Amita Murray has worked as a dancer, arts writer, fashion editor, seller of Christmas flowers, PR assistant for supercomputers, counsellor for a jobs website and hen party host. She was working as an academic when she did what you're never supposed to do - she left her full-time job to do more writing.
Even when she tries to write serious stuff, it tends to come out a bit funny, so she tries not to write about serial killers. She loves chocolate, dysfunctional families, and world peace. Her short stories have been published in Brand, Inkspill, and other platforms. Her novels are available on Amazon. For updates, check out @AmitaMurray and www.amitamurray.com
Mel: Can you tell us a bit about your writing routine? Do you typically set aside a certain period to write, always write in the same place, do you listen to music while you write, do you need solitude to write?
Amita: I can dip in and out of writing if I have to, if I only have a very limited amount to time to write while juggling a job and a life! But, ideally, I like to write for several hours a day, with lots of cups of hot chocolate. Times when I can do that are blissful.
Mel: If you could give your eighteen-year-old self one suggestion, what would it be?
Amita: Don’t try to hide how you’re different. Don’t try to fit in. Be yourself. Really, really allow yourself to be yourself, and people who care will turn up. Don’t fight yourself. Don’t hide your differences. Don’t be afraid of your craving to be creative.
Mel: It seems more and more writers have MAs in creative writing, some PhDs. Education is a great thing, but is there a negative side to this. Will it produce in a few years a literary culture where lacking this degree will make it hard to get published?. Is it homogenizing writing styles? Will the day of the amateur writer who comes from nowhere and changes everything be over because of this?
Amita: I am not critical of creative writing education, as many authors tend to be. I think to be good at any art form – writing or something else – you need training and you need some sort of rigorous apprenticeship. This can happen by yourself, with informal feedback, etc or in an educational setting, but it has to happen. It takes years to hone your writing. Feedback from others can help you along the way, if you know how to use it. But I am critical of academia as an institution that tends to get so wrapped up in bureaucracy that it forgets its real goals.
Mel: How important is seeing different parts of the world to you in terms of stimulating your creativity?
Amita: I love travelling. No idea how it feeds into my creative process. But it is a fundamental part of me.
Mel: Where can we find you online?
Amita: Amitamurray.com and @AmitaMurray
My novels are available on Amazon, and there are several stories sprinkled around the place.
Mel: Besides reading and writing, what are some of your hobbies or interests. ?
Amita: I love dancing, and spending time with friends and family. I love trying new foods. I love sushi. I could eat it every day for a long time. It would be my desert island food. Or is that chocolate? Hmm. I sadly watch a fair bit of television.
Mel: Please tell us something about your recent publications and/or works in progress.
Amita: Confessions of a Reluctant Embalmer is a romantic comedy, set in a funeral home in London. Readers say they have laughed so much reading it that they have cried! I love hearing reader responses. It’s the best thing. For this book, I’d say from the title people probably expect it to be gory. It’s not. It’s a quirky comedy. The Pre-Raphaelite Seamstress is a love story set in Victorian London art circles. Reviewers say they feel like they are walking in the streets of Victorian London. Readers who love that period, and Victorian fashion, should really enjoy it. The Pre-Raphaelite Society and the Historical Novel Society are coming up with reviews this fall. The next in the series – The Harlequin– will come out soon. Besides the main characters from the first book, the second will focus on the story of a young, spunky black girl. The third will probably look at young gay men in Victorian London and social attitudes toward them, but I haven’t written it yet.
Mel: Frank O'Connor in The Lonely Voice: A Study of the Short Story said short stories seem to be about marginalized people, the lonely, those with little voice in society. Do you think he is on to something illuminating about the format? Why is there so much loneliness in the short story?
Amita: I think a short story is a peek into a character. A character in a specific place and time, and their relationship to other characters. It is primarily a snapshot of feelings. It’s personal and private and richly evocative. Maybe that kind of deeply personal glimpse comes with a feeling of isolation and loneliness. The Front View has just published one of my stories, Mina in the Spring, and yes, I can see loneliness in that.
Mel: These are loaded questions coming from me, but with the decline of print reviews, are book blogs becoming more important? Professional critics have denigrated book bloggers as reviewers without credentials. Book bloggers have replied that professional reviewers just don't like bloggers doing for free what they ask money for doing. Reviewers do it for money, bloggers for love. What is your reaction to this? Do you join book tours or send bulk mailings out asking for reviews?
Amita: I love book bloggers. They are closer to a real reader than the traditional reviewer. And the ones I have encountered tend to be charming and supportive and generous with their time. When I am looking at a book on Amazon, I tend to be more guided by thoughtful reviews from readers than blurbs from traditional reviewers. So, book bloggers are very important, and getting more important by the minute. I never send out mass mailings. I approach a book blogger personally if I like their site or they review in my genre. I haven’t done a blog tour yet, but people tell me it’s a good idea. I also love it when people get in touch with me and say they’d like to review my book!
Mel: When you write, do you picture an audience or do you just write?
Amita: I just write. I’ve never been able to sustain my interest in something I’m writing unless I love the project. I left a full-time career as an academic to do this. I did that because writing feels like the food that nourishes me. It doesn’t pay much at the moment. But what’s the point doing it if I’m going to do it for a market alone? I tend not to think of a market when I’m writing, though I’m more aware of a potential audience when I edit.
Mel: Assuming this applies to you, how do you get past creative "dry spells", periods when you have a hard time coming up with ideas or when things seem futile?
Amita: I rant and moan and cry and eat chocolate till something changes! I was terrified of these periods, but have realized now that ‘it’ comes back.
Mel: What are the last three novels you read? Last three movies? Do you have any favorite TV shows? Are there literary works you find reverberate in your mind in happy or in dark times?
Amita: One of the most beautiful, lyrical books I’ve read is God of Small Things. I am addicted at the moment to Game of Thrones. I enjoy films like The Royal Tennenbaumsand TV shows like Six Feet Under.
Mel: If you could live anywhere in the past for six months, or forever, and be rich and safe, where would you pick and why?
Amita: I’ve lived in so many different places, and travelled a lot. So, my sense of home tends to come from friends and family. So, wherever they are, I guess, is home. I do love London. With all its craziness. It is chaotic and colourful and busy.
Mel: Is a certain amount of suffering good for a writer?
Amita: I suppose dealing with hard times can deepen and sharpen your emotions and your empathy. But I don’t think it needs to be big difficult situations. I think simply feeling different from the people around you as a child or as a teenager – as many artists do – is enough.
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