Ruchi Vasudeva's Blog: Ruchi Vasudeva Author's nook, page 8

My interview on the Readdicts’ blog

My interview with one of the Readdicts, Janhvi

Author Interview- Ruchi Vasudeva (Bollywood Fiance For A Day)


Hey guys! Today we have with us Ruchi Vasudeva, the author of Bollywood Fiance For A Day for a fun interview. Do check it out


AUTHOR INTERVIEW:
 

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
 
I’m a medical professional who lives in Punjab with my husband, two kids and in-laws. Somehow I fell into writing and after much churning and rechurning out of words, my debut book was released this year. I also turned Professor of Physiology and thus August ’13 has become a landmark for me in both my careers. It feels really exciting to have made this far.

2. Describe your book, Bollywood Fiance For A Day in 140 characters or less.
 
She’s been jilted. He’s a superstar out for fun. He drives her crazy with annoyance till she  discovers that he has vulnerabilities too…

3. How did you decide to write Bollywood Fiance For A Day? What inspired you?
 
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly how it came into my mind. I was writing a story for the Passions contest held by Harlequin. I had this mental image of a girl who is facing an actor under the glare of cameras and is scared of them. Then the background of another story in which the heroine had been jilted merged into this and poof! I had the heroine true to life in my mind. I sent in the story and luckily I won the contest! Along with other prizes, came an opportunity to develop the story into a novel….read more at the blog http://thereaddicts.blogspot.in/2013/10/author-interview-ruchi-vasudeva.html




Filed under: Author Interviews, Links

Writing a negative protagonist – Three tips

Have you ever written a negative character? What about a negative protagonist? Most writers agree that a character must have flaws. Flaws make a character relatable and grounded. They have her come to life like our own sometimes blundering self. But how deep can those flaws go? What if a character is so entrenched in her goals that she exhibits behavior we wouldn’t expect from a ‘hero’? What if she isn’t an aspiration to the reader? Would you stick to reading such a character past the first chapter?

Sometimes in our life, we show negative shades. We might shout at kids, though it isn’t done, or maybe even react badly to irritations. We might forego others’ needs when we’re caught in our own passions and interests. But we forgive ourselves and move on. Make at times valid and most of the time empty excuses. Mostly these incidents are harmless and understood by people around us. There might be some amount of bad vibrations but mostly the dust settles down.

But in a book, especially a romance novella, do authors have the flexibility to have characters show negative behavior? The heroine, particularly? Recently I read a book in which the heroine was guilty of being unfaithful, not to the hero but her ex. Could anything justify that? I thought it wasn’t done convincingly but the issue was intriguing because of the author’s attempt to explore norms and go beyond the boundaries. That’s the thing about fiction, it’s ever-changing and may have no set black-and-white. Wuthering Heights sets a prime example of characters with less than pleasant shades.

But relating to the category novels, again I’m faced with the question, can it work there? Has the time come to have less beautiful heroines and less perfectly physiqued heroes? But romance novels are more or less fantasy reads, aren’t they? How much can you tamper with fantasy to have a convincing, believable story yet keep that feel-good, oxytocin-inducing elements alive?

Negative traits are hard to accept, be it in people, fiction or romantic fiction. In my view, here’s how you can make it work.

Redemption : If a character finds the true path at the end, their journey through all the error-riddled arc might even be fun to read. It becomes a part of the character’s voyage to discover their true side and hence promises the reader stark optimism, making then stick with the character. But be careful, such a redemption should be hinted at throughout the story. You just can’t morph Joker into Batman all of a sudden.

Positive intermixed with negative: If you have a heroine who wears animal furs, maybe you could balance it with her being devoted to charity work. A protagonist is made up of a mixture of positive and negative so while we disparage the negative we can cheer the positive. Of course the argument remains. How negative? In the above example, I can’t sympathize with the animal killing. Would you?

A plausible past: The character has a reason for being the way they are. That works well to explain their bad side. Past hurts might cause them to behave in this way. In the above example, say, yes, she wears furs but the story might be set in olden times and maybe the heroine thinks of the luxurious fur as symbolic of how far she has come from being a daughter of a slave family. So, speaking for myself, while I can’t really love the character, maybe I can understand and sympathize with her here. What do you think?

I’ve recently finished a rough draft of a novel where the heroine is more negative than positive. She places more value on her goals than even relationships. She’s single minded about following those goals. Which in this instance is not a good thing. And so she must realize. For those who have read my first book Bollywood Fiancé For A Day, this character is a spin-off from the character of Mia in it. If you know Mia, you’ll agree on the quandary I face in making her a protagonist. In the debut book, she isn’t meant to evoke the readers’ sympathy and in fact any editor would advise not to put such a protagonist in a story. But somehow this story happened. One of those where the Muse takes charge and you listen to the story unfold and just put it down. Will I find a place in publishing for this book? In romantic stories, there’s so little scope for negatives. Characters are supposed to be inspiring. Heroines face troubles and heroes take advantage of the opportunity to come close to them. Of course things are changing. But how much?

