Author Interview – Meena Chatty of Starlit Sky

Welcome to the Author Interview series hosted by Pragun and Suhasini. The Author duo are conducting the Author interview series for the E books launched through Blogchatter Ebook program. The first interview was of abhjit ray who wrote Desert Plant – click here to read the interview.

The Next in the series is Author Meena Chatty. Meena stole my heart with her book on constellations and Stars. I am a sky, sea watcher and that took me to this book at first glance. I am thankful to stay atop hills so I always get to see beautiful starlit skies and from now on will be consulting her book for sure. I and my kids are very fond of watching sky, constellations, stars and with my growing and curious kids we are always searching and naming constellations when star gazing. This book is a great help to me.

Orion is my kids all time favorite to spot but was so glad to read this detailed chapter on all the stars included in Orion, the info about these were a curious read for my lil shiva’s. The last chapter of Nakshatras and Raasis is sure saved for reference. I actually consulted my kids kundlis prepared by my mother and were so amused to find the exact nakshatras listed under lunar calendar Well, my kiddo was actually asking has author aunt studied astronomical science to know so much? And while finding the answer I got to know that Your learned father had shared such great information with you and thanks to you for sharing this with us. It’s actually a treasure trove of information for astronomy aficionados. I really appreciate your effort to build a bridge between the Indian and Western astronomical systems. I am always amused by this study.

Let’s find out what /meena has to say about her book.

Us: What inspired you to start blogging?

Meena: I have started blogging after a nudge from my daughter. She had a lot more faith in my writing than I had myself. I have never really been a writer. I wrote out my daughters’ debates, seminars, plays and such stuff when they were in primary schools. They have won some competitions too based on what I wrote. She started blogging to keep her love for language alive when her Engineering course had no language subjects. When she started enjoying her blog journey, she started urging me to write. In fact, she simply created a wordpress account for me. When she kept pestering me for a name for the blog, I randomly said Balcony Sunrise, simply because, I can see sunrise every day from my balcony, and I could not think of any other name! I started on a whim and then really started enjoying it. And here I am!

Us: Can you please describe your blogging journey so far? And who are your biggest supporters?

Meena: My biggest supporters have been my family, both near and extended. They all seem to really enjoy what I write!  Once I complete a post, I send them a whatsapp link, and most of them read and reply almost immediately. I do have a few friends too who are loyal readers. Over the course of these 3 years, I have found a few blogger friends who are a constant source of inspiration. I love to read what they write.
I love to participate in Blogathons. I have participated in two A2Z till now. I two BarAThons (fortnight long, ttheme-based blogathon), Write Tribe Festival of Words, Tell Tale Thursday with Anshu and Priya, and My friend Alexa. I have also participated in flash fictions hosted by numerous bloggers. It is here that I have tried fiction for the first time.
Apart from these, I write on topics I find interesting.

Us: Why you did register for the A2Z challenge?

Meena: I love to read other bloggers. Once I came across some blogs that had A2Z posts. It intrigued me a lot. I researched a bit and found that it was in the month of April. I did my first A2Z in April 2018. I enjoyed it so much that I was looking forward to the A2Z 2019. Now that my second stint is over, I am looking forward to the next edition.

Us: How it feels like to be called as “Author”

Meena: The feeling of being a published author is really surreal. In the beginning, it felt unreal and then when the book became live and the downloads increased, I felt very elated.

Us: What is the key learning for you from this Blogger to Author journey?

Meena: Ok, the main difference I feel between being a blogger and an author is the fact that being an author needs far more commitment. A blogger’s work is complete once a post is live. An author has to engage with the readers in a much more extensive way. Reaching out through the social media is an integral part of marketing the book. In fact, I joined twitter recently only because I had to learn the ropes before my book came out. I am still new to twitter and Instagram 

Us: Do you want to share any interesting stuff on this book which has not been captured there?

Meena: My book Starlit Sky – A world to explore, is a window to layman star gazers who are interested in the fascinating world that is created for us every night. Our understanding of the night sky is limited to the Solar system. There is so much more to understand. Our Indian culture has many references to many stars in the sky. Every person who practices Hinduism has a “birth star” and a “birth raasi” but how many of us can really point out that star in the sky? My book will help you identify the stars and constellations in the night sky. Each chapter is devoted to a constellation. Along with these details, I have included stories from Greek and Indian mythology to make the narrative interesting.
There are many nuggets of scientific information that makes the book deviate from being just any other book that is full of information.
The pictures are all hand-drawn by me. I have given pictures that will help you imagine the shape of the constellations too.

Us: Do you want to share any future plans for your blog and books with us? .How is your overall feeling on Blogchatter’s Carnival and what are your recommendations on the same for other bloggers

Meena: I have really enjoyed being a part of Blogchatter’s EBook Carnival. I had followed the authors of last year’s carnival and was inspired to participate this year. I was already working on this series and I decided to complete it in time for this year’s edition. The whole experience so far has been very satisfying so far. I look forward to participating next year too.
Blog wise, I would like to write more frequently and try to write more fiction too. I am always game to participate in more blog festivals!
I really love to connect to more bloggers. I hope to be able to do that too!

So, Friends, this is the short interview of our blogger Friend Meena. You can read her much acclaimed StarLit Sky book by clicking here.

Suhasini has done a candid review of the “Starlit Sky” book and you can find her review here.