Ask the Author: Madelyn Watts
Answered Questions (3)
Madelyn Watts
I have several books planned for the future, some are short and sweet stand-alone fiction like The Icarus Mixtape, some are much more involved fantasy stories. I even have an idea for a loosely connected "sequel" of sorts for The Icarus Mixtape, following one of the characters' adventures a few years down the road. I'm not sure which trail I want to pursue next, but rest assured I won't stop writing any time soon!
Madelyn Watts
The best thing about being a writer is two-fold: 1. If I want to read a book that doesn't exist, I can just write it myself. 2. Writing gives my mind, which never shuts up, something that it can focus on for hours. I'd probably go crazy if I couldn't write anymore because my brain would just spontaneously combust.
Madelyn Watts
The Icarus Mixtape was inspired by a combination of some of my favorite things, as well as some of my own life experiences. I have loved learning about different mythology and folklore since I was a little kid, often taking a world history/mythology book to bed to read myself to sleep. I also really love music, and I wanted to give my book a soundtrack of sorts. (Fun fact: the mixtape mentioned in The Icarus Mixtape, "Juicebox" is actually a real playlist that I made with my friends in high school.)
All of the characters in The Icarus Mixtape have elements borrowed from myself or people that I have known in my life, whether it be character traits or experiences that the characters have. Memories of that first good, tight-knit friend group you have in high school stay with you for a long time, and I wanted to capture that feeling. I also wanted to capture how monumental this time in life is. We can look back later at our high school days and laugh about stupid decisions we made or marvel at how much we've changed since then, but this not-quite-kid, not-quite-adult period of life is still a landmark in life. Things that seem like the end of the world when we're eighteen are forgotten about later in life, but it doesn't change the fact that it FELT like the end of the world in that moment.
All of the characters in The Icarus Mixtape have elements borrowed from myself or people that I have known in my life, whether it be character traits or experiences that the characters have. Memories of that first good, tight-knit friend group you have in high school stay with you for a long time, and I wanted to capture that feeling. I also wanted to capture how monumental this time in life is. We can look back later at our high school days and laugh about stupid decisions we made or marvel at how much we've changed since then, but this not-quite-kid, not-quite-adult period of life is still a landmark in life. Things that seem like the end of the world when we're eighteen are forgotten about later in life, but it doesn't change the fact that it FELT like the end of the world in that moment.
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