Interview with Aesha #AuthorChatter #anshuasks

The brain behind one of the best parenting blogs (Aesha’s Musings) of 2016, Aesha Shah is a teacher, a writer, an avid reader with a lifelong love of books.

And BTW, she is also the one who introduced me to BlogChatter…!! How grateful I am to her! 🙂

Aesha at a glance

Let’s see what Aesha has to say about her book ‘Decoding midlife’

What was the idea behind choosing ‘Decoding Midlife’ as the subject of your book?

I am approaching my 40s in a couple of years and I had this urge to reshape my life. Thus, I chose Midlife as the subject of my book as I am passionately optimistic of my life ahead and wanted to share my thoughts/opinions with my readers.

Which is your favourite chapter in the book and why?

This is very difficult. I have two favourites. First one is the first chapter of the book- Ambition and another is Marriage. I say both are my favourites as both are equally important for me to make my life happy during Midlife and beyond. I wrote both this chapters passionately and it is in these chapters that I express myself most candidly.

What message do you want to convey through your book?

I want more people to approach midlife with optimism and not consider it a crisis phase of life. I have opened my heart out and expressed my innermost feelings to motivate people to look at life with positivity.

How writing the book has helped you evolve as a writer?

Writing has been my hobby since childhood. It has always been a therapeutic experience for me. Whenever I have found myself in situation of self-doubt, sadness, stress or times of happiness, I have written in my daily journal. Thus, writing on midlife gave me a perspective on my own life. I explored those facets of my life which were unknown to me as well.

During the course of writing this book, I changed the sub topics many times. By the end of the book I improved myself as a writer but what mattered more to me is that I gained more confidence in myself as a writer. To say it in a few words – I was ready to take that plunge from being a blogger to a writer.

And how we are impressed, Aesha!

Name 3 eBooks in the BlogChatter campaign that have resonated with you.

The ones I loved the most:

The Golden Rainbow – Balaka Basu

Tales With A Twist – Varadhrajan Ramesh

Tara – Anshu Bhojnagarwala

Peeps, hope you are hopping on to these next! 🙂

Which is one genre that you would like to write on next?

I am exploring fiction now. It gives lot of creative satisfaction. I might not be very good but it gives wings to my imagination and I am enjoying that as of now. But you never know when inspiration strikes and I might like to write something else as well. Such is life of an aspiring writer, I guess.

Don’t we know!! 😉

What is your sun sign? Do you believe sun signs affect a person’s personality?

I am an Aquarian. I do believe it affects a person’s personality. I am truthful and affectionate like a true Aquarian. Also, inefficient sometimes like them. I tend to get lazy but then I blame it on the creative person in me.

Ha ha!! Well said!

How do you overcome writer’s block?

I take a walk around the house. Just stare outside the window. Sometimes I listen to music as well. If nothing clicks, I just take a break from writing for a few days and read more.

Share tips on publishing and marketing your ebook.

Since ‘Decoding Midlife’ is my first book, my family and friends were very excited to read it. I didn’t need to market it much. I shared it on social media and received very encouraging reviews. I am myself looking for tips on the same. However, I really appreciate the support Blogchatter provided by conducting live sessions and twitter chats to provide guidelines on publishing and marketing.

Throw some light on how you research while writing.

Most of my parenting blog posts are based on my personal experiences but if I am writing on topics like guiding children on puberty, menstruation or building self-esteem in children or emotional development in a child; I research on the internet. I read different articles on various websites and I also read many books. Being a qualified teacher, I have read various books on education and child psychology so I incorporate my learnings in my blog posts as well.

Aesha on her book Decoding Midlife –

My Book ‘Decoding Midlife’ is all about my goals, objectives, hopes, desires, wishes and aspirations from the middle years of my life. This book is about approaching the Midlife with positivity and vigour and not by considering it to be a crisis phase of life in any way. Writing this book has been an enriching and moving experience for me. I explored various facets of my personality which were unknown to me as well.

Check out the review – 

http://namysaysso.com/blog/book-review-decoding-midlife-aesha-shah/

Decoding Midlife will soon be on Kindle. Meanwhile, download the book for free from here. 

Aesha totally rocking her dramatic reading –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSKF4SIT7ps

Do check out Link to GoodReads page – 

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18053528.Aesha_Shah

@Aeshashah17, do comment and let us know how this interview experience was for you. And do read, share and comment on your fellow author’s interviews as well.

Fellow authors, show some love. Comment and share freely!

Wondering what Ashwini and Priya are upto? Go check their blogs for the interviews of Saba and Mahak.

This interview is a part of a series of interviews conducted jointly by @Ashwini_Menon, @priyreflects and Yours Truly.