Interview with Novemberschild-Romila

I got this wonderful chance to interview Romila mostly known as Novemberschild. I did a book review on her recent book on Haiku poems titled as My Midnight Musings. If you missed my yesterday’s blog post and want to know more about Romila/ Novemberschild and her newly launched book I am leaving a link to yesterday’s blog before I post the interview. So do have a look and if you are a poem lover or an aspiring writer or a struggling writer like me so go read her poems, blog post, follow her on Twitter. You will get inspired to write and trust me she is an amazing writer. She is one of my inspiration.

Here, is the link to yesterday’s blog post.

Book Review- My Midnight Musings

Interview with Romila (Novemberschild) on her My Midnight Musings book Release.

1. What motivates you to write even when you don’t feel like writing?

• I belong to the rare breed of writers who never lack motivation or suffer writer’s block. I have been writing non-stop since 1996 till today and never did I ever face a day where I did not write or felt the need of inspiration. There have been days when I was sick ( read as bedridden for some time) but I always had my notepad along, writing down something for future. I do take breaks from writing, I work out or exercise, this refreshes me a lot physically and mentally.

2)  Share a memorable moment while you were writing “Midnight Musings” poems.

• All the haiku’s I wrote happened between 12am -2am. I write during nights. Every poem has a story behind it. It took me more than 62 nights to write them and all these nights have been special for me. As I finished the final draft I had mixed bag emotions – how would the readers react reading the poems. I still remember the nervousness I experienced – that moment is definitely a memory for me.

3) Your top 3 favorite books

• The immortal play – William Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar” – gripping, heart-breaking, dazzling, emotional. If you have not read this, you should. I know it is not easy to understand the Bard of Avon’s work, but it is a lifetime experience to read this.
• The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown – There is art, architecture, thrill, mystery, religion, controversies, secret societies, and history.
• Animal Farm by George Orwell – I love politics. This book depicts rising revolt among the animals, who wish to take over the humans is one of the best satires of the era. The book reflects incidents and events that led to Russian Revolution in 1917, followed by Soviet Union’s Stalinist regime.

4) If given a chance, with which writer would you like to go on a foreign trip?

• Shri. Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

 5) Which was your most defining moment in life?

• Life has given me not one but many defining moments and I would like to mention them all – When I wrote my first article as a 13-year-old teenager which got accepted by readers instantly – making my path towards writing, earning 6 degrees with top class marks and excellent grades, living in my own house, fighting multiple surgeries and illness, memorable trips with friends, experiencing failure, finding success. From a very young age, I started to find what defines me and I achieved it.

6) Which favorite character of yours would you like to marry/date?

• Unfortunately, I have not created any character yet in my work as I write prose/poetry from my own point of view. But if I had to pick a character from literature, I would like to date and marry Professor Robert Langdon. Seriously: is there anything Robert Langdon doesn’t know? He is a man who’d be fun to spend life with, as he is someone who is slightly pompous, bonafide genius, totally scatterbrained-in-moments-of-utmost importance and an ethical guy.

7) Writing is an art, but these days any cliché writing becomes a best-seller, what is your opinion on it?

• I have been noticing that everyone is turning into a published author irrespective of any experience in writing. To my bad luck, I have read few of them out of force and they turned out to be poorly written or copied. Originality is a key in any sort of writing, especially creative writing, clichés are the enemy for writers and should be avoided. Cliché plots are storylines that have been done time and time again such as the good girl falling for the bad boy or best friends falling in love. My reading and writing ethics don’t allow me to read or support clichés. It is completely a big NO for me.

8) What do you personally prefer, e-books or paperback. Why?

• Both. E-books have begun to dominate. After all, they’re cheap and easy to download from anywhere in the world. All my 4 books are electronically published and available. Coming to paperback, they can be signed by the author personally, they beautify my room, and I love to flaunt my collection to everyone. Paper books have the potential to become treasured heirlooms in a far more tangible way than e-books.

9)  What are the things in life still a mystery to you?

1. Have you ever wondered what you do, where you go after Death? There’s nothing more mysterious than the Afterlife. We have no physical evidence other than prophecies and holy books about it.
2. Sexual reproduction, the sperms swimming to an egg to conceive life.
3. Men can’t nurse babies, so why do they have nipples?

10) Tip/ advice you would like to give the writers who are your followers or who look up to you as an inspiration?

• Writing is not an easy task. It takes a lot of focus and commitment to be successful in this field. Not many people who aspired to be great writers saw it through. Not all people will like or resonate with what you write about. Some people will think that your writing is nonsense and some people will regard it as uplifting. Expect less from your audience. Writing is a beautiful craft. Understand what it will require out of you before going any further. You will grow and you will learn. You will succeed and you will fail. If you don’t have the passion for it, don’t invest any more of your time in it.