Aspiring writers need to read other authors extensively. I also practice what I have come to call for myself the 4 Cs and 3 Ps – Constant revision, C… - Moraa Gitaa

My favorite authors are Indian and Arabic/Mid Eastern. Because of their descriptive style and the way they have a way with making words so colorful and turn the words into their very own language. I guess I am also biased towards their writing because I grew up and schooled in the coastal port city of Mombasa whose inhabitants are predominantly Indian/Swahili/Muslim-Arabic. There is some influencing force about a coastal culture. On top of my Christianity, I would fast on Ramadhan, celebrate Diwali, have Muslim and Indian friends for sleepovers at our place and cook a wicked chicken biryani and mutton pilau!

To me literature is the truth and I am thus able to give a human face o stereotyped and marginalized groups of people. My writing is also a form of self-therapy as I have passed through most of the situations I write about. Also writing is extremely exciting as it is to place time and place in chains.

Like most writers, I usually hold a day job mostly 8-5pm. If in between jobs, I offer proof-reading and copy-editing services for raw manuscripts and also carry out transcriptions and translations.