।। INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR ALAKANANDA।।
Q1. Please introduce yourself.
Born in a simple and well educated family in Nagpur, Maharashtra, I was brought up in a very family oriented environment. My dad was a Mechanical Engineer & Professor in an Engineering college and a voracious reader, and my mom was a housewife, yet very fashionable, talented, energetic and multi-tasking.
I am passionate about music, painting and writing. If the combination of these three are addicting, then I like being addicted. It gives me a high! It is like a stress reliever and very relaxing.
I love exploring the beauty of life. I can confidently say that nothing is impossible in life. The limitations are only in our mind. I strongly believe that there is no age to begin. you can begin and learn at any age. As I started emerging I realised that I was capable of doing many things in life.
I went for a photo shoot for Human Expression & Emotions by an upcoming photographer and realized the pleasure of modelling. Serving the needy and underprivileged became a part of life. Apart from organizing & hosting several events & workshops successfully in Kolkata, I have acted in a couple of short films too. A Bengali short film ‘Sujog – The Opportunity’ and a Hindi Short film ‘Shakti – The Strength within’, both of which were released on Women’s day 2019 and 2020 respectively. I love travelling, photography and reading too. I have a great collection of books in my personal library, and time and again I take a book out and re-read it.
Recently, I won the ‘Achiever Award 2020’ in the ‘Author Achiever’ category by Literoma.
Each activity in my life has been uplifting, exciting and an interesting experience.
Currently I hold a responsible position in the Credit Control team of one of India’s leading IT companies, as well as hold an honorary Senior Leadership position in one of the top e-Learning Platforms, Soulitaire.
I thank all the people who have crossed my path for tapping my potential, and helping me bring out the harder & softer side of the woman in me.
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Q2. If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Read a lot and understand how and why you connected with a certain book. Keep this in mind while writing your own book and let your emotions flow freely & honestly through your pen. And most importantly, take criticism positively to improve yourself.
Q3. What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
The best money ever spent is on books and adding them to my library. I love reading and I prefer reading paperback. A writer should be passionate about reading.
Q4.What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters?
The characters in my book are real life characters. In some stories, I have used pseudo names. I owe tremendously to them and thank them from the bottom of my heart. Had it not been for some of them who tried to do me wrong, I wouldn’t have emerged as a strong woman.
Q5.How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
A book by Soulitaire on anthology of quotes part II, where I have co-authored is in the pipeline to be published soon. I will be starting with my next solo book shortly, hoping to publish it in 2021.
Q6.What does literary success look like to you?
There are quite a few that come in my find. Firstly, literary success to me is the satisfaction of knowing that what I have written is read, felt and appreciated by the readers, and that my beliefs have influenced my readers. This holds the topmost rank for me.
Then, literary success to me is receiving literary award & recognition for my work. Personally, I do not weigh my writing with money, as I do not have commercials in my mind at the moment. What really matters, is how my writing has influenced, connected and touched others.
Q7.What’s the best way to market your books?
Personal involvement in marketing definitely. Start marketing on social media, reach out to as many reviewers and bloggers as possible and as many author interviews as possible. As a first-time author, offer your book free on Amazon for a couple of days. It will help build up reviews on Amazon and get noticed. The more reviews, the better. Use Facebook and Instagram marketing to build awareness. Be present personally promoting and marketing your book in book fairs. Have your book and all the links to your book updated on your website. The book cover, title and synopsis should be catchy. Do not miss any opportunity for Author read or book launches. Try and be a member of as many author groups as possible and be interactive.
Q8.What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
My book was a complete work of non-fiction stories without any fantasies weaved around them and without playing around with the dialogues. The incidents and conversations are exactly the same as has occurred. The emotions just poured out on paper blindly. Hence, there was no initial research. Post completion of each story, I shared my manuscript with a few beta readers and worked on the reviews and feedback given by them. I focused more on the criticism to improve myself.
Q9.What message would you like to give to Budding writers?
Make reading a habit. It is very important that they read a lot.
Start small, like start writing short stories, small writeups
Join writers group, it helps a lot when you are interacting with like-minded people.
Take advise from other authors
Observer and always taking mental notes
Write down these notes and any ideas that come in your mind immediately, because you may forget it if you leave it in your memory.
Writing and hiding it doesn’t help. Others should read what you have written. Hence, look for opportunities and ways of publishing them, even if you have to take help from your friends who may have a publishing house, or publish magazines for their organization where stories or writeups are open for any writer.
Believe in yourself and your writing, and never stop working towards your dream.
Q 10. Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
Each book to stand on its own
