Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a 21 year old university student studying International Foreign Affairs, and Business Administration, in Ontario, Canada. I was born in Albania, an Eastern European country, which has undergone a rigorous communist past. I have only published one book, seeing as I started writing seriously around May 2015. Since that time, I have published one book, and am finishing up a second.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book that i have published–Symbiosis– is a political dystopian novella that was written more for me than for anyone else. It discusses corporations, and the inequality gap between rich and poor, and the diminish middle class. Daunting topics for some, but for a university student studying foreign affairs, this is ‘fun’. I was in Costa Rica at the time that i wrote the novella, working as an English teacher, as well as volunteering at an orphanage on my summer vacation from school.
I would come home after a long, and fulfilling day, working with abused children living in a developing country. I would be reminded of my childhood in a corrupt Eastern European country–it was extremely similar to their lives, which made the experience that much more surreal for me. I was finally getting a chance to help those like me. Finally someone who actually understood what they must be feeling etc. Very surreal indeed. I have no clue what really started Symbiosis. All I know is, I came home from work one day, and i just started writing. Just to put my thoughts on paper. Two weeks later i had a full first draft of 20, 000 words. I had never written anything of this length before, and naturally there was a learning curve. But it did not stop there, i challenged myself to get it published, and about a month after it was written, I signed a contract with Solstice Publishing. And here we are, about 3 months after it was written, and I’m holding a paperback copy in my hands, looking at my name on the cover. It is, and will always be, my favourite souvenir from my humanitarian travels in Costa Rica.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know about unusual, but I like to listen to relaxing background music when i write. Not TOO unusual I would say. I always say what is on my mind, and when I start a chapter I must end it–a process which usually ensures I get a solid two hours of sleep on some nights. totally worth it. Looking at newly written chapter in my hand, I simply read it, without making too many changes. I write relatively clean first drafts, and hate editing. But looking at it in your hand, and taking a deep breath…Totally bliss feeling, as any writer could tell you.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I really love dystopian novels, and I like to read classics. I think that everyone must read the classics first (or at least some classics) before jumping into the modern stuff. I really love Orwell’s work. Animal Farm, and 1984 are two of my absolute favourites, and I try my best to give them another read every year or so. I always get the same–if not more–enjoyment out of reading them again, and most of all, I always pick up something new. Other than that, I enjoy much of Dostoyevsky’s work.
What are you working on now?
Right now I’m finishing up what i hope will be my second published novel. A relatively small 50,000 word dystopian novel where reading has become a sort of taboo. With the technology to essentially download information into individuals’ minds, the richest individuals are now the smartest as well. The poorest individuals are now the most ignorant, and upon noticing this fact, they have given up on reading, or attempting to educate themselves altogether, because they see no benefit in the matter. The rich are already smartest, so the poor have no incentives to essentially waste time reading. The story discusses a lottery system in which one lower-class individual has won this service, and she can download this information for free.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Being relatively new to the writing world, I really cannot say what the best method is. For me, I have found so far, that twitter seems to be one of the more effective ways I can get people to visit my amazon page. Write effective hooks, and provide links, and they will come.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Coming from an introvert, that may not say much. But hey, if I could do it you can too. My motto was “what do they have that I don’t?” Always have a new hobby, a new goal, and always give it 100%. Because, ultimately, you won’t know which of those hobbies will stick with you. Don’t doubt yourself for a second.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write. Don’t stop. Just write. Write as a hobby, and most importantly write for yourself. To make yourself feel better. Therapy.
Also make sure you follow my blog, where I have way more tips about every aspect of writing.
What are you reading now?
Right now i am reading The “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Hopefully publish a second book, and a third after that.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Well, 1984 and Animal Farm of course. I would also take Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, as well as a collection of Shakespeare’s complete works. I have time to kill, i may as well grab some big books.
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