Three by Five welcomes Mildred Achoch, a Poet and Screenwriter in Kenya.
Mildred Achoch writes poems and screenplays and has two blogs – Kenya Rock Film Festival Journal and Lost in Cyberspace and Other Found Poems. In 2013, she was a participating poet with the Found Poetry Review’s Pulitzer Remix Project.
VAH: Welcome to Three by Five, Mildred! Why do you write?
MA: I write because I can. I found out early enough that I could skillfully combine words so as to communicate creatively. I also write because I cannot not write! They say it takes about 21 days to form a habit. Well, I have been writing for way more than 21 days! I’m hopelessly hooked!
VAH: Tell us about your first story?
MA: My first story was an interracial teen romance novel. I wrote it in longhand and I still largely write in longhand. I wrote this story when I was sixteen. I still remember the song that inspired it. “I love you always forever” by Donna Lewis, specifically the line that goes: “You’ve got the most unbelievable blue eyes I’ve ever seen.”
VAH: Do you have a favorite literary character?
MA: My favorite literary character is Bella Swan of the “Twilight” series. I think it’s because I can relate to her on so many levels. We are both introverts, love books so much that we’d rather go to a bookstore than shop for clothes and we both love vampires 🙂 Also, we come from broken homes.
VAH: A gift of books is how they provide both reflection and relief of our reality. If you were stuck on a deserted island, what books would you want with you?
MA: The Twilight books of course! Because I literally never get tired of reading them! They are so well written, the characters are well developed and the themes are very close to home: loneliness, sacrifice, love.
VAH: What has impacted you the most in your development as a writer?
MA: Working as a freelance writer on odesk.com, a portal for freelancers. Working with strict deadlines really helped me to improve my speed in writing and even in thinking. I discovered that, at least in my case, writer’s block is largely just an excuse for me not to write! I also have had the chance to work on diverse writing projects: novels, children’s stories, screenplays, world creation, articles, e-books short stories and so on.
Thanks for joining us Mildred. We’ll be back later in the month with more from this young writer.
Vicki Hudson 