🏰 Author Interview Featuring Paula Omokhomion, Author of 'Shape of the Sun'

Paula Omokhomion is a Master of Public Policy student at the UC Riverside School of Public Policy, though she’s fairly certain that won’t be forever. She holds a B.S. in Public Health Nutrition from UNC Chapel Hill, where she also minored in Creative Writing (Fiction) and graduated with highest honors for her 120-page thesis novella, New Age Taffeta.

Paula developed her skills and love for writing fiction in a very, very interesting Nigerian boarding school, where the lack of television meant she had to invent entertainment for everyone else. She loves reading manhwa, watching Indian TV dramas, listening to music, and writing short stories.When not doing any of those or in the classroom handling R code, she’s refining her LinkedIn or taking Instagram selfies.
She lives in California with her family, including her two fellow triplets, and is currently dreaming of a future PhD in public health—and maybe another novel.

Visit her website or connect with her on Facebook and Instagram.

 

 

🏰Welcome to Book Bloggin’ Princess, Paula. I’d like to know more about you  as a person first. When did you start writing? What was your first published  piece? 

Thank you for having me. I started writing when I was about 13, I believe. It was a book I wrote in boarding school, and it had like two dedicated readers. The one after that, Aurora, was really my debut as it had over 100 readers as a draft; it was also my first published piece at 14. 

🏰As a published author, what has been the most pivotal point of your career?

I think it was actually knowing I could write in ways that moved people. So, Aurora was written in boarding school, and literally 100+ students were reading it at once, emoting a lot over it, and that was fascinating that I could bring those expressions on people’s faces and questions on how I did it. Then, Shape of the Sun had almost 5k readers commenting on it as a draft on Wattpad, and that was really enriching to see as an author. So, I think these little things are pivotal to me. 

🏰If you could go anywhere to write your next book, where would that be and why?

I think I would go to a town in Europe with stone buildings and roads. I’m thinking Nice, France, or Albert Camus’ hometown, since I have been there before. I am revising Aurora, and it has a lot of historical elements that envisioning such beautiful, aged places can help with the writing. But I think it's more pressing to go to New York or some other large, fast city and see how service workers live. Hint: I am making notes for a new book, and I’ll say that lead is a service worker in a fast city, at least for now. 

🏰If you had 4 extra hours of extra time today, what would you do?

I think responding to emails and revising Aurora. If this question were to move further this year, it would be something academically inclined, since I am still very much a student.

🏰Why was writing Shape of the Sun so important to you?

In many ways more than one, this is actually my second full-length work after high school. I was worried that being in college and not having the feedback I had in HS would stunt or cripple my writing, but I was able to do this as a busy junior in college and navigate online support, which was cool.  

🏰Any final words?

Shape of the Sun really is the book of reckoning. You have characters that are incredibly self-aware yet consciously unreliable, as well as a storyline that doesn’t shy from heavy material and says it as it is - romance, family saga, inheritance drama, and all.