Sex: Female
Location: Texas, USA
Contact Info:
whitney.ratliff@gmail.com
Biography:
When did I begin to find a passion for writing? It is quite unorthodox as many writers have strived to write based on personal interest within grammar and punctuation and reading. Mine is quite the opposite tale, for when I was little, I could never find a book I was truly interested in to read with all my heart. I had a few I was particularly interested in but overall, reading just didn't appeal to me and I wasn't the best reader when it came to interest. I was a visual learner and could never really grasp the setting and the overall look and feel of words repainted on canvas. My visions of what I was reading was not as vivid as movies and details of space and time made it out to be. I usually redrew it in mind much smaller than it actually was and was unable to fully grasp the conception the author may have had in mind.
I was quite fond of Bill Wallace and his creative characters of two kittens talking and arguing about the Rottweiler next door or "Backwards Birddog". There was another series I was interested in only because I kept hoping that the merging of two families intrigued me and the relationship between the soon-to-be step siblings of brother and sister around the same age made me wonder about relationships outside unrelated families, that if these two did not get together as brother and sister, would they find interest in one another as something more than just siblings and friends? They seemed to get along while also arguing and the character monologuing to herself about how cute her new brother was brought up these concerns. However, when I grew older, I realized the book was not an interest of mine anymore like it was when I was in grade school. From then on, I was unable to find an interest in reading.
Considering I was a visual learner and had a huge interest in anime and manga, I was really fascinated by manga and comic books. I liked the art of telling stories with art and dialogue and letting the drawings and panels tell the setting. I grew up with a good number of series like Marmalade Boy (another family merger), DBZ, InuYasha, and a good number of Shounen-Ai romance novels. I was more fascinated with reading manga and was able to read them in a day than I was real novels. My parents questioned my interest in manga over the art of real novels, and thought that I could never write without first reading, especially something of above my grade. I struggled with reading because of my lack of interest and was unable to find a calling within it. I was bored with it and lost a few good foundations for reading. I did well in English class with the basics of writing, but reading was just never my thing.
However, when I turned 12-13, I was inspired to create characters through my artwork and really capture the visual image I expected to gain from books and with the help of my friends roleplaying together in a co-writer like storytelling, I was hooked. I knew from that moment on, books were not interesting to me because they weren't capturing what I was interested in. I was more interested in relationships with abnormal characters and abnormal relationships a 13-year-old would never dream of. That's right, homosexual relationships were new and inspiring to me. I was ignorant in believing that love was only between a man and a woman and that there was no other relationship out there than the traditional one I grew up believing in. I was inspired to create something new, something that intrigued me so much that I had to write more about it. I did. I wrote RPs with friends with our characters and our writing style progressed until we were able to write near-novel-like emails. And the support I got from my friends about some of my stories being creative or inventive helped me along till I was willing to write my own stories and capturing the setting and characters myself. I still write because nothing else out there interest me, but I have open my horizons and found a few stories or series I do happen to like or haven taken a chance on, House of Night being the main one. Yet, it still isn't the same as this passion I have of creating characters and building around them and capturing the dreams I have late at night. Writing is a calling just as art is, and it is an art. To capture the hearts and minds of others unintentionally through your own style and creations is an art form and so few can do it, despite the many works out there because not everyone likes the same thing or can get into the same thing as another person can and if I am able to create something that people will be inspired by, then I am truly happy. However, that still won't take away that I write simply for myself. I cannot control the hearts and minds of others. It is there choosing whether or not they like my work, but in the end, I will always enjoy the art of creating and hopefully along the way, I have created something no one else has thought of. I true uniqueness all on its own.
Biography:
When did I begin to find a passion for writing? It is quite unorthodox as many writers have strived to write based on personal interest within grammar and punctuation and reading. Mine is quite the opposite tale, for when I was little, I could never find a book I was truly interested in to read with all my heart. I had a few I was particularly interested in but overall, reading just didn't appeal to me and I wasn't the best reader when it came to interest. I was a visual learner and could never really grasp the setting and the overall look and feel of words repainted on canvas. My visions of what I was reading was not as vivid as movies and details of space and time made it out to be. I usually redrew it in mind much smaller than it actually was and was unable to fully grasp the conception the author may have had in mind.
I was quite fond of Bill Wallace and his creative characters of two kittens talking and arguing about the Rottweiler next door or "Backwards Birddog". There was another series I was interested in only because I kept hoping that the merging of two families intrigued me and the relationship between the soon-to-be step siblings of brother and sister around the same age made me wonder about relationships outside unrelated families, that if these two did not get together as brother and sister, would they find interest in one another as something more than just siblings and friends? They seemed to get along while also arguing and the character monologuing to herself about how cute her new brother was brought up these concerns. However, when I grew older, I realized the book was not an interest of mine anymore like it was when I was in grade school. From then on, I was unable to find an interest in reading.
Considering I was a visual learner and had a huge interest in anime and manga, I was really fascinated by manga and comic books. I liked the art of telling stories with art and dialogue and letting the drawings and panels tell the setting. I grew up with a good number of series like Marmalade Boy (another family merger), DBZ, InuYasha, and a good number of Shounen-Ai romance novels. I was more fascinated with reading manga and was able to read them in a day than I was real novels. My parents questioned my interest in manga over the art of real novels, and thought that I could never write without first reading, especially something of above my grade. I struggled with reading because of my lack of interest and was unable to find a calling within it. I was bored with it and lost a few good foundations for reading. I did well in English class with the basics of writing, but reading was just never my thing.
However, when I turned 12-13, I was inspired to create characters through my artwork and really capture the visual image I expected to gain from books and with the help of my friends roleplaying together in a co-writer like storytelling, I was hooked. I knew from that moment on, books were not interesting to me because they weren't capturing what I was interested in. I was more interested in relationships with abnormal characters and abnormal relationships a 13-year-old would never dream of. That's right, homosexual relationships were new and inspiring to me. I was ignorant in believing that love was only between a man and a woman and that there was no other relationship out there than the traditional one I grew up believing in. I was inspired to create something new, something that intrigued me so much that I had to write more about it. I did. I wrote RPs with friends with our characters and our writing style progressed until we were able to write near-novel-like emails. And the support I got from my friends about some of my stories being creative or inventive helped me along till I was willing to write my own stories and capturing the setting and characters myself. I still write because nothing else out there interest me, but I have open my horizons and found a few stories or series I do happen to like or haven taken a chance on, House of Night being the main one. Yet, it still isn't the same as this passion I have of creating characters and building around them and capturing the dreams I have late at night. Writing is a calling just as art is, and it is an art. To capture the hearts and minds of others unintentionally through your own style and creations is an art form and so few can do it, despite the many works out there because not everyone likes the same thing or can get into the same thing as another person can and if I am able to create something that people will be inspired by, then I am truly happy. However, that still won't take away that I write simply for myself. I cannot control the hearts and minds of others. It is there choosing whether or not they like my work, but in the end, I will always enjoy the art of creating and hopefully along the way, I have created something no one else has thought of. I true uniqueness all on its own.
