Philline Harms Is a LGBTQ Author to Look Out For

Connecting a global community of 90 million through the power of storytelling, Wattpad is the leading webnovel platform that is redefining the way people read and write. One who has found tremendous success through it is 21-year-old Philline Harms.

Hailing from Germany, Harms is a university student who started writing when she was 11. Since joining Wattpad in 2016, her stories have garnered over five million reads, and out of the eight books she has written, two have received publishing deals—Never Kiss Your Roommate and Love and Other Wicked Things. Harms’ stories focus on LGBTQ characters and themes, and by interacting with other queer people online, she personally discovered her own sexuality.

Harms took some time to talk more about her works and Wattpad with OFM.

Can you begin by telling us how you discovered your passion for writing and storytelling?

I’ve pretty much always been very into storytelling. My parents used to read so much to me growing up, so I truly believe that is where my love for stories started. Then as soon as we started having creative writing assignments in school, I was always that one kid who would volunteer to read their stories in front of the class (laughs). So, I’ve been writing stories ever since I can remember.

You built a name for yourself through Wattpad. What makes this platform worth checking out?

To me, it’s really the social aspect of the platform. It’s an online reading platform, where anyone can share their stories or read other people’s stories. I love the direct link between readers and writers that you get. As a writer, you can see your readers react to single lines and paragraphs in real time, and I think that is such a cool experience. It’s really helped me understand my readership and kind of hone my craft.

How did you initially discover Wattpad?

A friend told me about it in middle school during our lunch period. She was telling me about this new app that she found where you can read books for free, and at first, I thought it sounded like a scam. Like, it sounded too good to be true, but then I checked it out, realized it was legit, and realized you could also post on Wattpad. The rest is history!

What would you say is your absolute favorite part about writing?

I know this sounds super cliché, but it’s getting to build your own little world. Especially during the pandemic, I realized how precious it is to have this safe space that I can always retreat to, where everyone gets a happy ending and everything is kind of according to plan. You can also share with others and maybe give them a similar sense of comfort.

Can you talk more about how interacting with other queer people online led you to the personal discovery of your own sexuality?

I come from a very small town in Germany, and growing up, I didn’t know anyone who was out around my age. So, finding other queer people in online spaces was so crucial to my entire self-discovery, self-acceptance journey, especially watching other queer people share their favorite books and movies. Getting into queer culture that way really impacted me and helped me come to terms with my identity. It allowed me to really embrace what it’s like to be queer.

Do most of the stories that you write revolve around LGBTQ themes and characters?

Yeah, but not all of them center around coming out or discovering your sexuality as the central plot points, but they do all have queer main characters.

There are millions of LGBTQ authors out there who write LGBTQ stories. How are you hoping to stand out and be different?

I think because every author has their own experiences that influence their writing, everyone is already so different from each other, and they all have different pieces of advice that will maybe resonate with different readers at a given moment in time. I definitely think there are a few key elements to my writing that might be recognizable.

For example, most of my stories kind of have this found family trope. Characters finding or choosing their family, which I think is a very precious thing that queer people get to do in many cases. So, that’s one thing, and I think most of my stories also revolve around romance as a central plot. The characters have a very gentle and tender relationship.

What do you ultimately hope readers take away from your works?

I would love to give them a similar feeling to the one that I had when I read queer books growing up. This feeling of being seen, having experiences validated, and realizing that you’re not the only person going through these things. I’ve had a few readers over the years tell me that my stories encouraged them to come out to their families, their parents, their friends, which was the biggest honor to me and everything I could hope for with my writing.

You currently have two published books, Never Kiss Your Roommate and Love and Other Wicked Things. Can you tell us a bit more about them?

Never Kiss Your Roommate came out in 2021, and it’s a young adult story about four queer teenagers at a boarding school in England who navigate their sexual identity and falling in love for the first time. However, this secret, anonymous gossip blog is out to expose everyone’s secret. Then Love and Other Wicked Things comes out August 22 of this year, and it’s a sapphic romance between two teenage witches who fall in love and explore their magic together.

Are you currently working on a new book?

Yes, I’m working on my ninth book! I have eight books up on Wattpad, and two of them got publishing deals. This new one, it’s still in the beginning phases of plotting, but it’s going to kind of be a murder mystery set in the Edwardian era in the Swiss Alps.

What are some of your interests outside of writing and storytelling?

I honestly don’t have that much time for other things (laughs). I am studying psychology in school, and obviously, I love reading, but I also enjoy baking, going on walks, and listening to music.

What are some future goals you hope to accomplish as an author?

Getting to publish another book would be amazing! But other than that, I would love to see a book of mine be translated at some point. Because I live in Germany, a lot of my relatives can’t really read my stories, and everyone is always asking when they’re going to be translated. I think that would be a big milestone.

Stay up-to-date and connect with Harms by following her on Instagram @phillineharms and Wattpad @writing00introvert.

Photos courtesy of Dorit-Schulze and Philline Harms