19 year old Noah Aliha writes an ode to all of the boys who broke her heart in her self published book of poetry titled Bits and Pieces. Bits and Pieces perfectly captures the passion of young love and is a personal and raw read. I spoke with Noa Aliha on the phone about self publishing a book, her fears, and upcoming projects.
Name: Noah Aliha
Location: San Francisco
Age: 19
What inspired you to write Bits and Pieces?
So obviously the whole book is bout relationships that I have had. One of my professors actually read something that I had written about a boy and she really kinda putt the bug in my ear to make it into a book. I was also in a relationship last year with someone who inspired a lot of poetry, so he kinda had a lot to do with the book as well.
Your book is very honest and personal, did it make you uncomfortable to release such intimate stories about your love life?
Oh yeah. I also didn't tell a lot of people I was releasing a book until it was released, so it caught a lot of people by surprise including my parents. I was terrified. The week before I was set up to release it I went back and forth trying to figure out if it was something I really wanted to do, because it is something really personal, and it is real stories about real things that have happened to me.
You often refer to the pains of love as physical injuries such as scars on your legs, or in the poem Peaches, you refer to it as a bruise. Why did you choose to portray your pain in this way?
I think I chose to portray the pain and what I was feeling internally that way, because I think that that is a way that a lot of people can relate to pain. You can not see emotional scars that people leave on you but you can see physical scars. If someone pushes you, and you fall and you get a scrape on your knee people are gonna be like oh wow what a horrible person. But if someone verbally pushes you and pushes you and pushes you until you break, nobody can see that. People don't seem to have as much empathy towards that. So in peaches, when I was referring to the bruise, that gives people like a very strong image of the pain that I was feeling.
Do you have any writers or other artists that have greatly influenced you?
I love Lang Leav and Micheal Faudet. They are definitely 2 of my biggest inspirations. I've read all of their books cover to cover, like probably 5 times each. They are amazing. Earnest Hemingway is definitely another one of my favorites, you can't really go wrong, he is classic. (Click on either of the photographs to purchase these books)
What are you reading right now?
Right now I am reading a compilation of love stories, actually, its just called Love Stories. I am also reading The Complete Works of Earnest Hemingway.
Have you faced any obstacles in getting your book published, or being taken seriously because you are a female writer writing about female problems?
I am self published, so I had a lot to say in how I wanted things done, and it was all on my time, which I think reveals a lot about obstacles. More recently, like within the past 6 months, I tried getting an agent and I've realized that just poetry in general is not really taken seriously in the writing community. Nobody really wants to represent a poet. In regards to being taken seriously, I told (one of my friends who was written about in the book) that my book was about poetry it was about relationships, and he almost laughed it off like it was not an actual thing. Like I was in kindergarden kind of thing. It was a weird conversation that we had, but I think its more peers of mine that don't take it seriously.
How did you go about self publishing?
So the professor that I mentioned at the beginning of the interview is also an author and she was self publishing a book at the time that she was pushing me to self publish. Amazon also has a really awesome platform called Create Space for self publishing. Where authors can go in and have all of the say in the production of their book, and Amazon really helps you with promotions, and getting on Kindle, and getting your release out there for people.
Tell me about your soon to be released podcast?
Its in pre-production right now and its called Better Big Sister. The tag line for it is everything you wish you heard from your older sister. So it's for girls who are trying to figure out who they are, and its about feminism, and social justice issues, and love, and figuring out who your real friends are. Its about all of the things that no one really tells you about growing up but everybody faces.
Is there going to be another book in the works soon?
Yes! I have another book that will be coming out at the end of this year, but it has yet to be titled.
What is some advice you would give to other aspiring writers who are trying to self publish?
I would just say don't hold back, don't sensor yourself, and don't hesitate. If you feel the urge to do something then you should do it. This is like super cheesy but there is a quote that I live by because someone told it to me when I was really afraid of publishing my book because it was so personal.
"What will they think of me?-- Must be put aside for bliss."
-Joseph Campbell
Bits and Pieces can be purchased here:
Or visit Her Blog here:
