Author Interivew With Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar

I’m an indie so that means I can write anything I think readers might be interested in. This includes memoir, both about living in the Middle East, as well as being a first time mother, as well as short fiction and novels.How would you describe yourself in a short third person bio?
Mohana has published five e-books including a mom-ior for first time mothers, a guide for aspiring writers, a short story collection, and a novel about women’s friendships. Most recently, From Dunes to Dior, is a collection of essays related to her experiences as a female South Asian American living in the Arabian Gulf. After she joined the e-book revolution, she dreams in plotlines.

Someone once told me that good writing tells the truth. The reader wants the dark, vulnerable, sad experiences to then be excited about the happy moments. If you can look at the unrelenting truth and share it, you’ll be the kind of writer people can’t wait to hear more from.What is your favourite part of writing?
When you get into a scene and all the characters are doing things that make you want to stay there with them to see what happens next.

I never learned how to ride a bike.Do you have a day-job, (other than writing)?
I teach writing and literature at the university level.  

Qatari Voiceswas the result of several years of workshops with first time writers in Qatar. There are over forty writers that have been published in the series and these are 21 essays from two of the volumes.Would you like to tell us a little about your collection, ‘Coloured and Other Stories’?
This was the first set of stories I ever wrote as a graduate student taking an elective creative writing course. I was hooked. I wanted to write stories about being an immigrant in the United States and feeling torn between two cultures.

There’s usually a working title that gets refined as the project keeps going forward and taking shape.How has writing changed your life?
Made me more passionate about helping other people tell their stories. And it’s given me a lot of focus to how I organize my time; I love vacations because I don’t write during them. The rest of the year is open season.