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Welcome to yet another interview with a blogger post on The Mixed Flavors.

I’m glad to feature Novemberschild aka Romila for the second time. She is a highly experienced blogger, author, poetess, columnist and a well-knows writer. If you have not read her blog Novemberschild.com yet I insist to visit her blog. I’m sure you’ll like it.

Recently she has launched her new and 3rd ebook Midnight Musings, which is a collection of 26 Haiku – short poetries. I’ve read the collection and reviewed it on my blog. You can also read it here.

Without taking much of your time, let’s hear it from Romila aka Novemberschild.

  1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

From school magazines to local newspapers to national magazines to websites to   blogs to famous publications, I have written for all. I am an observer. I don’t forget people, incidents, and experiences. I enjoy speaking, binging on desserts especially ice creams, learning, Karaoke singing (no audience pleases), shopping, helping people succeed, anything God created and the rains.

  1. When did you first start writing and when did you finish your first book?

I started writing at the age of 13 in the year 1996 for my school magazine as I was approached by my Hindi teacher Mrs. Rashmi Srivastava who saw the writer in me. I was hesitant as I had never written a single word before that because I was always a reader, but she encouraged and helped me. My first piece was in Hindi on the topic Unemployment which was approved and published and after that my mother discovered a prospective writer in me and she pushed me towards writing. My first ebook took me just 3 months to write and complete.

  1. How do you choose a genre you write in?

 It is completely on basis of my convenience. All my ebooks have been just spontaneous when it comes to the theme/genre.

  1. Where do you get your ideas?

From my surroundings.

  1. Do you ever experience writer’s block?

I don’t believe in writer’s block or waiting for inspiration. If you’re a writer, you sit down and write. When you get writer’s block (or any other creative block) it can be tough to get past it. There are strategies you can use to get the juices flowing. They all have one thing in common: they involve actually doing the work. Why is that? According to author Jodi Picoult, it’s because writer’s block is just another name for procrastination. Just pick up your pen and pad, get to writing.

  1. Do you work with an outline, or just write?

Once I have a theme/genre in mind – you can call it outline; I write and go with the flow. The drafts are always bundles of pages before the manuscript gets finalized.

  1. Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?

Nothing in particular. Every book I have read as a child till today has been of some positive influence in my life.

  1. Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?

I have been an independent author as I took the indie publishing route. You are your own publisher. You don’t have one. On the inside cover of your book it says: YOU, isn’t that pretty awesome? I am glad I faced no challenges.

  1. Tell us more about your recent creation Midnight Musings.

Midnight Musings is my 4th book- 2nd poetry attempt and first in Haiku. I am happy to call myself a successful poetess.  I experimented Haiku and I am happy with the result. I wrote haiku because I love noticing what’s going on around me and within me. I feel each day offers gifts of insight and moments worthy of contemplation which I tried to bring it alive through my poems.

  1. What was your favorite poem(s) to write in Midnight Musings and why?

V for Vagina

 Here comes the baby!

Oh thou vagina third degree tear.

Pregnancy is fun.

 I have not experienced pregnancy but I wrote about imagining the pain and happiness. It is difficult to write about something you have never practiced in life.

  1. How did you come up with the title?

All the poems I wrote happened between 12am -2am. I write during nights. It took me more than 62 nights to write them and all these nights have been special for me. The most challenging bit was handling Haiku with alphabets Q-X-Z. As always self-brainstorming session helped me crack that challenge – Midnight Musings perfectly got into the vibes, mood and my poems.

  1. What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?

Toughest criticism – I have not received any criticism but yes people have confessed that they hate my writing talent and are jealous of my success.

Best compliment – You are such a gifted writer and such a warm person, an inspiration to many writers out there including me.  I don’t know you personally but I do want to be like you.

  1. Will you have another new book coming out soon?

Yes. It is ready. It is micro fiction, small cute book. It shall be out in September – the last for the year.

  1. Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers?

My advice is this to anyone who announces they want to be a writer. Well, for a start, nothing should stop you. You cannot go around saying “I want to be a writer,” you can only go around saying “I am a writer.” All you need is a block of paper and a pencil. Believe in yourself. Sounds super cheesy, I know, but it’s important. Writing is really hard, and you have to put in a lot of work behind the scenes before you see any sort of progress. If you don’t think you can do it, you probably won’t. So stay positive, post little sticky notes with inspirational quotes on your desktop, change your computer’s wallpaper to something that motivates you and keep going. You will face rejection (over and over again) so you need to be your own biggest cheerleader.

  1. Is there anything that you would like to say to your readers and fans?

 I would want to quote Steve Irwin – Whatever you want to do in this world, it is achievable. The most important thing that I’ve found, that perhaps you could use, is be passionate and enthusiastic in the direction that you choose in life, and you’ll be a winner.

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