The young author, Raj Singh, is flying high with the publish of his new book Breakup before love. Here is what he has to say about it.
Tell us something about yourself and the turn of events that led you into becoming an author.
I was born and brought up in Gaya, Bihar. I did my schooling there and later moved to Hyderabad and completed my graduation in Spanish language. Writing poems and blogs have always been important activities during my leisure time; in fact, it helped me a lot in my journey to become a writer. Currently, I’m working with Amazon India as a Spanish language resource.
In fact, I never planned on becoming a writer. But during my college days, I used to write poems and blogs. Most of things I used to write in my blogs were inspired from things happening around me. Gradually, I made a habit of writing on a daily basis and one day I decided to try my hand in writing field.
If not an author, you would have been…
Like others, I just wanted to complete my studies and get a job in Government sector. But, when I was in school and I read stories of Munsi Premchand and other writers and I kept wondering how they would have written such a long stories or books and how they would have got it published. I was really very curious to know all these things but to be honest, I never planned on becoming a writer.
What challenges did you face from the completion of your first draft to publication and how did you overcome them?
Writing is an art but you cannot call it art until you like your own work. So, to give a better shape I had to write 15 drafts. I read twice or thrice the same drafts and if didn’t like then I had to write it again and when I found that it’s suitable, I approached many publishers. Some of them liked my book and some didn’t. Whenever my book got rejected, I read the synopsis and I made changes accordingly, so that next publisher could not reject it. Finally, I received emails from four publishers who were ready to publish it but first, I enquired about them and then signed an agreement with Omji publishing House.
Have you completely dedicated all your time to writing? Any set amount of words/pages per day?
I do not have a fixed time for writing but I do have a fixed word limit, which I need to complete whenever I start writing – minimum 300 words.
The hardest thing about writing is…
Consistency in characters and staying motivated.
Which writers inspire you? Given a choice who would you choose as your mentor?
Premchand, Dharamveer Bharti, Paulo Coelho, Khalid Hosseini and Gabriel García Márquez are my favourite authors and their works (books) have influenced me a lot. But, if given a choice to choose one of them, I would say it’s Gabriel García Márquez.
Right now you are reading…
Love wins by Rob Bell.
What genre are your books?
Breakup Before Love is a romantic – fictional love story but my first book ‘Anna Hazare – Adhoori jeet ke nayak’ is a biography.
What are you working on at the minute? What’s it about?
I’m working a book which is based on social issues. But I don’t think this right time to reveal the name of the book.
How did you find your book cover designer and editor?
I didn’t have to struggle for finding a cover designer and editor. My publisher provided all these services.
Are you working currently? If yes, where?
Yes, I work with Amazon India as a as a Spanish language resource.
What do you do to get book reviews?
Few days back, I posted it on social media (Facebook & Twitter) that if somebody is interested in reviewing book can contact me. And, I received positive response from few of reviewers.
Which of your characters resembles you the most?
Anoop, the protagonist of “Breakup before love.”
Have you hated any of your characters?
Yes! It’s Anoop. I hated him because he failed to understand what Ritu wanted from him.
Which actor/actress would you like to see playing the lead character from your most recent book?
First of all, it would be a great achievement for me if somebody consider my book worthy to be made into a movie. And, as I think, only Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone can do justice to the story.
As a writer there are many lessons you would have learnt from life. What is the one lesson that you would have liked to learn sooner than later.
Love is not a game.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
I’m not a well-known writer who can give suggestion or advice to other writers but I would like to share what I have learnt in my writing career. Never ever give up. Sometimes many obstacles would come in your way but you have to have belief in yourself then only you can reach your goal. Please do not let your words die. If you ever get frustrated, take a sabbatical, visit some places and then sit with a paper and pen.
Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included?
I don’t think anything is missed here but through this interview, I would like to request the readers to give an honest feedback and review of my book.
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