Author Interview: H.G. Ahedi

I'm thrilled to welcome today's author guest to the blog! They give me a run down on their journey so far and have some great tips on self-publishing. 

Check it out... 
 

H.G Ahedi holds a PhD in biomedical sciences and is a fictional writer. She is the author of Black Moon, Calculated Murder, Haunted and Realm 1: The Fall of Titan. She spends a lot of time writing and when she is bored of her desk; she wants to hop on a plane and travel the world. As that is not always possible, she explores local Sydney beaches and parks and enjoys a nice cup of coffee.

Find out more about H.G. Ahedi's books here! 

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​Three deaths, an invisible weapon and a deadly plot

Roumoult Cranston’s life is never boring. He either invites trouble, or it finds him. This time his best friend Dr. William Sterling is at the heart of investigating three suicides that he believes are ingenious murders. Everyone thinks he is crazy, including Roumoult. But when William disappears it triggers a frenzied search leading to a police investigation. Thus, begins the journey to find a ruthless predator.

Following a trail of bizarre clues Roumoult discovers they are all pawns in a deadly game. To his horror, one by one the pawns begin to tumble. Prime suspects turn into maniacs. The detectives are at the verge of cracking, and he barely escapes death. Nothing makes sense until he finds the secret game changer – The Ship Of The Dead.

But his victory sets off a deadly trap leading to a horrendous genocide in the heart of New York. He knows, this vicious murderer will spare no one, but if by some miracle he and his friends survived, this killer would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Grab your copy here! 
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The Interview...

​Who are you and what do you write?

Hey, I am Harbeer, also known as H.G Ahedi. I am a researcher and a fictional author. I was born and brought up in India and moved to Australia a decade ago. I began writing crime thrillers, and I thought I would never write any other genre. But it turns out I can. Recently I have written two science fiction novels which are due to release in the next few months.
 

Where and when and how did the writing life begin for you?

I love to read and grew up reading a lot of fiction. I just love stories. Then I dreamt a plot and shared it with a friend of mine. She loved it so much and said “Oh, why don’t you write the book and publish it?”

That was the start of it all. I wrote it, and then rewrote a few drafts and self-published it. I never thought I never thought about marketing it. It never sold a copy. I kept writing, just for fun and kept my books to myself.

 
How has the journey to this point been? Can you give us a basic rundown?

Exciting, challenging and very confronting. I am a private person and as a writer sharing stories is something very ‘public’ I might say. I like to keep things to myself.
 
It has been exciting because it has taken me more than a decade to realize how valuable writing is to me. I did it for fun of course, but I feel that sharing the stories I have written gives me enormous joy and especially seeing people get excited about the plots and characters has a special place in my mind. Challenging because I had to figure out everything. From running a campaign to fund the book, to trying to find a good editor, cover designer and sorting out all everything about publishing a book. Although, Haunted was published only with KDP, now I have gone wide with my other books which are published or are on preorders. There have been bad days and good days, but I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t tried.

 
What's been the hardest part of your writing/publishing experience so far? And the most enjoyable?

The hardest part for me was not the writing but editing. I have already got use to the process of publishing, and KDP is quiet straight forward. Editing becomes a challenge because I still have my writers’ hat on and that sometimes comes in the way. Like for instance, I might come across a scene which I love but may not have anything to do with the plot or the character. Now it’s easy for me to delete or reframe/rewrite the scene, but that was not always the case. With my fourth book coming out in a couple of weeks, I think it’s getting better.   


Would you go back and change anything?

Yes. Publish Haunted when I thought of the plot. That was in 2012 and not wait for so long to actually publish. On the other hand, I also knew I wasn’t ready for publishing until 2019. So, I would love to go back and start publishing earlier but I feel that if I had started, I would have given up, because I wasn’t ready for it. It’s a lot of work.

 
Where would you like to be in 5 years’ time? And 10?
 
I have published three books in the last 6-8 months, including Haunted. I would continue to write books on ideas that I have noted down for the past several years. In five years’ time I would love to see my books picked up and enjoyed by as many readers possible. I wish to turn my books into audio that so that they are available to people who like audio books. We will see how it goes!


What's one piece of advice you'd give to new writers just starting out?

If you are just starting a book, don’t think too much about it. Like for instance, obviously check out the methods of writing a book, but remember not everyone is the same. The methods are guidelines and there are no hard and fast rules. No one is going to see your first draft, so don’t fuss about it.
 
This is how I got about an idea. When I have an idea, I write it down on a notepad just in couple of sentences. Then I sit and write a small paragraph on the general idea/direction the book is going to go. Hint, if the idea gets till here… I am probably going to write the book. Then I write a synopsis, or you could call plot points which can be one page or two pages. I don’t worry about chapters, until now I know how many characters there would be and where the story would take place. Most of the time I will set the idea aside because I am working on something else or that idea is not scheduled for that year.
 
If it’s your first book, my advice you could use Stephen Kings method (write as you go- you should have a general idea of the book by now). He just starts writing. The second method you could use is the Snowflake method (check out the site). I used a few steps of this method and it really refined my work. I used some steps of this method to write Haunted and I could see the staggering difference. It forces you to think about almost all the things that you might need for your book. This might include research, character building, plot building etc. I don’t get into research until I don’t have a plot. There is a reason for that, I go down the rabbit hole and forget to write the book! So, I leave little notes in the first draft.
 
Most of all I have to be very honest, writing is hard job… and you have to be prepared to do it.
Hope this helps.
 

And most importantly...

Ketchup or Mayo? Ketchup
Night or Day? Night
Inside or Outside? Outside
Dogs or Cats? Dogs
Twitter or Facebook? Twitter
e-book or Paperback? Paperback
Sun or Rain? Sun
Keyboard or Pencil & Notebook? Keyboard
Comedy or Drama? Comedy
Chips or Chocolate? (hard to choose, can I pick both!)