Mommy Adventures With Ravina Kurian: Author Interview

Monday, 2 September 2013

Author Interview – Rachel Hanna

Tell us a bit about your family:

I am a wife and mother of three children, all of which we homeschool. My kids are currently 13, 12 and 10. I have two girls and a boy. As with many families, we are always rushing around from activity to activity. My kids are involved in a lot, so their social lives seemed to overtake mine and my husband’s!

What scares you the most?

There are probably many things that scare me, but the thing that scares me the most is getting to the end of my life without accomplishing the things that I want. I don’t say that in a financial aspect, but in the things that I’d like to see and enjoy with my family. Sometimes we spend all of our time working and not enough relaxing and spending time with our loved ones. For example, my life dream is to get a nice motor home and travel around the country with my family before my kids get too old to want to do that with mom and dad!

What makes you happiest?

I have many things that make me happy including spending time with my family, watching my kids learn new things and especially getting letters from my readers. I love getting private messages on my Facebook account or messages via email about how my books have helped people. I’ve gotten all kinds of special messages about different books that have helped people during various parts of their lives, and that is the greatest reward for an author.

Why do you write?

Because I have a lot of stories to tell! As I’ve written fiction, I realize that I use many parts of my own past and a lot of my stories. You won’t necessarily know it in the final product, but there are many situations that are based upon real things that happened in my life. I find writing to be very cathartic for myself, and hopefully that translates to my readers.

Have you always enjoyed writing?

Yes. I’ve been writing since I knew how to use a pencil and paper. In fact, in third grade my teacher told me that one day I would be a writer. I ended up going to journalism school and going that route for quite some time because I always heard her voice in the back of my head. I won writing and poetry competitions growing up, and it’s always been something that I love to do.

What motivates you to write?

Usually, it’s something about the story or the characters. I have to mull over the storyline and the characters in my head for a few days before I start writing a book. I can actually hear the characters talking to one another and telling me more about who they are. Once I have a grasp on that, I feel compelled to write their story since they can’t do it themselves!

What writing are you most proud of?

That’s a hard choice. When you’re a writer, all of your books are like babies to you. I would say that I’m very proud of my newest book, Ruined, because it is full of emotion and difficult topics. I really enjoyed writing these characters and had a hard time ending the book because I didn’t want to let them go.

What are you most proud of in your personal life?

I would have to say my children, definitely. They are known to be very kind hearted and friendly kids. They have a lot of friends, and they are wonderful about giving advice when their friends need it. They do the right thing, and I’m very proud of them.

Who is your favorite author?

I don’t really have one favorite author, but I do enjoy reading things by Jamie McGuire, Marie Force and Bella Andre. Of course, there are numerous others that I like to read, but it’s hard to choose just one!

What genre of books do you adore?

I’m still a sucker for a sweet romance. I also enjoy reading new adult romance, and I write some of that myself. Any book I read has to have some element of romance or I have a hard time letting it hold my interest.