AN INTERVIEW WITH BEBITA NDONGO MACIAS

Read Time: 4 minutes

• Your Name and about yourself

Hello! My name is Bebita Ndongo Macias but I am known under my pen name I.W.Fredd when I’m writing. I am from Equatorial Guinea, an African-Hispanic nation in Central Africa, and was born in Madrid, Spain before growing up in Utah. I am an actress, author, cosplayer, model, singer, and songwriter and currently preparing to participate in my first beauty pageant, Miss African Utah 2021. It is very nice to meet you.

• Are you happy about being an Author?

Yes. I love the freedom of expression that comes with creative writing and it truly makes me happy to be able to educate and entertain my audience with the tales I concoct with my imagination. It is a gift I’m grateful to have and one that I intend to keep exploring and growing in for the rest of my days. I’ve had many ups and downs in the writing world, but I love it too much to walk away from it.

• What’s your motivation as an author and what have you learnt from writing books?

 I would to write for different reasons and those reasons include freedom of expression and wanting to educate/entertain my audience through the tales birthed from my imagination. I take pleasure in being able to put down my ideas on paper and take my readers through the craziest journeys with my characters and leave them wanting more of my work. It’s an amazing feeling when my readers ask me for sequels and such.

• As an author , what do you think are the positive things about your writing/stories/publications?

Appeals to different age groups, lots of variety in the genres since I’m a multi-genre author, diversity in characters, unique storylines, entertaining, relatability, etc. These would vary going from person to person depending on taste, but I like to think of my books as a never-ending adventure for many types of readers around the world despite things like ethnicity, gender, or religion. I like to be as inclusive with my writing as possible and with that comes the natural curiosity of exploring different types of characters, settings, and plotlines.

• Which book or e-books have you published and which are in pipeline?

I have not officially published yet, but I’m working on my debut novel “Light Out: Horror Stories to Read Afterdark” which is currently undergoing editing and hopefully will be done by mid-March. This is my first attempt at the horror genre and I’m excited to see how the public will receive my first published work after so many years of writing anonymously on multiple writing websites. This is a big leap in my author’s journey and happy to share my work with the world.

• What’s your advice for budding authors?

I would say that you should learn to trust your ability to write. No, not in terms of grammar, punctuation, and accuracy. I mean that it’s important to know how to put your ideas down in a way that is exciting and intriguing. Spelling and such can come later with things like autocorrect these days, but the important thing is getting down all the ideas and actively allowing your imagination and creativity to flow. Next, would be to trust your ability to tell stories and though many can write, many more cannot tell a proper story because they lack an “inner storyteller” and have no tales to tell. Lastly, you need to keep your motivation going. You can’t go about having an ability to write or tell stories without motivation, which is like a backbone to an author. Having these three things will help you on your author’s journey.

• Do you believe in  “Writer’s Block”?

Yes. I think it’s like a silent killer. You can go days, weeks, or even months without progressing and though it’s very tempting to ignore the problem and hope that it goes away, it’s one of those kinds of things that need active extermination to rid yourself of it.

• What are the problems that you have faced in your Author journey?

Writers Block, lack of productivity, self-doubt,  and professionalism. Not at that order, but an author’s journey can be a bit of an uphill battle and you can easily become your own worst enemy If you give into insecurities.

• What Genre of Books do you create and Why you chose it ?

I’m a multi-genre artist and I’ve written many different types of books over the years. This one in particular is me trying my hand at the horror genre and like any other writing project I’ve ever done, It comes with it’s own ups and downs. This was one of the most challenging books for me to write because it was so out of my element. But I enjoyed the process regardless and have learned a lot.

• If you could tell something to your younger writing self , what would it be?

I know you love writing but dreams only work when you put effort into them. Daydreaming about what being a published is like is nice, but it is meaningless when you don’t put forth any physical work to turn that dream into a reality. Dreams cannot manifest without effort and consistency. You have lots of stories to share with the world so write them and put them out there.

• Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want ?

I like to be original with my work though I do enjoy reading the input from my readers to see what they enjoy in books and why they want from me. IT gives me insight on how they think and feel not to mention gives me material that I like to use when I’m brainstorming ideas for another book.

• Where can people contact you ?

I am on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and I have my own website.

www.bebitandongo.com

www.facebook.com/thisisbebita

www.twitter.com./thisisbebita

www.instagram.com/thisisbebita

www.instagram.com/I.W.fredd

YouTube: ThisisBebitaTV