From a very young age I had a die-hard passion for writing. In addition, it was my mother, who had great literary knowledge and love for literature which she unknowingly passed on to me in due course of time. Another fact is the great writers, whose books I had read in the past years, inspired me, and encouraged me to become one among them.

Recognition. You have published an excellent debut novel and is all set to greet the world as a brand-new author but then suddenly you get the reality check. No one is ready to accept you as an author and you have a hard time convincing people of the quality of your work barring a few lucky ones who become bestsellers overnight. But with patience and persistence, this wall of ice can be broken, and one can establish himself/herself as a successful author. This applies to me as well to many other new authors.

It is not always easy to realize your dream job. As a child, I was very open-minded and had a plethora of options for myself. But with age and growing maturity, I realized my passion which was none other than writing. Time intensified my desire and gradually I started seeing myself transform from a casual writer to a more professional one. None other job could have been more satisfying to me than the one I’m currently pursuing.

Ph.D. and my love for writing have been mutually exclusive. My passion for literature can be traced back to my 9th standard when I realized my love for writing for the first time. Why I left Ph.D. is totally a different issue, but it was a decision well taken for it allowed me to rediscover my passion for writing. Having dropped out of Ph.D. opened a window for me to start pursuing writing as a career and becoming a professional author. Quitting the Ph.D. and taking up writing as my career has been the most satisfying decision of my life till now.

Royalties are a dreaded topic for every author. Everyone is curious to know if the author gets paid and the author is least interested to confess about royalties. But the truth is royalties are real and authors do get paid but the scale varies and depends on the magnitude of sales. New or first-time authors have the highest expectations for royalties and are the hardest hit by reality. Because it takes a lot of time to build an audience which in turn influences the sale, something which solely determines the royalty paid to the author.

Writers play a significant role in shaping the destiny of the book as it is the content they write that determines their acceptance among the readers. The author has the potential to share a message through the power of his words. Not only that, he/she can also inspire, evoke, and influence the lives of many with his/her story. An author is like a silent friend who voices his opinions and advice through the choice of his/ her words. A good writer is the one who can touch a million lives without being a part of it, just by his or her words.

Absolutely not. Rather it adds credits to my career as an author. As I have stated in one of my blogs that a book should never be judged by the mode of publication, so is an author. If the book is good how do the technicalities matter? Moreover, self-publishing gives more advantages to the author as he/she owns more rights regarding taking decisions in all the steps in the publication process. By self-publishing my book I am not only being the author but a publisher and a seller as well. I think that calls for more appreciation and encouragement.

Being the mother of a two-year-old I totally realized how difficult it is to make our kids understand what we are dealing with. Books are a great way to make the little brains perceive a concept in their own way and Baby Fights Corona is designed to keep the little ones hooked. Also, the bright illustrations and simple text in the book will make it easier for the kids to enjoy and understand at the same time the reasons behind this changing world and how to stay safe.

Not at all. I started my writing career with a romantic novel, ‘Chasing Dreams’, following which I published a short story ‘The Promise’, which was a supernatural plot. My current book, ‘Baby Fights Corona’ is an illustrated children’s book and my next novel is a crime thriller. So, you see, I don’t limit my imagination within a particular genre. I want it to flow free and in infinite direction. I pledge to write anything and everything.

Success is a very dicey word. Its definition depends on the person defining it. For some authors, success means selling thousands of copies and becoming the author of the bestsellers while for others it might be the happiness of holding his/her own published book. For me, success is training the mind to enjoy the journey of writing a manuscript and publishing it, and not getting too caught up with the set goals of selling and author ranking.