Yay, it's interview time again! Grab a seat and have a treat. This time, author Adiana Ray talks about life and writing. She sure has an interesting story to tell.
10 questions with Adiana Ray
What do you like most and least about being a writer?
I love the fact that you can travel as far and do as much as your imagination allows. I love being able to make up characters and watch them grow and take on a life of their own. What I don’t like is that people don’t take writers and writing as a profession very seriously. As any writer knows, it entails a lot of hard work but many who are not in the line look on it a bit patronizingly as your ‘little hobby’. Grrrrrrr!
How has living in at least 16 cities shaped your character?
You realize very soon that any experience is as good or as bad as you make it. So you can choose to dwell on what you have left behind or you can look forward to what is to come.
What was the hardest thing about writing your latest book?
The third, fourth and fifth chapters. The first two went smoothly as you have this awesome idea that you are absolutely convinced will put you up there with J.K Rowling and then you get to Chapter Three and the ideas are not coming through that well. Four and five…aargh! Once I got past that though, I found my characters were better developed and as I said they started leading me.
Do you have any writing rituals?
No not really, besides the fact that I am easily distracted and try and turn off the internet on my computer.
Any hidden talents or crazy facts about you?
You mean besides the fact that I am a 10’th Dan Black Belt, have George Clooney on speed dial and design Sunny Leone’s outfits? Okay, kidding. I like weird food combinations like Tandoori Fish Tikka with strawberry jam and I can argue the hind-legs off a donkey. That is why I like writing, I am only wrong when I say I am wrong.
Do you prefer eBooks or printed books?
I am okay with both. For me a book is a book, is a book.
What is the most important character trait the hero and the heroine should possess?
Humor, they shouldn’t take themselves too seriously. I hate pomposity and pseudoism.
Do you have any advice for (aspiring) authors?
Firstly listen to your characters speak. They will tell you where to go. Secondly, start working on your marketing effort as soon as your manuscript is accepted. Indirectly of course. I didn’t have a clue on what is to be done; in fact still finding my way around.
Your book "Rapid Fall" includes adventurous water sports. Would you enjoy such a thrill, too?
I am an outdoor person and enjoy adventure sports, however not specifically ‘white river rafting’. I suffer from motion sickness and unfortunately cannot do it.
What are you currently working on?
Whew! Tough one. Have so many works in progress. I would have to go with the two that seem to be progressing best at present. One is an absolute contemporary, racy romance novel whereas the other one is a beautiful, slow paced historical romance. Now I just need to cross my fingers that I finish them.
I love the fact that you can travel as far and do as much as your imagination allows. I love being able to make up characters and watch them grow and take on a life of their own. What I don’t like is that people don’t take writers and writing as a profession very seriously. As any writer knows, it entails a lot of hard work but many who are not in the line look on it a bit patronizingly as your ‘little hobby’. Grrrrrrr!
How has living in at least 16 cities shaped your character?
You realize very soon that any experience is as good or as bad as you make it. So you can choose to dwell on what you have left behind or you can look forward to what is to come.
What was the hardest thing about writing your latest book?
The third, fourth and fifth chapters. The first two went smoothly as you have this awesome idea that you are absolutely convinced will put you up there with J.K Rowling and then you get to Chapter Three and the ideas are not coming through that well. Four and five…aargh! Once I got past that though, I found my characters were better developed and as I said they started leading me.
Do you have any writing rituals?
No not really, besides the fact that I am easily distracted and try and turn off the internet on my computer.
Any hidden talents or crazy facts about you?
You mean besides the fact that I am a 10’th Dan Black Belt, have George Clooney on speed dial and design Sunny Leone’s outfits? Okay, kidding. I like weird food combinations like Tandoori Fish Tikka with strawberry jam and I can argue the hind-legs off a donkey. That is why I like writing, I am only wrong when I say I am wrong.
Do you prefer eBooks or printed books?
I am okay with both. For me a book is a book, is a book.
What is the most important character trait the hero and the heroine should possess?
Humor, they shouldn’t take themselves too seriously. I hate pomposity and pseudoism.
Do you have any advice for (aspiring) authors?
Firstly listen to your characters speak. They will tell you where to go. Secondly, start working on your marketing effort as soon as your manuscript is accepted. Indirectly of course. I didn’t have a clue on what is to be done; in fact still finding my way around.
Your book "Rapid Fall" includes adventurous water sports. Would you enjoy such a thrill, too?
I am an outdoor person and enjoy adventure sports, however not specifically ‘white river rafting’. I suffer from motion sickness and unfortunately cannot do it.
What are you currently working on?
Whew! Tough one. Have so many works in progress. I would have to go with the two that seem to be progressing best at present. One is an absolute contemporary, racy romance novel whereas the other one is a beautiful, slow paced historical romance. Now I just need to cross my fingers that I finish them.
Rapid Fall by Adiana Ray
About the Book
Can JD learn to trust himself enough, to fall in love again?
