Barbara is a great host.
Joining us on the show was Shiju H. Pallithazheth Author of Katashi Tales and Founder of Motivational Strips.
Thank you Barbara Ehrentreu for this wonderful interview on your Radio Show. It was lots of fun speaking to you and Shiju H. Pallithazheth.
You were a perfect host.
If readers want to listen to the interview please click on this link.
Here are the Interview Questions and answers:
• Where were you born and where do you live now?
Barbara, I was born in Trinidad and I still live there. I have travelled to many Countries all over the world but I love my home in Trinidad.
• Besides writing what is your occupation now? What made you decide to stop being a banker and work in insurance? Why did you leave the insurance field if you are not there anymore?
I am a former Bank Manager. My job was to give loans and overdrafts to business people. I turned many of them into millionaires. I took early retirement from Banking and moved into insurance. I also excelled there. But I fell ill and had to go abroad for a few months for treatment. After I got better I wrote a book about my illness. I am Cancer Free. It was a best seller and it won many awards.
• Do you have any hobbies?
My hobbies are reading and writing. I go to the movies now and then and travel around the island with my nieces and sisters in my spare time.
• Who or what influenced you to begin writing?
As I mentioned earlier, the first book I wrote was, I am Cancer Free. Because of the success of that book, I continued writing.
• You have written 21 books and you keep adding to this number. In what way would you say this has changed your life?
Writing has changed my life because it has taken me in a different direction for which I did not plan.
I used to think Banking was the best occupation, but after leaving banking, a whole new world opened up for me.
I was very successful in Insurance and qualified for the Million Dollar Round Table, the Premier Association for Financial Professionals six times in a row.
I was made a Lifetime member of MDRT.
Since I started writing in 2013, I have won several awards and I still cannot believe that my books were that good.
• Please tell our listeners about a typical day of writing for you.
I do my writing late at night when it is very quiet and I can concentrate on what I am writing about.
There is no set routine.
• I know you have so many books we would need at least ten shows to talk about all of them. Please tell us about your latest one.
I will tell you about Zeeka Chronicles because that book won many awards.
ZEEKA CHRONICLES: REVENGE OF ZEEKA is a science fiction novel that consists of five spine-chilling stories.
It will Take you on a futuristic Journey into the year 2036.
These highly imaginative tales would keep you spellbound.
It is a story of one man's misuse of science for revenge.
Prepare to hold on to your seats as you will encounter zombies, robots using taekwondo skills, and you may have to dodge high tech weapons and shrinkenators.
Handsome doctors like Dr. Raynor Sharpe and Dr. Steven Sharpe along with beautiful Dr. Janet Jones-Sharpe will take care of you at the Gosh hospital.
Intertwined in the first part of this futuristic tale is a romance about Janet and Raynor which will warm your hearts.
The highlight of the story is the life of the protagonist Dr. Steven Sharpe who was kidnapped as a child.
Zeeka Chronicles: Revenge of Zeeka was an award winner in the Category Young Adult Thriller in Readers Favorite International Awards 2018, winner in Science Fiction in SIBA Awards 2017, winner of the gold award in the category science fiction in Emagazine Readers' Choice Awards 2018, and winner in the top ten finalists for science fiction in the Author Academy Global Awards 2018,.
Here is an extract from a Readers Favorite Review:
"Brenda Mohammed's writing style is evocative of the future and she handles the science in her fiction brilliantly: reading is believing!
I loved Zeeka Chronicles; it has worldwide appeal for anyone looking for an entertaining story that is different.'
• Looking at your bio you have compiled a huge amount of awards. Would you please let our listeners know what they are and why you received them?
In November 2018 I won two awards with Readers Favorite International for two of my books, I AM CANCER FREE in the category Health and Fitness and ZEEKA CHRONICLES in the category Young Adult Thriller.
I travelled to Miami to collect those awards.
I won other awards for some of my other books but those are not as popular as Readers Favorite.
The other awards you see on my Bio are Literature awards that I received from the World Nations Writers Union and Motivational Strips.
• You also have written poetry and you are an administrator for Motivational Strips. How is writing poetry different for you than writing prose? Which do you like better?
I was not a poetry writer before joining Motivational Strips.
I grew to love poetry after I became a member and read the fantastic contributions from other members.
• What are you doing to promote your latest book? Will you be doing any online or in person promotions?
I do all my promotions on Social Media and they have worked well for me.
• What was it like to edit a book like Katashi Tales? As an editor, I understand the problems involved with editing another person’s work. How did the distance and the time affect your working on this book?
I was hesitant at first to take on an editing job.
I had never edited another person’s book before.
I could not refuse a man like Shiju H Pallithazheth.
He is very kind-hearted to all the members in his group and the affiliate groups.
When he approached me I agreed immediately.
The distance and time difference of eight hours did not affect our working on the book.
I always wondered if Shiju slept at all.
He was intent on producing the best book that would be read all over the world, and he succeeded.
I am truly grateful that I had a major role to play in getting that book out to the public.
It was a great deal of fun working with Shiju. He made me laugh a lot.
• Please let our listeners know where they can find your books.
All my books can be found on Amazon. Here is the Amazon Universal link. CLICK HERE.
• Finally, this is a question I ask all of the people here on Tales from the Pages, are you a pantser or a plotter? In other words, do you just write or do you outline before you write?
Barbara, I do an outline, but I never stick to it because my characters start writing their own stories.
Sometimes the whole plot gets thrown out when I write the dialogue, and the story takes a new and exciting turn.
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