There’s two days left for St Lucian author Gardenia Destang’s Virtual Book Tour for ‘Becoming Me’ and she’s granted the STAR an exclusive interview to fill us in on the intimate details of her writing!
STAR: What was the inspiration behind “Becoming Me” – and was there a particular purpose for the crafting of this book?
Gardenia: The inspiration behind “Becoming Me” was to fulfill a challenge to myself to write, complete and publish a novel. There was no particular purpose; just me fulfilling part of me becoming me.
STAR: Who were you writing the book for – did you have a target audience in mind when creating this novel?
Gardenia: At the beginning I had no specific target audience. I just wanted to “tell” a story that I think women could identify with. I wanted to write a novel where the issues were real enough to resonate with the audience.
STAR: Is there a particular message in your book that you want your readers to grasp?
Gardenia: Most definitely. The journey of becoming you is a lifelong process and may take many curves, however, if you are to ever be truly contented, you must go after what is you, become you.
STAR: Did you find yourself putting snippets of your own character into the novel?
Gardenia: Yes. I have been accused of writing a true life story as many say they see and hear me in the book as the protagonist. As the book was written in first person tense, it was more meaningful to understand the main character through my thoughts and mind’s eye. I did incorporate my moods and attitudes as I was feeling into the book.
STAR: How much of the book is realistic?
Gardenia: Roughly about 10 percent of the book is realistic. The rest is active imagination.
STAR: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
Gardenia: Yes. Writing a book is one thing and fairly easy but getting it published and marketed is definitely not as easy. J I also learned that writing for me has become an escape to another, any other world I wish to create for myself.
STAR: Do you have any expectations for the book and what are they?
Gardenia: Some of the feedback I have received is that the book has all the ingredients for movie! That would be my ultimate expectation. However, as a starting point, my expectation is that “Becoming Me” introduces me as an author to the world, and that it does well. I also trust that the readers will find it as a story true to life that they can identify with and hopefully, for those finding themselves, be inspired to do just that.
STAR: Is there anything you found particularly challenging when you were writing this novel?
Gardenia: “Becoming Me” was the easiest and most enjoyable writing challenge I have undertaken so far. The characters were easy to develop. If there was any challenge it was deciding how to end the story.
STAR: Do you have any plans for authoring more books?
Gardenia: Yes. I have actually started three others and do intend to author many more.
Follow Gardenia’s virtual book tour celebration. Here’s the link to the tour page: http://www.
Find her book on Amazon:
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