Golden girl Sonia has it all till she comes to Mumbai. She has to learn and learn fast that if she is to survive and thrive in this city it isn’t only about all your degrees but rather about how street smart you are.
Suave and sophisticated JD, is a self made man who knows what he wants and how to get it. As the head honcho’ of a media company he has a smooth answer for everybody. Previously divorced he is unwilling to commit to a relationship.
Thrown together on the rapids of the Ganga, far away from Mumbai, the icy waters can’t douse the sparks that fly. Undeniably attracted to each other Sonia struggles to come to grips with what her heart is telling her. Her first big attraction has her in at the deep end. She is not used to floundering and being out of control and she doesn’t like it. JD is not willing to put any other name to their attraction but physical chemistry.
Will they get past this to find love?
Buy Links
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H0NPS16
Flipkart: http://www.flipkart.com/rapid-fall/p/itmdrvkufsyd55mc?pid=DGBDRVYYGFSYX8RB&otracker=from-search&srno=t_1&query=Adiana+Ray&ref=d435204f-7747-489a-b6a2-8497072bccf9
Barnes & Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rapid-fall-adiana-ray/1117650649?ean=2940045475846
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/rapid-fall
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/383326
Golden girl Sonia has it all till she comes to Mumbai. She has to learn and learn fast that if she is to survive and thrive in this city it isn’t only about all your degrees but rather about how street smart you are.
Suave and sophisticated JD, is a self made man who knows what he wants and how to get it. As the head honcho’ of a media company he has a smooth answer for everybody. Previously divorced he is unwilling to commit to a relationship.
Thrown together on the rapids of the Ganga, far away from Mumbai, the icy waters can’t douse the sparks that fly. Undeniably attracted to each other Sonia struggles to come to grips with what her heart is telling her. Her first big attraction has her in at the deep end. She is not used to floundering and being out of control and she doesn’t like it. JD is not willing to put any other name to their attraction but physical chemistry.
Will they get past this to find love?
Buy Links
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H0NPS16
Flipkart: http://www.flipkart.com/rapid-fall/p/itmdrvkufsyd55mc?pid=DGBDRVYYGFSYX8RB&otracker=from-search&srno=t_1&query=Adiana+Ray&ref=d435204f-7747-489a-b6a2-8497072bccf9
Barnes & Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rapid-fall-adiana-ray/1117650649?ean=2940045475846
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/rapid-fall
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/383326
Indian Author Adiana Ray
About the Author
Adiana enjoys reading murder mysteries, classic romances and playing Pictionary (the noisier the better). She believes in the Zen tenet “each state has a 1000 truths”. Every person brings their own unique experiences to a situation which makes them see things differently and interpret it in their own way.
Couple this with the winds of change that are sweeping across the Indian sub-continent, with the rise of the meritocracy, breaking down of social barriers, rising education levels and professional representation for women in the work force, and more and more men and women working side by side on a daily basis: albeit at the same time family ties, ideas of beauty and attractiveness in a partner and cultural expectations haven’t exactly been thrown out of the window.
Put all these together and they throw up interesting circumstances, actions and reactions among people. She says this is what inspires her to write…trying to see each relationship in a different way and always having a new story to tell. When she writes, she wants it to be a fantasy but at the same time a believable one. One that could happen to anyone of us and above all is entertaining to the reader.
Rapid Fall is the first part of a trilogy set in Mumbai aiming to weave a story around the lives of a group of young professionals, who are urban, connected, spunky and driven. Yet at the same time they live, love and hurt the same way all of us do. They could be you, me or the person next door. She has also done a quite a few short stories which have been published by efiction India under her name and a pen name M.X. Steele.
Happy reading!
She can be reached at
Twitter handle: @adrayyyed
Blog:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adiana.ray
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/adianaray-author
Couple this with the winds of change that are sweeping across the Indian sub-continent, with the rise of the meritocracy, breaking down of social barriers, rising education levels and professional representation for women in the work force, and more and more men and women working side by side on a daily basis: albeit at the same time family ties, ideas of beauty and attractiveness in a partner and cultural expectations haven’t exactly been thrown out of the window.
Put all these together and they throw up interesting circumstances, actions and reactions among people. She says this is what inspires her to write…trying to see each relationship in a different way and always having a new story to tell. When she writes, she wants it to be a fantasy but at the same time a believable one. One that could happen to anyone of us and above all is entertaining to the reader.
Rapid Fall is the first part of a trilogy set in Mumbai aiming to weave a story around the lives of a group of young professionals, who are urban, connected, spunky and driven. Yet at the same time they live, love and hurt the same way all of us do. They could be you, me or the person next door. She has also done a quite a few short stories which have been published by efiction India under her name and a pen name M.X. Steele.
Happy reading!
She can be reached at
Twitter handle: @adrayyyed
Blog:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adiana.ray
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/adianaray-author
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