What is fast becoming the most exciting aspect of book marketing is collaborating with other authors. JP McLean, a fellow Canadian author, and now a Best-Selling author, interviewed me and the outcome is quite entertaining. Check out the action below.
Q: Talk about yourself. Your books. What you’ve written so far.
BR: I once went on a first date and after exchanging some pleasantries, he asked me “what’s your crazy?” I was taken aback by the question and when my initial discomfort with the question died down, I realized it was a very perceptive thing to ask. Everyone just wants to be normal, but to really know someone, you need to realize their neuroses, or oddities. So, I think the biggest neuroses I have is wanting fairness in a very unfair world. That’s probably the biggest reason I write, to advocate for the odd ones, the down-and-outs, the political outcasts, the underdogs.
Q: What is the inspiration for your main characters
BR: Adriana is an odd one, an underdog, but she’s super smart. She is also persistent and patient. I really admire women who are strong like that. I can definitely resonate with a time in my life where I felt I’d never amount to anything. That I would never fit in, so Adriana is the sort of person I wish I was when I was 18.
Q: What do you hope for readers to be thinking when they read your novel?
BR: I want them to be empowered. The novel’s dedication is: “to every innocent questioner, to every faultless outcast”, so I want people to realize that critical thinking and questioning are a huge part of being homo-sapiens. Don’t let those in charge of the algorithms take that ability from you.
Q: So, what’s next in your writing?
BR: I am really excited about my next novel. It is a YA, dystopian novel called “Pick Your Scar” and it’s about a future world where people live so happily that to come of age, they have to choose a scar that will help them realize pain. They enter an artificial reality where they basically undergo some damage, but the main character actually emerges from the experience with a type of mental illness.
Q: What are some things you like to do to relax when you aren’t writing or working?
BR: I like to run and walk. If running is too painful then I walk. I also really love mindfulness meditation, so I often sit and just breathe. I wish I could say I was into photography or art, or music, but I am terrible at proportions and can’t keep a tune!
Q: Are there any tips you could share with new writers that have worked well for you or was there something difficult you overcame? How?
BR: Goals, Motivations, Conflicts. Every character, every scene, needs to expound on these three things. Otherwise, you have a one-dimensional character going through a story with no backbone.
Q: Where can readers find you?
BR: My readers can find me running in the desert, or the streets of Doha. I am a teacher overseas, so in the summers I come home to Canada and visit friends and family and take in deep breaths of clean air. They can also find me virtually on
Goodreads,
Instagram,
Facebook. I have a website:
https://boshrawrites.com/ I really like to interact with my readers, so shoot me a question anytime!