Ramunas Micuta (pen name Atucim Sanumar) is a husband and a father of three. He grew up on video games and fantasy movies/anime. He writes in the fantasy romance genre with some humor elements.
He started to write at the beginning of 2020 without any intention of becoming an author. Chapter by chapter, the little hobby evolved into a book then another and now he has five books published under his name.
Q.1 Tell us something about yourself that not many people know?
A. What if I want to keep it a secret? This a very common question I get. I guess I could say only a few years ago I would drink coffee once a week, now I drink it every day.
Q.2 What inspired you to write the Circle Star Adventure series?
A. Boredom most probably. I wanted to brighten up and get out of the emotional slump at the time. Writing some silly stories seemed like a good idea.
Q. 3 Are we going to read more from you in the near future? Any new project you’re working on?
A. I am writing the sixth book in the Circle Star Adventure series. I also have a project on the side, a YA fantasy book series with more LitRPG elements.
Q.4 What is the most challenging thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?
A. Figuring out the emotional state of the character. To make matters worse, figuring different responses of different characters of characters. Does that make sense?
Q.5 Do you plan out your books before you start writing, or do you just write and see where it takes you?
A. I have a general idea of what I want to write about but I never plan out step by step what would happen in the story. I just go along and think of the development as I write.
Q.6 How long on average does it takes you to write a book?
A. 3-4 months (that includes re-writes and edits).
Q.7 What’s your writing schedule while working?
A. I write in the mornings mostly. I just can’t concentrate in the evenings. And I go out of the house to write, usually, I go to the coffee shop.
Q.8 Imagine a future where you no longer write. What would you do?
A. That means people wouldn’t read books? That’s a difficult question actually. I’ll probably do e-commerce of some sort.
Q.9 Do you try to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
A. I want to believe that my work is original but my readers still like it. So, I guess I deliver.
Q.10 Is it vital to get exposure and target the right readers for your writing, tell us about your marketing campaign?
A. Yes, that is correct. I made a lot of mistakes at the beginning. My books are favored by men more than by women. I suppose women can’t handle the hard truth of how a man thinks. And I’m not trying to be funny here. I like to be honest, without sugarcoating stuff. I must admit there is some cheesy humor in my writing which some people take too seriously I suppose.
Q.11 If you could be a member of any fantasy race, which would you choose and why?
A. An elf. They live much longer than any other race (except demons).
Q.12 If you could invite one character to dinner from your books, who would it be and why?
A. Because you said dinner and not a date, I’d say Grog. He’s a former adventurer, and I’d love to hear his stories.
Q.13 What three things can a reader expect from your books?
A. Fantasy (there’s plenty of that), honesty, and humor.
Q.14 Among all the supporting characters in your books, who is dear to you and why?
A. I’d say Farla. She’s a priestess at the Summoning Temple. She’s very charming and has a few unique abilities (not gonna spoil you what they are) which add to her already sweet personality.
Q.15 Who designed your book cover? How do you select them?
A. I found my book cover designer via one of the Facebook groups. I got her to draw me a sketch first before I hired her. I liked it and then hired her.
Q.16 How do you select the name of your characters?
A. I try to think of the personality of the character and what name would suit them. Depends on a character's race. For example, I wouldn’t name a demon character Roy. I try to come up with names myself. Sometimes I use some websites that suggest different names and put two or three names together to create a new one.
Q.17 Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with good or bad ones?
A. Yes, I do. I jump out of joy when I read a good one. I love feedback. The bad ones, that depends. Some people complain just for the sake of complaining. Reading a book is a very personal thing. Different people have different tastes. What makes me shrug is when people read the entire book and then say they didn’t like it. It’s like… why did you read it if you didn’t like it?
Q.18 How many books have you written? Which one is your favorite?
A. I have 5 books published. I would say 6th one is my favorite.
Q.19 Are there any new books or authors in science fiction or fantasy (or both!) are you excited about? What are you reading right now?
A. I will tell you one thing that not many people know about me. I don’t read other books. Surprise!
Q.20 Share the experience of your writing journey so far?
A. That’d be more than two chapters. I will try to be short. I failed on so many levels at the beginning. I made every possible mistake anyone could make. My covers were bad, the marketing was bad, plenty of grammar mistakes, and so on. I had to learn a ton to pull it off. It’s not perfect even now. I can bet there are grammar mistakes left in my books.
But hey, I had to start somewhere. Now I am loving it. There is so much to do, and so many little things to work on. I wish I had enough discipline to check all the right boxes. Writing is hard. Like, extra hard. But when I receive a message from a reader three days after a new book went live asking when is the next coming out, it is all well worth it.
Share your social account links -
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AtucimSanumar/
Website - https://circlestaradventure.com/
Share your social account links -
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AtucimSanumar/
Website - https://circlestaradventure.com/
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