New Year....New You!
2011 is behind us and the New Year is finally here. I was reflecting on my life and spiritual status and came to some great conclusions. It was definitely a God thing and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. Author Naty Matos is all about change and growth. These are two things that are vital in a believer's life. She gets it. I'm very honored and blessed to have Author Naty Matos on the blog today. Happy New Year!
Vanessa: What inspired you to write?
Naty: When I was a teenager it started as a way to channel all the ideas I had in my head. I used to daydream and make stories and as they got more elaborate they needed to come out somehow. Two years ago when I returned from a long writing hiatus, it was more the need of communicating and sharing my life experiences and spiritual growth.
Vanessa: Tell me about Growth Lessons.
Naty: Growth Lessons is considered a devotional, I like to think of them as lessons. In our journey of life we miss the details that could make our life more fulfilling and real. For new believers, Christianity can seem like such a cumbersome pile of rules and it’s really not. For season believers, we get so focused on the routine of our obligations that we miss the basics of our faith. Growth Lessons is a guide to a life back to basics were you are to enjoy your beliefs the way God intended.
Vanessa: Who or what inspired you to write it?
Naty: Upon returning from my writing hiatus, I was also returning to my journey of faith. I felt like a newborn child, it was like I didn’t know how to live the life, the real faith. I didn’t want a religious relationship with God. I wanted that promise of feeling like he is my friend, my father that I could talk to him like the person sitting next to me… I wanted something real not ritualistic and in the search for that I had to learn a lot of things that seem obvious but that so many people take for granted. As I was going through that process I was writing those lessons and the biblical basis for the things that I was learning and then I acknowledged that I could not be the only person with those same struggles, so I decided to share them in the format of a book.
Vanessa: Where did you get the idea for The Road Home?
Naty: I have met and experienced looking for love in the wrong places and then discovering that the most important love to find is the love of God. The Road Home explores not only some painful experience as a result of looking for love in the wrong places, but it also gives a modern analogy of the parable of the prodigal son…daughters in this case. Desiree, who is the main character in this novel, starts the story as a non-believer. I know many people who are not believers and see Christians as weirdoes and Desiree saw them like that as well. That’s what inspired this story; I wanted to drive this character through a life without Christ and then a life with Christ.
Vanessa: Do you develop characters based on people you know?
Naty: This was an interesting question; I really had to think about it. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. If I know someone with the characteristics that I want for one of my characters then maybe I will draw from that person. I also take from random situations I witness and things I see on television or stories that others tell me.
Vanessa: Are you working on anything currently?
Naty: I’m finishing the second draft of my third fiction book, “A perfect little life” this particular one will be the first book of a series. This is another Christian Romantic Fiction. This particular novel talks about how our decisions affect our outcomes and how trying to live by appearances may make us makes the wrong choices. This novel is another novel that I would call edgy. I don’t usually write churchy stuff, but things that are raw in reality.
I’m also working on my second nonfiction “Without Parental Supervision” This is a book geared to women in recovery from divorce, inspired by my own experiences and life lessons.
Vanessa: What is your best advice to aspiring authors?
Naty: Learn as much as you can. Read everything that you can get your hands on; good or bad will teach you something. Learn about craft, learn about social media, but most important do not stop writing. You know that you are called to be a writer when you feel complete and happy every time you write and that you rather just do that even on the days where you are blocked and things are not flowing as easy. Write, write and write!
What a way to start the New Year off! That was a fantastic interview with Naty. I hope you learned as much as I did.
Naty's Bio:
Bio
Naty Matos was born in the city of New York, from Puerto Rican descendant parents. She grew up in the beautiful Island of Puerto Rico and now lives in the city of Atlanta.
She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Clinical Psychology with a Minor in Mass Media Communications and a Master's Degree in Mental Health Counseling.
Naty Matos was born in the city of New York, from Puerto Rican descendant parents. She grew up in the beautiful Island of Puerto Rico and now lives in the city of Atlanta.
She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Clinical Psychology with a Minor in Mass Media Communications and a Master's Degree in Mental Health Counseling.
Naty's Blog:
Follow Naty on Twitter:
Where to purchase Naty's books:
Until next time, Fashionistas!
Disclaimer: photo of author and Growth Lessons belong to Author Naty Matos.
other photos: Do not belong to the blog or author.
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