I’m a person who likes to answer questions (at least, on the internet—in person, I’m a train wreck ) and I may be helpful to those who may need help on something or would like to know a bit more on something if they are interested on it. If you also want to add in as a person who wants people to ask you questions, go for it! This can be an all AMA thread lol.
Some topic ideas:
Traveling across the US.
Living and or working in a hotel.
American schools (elementary to high schools, online schooling for high schoolers).
Being an extra for a TV show.
Being a Wattpad mod (community Ambassador—I’m a former Ambassador now).
Having a big family (two parents, five children).
Living with my sister as an adult.
Living in poverty.
Non-political stuff about America (like you can ask about culture, lifestyle, etc.).
Being (sort of) a part of a blended family (one of my sister’s are married to a Mexican, and I’ve participated in some events when I’ve come to visit her sometimes).
Being a bridesmaid, and a Catholic wedding that had some Mexican culture added within it.
Ghost experiences.
Being an extra for a reality TV show (not a big production).
Have you ever read a book where the main character/s live in poverty and it felt inaccurate? What do writers need to know about how poverty affects people?
Favorite place? Least favorite? Weirdest place? Where is somewhere that only Americans are familiar with? Cool hidden gems? Where did you have the best food?
Honestly, no. I don’t think I have read a book (or even watched a movie) where it felt inaccurate. I think a part of this comes from the fact that everyone’s experience is different based on that living situation. So whenever I’ve seen something that talks about it, and have gone through various versions of poverty myself, I don’t always feel like they got it wrong. You know?
The biggest part of it is knowing the various types of poverty levels (extreme to minor) and how either can affect people differently based on their living conditions and the resources they need.
My family has gone through somewhat extreme to minor instances, but while my parents aren’t fond of asking for help, they aren’t shy about it. They will do whatever they can to get the help they need, and sometimes, if they can’t get it, they try other routes. Like for example, when I was younger, we used to live in an RV at a campground. Once welfare stopped and we couldn’t get actual money to pay rent, my parents would volunteer at the campground in exchange to live there for free. Or if we didn’t have stuff to make actual meals, my mom would turn the most odd ingredients into a meal. Like there was a time when all we had was mashed potatoes (boxed) and bread. She made that into a meal. Or we’d had hot dogs and rice… things like that.
But like, you can live in poverty and have personal belongings including electronics. You can live in poverty and have nothing but a pair of clothes. You can live in a car, tent, street, RV, or on a friend’s couch. You can live in poverty and not be a substance abuser. There’s so many things that go into it that some people assume about you. Like if you’re panhandling, people either think you’re an alcoholic, drug addict, or you’re not even trying to get a job. Like they think McDonald’s will instantly hire you. All of that is wrong. This isn’t a problem I see in fiction, but with reality—people I’ve seen talk about it over the internet.
The other issue with that is how if you are asking for money, many—even the cops—will assume you’re looking for a place to stay. Like, the cops will come up to you to not only tell you to leave the area but also give you a list of shelters. Like, they assume you don’t have a living situation already. The money can be used for anything else besides that—food, laundry, to pay a phone bill, gas.
So once a writer understands this type of foundation for how various experiences can affect you, it becomes pretty easy after that with other things.
My favorite place is most likely southern California (the LA area). I’ve never been to LA (besides driving past it on the freeway and visiting the outskirts) but Anaheim, Long Beach, etc. is really cool. Mostly for the fancy houses, lots of shopping areas, theme parks, and the ocean. c: California is also one of my favorite states, anyway, because of how much there is to do. Like, if you want to see the ocean and go to theme parks, southern Cali it is. If you want to see forests and go skiing in the winter, northern Cali it is. There are, of course, many problems with California but that’s beside the point lol.
Where I currently live. I live in Dodge City, Kansas—a small town well known for the booming of cattle, the train, and outlaw stuff from the 1800s when it was first established as a town. But besides the cool museum, the town sucks. There isn’t much to do there, it constantly smells because of the cow farms (people say it’s the “smell of money,” but I beg to differ). You have to drive multiple hours to get to actual shopping centers or other things to do. Living there for three years have made me miss cities. I’m not a small town kind of person, especially living in the middle of nowhere, so I think that’s why I’m not a fan. Haha
Besides the biggest cities like New York, LA, or places like Denver and Cleveland, it’d be between Area 51, Salem (Massachusetts), and probably Keystone (Colorado)?
There’s a few places that have stuck out to me.
If you really love Mexican food, California is the best place to get that. When we lived in Gilroy, there was this one restaurant that sold the best tacos! Everything is (of course) authentic and so delicious!
If you love other diverse foods, Columbus, Ohio has a lot of great choices. We recently ate at this one ramen place called the Slurping Turtle and it’s super good!
