Flowers Grow on Broken Walls received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Farena Bajwa.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Flowers Grow on Broken Walls, Dec. 3rd, 2021
What’s the book’s first line?
I guess it all starts, when the ending begins.
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
Flowers Grow on Broken walls is a unique collection of poems and prose that talks about healing and finding yourself in a world that constantly tells you that’s who you shouldn’t be. The poems go over our everyday human emotions; from being heart broken and questioning our self-worth in a world of judgment and scrutinizing social media, to finding ourselves and appreciating those really important in our lives – especially our inner, true selves. It is story that is everyone’s story at one point or the other.
The story that starts with heart ache ends with healing, it starts with rejection from someone but ends with self-acceptance, which is the only way for true healing.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
The poems are based on my experiences. My world fell apart after my heart had been broken. But it wasn’t about the person leaving my life, it was more about all the shadow parts of myself I ran away from, that had finally caught up with me. Since the wall I built up had been broken, everything hidden behind came to light. I realized that the person who I was crying after only filled the space, because I was the one who left it empty in the first place. I decided, I would share this with someone that needs to hear it. They need to know that no person in this world has power over, it’s always you who holds
the power.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
No matter how much one person meant to you or how much pain you might have suffered in the past, you are the only one who keeps the key to your heart, mind, and your soul. You are the source of love and just know one thing: you will heal. If there is an entrance, there is an exit too.
I also wrote a poem that captures that feeling very well (not included in the book):
How can I still be alive
when there is a broken heart
inside my chest.
Isn’t the heart the source of life
and the answer to all dark there is?
“What is heartbreak really about?”
It took me 365 days to understand the pain and
locate its roots. The pain did not come from a broken heart,
it came from the broken part, my neglected self.
It’s not your heart that breaks,
it’s your soul that aches.
Your heart is fine, it still beats.
It’s the wall you have built up around it
that fell to pieces.
This book is not about the one who broke your wall,
It’s about the one hidden behind that now comes to show.
It’s about letting your shadow taste sunlight,
helping it step over the rocks that are left lying on the ground.
Reach out your hand and lead the way,
you are about to start the journey, to your wonderful self.
When did you first decide to become an author?
I didn’t start writing because I wanted to publish a book, I started writing because I needed to write down what I was feeling. I have journaled my whole life but one day, instead of writing a typical diary entry it became a poem. I was in a really great place when I wrote my first poem. I needed to put my journey into words, so I wrote…and I wrote, and I wrote. And somehow along my twentieth poem or so I realized that I was writing something that could help someone who was experiencing dark times of heartbreak or worthlessness, realize, that there is a way out. I was healed and besides the fact that I wanted people to know that they will heal too, I wanted to make them feel less alone.
Is this the first book you’ve written?
Yes
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
I don’t set specific timeframes to write, nor do I schedule specific days. I write when I feel like I have something to say, when something is bothering me, when I need to put my feelings into written words. I can write for a whole week and create 3 poems a day or I won’t write for weeks. I can write and pretend but I can’t lie about how I feel. Also, readers are not stupid, they know instantly if someone is being authentic in their words or not.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
Don’t look at what others are doing or how far they have come. Stay in your zone and know that you are writing for a reason, you have a talent to share. The most important thing is to keep that joy alive, it’s the only thing that will remain at the end.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
I’d love if I can make one person feel less alone, really. We’re all connected and live in one world with “universal problems”. But the thing is, they don’t have to be “problems”. They can be the “solutions” to be better version of yourself the next day. We try, we succeed, we fail, we try again. It’s okay.