Writing Debut: A Conversation with an Emerging Author Veerendra Achanta
Welcome to our author interview series, where I introduce you to emerging literary talents making waves in the world of fiction. Today, I have the pleasure of sharing some Q&A with Veerendra Achanta, the author of "Will I Get A Second Chance?". He is a rising star in the literary world, and his debut novel was published in the month of July 2023.
So, let's dive into this conversation with Mr. Achanta to gain insights into his creative process, the challenges he faced while writing his debut novel, and what the future holds for this promising new author. Join us as we uncover the story behind the story and get to know the mind behind the pen.
1. Tell us about yourself, how you developed your writing passion, and what inspired you to become an author.
A. My name is Veerendra Achanta, and I work as a software engineer. I am one book old as an Author. My debut novel “Will I Get A Second Chance?” was published by Notion Press on July 21st, 2023. My interest in writing broke out of me from a low phase of my life when I was searching for answers to a few questions.
2. At what point did you decide to be an author and what was your path to publication?
A. I am also an Artist, I always loved to see my name as an artist for my drawings or paintings, and at one point, I wanted to see my name as an author. When I wrote the first sentence of my book, I never thought I would really complete it. I took 4 years to learn how a book can be crafted, how to write to engage the readers, and how a book can be published. My author friend Viveka Sahasrani helped me and encouraged me a lot in the publishing process.
3. Please tell us what you enjoy most about writing. What is your favorite part of being a writer?
A. As a writer, I enjoy exploring my imagination, and creativity to build words and lines. What I feel is that the writers see the emotions, and feelings from a different perspective. My favorite part of being a writer is when my lines support someone to feel better. At times, it feels strange, and wonder to believe a few lines are really written by me.
4. What have you found to be most challenging about writing?
A. To make the readers feel what the storylines are supposed to make them feel. As every reader may not feel the same for a sentence or a line. The challenge can be won if a writer succeeds in making most of the readers feel the same.
5. Have you ever experienced writer’s block? How did you deal with it?
A. As a debut writer of a novel, I really don’t know if I had writer’s block and how I dealt with it. As above mentioned, It took me 4 years to complete my first book, and at times it took 2 to 3 months to resume writing. Maybe that is called writer’s block and I just waited to get some thoughts to continue writing. I didn’t force my mind to think of ideas.
6. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
A. I would like to spend time with my friends or family, exploring places, hiking, photography, and drawing. I always love to stay with nature.
7. What is your real-life work schedule like when writing? How many hours a day do you write?
A. As my work hours are in the afternoon, I mostly try to write in the morning times. I didn’t follow any schedule, I wrote when I had ideas and continued to write for 2 to 3 hours a day.
8. Where do you get your ideas for your books?
A. Storytelling always starts with a thought at any moment. Thought converts into imagination and to characters and to words and to sentences and to a book and the final destination is to emotion in the reader's heart. To make the words relatable, we need to take them from life.
9. What makes a great story?
A. I don’t like to judge a story as great or bad. Every story has its essence. It varies on how a writer crafted it and also how many readers felt good, and how many felt bad.
10. What does literary success look like to you?
A. To make the most of the readers feel what you meant with your words.
11. What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
A. I do research when a fact needs to be addressed in my storylines. I don’t want my readers to experience meaningless words.
12. Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
A. Yes, I do read reviews. I consider reviews to be opinions. I know that there would be good and bad opinions for everything in the world. Good opinions are the appreciation and bad ones are the improvements.
13. How can you strike a balance between presenting information to the reader effectively and ensure their needs are met?
A. If a writer can blend how a story happened and how it felt in a way that the reader feels the soul and emotion of the story, it fulfils the purpose of a book.
14. I have read your debut book “Will I Get a Second Chance”, which falls into the contemporary romance genre. Could you kindly share with us the motivations behind your selection of this specific genre?
A. Personally, I believe in the power of love and romance. I feel more comfortable in this genre. I wanted to address the importance of a second chance, especially in love as no one would be perfect in their relationship. Even though you are perfect, a second chance will always make you more perfect for each other.
15. What might your next book be about?
A. I knew that there were a few characters that remained unexplored in my first book. My upcoming books will be more around those characters.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your time. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had this remarkable conversation with you, and I look forward to reading your book when it comes out. I wish you the best of luck with your upcoming book. Once again, thank you for sharing your insights and taking the time to talk with me.
Connect With Author Veerendra Achanta:
Instagram: instagram.com/_nameisveeru_
Twitter: twitter.com/_nameisveeru_
E-mail: valentineveeru@gmail.com
Click here for the review of "Will I Get A Second Chance"
