Omayra Vélez interview

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

A little introduction:

I am Omayra Vélez and I am a disable Army Veteran. I have a BS and MS in Biology. I've been a teacher, scientist, and Soldier. I've been writing since college, but it wasn't until 2016 that I used writing as therapy.

When did your love of books begin?

My love for books began when I learned to read at age four. The moment my mother read me books at night, I loved the stories and thus books.

When did you start to have the wish to become an author?

I have wanted to become an author since I was in college back in 1989.  However, I also wanted to be a scientist, so I did both.

How have you found the process for becoming an author?

I believed that to write; I needed to live a little. I needed to discover myself and the world around me. So I traveled the world and met people and made friends. I used my life experiences to be the tapestry to the basis of my worldbuilding. Then I read about the art of writing.  I read about the process of writing and the process of editing. I am still learning.

What would you say to those wanting to become an author?

Learn the art of writing. Writing is not just putting words on a page, and that is it. Writing a good story takes time and knowing the road to where the story is going and how to keep the reader hooked.

Tell us about your book/books:

I have five books published. I chose to self-publish. I didn't bother to send my books to any publishing house because I like to control everything about the creative process. My first book The Assembly of Thirteen had so many errors it is embarrassing to read now. I made many mistakes. I hired the wrong editor, and I made many miscalculations.  Looking back, I should have taken the first chapter of book two and made it the first chapter of book one. But what is done is done. So, the first three books are epic fantasy, all part of a series of five books.  The first book, The assembly of Thirteen has two editions. It does not follow the three-act style of novel writing, and it has many characters.  The second book, Throngs of Misfits, is better than the first, and the third, Clashes of Wills is better than the first two. I have the fourth book, Promises of War, already written, but I am not sure I want to publish it just yet.

The other two books are a different world. The one is called Calixta, the Vanquishers of Alhambra, and to me, this is the best book of all. For this book, I created a society, several religions, forms of government, and magic-law all specific to this world. The other book is Ultima Skylar. These two books are related to each other, and the stories can be read out of order. However, they are part of a group of five books that will flow to follow one big war happening at the same time. Calixta is part of a series of two books. Ultima Skylar is part of this conglomerate of books that show the happenings of the war from the perspective of different people in different kingdoms happening at the

same time. Good or bad, it all depends on the perspective of who is telling the story.

What do you love about the writing/reading community?

I love the camaraderie. I love it when one writer is down, and there is always someone with words of kindness to lift him. I love that there is always that one person with that great idea that will help get you unstuck or at least make you laugh.

If you could say anything to your readers what would it be?

Please do not get angry when you don't understand something in my writing. I have a website where you can go and ask questions. I am open to answering all your questions. Many times you think I write something and What I meant is something different. People, please ask before you go and try to Cancel me over a misunderstanding. Also, people must keep in mind that I write fantasy in worlds that are supposed to be with a middle-aged mentality, where people are phobic of everything, and often the characters I portray are sick and disgusting. I write them like that for a reason. I do that because, in this world, there are people that are not nice, and in ancient times that was the mentality. I don't write about the world of today. My characters are not people of today. I don't write about the world of today or Earth. My worlds are based on the point of view of the middle ages, where people believed the planet was flat and cats were the devil.

Where can people connect with you?

I have a website at www.omayra-velez.com I also have a Twitter account @OmayraVelez6, and I have a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OmayraVZ