An Interview with Enna Neru

Enna Neru lives in Botswana, Africa. Recently, she was scheduled to be interviewed by Suzanne Lieurance on Book Bites for Kids on blogtalkradio. However, the day of the scheduled interview an electrical storm knocked out all the power where Enna lives and she wasn’t able to call in to the show. Here is a written interview with Enna.

Suzanne: Tell us a little bit about your background and how you became a children’s book author.

Enna: This is my first published childrens book, I have had stories running around in my head for years which my children have had to endure but never actually published anything.

Suzanne: Tell us about your current book.

Enna: I live on the edge of the Okavango Delta in Botswana. This is an inland delta which transforms this otherwise semi arid region into a lush wonderland suporting many people and a large diversity of wildlife. Botswana is very aware of the importance of water, the name for the currency is Pula which means rain. This story is about the value of water and also the need for people to work together to preserve what we have. The first half of the book is a fantacy discription of how the Delta came into existance long long ago. The second half takes us into the presant day where two children, one from the rural environment of mud huts and no electricity, and the other from the city with all the mod cons of TV, cell phones etc have to get together to save the Delta. There is plenty of fantacy with talking geckos, flying donkeys and friendly snakes. There is also a mad scientist who creates CMD, creatures of mass destruction.

Suzanne: What is a typical writing day like for you?

Enna: I have a very busy schedual as I need a day job to keep going. I run a safari camp and at the moment I am busy building a community centre which aims to help under privilaged children through the arts, music, dance etc. So I write on weekends, shut myself away and make sure no one comes near!

Suzanne: What do you enjoy most about writing for children?

Enna: I love fantacy and I also enjoy trying to get a meaningful message across using it

Suzanne: What is the most difficult part of writing for children?

Enna: I don’t find it very difficult, but I suppose we need to ask the children what they think. I have aimed this book at slightly older children 12 and up.

Suzanne: Tell us about the marketing process for authors. What do you do to market and sell your books?

Enna: This part I find the most difficult as I am not a good self promoter. At the moment I am selling my book locally and trying to get it established on the internet.

Suzanne: Do you have a website? If so, please give the URL. If not, where can listeners go online to learn more about your book(s) and to order?

Enna: My website is http://outskirtspress.com/EnnaNeru. My book is also on Amazon.com.

Suzanne: What are you working on right now?

Enna: I am working on the sequal. As An African Tale ends the problems have not been solved. The next book will take us into the city to see how the modern world deals with ancient majic.

Suzanne: What is your best tip for aspiring children’s book authors?

Enna: I think maybe I need a few tips myself! I would say as long as you really enjoy and love what you are doing it will come through and then of course you do need a good editor and be very open to criticism using it constructivley not as a put down.