I actually thought Velvet Crescent was terrible. Sure, there are some aspects that were ACTUALLY terrible, but I didn't really see the good in it. Since the romance category was so small that year, I blamed my win on sheer luck.

As for the writing style, so much changed between Velvet Crescent and Monopoly technically speaking. I was aware of the ton of errors in Velvet Crescent and sought to fix them in my later work. The same thing will happen in the next book and the next book...you get the drill. I did learn a few things that I didn't catch, but it serves as a way to prevent that from happening in the future.

Glitter: Can you tell us some of the ways your writing style changed between the two books you just mentioned? Also, are there any aspects of writing you feel you need to improve on specifically, or do you feel well rounded?

Sheare: I think writing style just changes in and out of phases. Sometimes we write a certain way because a certain genre calls for it, and others we write not differently but almost as an improved version of the previous one.

Oh gosh. I need to improve anything involving action. I'm just awful at it. And I mean AWFUL. It takes nearly double the brain power to do it, double the time, and gives me double the disappointment.

Glitter: Well, some would say it is a strength to know your own weaknesses! Are you a ridged planner when you write, or do you just take an idea and run with it? Maybe a bit of both? Explain to us how you organize your inspirations and turn them into a story.

Sheare: Depends on the genre! I don't think ANYONE can write a winged mystery, but I think winging a comedy is actually better in some cases. Some ideas come together spontaneously and others take planning.

I'm sure all of us have those moments where we look at our plans with sudden inspiration. "Woah, what if it happened this way!" I think the frequency of those moments determine your enjoyment and your motivation when writing the story. And a more motivated you equates to a better quality book.

Glitter: Do you have any strange writing habits or quirks? And, is there anything that you do to set the mood when you sit down to write?

Sheare: Oh gosh, I do this really weird thing. Whenever I'm like "Ahhh I can't write this scene", I PHYSICALLY write out that thought by accident. Lol

Honestly, sometimes I write on the go, between classes, or at home when I can't sleep when it's casual scene writing. I need music to help me with emotional/critical/suspenseful stuff.

Glitter: Are there any particular genres of music or artists you turn to for those scenes? Tell us some songs that have inspired you in the past for scenes your readers may recognize.

Sheare: For Velvet Crescent, I listened to a TON of Broadway. It's pretty interesting because on one side I like metal, punk, and rock music and the other is musical theater. I remember being into Heather, In the Heights, and Rent at the time while writing VC. It certainly did capture the book's vibe

Glitter: Do you have any specific authors or artists that inspire you, either on Wattpad or beyond?

Sheare: I try to have variety when it comes to inspiration. Usually, people pick one or two favorites but I simply can't do that. Some authors/artists inspire certain vibes, others spark ideas, and the rest give ideas for descriptive stuff.

Glitter: Do you have any other creative outlets, besides writing, that you enjoy?

Sheare: I have some artistic ability and can sew. They do have practical applications, but writing takes the cake for being the most time consuming.

Glitter: Okay, one last question before we wrap this up! Where did your interest in writing and storytelling come from?

Sheare: I've always been a relatively creative person. I enjoy things like writing or art but I never wanted either of them as a career or anything.

For writing specifically, I read a ton while I was younger. Now, it kind of like this obscure past time I do in the middle of all the other stuff I'm passionate about.

Glitter: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview with me, it was a pleasure! I hope all of you enjoyed getting to know Sheare a little better.