Telling my story as a poet

I was interviewed by author David T. Applegate on 11 October 2023 about my journey and mission as poet. Read about it in this post and watch the interview on YouTube.

David T. Applegate (author of the series The Empire of Elves) is a good friend of mine on Twitter (now X). One fine morning in September I was contacted by one of our mutual Twitter friends, the author and book reviewer Zea Perez, who goes by the name Zeamee on Twitter. Zeamee wrote to me asking if I would be interested in doing a live interview with David on his YouTube channel.

I was excited and happy to be asked! It reminded me of when my Twitter friend Rod had reached out to me back in 2022 to do a video for Author’s Week at his school in Long Island (Reaching out to the next generation).

David initially wanted to do the interview end September, but due to other obligations in my corporate day job, we agreed on 11 October 2023.

David lives in Australia, I live in Denmark. There is an 8-hour time difference between us. It never ceases to amaze me how modern technology and social media bring people together and enable us to connect and engage in real time across the globe!

A one-shot deal

I realised I really wanted to tell my rather unusual story as a poet to his viewers. As I prepared for the interview, I looked back on the incredible journey I’ve been on so far. From writing poems as a teenager in the 1980s, to launching this blog in 2021, and subsequently publishing four books on Amazon as an indie author.

I was going to do a live interview for the first time, so I was understandably nervous before the call. I’m used to Zoom calls from my job as well as delivering training online, but a live interview was literally a one-shot deal! This was an awesome opportunity, and I didn’t want to mess things up.

I prepared as well as I could, thinking about my potential responses but without rehearsing them. I knew they had to come from my heart. One of the reasons I take care of all my book marketing myself is that it is important for me to be authentic as a person and as a writer. I wish to speak in my own voice. This is also why I do not schedule a battery of social media posts but post them myself, so I can engage directly with my readers and followers.

The big day arrives

I joined David 30 minutes before the live interview so we could ensure that there were no technical issues. David explained the format of the platform and the interview to me. As we chatted I started to relax and feel at home (as a matter of fact, I was at home!). When the countdown ended and we went live, it was as if a curtain lifted. I was on a stage with a friend, talking to our audience. I felt my voice growing stronger and more powerful as the interview proceeded, and I felt happy.

My mission is to make the voice of my younger self heard, and on 11 October 2023 I felt validated. Miracles do happen, and this interview was one of them! As I told David in the interview, publishing my books has not been easy, but I feel I owe it to my younger self to keep going and to get her poems out there.

Like, share and subscribe!

I invite you, my dear Reader, to watch this hearfelt interview and learn more about my journey and mission as a poet. My links are in the description box, do check them out!

If you enjoy this interview, please like and share it and subscribe to David’s channel.  I also invite you to visit my Author Profile on Amazon, Goodreads and BookBub. All my books are free on KindleUnlimited. Please do leave a review if you read them.

Much love and blessings to all of you!

Vanita Shukla Hork, October 2023