Vintage | Phoenix Interviews (𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃)

evacharya

Tori, from CLN, had the privilege of interviewing a wonderful author, evacharya  She is author of For June, Charming Mr. Stewart and The God Codex.

Thank you for agreeing to do this interview! It's a pleasure!Could you tell us your name (or pen name) and the pronouns you use?

No, thank you. This is a unique experience for me, and my first interview in a way, so I'm quite excited and chuffed, really. Pleasure is all mine.My name is Eva, and I guess I pronounce it slightly with a Germanic tone, E-va, but oddly, some people hear me say A-va and assume that's my name. It's close enough.

That is interesting! I've always had a similar problem with people misinterpreting what I'm saying because of my accent. Eva is such a beautiful name as well!So tell me, Eva, what made you first start writing?

Oh, that made me laugh. My accent is so mixed, most time people can't tell where I'm from (which I oddly enjoy). So what made me start writing? It was mostly to see if I could. I was 12 when I first attempted to write a story. Before that, I was more an oral story-teller. But, English isn't my first language and I'd discovered story books existed just the year prior, having moved to NZ. Fell in love with the idea that one could write a story. And I think it was my way of finding out whether I could write one down and have it make sense, in English. (Suffice to say, it didn't and I threw it in the trash months later)But another part of it was so that I could improve my English.

I understand. Many people use writing as a way to improve and in your case it seems like you really managed it! I started reading your book "For June" just out of sheer curiosity and ended up falling in love with it, despite the book not being a genre I typically read.What was your inspiration for that book? How did "For June" come to be?

Thank you so much for saying that. It has truly been a fun story to write, and quite a little different to what I normally write within the genre, which is to say, I normally write female MCs and their worlds and their problems. 'For June' really came about when I was in a similar spell as Chad is in the beginning of the book, facing a massive writer's block. It was a tough time for me personally, and I think I needed an escape of sorts. I began the book more so as a reflection of my own situation (not that I'm a traditionally published author yet, unlike his character). It was something I wrote with much hesitation because I wanted to write some thing silly and lighthearted, and something I never thought I'd show people. It was a parody of my life initially, and then the words just started flowing and his life just popped out. I wasn't sure how it was going to go, being a romance novel with a male MC, but I like experimenting so I just continued going with the flow. If that makes sense.

Yes, it does. That is actually such an interesting reason to begin a novel! Who would have even thought that you would end up creating such a gem.There is no doubt that my favourite character in that book was June herself. Her introduction had me almost falling off my chair! She is truly a wonder to read about.So I can't help but ask, what was your inspiration behind her character?

She is an enigma, even till the end of the book in a way, and that was done on purpose because of what she represents to me: the minority, the unknown, the faceless amongst a sea of normal. The actual inspiration behind her was a homeless man I saw one night in a city corner, in pouring rain, in Sydney's winter. I was maybe 18 at that time. It was my first night out in the city with my older siblings and a few friends, and we were trying to get to a restaurant, in China Town, and it passes a few rough streets. Being all girls, obviously, my older sister was on the protective side. This man was standing at a light, playing, or attempting to play this small plastic recorder for money, and even in the rain, I could see that he was crying, perhaps because of the rain, so people couldn't tell if they were tears or just water. It was a moment I almost felt like the sky was crying for him. You could feel the hopelessness he exuded. I don't know why, it's stuck with me, that image. It still moves me. I think, June is that man, who had lost all hope, standing in that city corner for me. He was a mystery... and he's found a place in this story somehow, through her.