Ask the Author: Shona Patel
Answered Questions (8)
Shona Patel
Although Flame Tree Road is a prequel it is written as a stand alone - so you can happily read it before Teatime. The two novels enhance each other, I'm told. Happy reading and congratulations on winning a copy.
PS: sorry for this delayed response. For some reason I did not get notified.
PS: sorry for this delayed response. For some reason I did not get notified.
Shona Patel
Replied via email. Thanks! xx
Shona Patel
My second book is a prequel. Several readers commented on the character of the grandfather in "TEATIME FOR THE FIREFLY"and said they wanted to know more about him. My second book "SONG OF THE FLAME TREE" is the grandfather's backstory. It's set in the late 1800's and turn of the century in Cambridge, England and Assam, India.
Shona Patel
Comments and feedback from my readers really inspire me.
Shona Patel
My second novel "SONG OF THE FLAME TREE" (Harlequin/Mira April 2015)
Shona Patel
1) Write your first draft as if nobody is looking. You need the to free-fall into your writing and find your voice without fear of judgement or ridicule.
2) Don't talk too much about what you are writing about. You will thwart the creative process and diffuse the energy. Keep it bottled tight till you get your first draft out. Writing is a mystical process. There are thoughts and ideas constantly churning inside you. Give them time to coagulate and appear on the page. Getting feedback on half-baked ideas can be very bewildering.
3) Don't ask your spouse to be your critique partner. Your writing will either warp or become self conscious. Either way it will not blossom the way it should.
4) Always write what you know. Believe in your heart you have a **FANTASTIC** story and nobody can tell it better than you.
2) Don't talk too much about what you are writing about. You will thwart the creative process and diffuse the energy. Keep it bottled tight till you get your first draft out. Writing is a mystical process. There are thoughts and ideas constantly churning inside you. Give them time to coagulate and appear on the page. Getting feedback on half-baked ideas can be very bewildering.
3) Don't ask your spouse to be your critique partner. Your writing will either warp or become self conscious. Either way it will not blossom the way it should.
4) Always write what you know. Believe in your heart you have a **FANTASTIC** story and nobody can tell it better than you.
Shona Patel
1) PLAYING GOD!!! A writer can make or break lives, toss around fortunes: plummet some poor character into the depths of despair and lift another to the high heavens. Where else will you get that power?
2) I love telling stories and seeing where my fictional characters will take me. It's quite an adventure. 3) It is also legitimate and perfectly acceptable for a writer to nap anytime during the day or night. No excuses or apologies needed. Wooooo!
2) I love telling stories and seeing where my fictional characters will take me. It's quite an adventure. 3) It is also legitimate and perfectly acceptable for a writer to nap anytime during the day or night. No excuses or apologies needed. Wooooo!
Shona Patel
I have to do something completely different. I cook or read. Cooking gets me out of the funk. Reading a good book (usually one of my old favorites) inspires me. I also nap a lot, mediate, drink lots of tea and wait for the answers. A writer's block happens when I am forcing the story to go in a direction it does not want to go. I try to understand the reason. If all fails, I work on another chapter. Although I start out with a strong premise and have a clear direction for my story, I work on random chapters, by which time the block usually clears.
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Jul 07, 2015 10:29PM · flag