Yajna Ramnath
Today we welcome Yajna Ramnath hailing all the way from South Africa!
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Is it just me or when you are asked to
describe yourself you seem to stutter and stammer or look blankly at the
screen? Oh well, here goes. I’m an Aquarius and I have an obsession with books.
I have to read or write every day, at least a chapter or ten. I’m from Durban,
South Africa and my ultimate dream is to one day hold a copy of my book in my
hand. I love reading all sorts of books and enjoy connecting with fellow
writers. I talk to myself a lot and have no fashion sense-whatsoever. I write
various genres from New Adult, Paranormal Romance, Erotic Contemporary Romance
and even Family Drama. I love social
media and you can find me on these platforms;
I love interacting with people so feel free
to come and say hi.
How do you as a writer get over the fears
we all face in publishing something we’ve spent so much time working on?
I have learnt in this world of publishing
that you have to take risks. If writing is your dream, if getting your project
out there is your one sole desire then you will have to take that risk. Being from
South Africa and publishing on an international platform like Amazon was scary
because I had no idea what to expect. I had no help with my first two books, I
had no idea what to do and how to go about getting my books out there. But the
great thing about it all was that I was able to meet fellow indie authors who
helped me out and advised me on the best strategies to take. It was especially
the best way to go being someone who didn’t have the financial backing
traditional publishing would’ve needed.
What are you most passionate about?
Definitely writing. I love creating stories
for people to get lost in. it has been an escape from reality for me and I want
to be able to provide that for others. The ability to create characters, places
and creatures that may or may not exist, is something I live for I guess.
When did you start writing?
I started when I was 18 years-old (2010). I
was really upset and asked myself one question. “If you could recreate your
life, how would you do it?” From there the writing sort of flowed and developed
over the past four years, until they were worthy enough to put out there.
What books did you love to read growing up
and have they influenced your writing?
I was a major R.L Stine fan when I was
younger. I would go to our local library every week to get his books and even
went as far as to ask my mom to put me on the library waiting list whenever
they received a new book by him. His writing influenced me a lot. I enjoyed the
surprises that popped up and especially loved how he could leave you with a
lesson even after scary the bejeezers off of you.
Tell us a little bit about your book.
Rage is a paranormal romance surrounding
the lives of twins, Atalia and Akiv Vladimir. They are both vampires coming
into their powers only to find that they are getting much more than they
bargained for. This follows their journey wherein they deal with some
disturbing truths about their birth and parents while also touching their
individual lives and their significant others. It is essentially based on
relationship dynamics and they way that any bond, no matter how strong, could
break under the right amount of pressure.
Is this book part of a series or is it a
stand-alone novel?
Yes. RAGE is part of a series called; Tales
of Dramir. This series will follow the twins and soon touch on other characters
that you will meet in RAGE.
Which book of yours are you most proud of?
Why? (Add a link to it for us.)
It’s hard to choose one but I would have to
say Beneath Her Beautiful.
I choose this because I did not see this
story coming and it turned out great. It followed the life of an imperfect girl
trying to find her idea of perfect. A girl who dealt with so much
disappointment and heartache that it turned her into someone afraid, confused
and distrustful.
What is your definition of being a
‘successful’ writer?
My definition is not the amount of books
you sell but the amount of lives you can touch. I feel you are only successful
when you can make a difference and have people praise your work because it
meant something to them. I always feel accomplished when I receive a message
from someone telling me that the book did something good for them or changed
their perspective for the better.
What is your honest opinion on indie/self
publishing?
It’s both good and terrifying. Good because
you can write at your own pace, you can decide what blurbs, covers, dates to
publish, giveaways and basically anything that concerns your book, you have the
freedom to make those decisions. It’s terrifying because when it comes to
marketing your book, you’re all on your own. However with the growing amount of
indie/self publishing authors, there are many options. So at the end of the day
it’s cost effective and when you finally decide to publish you know you’re
putting your best work forward.
1Do you work to a set word-count?
No. I let the story unfold. I let my
characters decide when they are done with their storytelling. Personally, I do
not like working towards a goal because my mind is entirely focused on the
target and not really on what my characters want.
1 Have you ever followed through on the old
writer’s threat of putting someone you didn’t like in your book and killing
them in unspeakable ways?
Hah! Many times. Especially in RAGE. It all
comes back to that control you have over manipulating characters and making
your own happy-endings.
1 What point of view do you find most to your
liking: first person or third person?
I always write in the first person point of view
because it is easier to get inside the characters head. As a reader I always
favor books written in the first point of view because I can easily connect to
that character. For those few hours you can actually believe that you are that
character and you are experiencing everything he/she does.
1 What advice would you give aspiring
writers?
For a long time I tried to create a story
that people would like and I sort of lost my writing mojo. I was too focused on
what people where looking for until one day a fellow author told me that “you
have to write for yourself because a few years from now you’re going to look
back at that story and you’ll have to live with what you wrote there.”
Ever since then I have stayed true to
myself and wrote for me. So my advice is simple.
Write for yourself, write for what your
characters try to convey to you, and then you will create a masterpiece that
you can be proud of, regardless whether it is a bestseller or not.
1 Is there a phrase or quote about writing
that you particularly like?
Yes a particular favorite of mine is;
“You must stay drunk on writing so reality
cannot destroy you.” Ray Bradbury (1920-2012)
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