Brailey Lisath is a young college student on High Point University who has already published her own novel, Compelled! Brailey always wears a smile on her face and brings a great attitude with her wherever she goes. We have choosen her as our first Campus Celeb for obvious reasons!
What is your major/minor?
I’m a Communication major, in the Electronic Media track, with a minor in Event Planning. What are you involved in on campus?I’m a member of the Media Fellows Program, Class of 2016, the Editor-in-Chief of the Pin Point (look out for our Winter Issue in December!), a tutor in the Writing Center, and I occasionally write for The Campus Chronicle. What is Compelled about?Compelled centers around character Mason Patridge, an 18-year-old with an abnormal gift. His reckless lifestyle should have led him to the grave — instead, it leads him to the small town of Chillicothe, Ohio. There he discovers a reason to change in the spitfire personality of Olivia Reeser. However, their connection runs deeper than simple chemistry; it’s in their genes. Mason and Olivia share the genetic mutation that gives them the ability to control minds, a race called coercers. Together, they uncover the truth about their dark pasts and a new understanding of their future.How did you first become inspired/get the idea to write Compelled?It’s widely known by those close to me that writing has always been a part of my life. I’m constantly writing, constantly taking simple ideas and running with them for the sake of a few chapters, or, in the case of Compelled, an entire novel. I was a senior in high school, writing mostly for my own entertainment. The idea came from a very simple conversation with a close friend of mine about the concept of manipulation and how, daily, we’re encountering it without being consciously aware of it. Simple concept, but it fueled this novel. The characters, locations, and, often times, conversations came from my life at the time. There are bits and pieces of my past experiences and very dear friends spread throughout Compelled. How old were you when you first started writing the novel?I was seventeen when I began writing Compelled. What were the steps you took to get your novel published?
I get this question a lot, and I think that it varies from writer to writer. I was new to the whole aspect of publishing, and probably stumbled by way throughout it, but it essentially starts with query letters. You write them to literary agencies, and they can either reply, or, well, not. If or when they do reply, you’ll most likely start by sending out a few chapters. Next, the rest of the manuscript. If they like it (just because they like it doesn’t mean you won’t have A LOT of editing to do!) you’ll move forward. How did you balance being an author and college student?Writing isn’t demanding in the ways that other outside-of-university activities can be. Mostly, I’ve struggled with lack of creativity. When your major is so closely related to what you do as a hobby, and now I suppose as a professional, it’s hard to come up with multiple ideas that you can really fall in love with. So, balancing it can be quite difficult. To tackle this, I try my best to set aside time to just write, and let whatever comes out happen without judging it critically. Using writing as a way to release the stresses of college has really been helpful, not only for my class performance, but for my skills as a writer. What do you do when you have writer’s block?Dark room. Hot tea. Laptop. Music. No distractions, just me, Microsoft Word, and a Radiohead song or 20. Works every time. Where is Compelled being sold?Amazon and Book World! Will there be a sequel?There’s always a sequel. Where do you see yourself in ten years?See, it’s funny, because ask me this question about a character and I’ll have pages on pages of where they are headed in their life. Ask me this about myself, and I come up with nothing. Honestly, it’s hard to say. There are multiple career paths that I could take and be happy with, while I could also see myself working a different job and living in a different country year to year. Time will tell. Any last words?To anyone and everyone who has read/will read Compelled, THANK YOU!