365 Interviews

Interview 47: AlexiaPraks

1. Can you tell me about yourself?

Yes, of course. My name is Alexia Praks. I was born in a camp on the border of Thailand and Cambodia. My family and I lived there until I turned nine years old before we immigrated to New Zealand as refugees. Our lives back at the camp were very similar to the refugees living in Africa at the moment—poverty! I was like one of those starved children. No food. No water. Just skin and bone. I remember being very hungry a lot. I also remember fainting and getting sick a lot too, because of malnutrition. I mean we didn’t have much to eat, so our health was pretty bad. I didn’t know any English when I first came to New Zealand. Learning a new language was very hard, and I was always behind in school work. But I knew back then that if I were to make anything of myself, I had to work hard. And I have always been working hard ever since.

2. What inspired you to write?

What inspired me to write? Lots of things. But the main thing is to make people feel. I think that if you can make people feel through your book, then you’re a good writer. In effect, you’re passing on your emotions to them. You’re letting them feel the frustration, the love, the anger, the angs and many more emotions via you telling them a story. Through these emotions, the reader will understand the character’s personality and unique dilemma/situation, and hence, they will appreciate the complexity of life in reality. An example is when I read comments on the last chapter of Falling For Sakura here on wattpad. Lots of people said that it made them cry, and believe me, I cried my eyes out writing the last few chapters. My readers felt the same way as I did, and I was so very happy.

3. Is writing a hobby or career to you?

Writing is definitely a career to me. I mean most people think that my style of writing totally suck, but I’m still learning. I mean you could never finish learning, right? Even when you finished university and got a degree, you think you know everything. The reality is you don’t know anything. Okay, back to the question. Yes, it definitely is a career to me, and I’m working very, very hard towards it.

4. Do you want your stories to be published one day?

DEFINITELY! YES! YES! YES! I not only want most of my stories to be published, I want them to be in the New York Times Bestseller list. Heck, I want some of my best works to be turned into a movie, a manga, an anime, and even a TV drama. I want it that bad!

5. What do you do when you aren't writing?

When I do have spare time, which I don’t have a lot of, I do the following: 

Reading books – this gives me ideas on how good authors write. I not only read novels, I also read books about self-improvement/self-empowering. It helps me to get into the right mindset and get the ball rolling. I think that if you don’t believe in yourself and your work, then who will? People will trust you and believe in you if you have 100% faith/believe in yourself and the work that you put out.

Watching movies, animes, and dramas – these gives me good ideas on scenes, plots, settings, characters etc. 

Go for long walks – gets me thinking deep about what I’m writing and why I do it. This may be stupid but I chant positive affirmations of what I want to accomplish to myself while I walk. 

Eat out – I love food, and I get to watch how people interact during their meals. It helps me develop better dialogue in my books.

6. If you could spend the day with one of your characters who would it be and what would you do? 

LOL! Okay. This is a hard one. I guess if I get the chance I’d take Nicolas Princeton from Falling For Sakura. Why? Because he’s my type of guy. Hey, I’m a girl. He’s smart, a leader, understanding, and totally hot but not too hot that it’s burning. I like guy with glasses. There’s something about guys with glasses that’s rather nice. Okay, what would I do? I’d take him out for a picnic. Yep, a picnic. Just Nicolas and I, alone in the woods, preferably under a Sakura tree in full bloom. Then I’d ask him lots of question as we slowly munch our way through delicious snacks. I guess just getting to know him better.