Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Samna Ghani, please enjoy!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Samna Ghani is a published author. She writes romance novels and children’s adventure stories. She works as a Regional Editor at Healthmanagement.org and is also the Co-Founder and an active member of the Mississauga Writers Group, Canada. Her work has been featured on several online platforms including Yahoo, Capital Liberty News and Career Addict.
Samna has a passion for books and reads everything and anything under the sun. She has been writing since she was a young girl and her dream to become a published author finally came true in 2010. Now, Samna wants to write the kind of romance novels she would like to read.
CONNECT WITH SAMNA
INTERVIEW
What
name(s) do you write under? If you write under a pseudonym, what
helped you choose that name?
I
write under my original name Samna Ghani. Love my name and don't feel
the need to use a pseudonym :-)
Where
are you from?
I
am from Karachi, Pakistan but have been living in Canada for more
than a decade now.
What
is the name of your most recent or upcoming release? Can you give us
an idea of what the story is about? What genre is it? Where can we
find it?
The
name of most recent release is All Aboard. It is a romance novel
based on a woman who goes on a European cruise and meets a man she
tries to resist but can't. She has trust issues and the story unfolds
as the two get to know each other and bond. The book is available on
Amazon as both an eBook and a Paperback.
Title: All Aboard
Publication Date: August 19, 2014
When
did you start writing, and when did it turn professional?
I
have been writing since I was ten years old. I got my first pay check
for a published children's story when I was 13. You can say it turned
professional then :-)
What
or who inspired you to being writing? Who are your greatest literary
influences?
Jane
Austen, Georgette Heyer and P.G. Wodehouse are my three sources of
inspiration. I am a writer because of them and these three are also
my greatest literary influences, although I doubt I can ever match
their calibre.
Did
you hire or use an editor prior to publishing?
My
publishers (Books to Go Now for my romance novel and Laurus
Publishing for my children’s' books) provided me with an editor
prior to publishing.
Did
you use a graphic artist to create your cover art? If so, what helped
you decide on the cover(s) of your books?
The
publisher designed the cover and I must say I love it :-)
What
have you learned on your journey from writing to publishing that you
think should be passed along to those interested?
The
most important thing that I have learnt is to never underestimate
your work. While it is important for a writer to be self-critical in
order to produce the best material, there is no reason to constantly
question yourself as to "whether you can write well-enough"
or "whether this is good enough to be published" etc. My
romance novel was sitting idle on my hard drive for two years before
Angela Ford motivated me to send it out. It is now published and I am
thankful to her for helping me find the courage to send it out and to
Books to Go Now for considering it good enough to be published. The
same thing happened with my two published children’s books. It took
me quite a bit of courage to approach publishers. I have now learnt
that it is best to go-ahead and try to get your work published rather
than write and let your work rot on your computer.
I
know some authors set writing goals, such as so many words per day.
Do you set any goals for your stories?
No.
As far as I am concerned, I don't work well with quantitative goals.
I write when I want to (which is like all the time) but most of my
ideas come to me at night. This is as far as my books are concerned.
I actually work as a Regional Editor for a healthcare publication and
those deadlines I cannot afford to miss and I work on that during the
day.
Do
you have a favorite character of your own and what makes him/her your
favorite?
My
favorite character is Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice. I
like her because she is feisty; she is intelligent; she has a mind of
her own; and she does not spend her entire life living up to other
people's expectations.
Do
you have any projects you’re working on now?
Yes,
I am working on a short historical romance. I have another short
story which is likely to be published by the end of this year and
another book launch for an anthology from my writing group, the
Mississauga Writers Group.
How
do you juggle time between all your responsibilities?
Juggling
time between official work, kids, home and then the work I actually
love i.e. writing love stories is very difficult. But I manage.
Eventually :-)
Do
you have any blog tours or upcoming events we should know about?
I
have a book launch on the 27th of September. I am the co-founder and
active member of the Mississauga Writers Group and we have just
published an anthology where sixteen of our members have contributed
their material. We will be launching the anthology at our city's
Central Library on the 27th. I will also be promoting All Aboard at
this event.
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