Hello author, on behalf of all the readers, we would like to discuss something about you and of course, your book literature career as well. This conversation will help the reader to know more about you and your interest in this literature worlds. Please give answers in brief.
- Most welcome to Criticspace Journals, Author. We heartily congratulate you for being a published author. It’s really a great achievement. First thing, we would like to know about your basic info as a person, daily life, career so far and anything you would like to share about you with your readers.
GEETHA RANGANATHAN: Thanks for the wishes and I am excited to be interviewed by Criticspace Journals. I am a Chartered Accountant and a Diplomate in IFRS, (U. K) working as an audit professional at a Big Four firm. As an individual, I carry intellectual thoughts with an optimistic mindset who yearns for continuous learning. Most recently, I launched a book on self-help: Be Your Own Torchlight, Travelogue from Aspiration to Achievement. Later, I contributed to 3 different anthology titled Nightingales, 2.0, Nightingales 3.0, and Women.
To quote about my daily activities, reading books, writing and bird feeding are the few. The breakthrough in my writing career happened when I was awarded fifth and first place for my creative stories titled ‘Hope’ and ‘Zoomophobic’. I won my first global identity with the story titled ‘When nature will forgive mankind?’ which got published at www.commonwealthwriters.org.
- That’s really great; please tell us something about your journey of becoming an author. When you actually started writing, and how was the circumstance? Did any person or situation influenced you to write your poems or was it your childhood hobby of writing?
GEETHA RANGANATHAN: At age 12, my writing interests started with my penchant for telling stories to my school juniors. Also, I explored my hands-on writing poems of ‘Hikoo’ types. During my college days, the passion advanced into writing stories and poetry of societal interests like deforestation, wellness of mentally retarded people, etc., Post becoming a Chartered Accountant, I pursued writing by creating a blog. In a nutshell, I have been writing for 10 plus years in varied genres. My first breakthrough happened when I contributed to a Research Report, after the freelance writing for an author at Wall Street Journal.
- Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly? Be descriptive please so that our visitors know about you a little more.
GEETHA RANGANATHAN: Writing in genres like fiction, non-fiction and poetry require a powerful set of emotions. When the writer’s emotions are wired with writing, then he/she could connect strongly with the readers is what I feel. But it should not be a showstopper when someone flairs for writing. Hence, they can choose to write on technical and academic topics on the initial days. Parallelly, the writer must work out ways to bring out the emotions to connect with the readers of before mentioned genres. It could happen by reading books and sailing through the content, knowing oneself better to appreciate the emotions, changing the perspective/ thinking, looking out of the box, etc., According to me, nothing is impossible, if we put our mind and soul into it when the dreams are achievable.
- Are you on social media, and can your readers interact with you?
GEETHA RANGANATHAN: Yes, I am very much available on social media like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Since I was writing for a while, many readers have reached out to me here. It was a proud moment when few of the readers shared as to how the title ‘Be Your Own Torchlight’ impacted their life. Some readers expressed their gratitude since they started pursuing their passion after reading the title. Some of them even informed me that the title is not just a book, but a guide. Similar comments I have received for my articles, poems and stories on varied topics.
- As many people from literary circles have noticed a change in the literary practice of the day, do you also notice a change, ma’am? Do you feel that the profession of writing has changed its course with the times?
GEETHA RANGANATHAN: Every profession evolves over time and so is the case with literary practice. A noteworthy change that I observed over the period is that the current readers are not sticking to any specific genre. Also, the readers are trying their hands-on with different authors in the same genre. Hence it is appropriate for the author to be aware of the reader’s preference as a wholesome and not of any age group. It appears that a significant number of readers prefer books of medium size with serene expression because of their lifestyle and other commitments. As I happen to be a professional accountant, my disclaimer would be there would be exceptions as well.
- As a reader, which type of books you like. Tell us something about your interest areas in literature.
GEETHA RANGANATHAN: I love to read every type of book. I sternly believe that every genre has a unique tone of expression. My key takeaways include the writing style, form of contents, powerful emotions and their management, difference in perspectives, etc., I have read genres from fiction to non-fiction, history to science, poetry to short story collection. At present, the interesting genres include management books, non-fiction and biographies.
- The poetry readers or writers may be surely interested to know when is the best time to write good poetries. We are asking this question since we feel poetry writing is a lot more difficult than writing a story.
GEETHA RANGANATHAN: According to me, timing does not matter here. I could recall those midnights when I woke up from sleep to pen down those thoughts which have been sinking for a long time. Sometimes it happens that I would get the theme for a poem or story, but not the right way of expression. Hence, it is pertinent to keep our creative minds active and free from stress/ distractions, while working on our possible ways to manage writer’s block. The right approach is to allow the thoughts and live with the flow to express the thoughts with the right sense and notion.
- We would love to know if you could describe your journey as a poet and eventually to a poet-laureate. Like many other poets, do you also feel that poetry matures with the development of time?
GEETHA RANGANATHAN: My journey in poetry writing started from the curiosity to know the hidden meaning in the poems taught at school. This spark ignited me to venture out in writing poems ranging from 2 to 4 sentences or a paragraph. Over time, I introspected myself and connected the poems with emotions, which helped me to pen down poems ranging from 3 to 4 pages. So far, I have written 50 plus poems which I have preserved for publication. Yes, poetry matures with time if it is coupled with the right set of experiences, exposure and practices.
- And yes, the most important thing we would like to hear from you is what is your message to those new writers who have not yet started their journey of becoming an author? You have been their source of motivation, please convey your thoughts with them.
GEETHA RANGANATHAN: I am delighted to be a source of motivation for young writers. A key message to the new writers is to keep writing, reading books of various genres and explore ways to get rid of writer block. Few solutions to handle writer’s block include allowing the flow to settle by itself, nature seeing and hanging out with friends. To all young writers out there, ‘Write out your mind frequently to find out your way to Authorship’.
All the best for your future and this book too! Thanks for answering my questions.
GEETHA RANGANATHAN: It was my absolute pleasure to be a part of this article. Thanks for the wishes.