About Chriselda Barretto:
Chriselda, a multi-genre author living in Belgium has mixed roots, namely Anglo-Indian and Goan-Portuguese influenced.
Having travelled the world extensively, as an Inflight Safety Training Instructor, she has worked in the Aviation industry for over two decades.
Always with a touch of artistic creativity along with being a professional modern jazz dancer, she also loves music and is passionate about writing!
She is fluent in 5 languages & loves writing poetry, stories and quotes.
Her aim is to bring poetry back to its glory and has published her narrative poetry story series 'The Creep', in a thriller genre! Other fiction genres she is currently working on are horror, romance, fantasy and she promises to surprise with a few more!
She is presently writing more poems and has recently released her first non-fiction series: 'Aviation Stories'.
Other books authored by her include 'She Said!', ‘Coffee & Bagels’, 'Dreams & Dew', 'Aviation Stories' and ‘Accursed Forest’.
What inspires you to write?
A lot of things really, but mostly it is the feeling of freedom and relaxation I get from writing. The entire process of creativity that begins with a little thought and continues blooming into unimaginable ideas, plots and twists, finally forming my story-line. Giving my thoughts a persona, a character and bringing them to life is my inspiration.
Each time I write, I try pushing my boundaries further as a writer or poet, in the hope of creating pure emotion on paper.
Tell us about your writing process.
Firstly I have Ms. Word installed on all my devices (laptop, Ipad, Phone), because my ideas hit at different times. Especially since poetry is my love, whenever I see the first few words forming in my head, I make sure to jot it down for fear I might forget the structure, if I were to leave it for later on. So no matter where I am, or who with, I will make a quick note of it.
If I am alone and working on a story, I close my eyes and go back to where I am in the story, to feel it and I become the observer. My writing is mostly visual and my thoughts guide me. I let logic slip in at times, but it’s my creativity that I leave free flowing. Strangely after a certain point of writing down, I can visualize the end and from that point on I drive the story, filling in characters to coincide with the end I have already perceived.
Because I write different genres simultaneously, depending on feeling and my frame of mind, the most challenging is remembering character names from stories that I have left sitting for a bit. So, each time I introduce a new character, I make sure to write down the name at the start of that chapter, for easy reference and continuation to my story.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Always, in fact I actually connect totally with my characters. I go through their mindset and actually ask them what they would do, or what their reaction would be. I need to create drama and one way of achieving it is by resonating with my character, to get his/her true emotions out. Sometimes I let them take their journey, while I remain an observer watching them and simply noting down what they do and say.
What advice would you give other writers?
Never forget why you are writing! There are different reasons why we write; it could be to vent, to tell a story, to relate, to inform, to guide… whatever it be, it must give you joy and satisfaction. Keep writing and keep making time for it.
Every morning as soon as I am up, I make it a point to write something…a quote, a poem, a continuation to one of my stories! Anything to keep it flowing. Make it a daily process, no matter what!
If you have a dry spell, take a break and read A LOT… it always gets me back on, real quick. And lastly just have fun with it and be creative!
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I hardly wrote before. But ever since my grandmother passed away, who was an avid reader, a pure genius in the written word and loved collecting quotes, I had this sudden instinct to write enormous lengths of text, quotes and poems. In a few weeks, I realized that I had lots of material and it was just lying around on my Ipad, collecting dust!
So I researched and read a lot on self-publishing. The possibility of having my work published and being in control of how I wanted to get it out there, intrigued me.
I decided to go ahead and haven’t stopped since. I published my first book in September 2018, and I am already getting set on releasing my ninth book. I absolutely enjoy the process of writing and finally getting the finished book out there.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
Reading has existed for centuries and it isn’t going to stop anytime soon. We are a lucky generation having numerous tools at our fingertips, making book publishing a reality for many, who thought it to be impossible before. It has become fairly easy to get your books out there independently, without splurging too much on it with the correct resources.
Needless to say, a lot of help, support and guidance can be found out there as well!
We are going to see an explosive boom in the book publishing market, if not already presently taking place! Something that will also play a big part in this equation are Audio-books, which is what I am currently looking into as well!
What do you use?: Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: Horror, Thriller, Children, Romance, Poetry, Narrative Poetry, Non-Fiction, Popular Fiction, Fantasy
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Chriselda Barretto Home Page Link
Link To Chriselda Barretto Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on Bookbub
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Instagram
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
