Interview with Poet Balthazar Rodigue Nzomono-Balenda

Balthazar Rodrigue Nzomono-Balenda ( August 29, 1981), known as Rodrigue or Balthazar is a French-born Danish author and he is originally from the Republic of the Congo. Balthazar was born in Oullins, which is a suburb in Lyon, in France and his parents were diplomats in South Africa, before he and his family moved to Denmark. His parents, André & Rose Nzomono-Balenda were diplomats under the mandate of the former Congolese president, Pascal Lissouba. In 1997,there was civil war in the Congo As presidential elections scheduled for July 1997 approached, tensions between the Lissouba and Sassou camps mounted. On June 5, President Lissouba's government forces surrounded Sassou's compound in Brazzaville and Sassou ordered members of his private militia (known as "Cobras") to resist. Thus began a four-month conflict that destroyed or damaged much of Brazzaville and caused tens of thousands of civilian deaths.

Balthazar has written 2 books, The Depth of My Soul & The Struggle of Power & The Fight for Survival. He is a multimedia designer and a student at the Nordic Multimedia Academy (NOMA). Balthazar identifies himself as a French – born Congolese because he is more connected with the Congo and France than Denmark. He speaks French, English, Lingala, Norwegian, Danish, partially German, Dutch and Afrikaans. Balthazar learns Chinese and Japanese in his spare time, he writes poems, he paints, he goes out and enjoys himself. Balthazar is also a member of the International Society of Poets, which runs poetry.com and he sometimes publishes poems at poetry.com. There will be more books from him this year.

You can visit his website at www.ganymedeweb.com.

Welcome to Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion, Balthazar. Can we begin by having you tell us what The Depth of My Soul is about and why you wrote it?

The Depth of My Soul is a book of poetry.

Why did you choose this genre to write? Did you choose it or did it choose you?

I get inspired by people like Christiane Amanpour, Martin Luther King, Kevin Rudd, Nelson Mandela, Miriam Makeba, Lumumba, Patt Condell, Mark Steyn etc. because they are great fighters for freedom, free speech, justice and they bring so much hope, even when things seem to be tough. Christiane Amanpour from CNN does a great job talking about the hardest subjetc of all, genocide. And I have learned so much from her, her team and the rest of CNN anchors as well. It is said that people perish because of the lack of knowledge. I decided to get inspiration from the following documents: Scream Bloody Murder and God's Warriors because I want to share my approach and thoughts about why there are genocides and what impact does religion have when it comes to such evil acts. I heard about my country of origin, the Republic of the Congo go through civil wars because of political instability, just like in most of Africa. That is why I decided to write a book where I express myself through poetry. I am forever grateful to Christiane Amanpour because her documentaries have opened my eyes, even if I am chocked, you ask yourself why in the world as humans could choose to do such evil acts. And why don't we learn from it?

Poetry chose me and I discovered it, since I was 22 years old. Poetry is the easiest way to express myself about different circumstances.

In regards to promotion, what have you been doing to promote your book online?

I talked with my family and my friends about my book and I even went at allpoetry.com, where I write most of my poems. I had a hard time promoting my book on Facebook and some social based websites. I discovered dailybookshow.com and humanmade.info, they made things easier for me to promote my book. The person who has helped me most is Dorothy Thompson. She is my mentor and I need her experience so that I can be a successful author . I am forever grateful to her and pumpupyourbookpromotion.com .

Of all the promotional items (bookmarks, press kits, etc…) you have used to promote your book, which one was used most effectively?

This is a good question because I would rather wait until next month to see which promotion has been successfull. I want to take one promotion at the time.

Do you feel that the Internet has opened doors for authors who never dreamed they’d ever see a publishing contract and how has it influenced you in regards to your own publishing journey?

It depends on which publisher the author chooses. There good online publisher on the internet, however there are lots of con publishers who are not real and they just steal money from innocent authors and this can degrade their dreams. My publishing journey has been tough and it is still tough because I am not making changes with my books and they are ready again, but the titles are the same. I ordered a copy of my book, but there was a problem because my book is all in color. I changed it to black and white instead.

If you were in the middle of Manhattan (or any busy thoroughfare) and you wanted to call attention to your book, what would you do and what would you say?

The idea behind the title of my book is my passion from the inside out. Talking about these themes from the bottom of my hear with deep emotions. Whether we like it or not these problems are real and I believe that everyone of us can make a change in our societies. Time after time, our leaders promise that those who stand behind war crimes will face justice, but when they are warned about the problems, they do not listen. I do wander if the national interests come above reaching out to people who are in pain and those who have been victims of torture and oppression.

If you could trade places with any author just for a day, who would it be and why?

It would be Ayaan Hirsi Ali because she inspires me. She is a freedom fighter who tells the truth about how destructive Islam can be in Western societies, if Muslims don't chose to acknowledge that there is a problem with their religion. She talks about integration and the responsiblity, migrants have so that they can adapt to a the country that has welcomed them. She is a brave woman and many cowards want her dead bcause she is speaking the truth and that is sad.

Lastly, how do you determine your book’s success?

I determine my book's success by the way I promote my it, the way most readers view it, how many other publishers view it and how effective have I been to my readers and the question I can ask myself is if I have made it easier for them to understand my message.

Thank you for coming, Balthazar. Can you tell us where everyone can pick up a copy of The Depth of My Soul?

http://store.i-proclaimbookstore.com/depthofmysoul.html