Behind The Author: Life’s Fine Whine

Hello again friends and bloggers,

On this week’s Behind the Author interview, I’ve managed to nab the ever-fabulous Pooja from Life’s Fine Whine for a little discussion. This segment deals with authors and bloggers who have achieved some level of success through their work, and I pick their brains to find out how they got there. I also seek to gratify my own innate curiosity about the rest of their lives and I do it all to share with you!

Today’s Guest: Pooja of Life’sFineWhine

I hope that you will enjoy this’s week’s Behind the Author interview. Now, let’s get to it. 

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The Interview

Mathew: Hello Pooja! I am quite excited to be conducting this interview with you. You’re a successful blogger with over 9,000 followers on Life’s Fine Whine. You have a cultured background, being raised in Kenya, ethnically Indian and now living in Canada for your studies. Where do you feel your home is now?

Pooja: Hi, thank you so much for having me! I think Kenya will always be home for me but Canada has been such an amazing experience for me. The people I’ve met so far have been so sweet and I feel so at home there now. I don’t think I can choose just one place to be honest because I feel so connected with them both.

Mathew: Have you had a lot of experience getting to know other countries and cultures, aside from where you’ve lived?

Pooja: I have been lucky enough to travel to a couple of other countries and seen their culture and traditions. I think the places that I’ve really loved seeing is Ethiopia and Mauritius- they were just phenomenal. I had the best experiences there.

Mathew: I’ve noticed that you’re a fan of space and astronomy, which leads me to believe that you’re a geek after my own heart. What interests you the most about the Universe?

Pooja: I love learning about the Universe and I am a huge fan of any movies to do with space, like Star Wars and Star Trek. I think what interests me the most is whether or not there are other living beings out there. I would really love it if there are extraterrestrials out there and we can someday come into contact with them.

Mathew: With all existential thoughts aside. What started you on this path to blogging and how did it develop?

Pooja: Well, I started blogging when I was in High School because it was the perfect outlet for me. I have almost always known I want to be a writer but at that point I didn’t know how to start that out- I knew I wanted to write but I didn’t know where to do it. I was venting about this to my best friend who had just started a WordPress blog at the time and she suggested I should try out blogging which I did. It has been perfect for me – it helped me build an audience as well as improve my writing plus I’ve always had a hard time expressing my emotions but I’m good at writing them down so this has really given me a platform to express myself in way I couldn’t do before.

Mathew: Your blog hosts a large number of guest posts and seems to have a strong sense of community. Do you feel that your blogs identity has slowly shifted away from being something personal into something bigger than yourself?

Pooja: Yes I absolutely think so. When I first started out I was writing for myself because I didn’t know what exactly I wanted this blog to be about and I didn’t have the audience I have now. However, over time, and I think most bloggers will be able to relate to this, I realized what a great community WordPress was. The majority of people I have been lucky enough to meet through blogging have been so nice and inclusive that I felt that I wanted my blog to also be inclusive and in particular help newer bloggers which is why I created my Share and Promote page where anyone can share their blog and check out other bloggers. It’s also why I have guest posts- I am lucky to have a larger audience and if it helps other people put their blog out there to I am happy to help.

Mathew: I’d noticed that you dream of writing a novel one day. I share that same dream! Do you have any idea yet, what you might like your novel to be about?

Pooja: That is such a good question. I have thought about that a lot especially over the last few years and I genuinely have no idea. Sometimes I feel like I know exactly what I want to write about but then I write it and I hate it. I think I want to write something fictitious but inspired by my own experiences. I’m a huge fan of Kerouac and his “spontaneous prose” style of writing is a huge inspiration to me so it might be something like that.

Mathew: Thanks so much for taking the time to join me for this interview and I wish for your continued success in life and in the blogging universe. I would like to end this interview with one last question for new, up and coming bloggers out there everywhere. Do you have any words of wisdom that you would like to pass along?

Pooja: Thank you so much! I think the most important part, for me at least, when it comes to blogging is making sure you’re honest with your audience. Be your unique self and try to grow your blog organically. Don’t do what you think people will like because there are thousands of other bloggers doing that. I think when you’re real with your audience they will appreciate it more and you will see your blog grow. Also make sure to be active and support other blogs because as I always say WordPress is a two way street- if you don’t support others your blog is not really going to grow much or have much activity on it. Try to check out at least 5-10 new blogs a day.

I want to thank Mathew again for giving me a chance to do this interview. It’s been a lot of fun and the questions really made me think!

Again, If you have never visited Life’s Fine Whine before you may visit it, here.

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The After-Thought

Thank you once more to Pooja for participating in this week’s Behind the Author interview. I’ve been following her almost since the beginning of my blog so this was a really satisfying interview for me.

The important takeaway in a nutshell? When it comes to blogging, if you want to be successful you need to know that there’s a give and take to the WordPress community, the same as there’s a give and take to any relationship in the real world. No one likes being around that person who only cares to talk about themselves without taking an interest in anyone else’s life, and the same rules apply here. Be as encouraging and supportive to others as they are to you. Take an interest in other blogs. Developing a community for yourself is important. Sincerity is important. Being genuine is important.

Also, aliens are indeed awesome. Confirmed by one very smart woman, and Pooja if you’re listening, I do believe they’re out there! Also, even successful bloggers have trouble figuring out what that first novella should be.

One thing I had found interesting that Pooja and I had in common actually, is that we’ve both found it easier to express ourselves through writing than verbally in person. Sometimes I feel it can take me longer to get my point across when I’m talking out my ideas. I’m liable of being side-tracked and losing my train of thought. Perhaps that holds true with other writers and bloggers? Let us know down below! I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Also, I may have to visit Ethiopia and Mauritius one day. Consider me ignorant, but I’ve honestly never even heard of Mauritius before. Time to google!

Thanks for joining on this week’s, Behind the Author!