Interviewed for Spillwords Press Spotlight On Writers Series!
I am truly grateful to the team at Spillwords Press for taking time to interview me for their “Spotlight On Writers” series! The Spillwords Press Interview Series, the Spotlight, seeks to share interviews with writers published on the site on a regular basis and I find each interview shares an amazing inside look at how different writers regard writing, explore the world through their words, and find inspiration.
I love it when people talk about themselves and share interesting stories. I love rambles and creative musings, but I also appreciate how the mind unconsciously brings forms of order to how we present our life stories; there cannot help but be a distinguishable flow in how we link images and sequence events.
In this six question interview, I seek to answer in as many words as it takes to satisfy my understanding of the question. The following is an excerpt of the Spillwords Press interview.
Where do you hail from?
I was born in a small historical city called Lexington almost nineteen years ago but have lived in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia for the past thirteen years. As my mother is from Pakistan, I also enjoy knowledge of a different kind of motherland.
What is the greatest thing about the place you call home?
I love small-town charm and old-world rust. Living where I do, I am able to experience both the cozy mystery stories of a small city as well as the old pioneering and settler stories of the mountain people whose families have lived here for generations.
What turns you on creatively?
Among the many little things that turn on the words in me, people watching inspires me. Walking the street I notice the oddly colored scarf, the sad grey eyes of the woman waiting at the crosswalk, and the happily joined hands of a father and his young son. These observations find place in my writing.
Untold stories also inspire me. The stories in the tumble-down houses quietly dying in the mountains or old soda bottles and quaint vintage jewelry become tales I must tell . . .
In the final three questions, I use my favorite word in a poetic sentence, talk a little bit about my pet peeves, and share what I believe defines me. Please continue reading here and do share your beautiful thoughts!
Photo by Charles Deluvio
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Giulia
Congrats on the interview! It’s really powerful. I loved learning more about you.
overdressedblogger
this is incredible, congrats on the interview!
jessica | http://www.overdressedblogger.com
Raji (@journeyintofantasy)
Congratulations Jaya! Thanks for sharing this interview with us, I really enjoyed reading it!
Heidi Bruaw
I love learning more about other bloggers. Thank you for sharing this interview! 🙂
Lucy
Congratulations, Jaya! Such a great interview.
Jeff Flesch
Congrats, Jaya! I love how you talk about unconscious hypocritical action. Lots of this in the world. I also enjoyed your intriguing poem about intrigue. How fun, my friend.
Jaya Avendel
Thank you, Jeff! Love that you enjoyed my three line muse and my thoughts on hypocritical action. 🙂
Jeff Flesch
You’re most welcome, Jaya. Always! I did enjoy your muse, very much, my friend. 😊
Alicia Thompson
Wow what an amazing interview, I love your responses. Really great work, congratulations! Alicia
Kelly Diane
I’ve been a fan of your writing for so long. Its great to get to find out more about you as a person Jaya.
mindbeautysimplicity
lovely interview! also love people watching & find it so fascinating. in college my friends and i used to make up stories based on the people we saw in the bars. lol
Jaya Avendel
Bars are an excellent place to watch stories play out! <3
lifestyleseason
Great interview! Thank you for sharing this with us! I liked reading this and finding out more about you!
Harsha
Such a beautiful interview. I really love the way how you observe things and get inspired for writing. It was good to know more about you!!
Jaya Avendel
Thank you so much, Harsha!
Susi Bocks
Lovely interview, Jaya! Well deserved recognition! 🙂
Anika
How cool! I always find interviews so interesting, especially when I’m a fan of the blog and writer already. Lovely interview and congratulations!
