Written Author Interview
- Tell me about yourself. What do you like to do outside of writing. What is a day in the life like for you?
I grew up in LA and a few years after I got married, we moved to Arizona. My heritage is Iranian. I was born here after my parents moved from Iran in the late 70s. It was interesting, to say the least, growing up with such a difference in culture at home vs at school and other places where I’d socialize with others in my age group. The culture class was an enlightening experience in retrospect. If I’m not writing, I like to read, watch movies or documentaries about ancient history and philosophical ideas. I’ve been really fascinated about the ancient world and the knowledge that we’ve kept since then, as well as some knowledge that is obscure. I also enjoy listening to music. Music inspires me to be creative and gives me momentum to do tasks around the house. A typical day is pretty low key for me. I have my coffee and then I try to check off my to-do list as well as review my horoscope. I believe astrology is a wonderful tool, like a form of guidance in life. We only take what resonates and leave the rest. I like having discussions online within communities that have common interests. I’m there for my daughter when she needs me. She’s 10. We occasionally have design projects at home that I oversee, like updating parts of our home. I went to school for interior design and worked in it for a little more than a decade, so I’m very familiar with home décor and remodeling. My other hobby is art. I may decide to create a coloring book in the future.
2. What inspired your first novel? What was the thing that got you into writing in the first place?
As long as I can remember, I always wanted to have a book that I had written. I had some ideas that never really motivated me to continue throughout the years. Oddly enough, one day I watched Dune and was fascinated by Timothée Chalamet. He brought the character of Paul Atreides to life. I was impressed because I was originally attached to Kyle Mclaughlin’s version from David Lynch’s version from 1984. I began to research him and backtracked his career. His personality inspired me so much that it led me to create a fan account on Instagram so I could maintain following his career. The part that relates to your question is that within that fan account, I started getting inspired to write short stories and contemplations. His photos would inspire me to create little scenarios about him. Eventually, I would get feedback from mutual fans and they were asking me when I was going to write the next one. After creating several posts I thought I should create a blog just in case something happens to my Instagram account. I wanted to make sure I didn’t lose them. It also allowed me to write more detailed stories and add more photos to them. This practice brought me to the realization that I loved writing and creating worlds. One day I pulled out a bound journal I haven’t used in years and began to write. I
modeled my co-protagonist after Timothée, mostly in looks and demeanor. The story progressed in almost a supernatural way, as if I became a transmitter. It flowed as if it was released and wanted to exist. I experienced a lot of synchronicities which was interesting considering the topic of my story. It took me about a year, with some breaks in between, to finish writing it.
3. How do you come up with characters? Are they spontaneous or meticulously planned?
My protagonist is loosely based on myself and my interests as well as certain life experiences, however she’s got her own unique attributes as well. My co-protagonist was intentional, as I stated in my previous question reply. The rest of the characters spontaneously appeared as I tried to progress my story. It was like a discovery each time.
4. What are some of your favorite genres to read? Are there any books you’d recommend to first time readers or people looking for something new?
I love sci-fi, as well as philosophical and spirituality. I just finished reading Dune Messiah. I had read Dune before that and am planning on reading Children of Dune next. I’m currently reading a book that I discovered while watching an episode of black mirror. It’s by Shakti Gawain and it’s called Creative Visualization. I’ve read The Kybalion which is based off of Hermetic principles. The Book of Symbols from Taschen is a great reference book to decipher different meanings from different cultures. When iWas in high school, the book that inspired me in regards to sci-fi was Jurassic Park by Michael Chricton. The aspect that fascinated me was Ian Malcolm’s character (played by Jeff Goldblum in the feature film.) His study of Chaos theory led me to research fractals and probability of outcomes.
5. What’s the most difficult thing about being a writer?
Balancing home life with writing. Time management and trying to justify that writing is valid. It should be taken seriously and not just a fleeting hobby. This is in terms of judgement from others who may not understand or realize that writing is important and contributes to the collective of arts. Basically the necessity of creating boundaries in order to have time to write and trying not to feel guilty about it.
6. What is your process to completing a novel from outline to final product?
I can probably answer that better after I start to think about my next book because this one started on a whim. However, throughout my journey on this book, I would write notes elaborating on each character as well as research certain topics to try and maintain some accuracy. I’d read each draft to try and tie loose ends if there were any. Next time, I plan to find a way to outline each chapter as I think about a basic story concept. I’d progress it with a series of idea summaries, then I’ll expand on them as I write…like writing prompts, but related to the story progression rather than being random.
7. What’s the most unhinged thing you’ve written in your novel? Don’t worry, we don’t judge here.
The usage of edibles to expand the mind of a couple of my characters. I figured since they’re basically legal, it’s ok.
8. What’s one thing about being a writer that absolutely drives you up the wall?
I’d have to say the query process. I know why it exists the way it does currently, but it’s very limiting to authors. I feel it prevents the full scope of the story to be understood by the query agent…especially since they probably receive a lot of requests that they have to go through. Having to be specific about the genre feels limiting, but I understand why it’s also necessary. It’s easy to have some gatekeeping happening in this process too. That’s why the option to self publish was appealing to me after attempting the other way. I’m grateful I was fortunate enough to explore that route.
9. What does being a successful writer look like for you? What type of life do you want to live as a writer?
I imagine it as building a community with other writers as well as our readers. I visualize traveling to different bookstores or event spaces, reading excerpt from our book and then having an opportunity to speak about it, like I’m doing now in this interview. I also think about getting recognition from people who enjoyed reading it and hopefully got inspired by it. My dream is to adapt it to a film with my inspiration becoming one of the leads. I am planning to research script writing.
10. Describe your writing journey. If you had to write a story centered around it, do you think you could pull it off?
I think I can write a story about it. It would center around myself and my dream of becoming an author. I always wanted to have a book, and throughout time, I gained a lot of insight and nudges from the universe to keep going. When I discovered my final inspiration, I told myself that I’m just going to start writing whatever came from my thoughts. Essentially a mind dump. I felt like I couldn’t keep up with my mind as I wrote. Eventually I transferred my handwritten partial draft to my laptop and it went a lot smoothly. The whole process from start to finish was filled with joy, excitement, uncertainty and the feeling of anticipation for what’s to come. This was new territory for me, so it was a process of discovery through the whole process. It also shined a light on myself learning about myself. I realized that all of my interests culminated to the things I write about.
Want More From Shiva Shahlapour?
We’re All We Need https://a.co/d/1Z835aV
Twitter @DreamWriterSS
IG @ShivaWritesDreams
Blog: shivawritesdreams.blogspot.com
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