Tuesday 23 October 2012

The Next Big Thing


Today I'm posting in response to Nikki Goodman's tagging me on Facebook to take part in The Next Big Thing. You can read her post here. In  the Next Big Thing, writers answer ten questions about their work in progress and then tag five other writers to do the same the following week.
Here are my answers. Hope you like getting to know about Zaheer and Vishakha, the characters in my WIP.
Q. What is the working title of your next book?
       It's the first book and the running title is Her Dream Date. 

Q. From where did the idea come?
       I entered the Mills and Boon India's Passions III contest with this storyI was one of the three winners in the contest.You can read the story here  It was only 2k words then.  Coincidentally, the idea was that a girl wins a contest. The story really took off when my hero and heroine materialized, and solidified, in my mind. They have great interaction and are absolute fun to write. In fact, it got to be an effort to limit their ongoing conversation in my head!

Q. Under which genre does your book fall?
      Mostly I like to write contemporary romance though I'm 
drawn towards paranormal too. This one is a contemporary, written along the Riva guidelines.

Q: Which actors would you choose to play the part of your characters for a movie?

      Hmm, they'd be from Bollywood. I think Hrithik Roshan because basically I took the idea of Zaheer's colouring from him, those hazel eyes and streaked hair! It could be Ranveer Singh with the careless charismatic manner he had in Ladies vs Ricky Behl. Or Sameer Kocchar because of the height, but he'd have to wear contacts lol!  As for heroine, maybe Deepika or Diana Penty. I like the look Diana had in her debut movie. Vishakha has the same kind of vulnerable look, but with more calories to her :)



Q. What is a one sentence synopsis of your book?
      Fitting it all in one sentence is a bit tough, well here goes : A workaholic jilted doctor with no time for fun, finds herself fighting her attraction for a  flamboyant Bollywood actor. 

Q. Will you self-publish or be represented by an agent?
     Well, I'm cosy where I am now, coming to notice of an editor through the contest. Since my dream publisher is Harlequin Mills and Boon, working with one of their editors has been a realization of my hopes. Fingers crossed for getting published through this.

Q. How long did it take to write the first draft?
     I did a bit of rewriting for the first three chapters. Then I wrote the next three chapters. Wasn't satisfied with them and my editor kindly looked them over and she agreed to what I felt wasn't working. She sent me some suggestions. We talked over them and then I really got to writing it and finished it in around one month. I'm working on the revisions now.

Q: With which books within your genre would your story compare?
    As a story of a girl coming into her own, it has a very faint resemblance to Jessica Hart's the Secret Princess. But quite far off in theme and story. Actually I haven't read a Riva like this one. The background setting is Indian and because of that it's a different dish altogether because I wanted it should carry a flavor of Indian values.

Q: Who or what inspired you to write this book?
    My love for Bollywood, I guess, that was what made me give the hero his profession.
    Actually it was an observation that struck me about the difference in the way of the life of different social circles within the society. I had the occasion to attend a get together among professionals, mainly doctors. And then shortly afterwards, I was in a social function of mainly upper class housewives. I couldn't help comparing that the style of dressing for the women was so totally different. The doctors wore more muted shades and less bulky jewelry.  Their hair style and make up was understated. While in the other event, make up, jewelry, the apparels, everything was louder.  That was when I started to carve out the heroine Vishakha's character. She is a busy doc with no time for fashion dressing. But due to circumstances she starts questioning her total absorption in her work. Which leads her to a journey deeper in her own psyche.

Q: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
    Well, maybe the setting. Part of it is in Lucknow and I've tried to capture the old world charm of the city. As well as aroma of the delectable Lucknavi cuisine. Then a part is set in Mumbai with, hopefully, a flavor of Bollywood coming through.

Thanks for going through this with me, hope you liked hearing about my (hoping-to-be) book. And now I tag the next five who are:

Really enjoyed this and looking forward to 'hearing' about others soon. :)


Wednesday 10 October 2012

What's important - weather or season?


Follow the season not the weather. Why? Because weather temporary and the season is lasting. Though with the changing climate scenario the above statement is less and less applicable. More properly, what's more important - the mood or the nature of a person? A bit of wind in summer doesn't make you take out your thick woolens. What about the minor irritations which crop up in our day? Maybe the two have nothing in common. But something made me think of this analogy as a part of everyday circumstance. 
We were on a holiday and my son refused to do as he was told, pulling a frown and acting mutinous. While I felt reactionary anger, my daughter cautioned me, mama let it be. So I dropped trying to get him to do what I wanted. The next moment I realized he was probably tired from the journey to high altitude as well as the sightseeing walk we took. So no wonder he was acting up. Normally a sunny kid, the change in him was just on that occasion. Sure enough next day he was back so I could lay my momentary fear of having a rebellious tween on my hands to rest. *happy smile*
This did make me think. There are times like these when our loved ones have a falling out with us. If we exercise a bit of patience and lot of love, the cloud passes away. But sometimes (read often for me) we are too rushed and lacking the time to think it through and we have quite a storm on our hands before things cool down. Heaven forbid, they not do any lasting negativity.
So next time anyone in my family gets a frown, I'm going to think it's weather, not a season. At least I'm going to try to. Would you like to? Love to know what you think of my little analogy.

Ciao! :)