Daydreams and Midnight Realities looks like a fantastic collection of short stories and poems. What type of poems and stories does the writing include?
Daydreams and Midnight Realities include short stories – fiction and non-fiction, and poems on love and loss. The book also has a collection of Haikus. The stories and poems are loosely based on self-experience with a fictitious end.
The book has a unique name. Can you tell us a little about it?
I named the book with personal experiences, what I wanted my day to feel like or what I dreamt of during the day about my life, and how everything seemed so clear and frightful amid the darkness at night, the reality that it isn’t. Daydreams and Midnight Realities, sheds light on my dreams and realities, very hard to distinguish yet they exist, in my mind and in front of me.
What will readers get out of your book?
That we all share at least one experience that’s common, a feeling that most of us cannot put in words, a word of encouragement here and there. The words, they resonate differently with every person and I just hope they make a difference in some way or another. If they do, I think I’ve achieved something and for me that’s worth it.
What inspired you when writing Daydreams and Midnight Realities?Love and absence of it. When I found love, the love I had found had already found love, in someone else. The sheer strength it took to delve into it headfirst with no net to catch me and coming out in one piece, leaves a scar and I am still healing from it. I’d say the unrequited part played a lot of role in me deciding to share a story with a fictitious end to every chapter, except for some. That’s what you do when you can’t get yourself to talk about it, you write.
When did you decide to become a writer?
I have been writing for over a decade now. I started out as an Urdu poet, then moved towards English poetry steadily. I had sheer interest in poetry since my school days and I just decided to pursue it.
When writing Daydreams and Midnight Realities did anything stand out as particularly challenging?
Finishing the book was a challenging task. I had motivation, there was this publication house that I signed up with, it was still a paid publication but they were supposed to take care of everything for the writers and things just crashed with them eventually. The publishing house shut down and I was left with a lot of debt back then. Going through that and finding that strength again to complete the book and put it out took a lot from me. This book was supposed to be out in 2017. But hey, I was able to finish it and get it out.
What do you like to do when not writing?
I like to read, travel and have a keen interest in photography. But when you have bills to pay, you don’t always get to do the things you like. So, I try to give them time whenever possible and however much I can.
Where can readers find out more about your work?
Readers can find more of my work on:
Facebook page: The Fickle Poet
Instagram: @theficklepoet
Twitter: @theficklepoet