Gabriela Marie Milton
Beautiful Jaya. Bravo and congratulations from the bottom of my heart.
xoxo
A Sustainably Simple Life
What a great interview! I thoroughly enjoyed your reason behind why you chose your current favourite word. 🙂 It was great to her to know you a bit more through your interview 🙂
Jaya Avendel
Thank you so much! Intruiging is still tugging at my heart strings.
ellegracedeveson
This is a really great way of getting yourself out there, for people to learn about you & your writing and for people to find your work! A really lovely interview. Congratulations Xo
Elle – ellegracedeveson.com
Diana
Wow….so great to know you were interviewed on such a prestigious platform..and even more wonderful to know more about you. I love the word you love currently… ‘intriguing’… 😍❤️
Jaya Avendel
Aww, thank you so much, Diana!
bournemouthgirl
This is awesome. A great way for more people to find your work and learn a bit more about you and your writing. Congratulations on the interview you were so open.
Lauren
Jaya Avendel
Thank you, Lauren! I tried to practice a little of what I preach and be totally honest. Happy you enjoyed it!
bournemouthgirl
It is great. Honesty is beautiful to read.
Lisa's Notebook
A lovely interview, Jaya, and wonderful to find out a little more about you – you are also very intriguing! And this phrase, “the tumble-down houses quietly dying in the mountains” is so evocative for me, it reminds me of the ghost villages in Turkey after their Greek families were forced to leave.
Jaya Avendel
Super excited to be intruiging, Lisa! You made my day. I love that my words reminded you of such a potent moment in history.
Vibe Inspire
Wow congratulations 🎉 I love how honest and engaging your answers are. You are an inspiration!
Michele Lee
You are a gem and your interview answers are just as engaging as your poetry, which is saying a lot! I love learning more about you. Wonderful!
Jaya Avendel
Michele, your enjoyment of this piece lights my heart! Thank you.
Michele Lee
My pleasure. 🌞
Unwanted Life
Congratulations on getting an interview in Spillwords Press 👍🏾
I too can’t stand hypocrites. Some people you can forgive because they’re small things or accidental. But there’s some that seem to go out their way to do the opposite of what they claim to stand for.
Furthermore, people who blindly follow faith or a belief without applying rational thinking bug me too. Especially those that do stuff solely because it’s tradition.
Out of interest, what’s the historical significance of Lexington?
Jaya Avendel
Ahh, I so love that you share my thoughts on hypocrites and blind followers! I have a lot of respect for intentional action.
Lexington is home to both the Virginia Military Institute and Washington and Lee University. Many a Southern General during the American Civil War, including Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee, passed through or put down roots in Lexington. The streets and many of the oldest houses are named after old southern families too. The city is, in my eyes, a walkable history lesson. 🙂
Rayo
Awesome, congratulations Jaya. You are an inspiration, so glad you got this. Can’t wait to see the answers to the rest of your interview questions. Just like you, I love untold stories. Sometimes I take a walk and I see old abandoned cars, it makes me wonder where that car had been when it was new, praises and chants of the car, who drove it, why it was abandoned and many more.
Jaya Avendel
Yes! It is amazing how a simple object gives birth to so many questions. It is the answers we come up with that make it so interesting. 😉
barbaraleaver
Congratulations! Your perspective to the questions is inspiring
Jaya Avendel
Thank you! I had great fun musing over each one. 🙃
paeansunplugged
Dear word witch, thank you for sharing yourself so honestly and openly! Jaya, it is an honour and pleasure to know you through our common love of words. ❤️ Congratulations!
Jaya Avendel
Thank you so much, Punam, for enjoying this portrait of me!
paeansunplugged
My pleasure.
Artist/Poet_JayMoraShihadeh
excellent! intriguing… :))
Andrew McDowell
Congrats!
Ingrid
Congratulations Jaya! I’m going to head over and read the rest of your interview 😊
Jaya Avendel
Much appreciated, Ingrid! Hope you enjoy. 🙂
Ingrid
I did – it was an excellent interview, I loved your conclusion!
eob2
How wonderful!! I loved the honesty in your responses. 💙🤗🌻
summer with monika
That’s fantastic!!