Tumelo Moleleki, a self-published author was interviewed for this month’s Meet The Author feature. You might recognize the author from her Her Heart book series. She has nine novels and six short stories to her credit. She is a South African writer who enjoys sports and can apparently cycle for hours without suffering from debilitating fatigue or cramps.
Tumelo Moleleki is someone I follow on Twitter. I like her quirkiness and boldness but what I like most is that she’s using this tool to good use. Apart from her sharing her opinion on whatever subject, she uses Twitter to promote her books.
The other day, she shared something about herself that caught my attention. She wrote about how compliments embarrass her because she doesn’t believe them.
I was intrigued by the post because I was (or am currently) working on an article about a condition known as Imposter Syndrome. And one manifestation of this condition is the inability to accept compliments even when they are well deserved.
However, primarily imposter syndrome is when a person believes they’re a fraud and have feelings of self-doubt and (personal) incompetency. And they think someday they will be found out. This phenomenon, as described in Forbes magazine, happens when a person has a distorted view of their abilities.
I came across a blog post on how self-published and unpublished writers are amongst the most vulnerable to imposter syndrome. That’s when I decided to ask Tumelo, as a self-published author if she has experienced this syndrome and if so, how she deals with it…

Meet the Author: Tumelo Moleleki
Have you ever thought, ‘How did I get here, I don’t know what I’m doing or I don’t deserve this? Like you needed some kind of validation
Absolutely, I sometimes wonder if it is too easy and therefore not real, especially when I come across accounts of what other people have to do just to complete a manuscript.
I find that I seek validation from readers, especially those who are vociferous in their opinions and very judgemental in a way, and that sounds counterintuitive because it is almost as though I am looking for them to call me a fraud so I will be moved to defend myself.
Have you genuinely lacked confidence in your work?
Well, I am sure the lack of confidence is genuine, otherwise I would not be afraid of being found out and discovering that what I think is a good or great thing is actually not that at all, I’m just an egomaniac who has a lofty opinion of herself.
Has it affected your writing? The never-ending self-editing, relentlessly critiquing your own work or second-guessing your writing decisions.
I think for me this is where I am lucky as the writing is not something I plan to do, it often just happens in a kind of impromptu way. This probably happens with published work, where I look at some of my phrasing and wonder if I should not have opted for another.
But then I have great confidence in my editor so I always come to the conclusion that if there were a better phrase, she would have suggested it.
From my research the main question is how to overcome it, what do you do to stop these negative feelings?
I would be lying if I said I knew or that I have overcome it. It comes in bouts, but I guess my confidence in the things I know and understand, in the rightful place my stories have in society make me not to take these episodes of self-doubts seriously for any prolonged period of time.

New Book Alert!
Eletseha by Tumelo Moleleki. The book will be available for purchase from mid March. It will be R200 for the first 50 copies sold.
How long have you been writing or when did you start?
I started writing as a child, but officially, I published the story I wrote in 2010 and that was when this journey started in earnest.
How many books have you written, and which is your favourite?
I have written many manuscripts but have only published about 9 novels and 6 short stories or thereabouts. I do not play favourites at all as my books all feel like my children and as someone who never liked that those who raised me had favourites, I don’t want to hurt my babies like that.
What do you need in your writing space to help you stay focused?
Not much, just a comfortable place to be in and no disturbance that is deliberate. I can write amidst chaos and noise so long as it does not physically involve me.
What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing?
It was not given to me but punted widely in the circles I moved in so it confirmed my early convictions about my experiences as a reader and that was to write stories I would like to read.
If you could be mentored by a famous author, whom would it be and why them?
I think the famous authors mostly come from the traditional publishing space and they usually punt the agenda of that industry, so I don’t really feel that I wish to be mentored by any of them. I am also someone who wouldn’t know how to extract value from mentorship, so I avoid it.

I notice you advocate for books written in mother-tongue (native) languages. Care to elaborate on this.
When I initially attended school, my mother tongue language was used as the instruction language. I have seen in me the benefits of having a solid foundation and understanding something in a language that is more familiar to me.
I believe to unlock the potential of inventors in our society, or even curious people who are not afraid to explore, the ability to express themselves in their most comfortable language is how they will be able to conceptualise things as they are likely to have the innate words to conceive and explain things with which they would never have in an adopted language as it speaks not to their generational evolution.
What important advice would you give a first-time author?
Read widely and copiously, that’s how you develop your imagination, which will aid you in conceptualising things out of nothing.
What are you presently working on?
I will be releasing my next book in the near future. I don’t want to commit on a date as I am at the moment reliant on other people.

If you want to get in touch with Tumelo Moleleki, you can follow her on Twitter @Guepard_1.
Buy copies of her books by clicking on this link: BooksbyTumeloMoleleki.
Wrapping up
One thing about Tumelo Moleleki though is the confidence in her writing skills despite the random negative emotions that crop up.
So, for all my fellow writers, you are not alone. Even published authors with nine novels still experience episodes of self-doubt. Even the famous late author, Maya Angelou who has written 11 books with several awards could not escape the self-doubt.
And as Tumelo says…
Read widely and copiously, that’s how you develop your imagination, which will aid you in conceptualising things out of nothing….and write stories you would like to read. – Tumelo Moleleki
Related post: Tshego Monaisa On Relaunching One of the Top Six Books of 2016, Three Sisters
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Angy xx