Timid Fingers: What
is writing to you?
Amrita Suresh: Writing
to me, is like yoga! One should practice it everyday
Timid Fingers: Your
first book ‘When a lawyer falls in love…’ was written nine years back. Any
particular reason for the huge gap or your searching for the write plot?
Amrita Suresh: It
might seem like a long gap between my books, yet in the interim period I had
begun work on 7 different novels, so that alone shows that I wasn't
particularly wasting time. Actually I believe with all my heart that the
creative process is something that comes from a higher realm and many a time
one has very little control over it. I used to be very scared of failure yet
these 9 years have taught me that it's the different shades that go onto making
the beautiful painting called life. At 21, I saw the world as only black and
white, now I recognize the grey. It is this maturity, hopefully that will get
translated in my writing.
TF: How tough it
is to match up to the readers expectations after the success of your previous
book?
Amrita: Like I
said, I used to be terrified of failure, yet now I have come to accept it as a
very important learning tool. Raj Kumar Hirani took 5 years after his last
release to give us PK and one can only imagine the pressure he was under! This
whole pressure and fear of failure can be quite crippling. It took me 9 years
to get over this fear! Did you know that after 'To kill a mocking bird' Harper
Lee's second novel lay in the draft stage for 53 years?!! It's only recently I
heard, her second book is set for release. In these 9 years, I experienced
love, failed job interviews, heartbreak, marriage, difficult pregnancy,
childbirth, motherhood, losing a parent....and then in the midst of all this
you gain a perspective that is far deeper than narrow definitions of success or
failure. Life is indeed, the finest teacher there can be, even when it comes to
improving your writing skills which are essentially a reflection of the way one
thinks.
TF: Your title of
the two books and the presence of penguin on the cover is hugely loved by the
readers, any particular intention behind this?
Amrita: Did you know,
that a male penguin searches an entire beach to find the perfect pebble to gift
to his lady love?! I think that's one of the cutest things I have ever read!
Actually, since both my books deal with lawyers and since these cute penguins
have been blessed with such a cute dress code, I felt I ought to include them!
Penguins look like cute lawyers, all dressed up with nowhere to go!
TF: Any
interesting incident you want to share with your readers which you have
witnessed while making this book, because behind the scenes are always
interesting for the audience.
Amrita: I have
been told that the end of the book is abrupt, yet as funny as this sounds, yet
a bulk of the book was written in the final month of my pregnancy and I was
determined to wrap up my novel before my son arrived on Sept 14! Ask any lady
who has given birth and she will tell you that the final month just before the
baby arrives is when one feels the most physically uncomfortable. Most women
suffer from insomnia at this time and I for one, didn't sleep a wink at night
during my final month and instead I spent those dark cold nights penning this
paranormal novel.
TF: In your view,
which were the toughest part to write in ‘When a lawyer walks down the aisle…’?
Amrita: Y'know
Enid Blyton the largest selling children's writer said in one interview that
when she sits down to write, she hardly ever has a definite plot in her mind.
She just begins writing and lets her characters take on a life of their own. I
follow pretty much the same approach! Sometimes it's like my characters and me
approach a problem at the very same time so in that sense, I'm in the very same
boat as the reader not knowing what will happen next! Like I said, I truly feel
story telling is an art that comes from a higher realm, so I sometimes feel I
have just been chosen as a medium to tell a story that perhaps the universe
wants to convey. It sounds profound, I know, yet it's true....
TF: I have read
somewhere that you prefer shelf publishing houses than traditional ones. All
most all big names in the publishing industry are traditional publishers. Do
you really thing a debut author should choose a shelf publishing house over a
traditional one?
Amrita: Now this
is certainly my favorite question! See ya, it's brilliant if a traditional
publishing house takes on the full onus of promoting one's book at least in the
monetary sense, yet this is something that rarely happens. So from the writing
to the book publicity, it's all left for the author to do but when it comes to
a share in the profits, well now that's a different story! I guess for someone
who has never got a book published, the fascination to go through the
traditional route is immense and I can completely understand since even I was
once a victim to this. Truly getting a traditional publisher is like going
through the pain of pregnancy and childbirth and then simply giving away your
baby for adoption.
TF: What kind of
critic reviews you are getting for your second book, any favorite one till
date?
Amrita: I'm
extremely fortunate to get some very positive reviews for the book so perhaps
the nine year wait has finally paid off! I particularly liked the reviews by
Sharanya/Vanya and this other review posted by Shruti Ringe on this website
called Indian
nerve.com. I also
quite liked the review put up by timid fingers. That review was written from
the heart and that's truly the hallmark of good writing!
TF: ‘When a
lawyer walks down the aisle…’ doesn’t have an acknowledgement page, don’t you
have anyone to thank?
Amrita: I chose
not to have an acknowledgement page since I felt it would be unfair to thank
only a select few. Yet if there are two people I would like to thank for being
an inspiration, they would be Dr. Sr. Alphonsa, the prinicipal at St. Francis
College and Mrs. Karuna Gopal, who was the guest of honour in the very first
book launch I had for my book. I was a light headed 20 year old then and it was
Karuna ma'am who conducted the book launch with such enthusiasm that I remember
it even a decade later!
TF: The author
bio is also missing so, I would request you tell us something about yourself
for your readers.
Amrita: A Hatha
Yoga teacher, A once faculty member handling business presentations at IIIT, a
professional tarot card reader, a Reiki healer and a busy mom to a still more
busy toddler! That's my author bio!!
TF: When can your
readers expect another Lawyer story from you, I hope you are not going take
another nine years?
Amrita: I have
already begun work on my next novel and it's my dream to write a 100 titles
before I kick the bucket! Quite a tall order, isn't it?!!
TF: Now coming to
an end, I want to wish you all the best. I would request you to say a few words
for your readers and for the Timid Finger’s blog too.
Amrita: Timid
fingers! That holds true for all of us I guess! As a writer, one is prone to
having timid fingers every now and then so I guess my message to every aspiring
writer out there is to just keep at your craft! Reading is as important as
writing so timid fingers is a blog that one ought to visit and read since blogs
like this help one become a better writer! Honest! Keep up the good work, timid
fingers!