And if you love the basic American type food (cheeseburgers, onion rings, etc.), Fargo, North Dakota has some great restaurants. Space Aliens Grill and Bar is a great one!
And then if you’re looking for authentic southern food, like gumbo, cajun stuff, or even seafood, Southaven, Mississippi and Shreveport, Louisiana have some great place for that! I do want to visit New Orleans for the food, too. xD
I went to Utah, around the Vernal area. The Mexican food has much more kick over there than on the East Coast. Unless you’re going to an Indian restaurant, most of the spicy food is pretty mild.
Gotta agree! When I lived in Virginia and the spice at the restaurants I went to didn’t have a big kick. It isn’t until you get toward the Midwest or west coast lol.
Either lose weight ahead of time or be careful on over-consumption.
I started becoming overweight when I was about nine years old, due to depression, although I didn’t become super fat until around middle school. But if I could redo this part of my life, I would lose weight once I started realizing it or be careful on going overboard. But because of this, I am now obese and have been since then and haven’t been able to lose weight. I’ve tried in the past, but it hasn’t been the easiest…
Get a job in high school.
I didn’t started working until I was nineteen, out of school, and it was all under my mom so I didn’t go through the application process stuff. I was too scared to get a job because we didn’t always have a car, plus we constantly moved so it wasn’t always the easiest, and I didn’t want to juggle school and work. But honestly, I think that if I did start working as a teen, getting some kind of experience, it would’ve been nice so I had something more on my resume as I entered into adulthood.
Saved money more.
Like any teen, any time I had money, it was always spent. But unlike most teens, I was able to save it… until that one thing that I wanted most at the time would make me buy it. I think that if I saved money as a teen, I would’ve had so much that I could invest it into something I truly wanted and needed.
Bonus: I would’ve finished high school.
I know that it really wasn’t that big of a deal, but I think I should’ve finished high school to at least have one accomplishment. I dropped out because I was two years behind; I was eighteen and becoming an eleventh grader. All of my friends were graduating and starting college the next year and I wasn’t. And I think it was a mistake of mine to drop out, to not finish high school, to not go through the high school experience and walk the stage. Heck, I didn’t even get a GED.
They were staying at a hotel that my mom’s employers owned. She worked at a Holiday Inn and they stayed at a Homewood Suites, right next door. We actually stayed there (Homewood) while they were there too, before we moved over to the Holiday Inn a month later.
But once word got out among staff that a film crew were staying there, and looking for extras, my parents volunteered my brother and I. At first, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything because they were looking for people 18+, and at the time, I was sixteen, barely seventeen. But they desperately needed extras and couldn’t find anyone so they allowed me to do it. Then they even got my dad to come along. It was like a family thing. Haha.
We were each paid 50 dollars and my brother and I got a free soda.
This is the show and episode we’re in. The guy cussing out the twins with the big beards is my dad haha.
And it’s kinda cute and scary at the same time hahaha
Haha I think that’s what they were going for. The backstory is kinda funny because he started cussing them out then was like, “Wait, am I allowed to do that?” And they said to keep going because it would make it seem more realistic haha We all laughed when we saw that seen and the one my brother and I are in haha
I do, and I think it’d be my main character, Nicolas. If I were to meet him and the others, I would find him intimidating to be around because of his arrogance, opinionated mindset, and being (or technically, acting) overly confident.
Personally, I find that the intimidating trait is more about how honest and outspoken you are, like you’re so comfortable in being opinionated and don’t care what people think of you. Another part of that is how they phrase it and seem rude when they’re not trying to be.
What about you? c:
Endless vacation. Or at least sitting on the beach or watching it rain. Definitely feel a lot happier when either happens. Lol.
Don’t know! My guess is that intimidation is when a person has that aura around them that makes people want to stay the hell away or get drawn in closer to understand why they are so terrifying.
I wasn’t expecting to be asked the question myself.
I guess to be happy, healthy(mentally and physically), and successful in life where my dream came true and I am just loving everyday in my life…even the bad parts.
) and I may be helpful to those who may need help on something or would like to know a bit more on something if they are interested on it. If you also want to add in as a person who wants people to ask you questions, go for it! This can be an all AMA thread lol.
I live in Dodge City, Kansas—a small town well known for the booming of cattle, the train, and outlaw stuff from the 1800s when it was first established as a town. But besides the cool museum, the town sucks. 
There isn’t much to do there, it constantly smells because of the cow farms (people say it’s the “smell of money,” but I beg to differ). You have to drive multiple hours to get to actual shopping centers or other things to do. Living there for three years have made me miss cities. I’m not a small town kind of person, especially living in the middle of nowhere, so I think that’s why I’m not a fan. Haha
She worked at a Holiday Inn and they stayed at a Homewood Suites, right next door. We actually stayed there (Homewood) while they were there too, before we moved over to the Holiday Inn a month later.
When is yours?
