We have been privileged to publish Anusha's Potpourri, so I've invited her on to my blog in order to get to know her a little better.
What do you write? Why this in particular?
I have an affinity towards flash fiction and
short stories as they manage to capture a myriad of themes in very few words.
Off-late, I have been trying my hand at poetry as well. As far as genres go, I
have no preferences. I write in any genre that strikes my fancy.
What got you started on writing in the first
place?
I have always found solace in books. As a child,
I remember my aunt reading bed time stories to me. Soon I started making up tiny stories of my own to share with her. She would listen to all
my far-fetched stories with the utmost patience. So I credit my entire writing
career to her.
Do you have a particular routine?
I don’t
have the luxury of sitting down at a designated hour to write because of my
hectic work hours. All of my writing happens when I am commuting to work. As
far as my “to-read” list goes, I catch up
on reading in airports or when I am on vacation.
When did you decide you could call yourself a
writer? Do you do that in fact?
On most days, I describe myself as a corporate
sellout. I had never really given much thought to getting my work published. I
scribbled in notebooks just so that I could put all the thoughts swimming in my
head onto paper. But when I was 19 I sent out a short story and to my surprise
it got picked up for publication which encouraged me to send more of my work
out into the world. Over the past two years I have contributed to around thirty
anthologies. Yet, I am not comfortable calling myself a writer as I feel I have a long way to go.
How supportive are your friends and family?
Do they understand what you're doing?
I have an incredibly supportive family and for
that I am grateful. My mum is the first to read all of my published pieces and
the first to give a completely biased and glowing review. My father is
extremely proud of me but he has read only couple of my short stories since he
prefers political editorials which in turn I loathe. My friends on the other
hand always have an undercurrent of bitterness running through their facade of
niceties.
What are you most proud of in your writing?
I am never truly content with what I write but
there are two pieces of my work I am proud of. One is a short story titled a Bloody
Miracle (published in a “Book
of Blasphemous Words” by A Murder of Storytellers) and the other one is a spoken word
piece called “Closet Feminism” I have performed a
couple of times in Kuala Lumpur and Bangalore.
Do you have any goals for the future?
Despite the time constraints I currently face, I
have managed to pen two chapbooks this year - Potpourri (Chapeltown
Books, 2018) and Rotting Fruit (slated for publication by
Writing Knights Press). I hope next year I will be able to carve out time to
work on a full length novel.
Which writers have inspired you?
I picked up Rebecca at a school book fair
in the 7th grade and ever since then I have been devoted to Daphne du Maurier’s works. Emily Bronte, Margaret Mitchell,
Joanne Harris, Ruskin Bond and Khaled Hosseini also rank as my all time
favorites.
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