Interview With Lilly N. Belle

I’ve been waiting for Lilly’s launch for months now, and I’m happy to announce it finally happened!! Today we’re going to talk to Lilly about her blog and why she started it.

Hey there Lilly, thanks for doing this!

Absolutely! Thanks so much for having me, Lori! This is actually my first guest post, so this is an exciting experience!!

Tell us a little about yourself!

Sure! My name is Lilly N. Belle, and I am a fourteen-year-old author, with a dream of giving teens and young people a practical, Biblical worldview. I’m a BIG fan of all things fiction and fantasy, and love to read as well as write! Beyond the world of stories, I live on a small farm with a whole hoard of animals, and enjoy skating, baking, crafting, and soccer.

Tell us about your writing journey and your current projects!

I’m a relatively new writer. I’ve always been extremely imaginative, but attempting to write down the stories in my head used to bore me to tears. It was at the beginning of 2022 that a friend of mine invited me to join a small writing club that she was starting, and I thought that if I was going to join a writing club I’d have to learn to actually, well, write something. Over the course of the next few months, I fell in love with the process of writing out my very first novel, characterization, and just writing in general. Soon after finishing my first book, I found a writing workshop where I learned how to write good stories, and how to get my words out in the world. Since then, I’ve launched a website/blog, where I do exactly what I dream of doing as an author: Give teens and young people a practical, Biblical worldview.

As for writing projects, I’m currently in the planning phase for a few fantasy novel concepts that I’m really excited about, and I’m drafting a fantasy/dystopian novella that I hope to self-publish within the next year or so.

Who inspired you most to become an author?

Oddly enough, the person who inspired me the most was Jeremy Boreing, CEO of the Daily Wire, and director of the upcoming series, The Pendragon Cycle. I began watching videos that he would do, about the new business ventures that his company was branching out towards, and about the making of the new television series his company is making. And all of a sudden, watching the work go underway for these big productions, I started thinking: “That. I want to do that. I want to do something big.”

Tell us a bit about your blog and its mission!

My blog, Hot Take, is the first place where I’m actually publishing my own writing! I post weekly articles with the mission I have as an author–which I stated above–in mind. The articles discuss a wide range of topics, all focused on giving practical advice to young people who are about to step into the adult world.

Do you have any advice for other young writers? Mistakes that you’ve made that others can avoid?

The best piece of writing advice that I can give to any writer is what I like to call: The Dory Method.

You know, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!” Well, if you replace that with: “Just keep writing, just keep writing!” you’ll get a wonderful motto for all your writing endeavors. Sometimes writing isn’t going to feel particularly fun, no matter how much you love it! In those moments, the best thing you can do is sit down, and force yourself to type just a paragraph or two. And the amazing thing about this? The more you write, the more motivated you are to write more.

So just keep writing! It pays off big-time in the end.

What are some resources you recommend to young writers?

Here are a few of the most helpful resources I’ve come across:

• The YOUNG WRITER’S WORKSHOP, which is an ongoing workshop for young writers that includes an interactive writing community, personal advice from professional authors, and lessons about writing and becoming an author that are absolutely vital to a writer’s journey! This is where I learned most of what I know, and where my dream of becoming an author really began to grow!
• ABBIE EMMONS on YouTube is another favorite! Abbie breaks down everything you need to know about characters, dynamics, and writing motivation in her videos.
• DEAR ALLY, HOW DO YOU WRITE A BOOK? Is a book all about writing by bestselling YA author, Ally Carter. Ally breaks down all the fundamental basics of writing in this book, and it’s a great read whether you’re a beginning or a long-time writer!

Where can we find out more about you?

You can find more about me, and more of my content, at my website: lillynbelle.com, or you can sign up for my email list on this Newsletter Landing Page.

Be sure to check out Lilly’s blog, and if you enjoyed this post, please like and share!!

Until next time,

-Lori