Interview with Jyoti Patel, The author of Anamika

Jyoti Patel is an Author of 6 Books, A World Record Holder, A Global Goodwill Ambassador.

She is a blogger, a poetess and has been a contributing poet and author to many anthologies. She is an ardent lover of western and classical music. She enjoys reading, cooking, painting and writing. She is a Music, Photography and Travel enthusiast.

Jyoti Patel is a recipient of various awards, such as, ‘Top Influential Author 2018’, ‘Author of the Year 2019’ ‘Genius Indian Achiever Award 2019’ ‘Voice of Indian Literature Award’ & ’She Inspires 2020’ to name a few.

This young Author has released her latest book ‘Anamika: Beyond Words’ on the 14th of February, Valentine’s Day. ANAMIKA is a poetry book with lots of thought-provoking illustrations.

Jyoti loves observing people; she often searches her stories in every little thing around her. She has a list of wishes which she wants to fulfill in this one life time second half. She is currently working on her 7th book, which is expected to release in the second half of 2020.

Ravi: What’s your favorite short story?

Jyoti: I don’t have any favorite short story. There are too many I love to read over and over again & it’s hard to mention all of them.

Ravi: The best piece of writing advice?

Jyoti: Keep writing, don’t quit. Learn, unlearn, and relearn. You don’t have to give up due to criticism or negative comments; all you need to have is the courage to continue.

Ravi: Where do you write?

Jyoti: When it comes to handwriting vs. typing, I choose typing, however; I prefer to write down my new ideas in a notebook. If I suddenly need to note down an idea, an interesting one-liner, short poetry, I prefer to write them down in a book first.

Ravi: Where do you get your ideas?

Jyoti: From everywhere around me. People I meet, the stories I read, my day to day life experiences teach me. The new ideas, new thoughts, and different feelings arise frequently as we grow old. I learn from falling of a leaf to death of a bird. I believe there are stories all around us!

Ravi: Does writing energize or exhaust you?

Jyoti: Writing energizes me more than it exhausts me otherwise, I would not have continued until now.

Ravi: How long on average does it take you to write a book?

Jyoti: It usually takes around 7 to 8 months when I am working on a poetry book or a book of collected short stories & such; otherwise it takes around a year for a full-length novel.

Ravi: If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?

Jyoti: I am content with what I have, where I came from. I don’t think I have to do anything differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, I started writing since my teenage years & I am grateful for the place I am in today. The best way to become a better writer is to allow ourselves to be a better human, to be a better learner. We need to start improving from where we are!

Ravi: What is your favorite childhood book?

Jyoti: I have no favorite books and I never really read any popular books until the age of thirteen or so. In my childhood, I read a few books on great personalities like Mother Tesera, Ratan Tata, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and such.

Ravi: What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?

Jyoti: Probably television.

Ravi: What was your hardest scene to write?

Jyoti: Too many! It’s hard for me to mention one hardest scene.

Ravi: Do you Google yourself?

Jyoti: I did. I am happy with the results!

Ravi: Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

Jyoti: All of my secrets, my deep feelings, my inner thoughts, my deep desires, and fears come out through my writings perhaps; only a few can actually see it. I feel amazed when my readers are able to connect to my words so well, I feel grateful when they feel inspired, motivated and when their thoughts lift up with my books.

Ravi: Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

Jyoti: I did. I read my book reviews sometimes and even if I somehow miss them, my readers don’t fail to get in touch with me through social media. I don’t feel bad for the bad reviews for, I have many good ones and I don’t have to feel bad and get stuck or discourage myself due to criticism. I am not that person! It’s very important to have a thick skin as an Author.

Ravi: Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?

Jyoti: I am an avid reader now; I read tons of short stories, articles, and books in the last 4/5 years. I can’t think of just one story to mention and, from the last several months or a year, I am more into poetry, non-fiction and self-help books.

Ravi: How many hours a day do you write?

Jyoti: When I am working on my book, I write for 6 to 7 hours. There is no fixed time however; I try to write something every day. There were also the days when I was constantly working on my book for ten plus hours as well. Sometimes, it depends on what I am writing.

Ravi: How long were you a part-time writer before you became a full-time one?

Jyoti: For the first 3 years or so I was kind of a part-time writer but now, I am a full-time writer. Even when I was a part-time writer, I used to think full-time. And I truly don’t understand what it exactly means to be a full-time writer. Is it the time we spend writing, editing, and rewriting? Because I don’t think writing is just limited to that, it is beyond what people see. If I spend 2 hours a day researching for my book, I consider it as part of my work.

Ravi: What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

Jyoti: Most of the time, I research while writing. I research the information that is required, If I am working on an article, I try to know the facts, the history. If I am working on a book of poetry with illustrations, I try to go through various types of poetry; I research about the styles, the structure, the formats, the old ways of writing, and the new ones.

Ravi: What’s the best way to market your books?

Jyoti: WOM marketing is always powerful (Word-of-mouth), Internet marketing & target marketing are very much helpful. The right strategies, social media marketing, and advertising are important these days.

Ravi: How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

Jyoti: I don’t keep unpublished books. I work on one book at a time! I currently have one half-finished book and hopefully, it comes out by the end of 2020.

Ravi: How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?

Jyoti: I learned a lot, I have grown up and came a long way. I improved myself tremendously after my first book.

Ravi: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Jyoti: Write a little more.

Ravi: What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?

Jyoti: There are many. I keep in touch with them and talk to them regularly. We exchange our ideas, our thoughts on certain topics; most of them encourage me with their words, with their reviews and kind gestures and I too always try to do the same. After all, it’s about who believed in us.

Ravi: Do you try more to be original or do you deliver to readers what they want?

Jyoti: My words are mostly based on real-life stories, I keep my content simple in words and my poetry, my stories, and my articles are all based on day to day life experiences. I don’t just like to deliver to readers what they want, I try to deliver the social messages through my writings and I deliver what they need to hear.

Ravi: What advice do you have for writers?

Jyoti: Begin from where you are, you need to start it today from the place you are in. Read more, write more, be ready to make the changes to your content, be okay to kill the unnecessary characters, and word count.

Ravi: What are the most important magazines for writers to subscribe to?

Jyoti: I believe there is nothing like ‘important’ in this. I go through various sites and many magazines online and it’s quite hard to name one or two.

Ravi: Tell me about your recent book to our Ravi Reads Blog Readers?

Jyoti: My latest book ANAMIKA is an illustrated collection of intense, unusual, and passionate poems. It is a book of touching collection of poetry and prose offering strong insights into relationships, heartbreak, love, and self-empowerment, there are also poems of envy, betrayal, and revenge.

Through ANAMIKA, I talked about feelings such as attachment & detachment, on being lost & found. Through this book, I touched on the subjects of loss, pain, abandonment, depression, and religion; in the form of poetry, I also tried to explain some of the most powerful lessons I learned about love. I believe Anamika is full of inspirations and an adventure into the greatest unknown. It is a unique poetry book that will leave the readers smiling and in tears altogether.

To Know more about Jyoti's ANAMIKA check out this link

Thanks to Jyoti for agreeing to this interview! If you know of an author who’d like to be featured in an interview (or you are an author who would like to be featured), feel free to email me at the address on my contact page.