Interview with Lucas James, Teen Author

Lucas James, Teen Author

When did you begin writing? What inspired you to start?
First of all, thank you for having me! I started writing when I was six or seven, though I don't really remember completely. My first story was about 200 words long and it was a Donald Duck fanfic. I really do miss those stories as they got me into writing.
Mary Pope Osborne, author of the Magic Treehouse series, was my biggest inspiration. My first "book" (10k words) was about traveling, inspired mainly by the MTH series. It remains unfinished to this day.

What author inspired you the most?
Like I said before, when I was little, it was Mary Pope Osborne. But now that I have joined the wonderful world of writersgram, I can't really say. Maybe this sounds cheesy, but every single author inspires me in a different way, especially teen authors. They motivate me every day to keep going! I'd also have to say Julie Moffett, the author of the Lexi Carmichael series. I adore her books - they are so much fun to read and the characters are very well developed.

What book inspired you the most?
Every book inspires me in different ways, but if I had to choose, I would say any book written by a teen author, like Honey Butter by Millie Florence. I was on a break from writing about a year ago because of stress, but reading Honey Butter in September re-sparked my love for storytelling. That's when I officially started writing again. Of course, there are also books like The Flames that Corrupt Us by Isabel W. Jordan, and so many more.

Share a 'turning point' in your life as a writer.
I think my turning point was when I hit the 'publish' button for the first time. My book sold about thirteen copies during its first day on Amazon, and I couldn't believe that anyone in the world could buy my short story even though I was only nine years old at the time.

What character (from any project) was the most fun to write, and why?
Did you really just ask me to choose between my children?! Just kidding! Every character was fun in a different way. If I HAD to choose, I'd say Olive from my unreleased contemporary novel, PTU. She jokes a lot, and I had to make up a lot of puns for her book.

Do you have any tips for your fellow writers?
Never give up. I know this has been said already, but people really do give up. I wanted to stop writing for two years, but I told myself to keep going. All the authors I love most are successful because they didn't stop, they didn't give up. And for me, that's the golden rule of success.

What is the biggest challenge you have faced as a writer?
Dealing with hate from adults. As a teen writer, people don't think you qualify as an author or don't think you have the talent to write a book. This just isn't true. People also don't necessarily see writing as a career, but I do, and that's all that matters.

Thanks for interviewing with me today!
Thank you so much for having me. <3 I really appreciate it!

Find Lucas:
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