Exclusive Interview with
Lara Gelya
When did you start writing?
What makes writing your passion?
Music of the language. Language is always the living soul of a narrative, it is a music specific to the writer’s voice. When I came to the USA in 1990, I did not know any English. It took me about 10 years before I really started to hear and feel the music of the language in different books and distinguish my likes and dislikes when reading books written in English.
How long have you been writing?
I wanted to write a story about my life journey for many years, but I finally started writing during the COVID-19 pandemic, when I was bound to home and nothing else was on the way.
What was the feeling when you published your first book?
Elation, disbelief, sense of pride and accomplishment, delusions of grandeur, and panic - all of these at once.
What’s the story behind your choice of characters?
Since I wrote a memoir about my life journey, I was the main character behind the true events from my life.
What annoys you the most in pursuing a writing career?
For me, the most annoying factor is that after you published a book you need to invest a lot of your time and money to promote your book and make awareness of it. It is not necessarily my favorite activity.
How do you get over the “writer’s block”?
We all know the writer’s path is never easy, what makes you keep going? What advice would you give to new authors?
If you could go back in time and talk to your younger self, what would you say?
Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with the bad ones?
Yes, I read my books reviews. Most of the reviews are on my personal website (https://www.laragelya.com/testimonials), Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Goodreads. So far, I have been lucky not to have a bad review yet.
What is the feeling when you get a good review?
Receiving messages from people who tell you how much they've enjoyed reading your book is one of the most satisfying experiences an author can have.
Have you ever incorporated something that happened to you in real life into your novels?
Which of your characters you can compare yourself with? Did you base that character on you?
What do you think, the book cover is as important as the story?
A good book cover design not only captures attention but also conveys the essence of the story within its pages. It serves as a visual representation of the book story, and emotions that readers can expect to encounter.
Do you connect with your readers? Do you mind having a chat with them or you prefer to express yourself through your writing?
I do connect with my readers. In fact, recently I had the privilege to be invited as a guest speaker to the Book Club at one of the neighborhood communities to discuss my book “Camel from Kyzylkum.” My readers asked me many interesting questions.
How do you feel when people appreciate your work or recognize you in public?
Who is your favorite author? Why?
What’s the dream? Whom would you like to be as big as?
Would you rewrite any of your books? Why?
If you could switch places with any author – who would that be?
What would you say to the “trolls” on the internet? We all know them – people who like to write awful reviews to books they’ve never read or didn’t like that much, just to annoy the author.
What would you say to your readers?
I would say to my readers that:
Life is a long journey. Life is extremely interesting and is a source of joy, but at the same time, it is hard and complicated. The main thing that I learned in my life is to never give up on your dreams and to be yourself!
Share a bit about yourself – where do you live, are you married, do you have kids?
I'm retired now and live in one of the beautiful 55+ active adults communities in SW of Florida, USA. I live with my husband and our beloved dog.
What is your day job if you have one?
What are your hobbies? What do you do in your free time?
Capturing life moments through photographs, and making videos have been my favorite pastime activities. I have a channel on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@lgelya
When I'm not writing or making videos, I'm traveling the World, wandering through nature, reading, gardening, cooking, or catching my favorite shows.
Did you have a happy childhood?
Is there a particular experience that made you start writing?
I wrote a memoir about my life journey because I wanted to document it. My life was not ordinary - I was born in Ukraine and worked for twenty years in the Kyzylkum Desert of the Republic of Uzbekistan, I crossed continents alone, with $140 in my pocket before I finally arrived in the US with refugee status and not knowing any English. I started my life from ground zero again and made it happy and prosperous! I wanted to share my lessons learned, my tears shed, my battles lost and my battles won! It was a time to reflect on my life and share my untold story with the World.
Do you have unpublished books? What are they about?
What do you think should be improved in the education of our children? What do we lack?
If you were allowed 3 wishes – what would they be?
What is your favorite music?
There are many different kinds of music to listen to. But my favorites are classical, jazz, and relaxing, soothing instrumental music. I love the way they make me feel emotional, and I find that they're enjoyable to listen to.
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