Reading by Deb: INTERVIEW with AYANA LISBET

I want to thank Ayana Lisbet for taking the time for this interview!

BIO:

Ayana is an author of poetry and sweet romance. Ayana had always had a pen and paper or a book in her hands. Ayana always had stories in her head, and she decided to get her stories on paper. When she is not reading or writing, she is at home enjoying her life with friends and family and helping authors achieve their author's goals.

Writing has always been something that Ayana enjoys doing. Ayana does not only read and write, but she also enjoys taking pictures or watching the sunsets or sunset or doing anything creative, whether it is sketching, graphics, or making videos.

Family is everything to Ayana. Blood or not. If you need Ayana, she will help you, big or small.

When and how did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Honestly, I started writing when I was 8, 9 years old. However, I stopped after a while and this year when my life was going through a rough time I decided to write what I was feeling and in the end that was when I come up with some of the amazing stories and poetry I have created.

Did you have any influencing writers growing up?

I never really had anyone to influence me to write, however I did have people who supported me when I was younger.

Are any of your characters based on people in real life?

Yes, my character is definitely based on either me or people that I adore. However, there are some characters that are not based on my real life.

Where do you draw your book inspirations from?

My inspiration comes from everywhere. Some of my inspirations come from music, books I read, things I go through in my life, or just comes to me out of nowhere with no reason.

Do you use have a basic outline when starting a new story or do you let the characters lead the way?

Yes I do have a basic outline of my story, however my characters are what normally led me to the story. I typically have the way I want the story to go, but my character always wants me to go a different path in which then I do it that way.

When you are picturing the characters in your book, do you have a cheater photo for inspiration?

Some characters I do and some I don't. Like characters that are based off of my friends and family, I don't use a picture. But characters that are not based on my family and friends sometimes I have some type of picture that are my inspirations for them.

Many people read as a form of escape and relaxation. What is your favorite way to sit back and relax?

The thing I love to do as a way to relax is reading. If I’m not reading I love to hang out with my family and friends, taking pictures, or just sketch designs.

Any way I can be creative that what I would typically do.

Who are your favorite current authors to read?

Some of my favorite authors are Melony Ann, Elsie Quail, Anneke Boshoff, AV Asher, Erin Mc Luckie Moya, and Garry Michael.

Honestly I could go on. There are so many amazing authors.

What are your favorite books by others?

A Bridge to Forever by N Dune
Predicted by Louise Murchie
Love in the Dark by Melony Ann but I love all her books
Assassin’s Girl by Anneke Boshoff but I read any of her books

Do the locations in the stories have any meaning to you?

Location in my stories is not really big other than most of my stories take place in cities specifically in Virginia. Virginia has been my home and has a special place to me.

Do you write in single or multiple POV?

I write in multiple POV. I did try single POV one time, but I didn't like it and once I was about 3 chapters in I was nope and redid the previous chapters.

Plus in my opinion having multiple POV will show you what the other character is feeling and get a better understanding of them

What do you find to be your best research tool?

Honestly Google is my best friend as well my friends and family.

However the amount of things that I researched makes people think I'm crazy or something.

Do you write under a pen name? Also, do you write under more than one name?

Yes I do. As of right now I write under one pen. But who knows, maybe in the future I’ll have another one.

What genre do you write and why is this your preference?

Right now I write poetry and romance.

Poetry was never something I thought I would ever write. I wasn't in a good place. I was writing my emotions. Then those emotions became poems.

About 2 months of writing about 70 or so poems, I had a collection. I didn't know what I wanted to do with it. So it sat on my computer for a while until I finally decided to publish then finally my poetry collection finally got published.

Romance I write as well. I feel everyone deserves love. Doesn't matter what type of love or how you feel. Everyone should have a happy life. Everyone should be happy with who they are.

Tell me something about yourself outside of writing. Jobs, accomplishments, family, quirky trait...what led to you being you?

I am Hispanic and love learning about other cultures either through books or traveling the world.

What advice would you give to an aspiring writer?

One advice I would give is to write. Write for yourself not for others. Your book will not be for everyone.

Everyone has different tastes. If they don't like it, that's okay. If you like it then that is all that matters.

How do you deal and process negative book reviews?

Honestly not sure I have yet. I think one thing I do is just try to focus on the positive and tell myself that my book will not be for everyone.

What is the most difficult part of your writing process?

Honestly, the most difficult part for me is either finding the title of the story or coming up or trying to please everyone. I know you can't please everyone, but I try to. Even if I tried to please someone, then the story I once had will not be the story I wanted.

And at the end of the day, you should write the story that you want.

What is your naughty indulgence as you are writing?

I typically have coffee or lemonade with some KitKat. I honestly can't have my writing cave without either of those.

If you could spend a day with another popular author, whom would you choose? And why?

Okay, honestly this question might be the hardest question that there are so many.

But if I have to choose it would be Melony Ann, Anneke Boshoff or Kindra White. They have inspired me to follow my dream and how you are never too old to follow a dream.

Another person I would want to meet is probably V.B Emanuele as she has such amazing books and sometimes I never want her book to be over with.

What is your schedule like when you are writing? Do you have a favorite writing snack or drink?

My typical writing schedule is I sit back and get into the writing spirit first then I would write for a little at a time. There are some days I’ll write multiple times a day, then some only that one time. However I do try to write at least two times a day. One time in the morning and one time before I go to bed. However when I type before bed I typically write the longest.

While writing I need my snack, my blanket as it typically can get cold. I also will have any notes I have on my characters or what I plan for that chapter and hope it goes that way. I play light music in the background to help. While writing I need my coffee on.

Do you listen to music when you write – what kind of music is your favorite?

I do listen to music while I am writing. However it depends on my book or the scene I’m writing.

Like I could be listening to country songs and next minute I could be listening to a love story. It really just depends.

Like for example there is a scene I wrote for one of my books, and I would be listening to Colbie Caillat song Try several times while writing it.

Have pets ever gotten in the way of your writing?

No pets.

What is your kryptonite as a writer? What totally puts you off your game?

Honestly it's my author friends as well as my friends Ovi and Rayne. I’m not sure I would ever try half the things I wanted to do without them. They have always been in my corner.

Have you ever killed off a character that your readers loved?