I’ll keep you posted on what happens with Mia’s story.

What’s your take on negative characters? Do you find Heathcliff and Catherine fascinating or repulsive? Would you write a negative character as protagonist?  Are negative characters ever redeemable? What about negative heroines? Do they have a place in romantic fiction? Would love to hear from you.

Filed under: Writing Help

Book review – Tell Me Your Dreams by Sidney Sheldon

I think no matter how many Sheldon books I read the main line of the review would be the same, at least for all I had read till now, and that is: you can’t put it down. If you have the time in your daily routine and even if you don’t, it holds true. He’ll build on your curiosity and when it’s at the peak he’ll veer off to what looks a totally new direction, a haphazard tangent which is usually terribly frustrating to the reader. So much that you have to keep yourself glued to the book.

In this book a new rarely read and interesting subject has been taken. Mental illness, murder, anger all is intertwined tightly in a rope you will find hard to unravel till Sheldon decides to hand the thread. While I was reading and right when I finished it, all I could think of was one word. Brilliant. But now I have had a chance to look at it dispassionately and yes, I’m doing the author a disservice assessing the book after emerging from the cloud of absolute spellbinding fascination he’d woven with his tale. Anyway, on reflection, to me many things were too pat. Some characters were too easily fooled. Some questions left unanswered. That’s about the argument I can present without citing a spoiler.

I give it five stars for hooking the reader (readability), five stars on concept, four star for my takeaway impression.

If you want a book to take you away from your present and have you grappling with its incredibility, go for this.

Filed under: My take on it

Seven Tips for writing a Short Story

The short form of story telling is a different packet of noodles altogether. More like the instant kind. You don’t have the luxury to wait them to simmer and be done. No riffling comfortably through pages waiting for the build-up and the show-down. So, how to go about tackling a short story when writing?

I had never really thought of writing a short story. Having written a few for blogs and some more which I just toyed with and didn’t have the courage to submit anywhere, I tried my hand for a short story contest with Harper Collins India – and won! In the contest, I had to first outline an idea and then if the idea was selected, I had to write the full. When I sat down to write, I looked up lots of writing advice which gave me courage to believe I could write this format and that story is set to appear in an anthology out this December. Yay!

  So based on my experience and research, here are my tips.

  Stick to one problem or incident

  This is the  most important thing I’ve found worth keeping in mind. You can’t fit a lot of subplots in a short length, so it’s better to be specific. What is the problem confronting your character now? Which of the pressing issues she has to deal with right at the moment which demands action. Not desires or needs to be pondered on. What she has to do now.

  Chart your characters

  No matter even if it’s a short format, you have to know your characters or the aspect you want to come out in the story. It can be instinctive knowledge or deliberate sketch out, but anyway you should know how they will react. My suggestion is to think out at least one important incident about their childhood, youth and current situation each. It helps to define a character well.

  Make every word count

  This was really difficult for me as I’m given to repetition in my writing. I use it a lot for emphasis or escalation of feeling. For novels also it is inadvisable. But it’s a total no no where short stories are concerned. Had to learn that. The good was when I edited out the repeats, it gave me space for more. However, you don’t need to do the extra work. Stick to simple, stark description and strong verbs.

  Have a well rounded conflict

  Make it convincing from all angles. Writing is about emotion but without logic in your argument, you’ll have readers shaking their heads and putting down the work. For example, if the character faces money problems and has to do something illegal because of that, you can’t have her putting on diamond earrings in the scene. Well, you can but you’ll have to explain why she can’t sell them to take care of her troubles. So on. Always think out the motivation for the character’s action. Elementary but so easily missed in the flow of writing.

  Anchor your scenes

  This is especially difficult when you have little amount of words to work with. You cannot indulge in pages of description. Instead depend on the senses to anchor your reader. Smell. Hearing. Is your character in a boat? Have her feel the spray rather than describe the roll of the waves . Also it’s better to have just one or two changes of scenes in the whole story. Any more and you’ll be wasting words in description rather than using them to advance the plot.

  Pace 

  Keep it tight throughout. More importantly use the same tone in the whole story. Is it light and humorous; dark and with underlying threat of danger? Serious and delving into psyche of characters? I wouldn’t advise changing the mood midway, unless there’s special cause for it. Want to build the momentum? Use short sentences for speed.

  Resolution 

  The resolution should be well delineated. Satisfactory or cliffhanger? The cliffhanger which leaves you coming to your own conclusions is  more common in short stories. In any case, it should still make a statement and leave an impact on the characters…thereby on the reader.

 

Hope this helps. Most of all have FUN writing!

 

Filed under: Writing Help

Safe And Sorry

If you play within the rules and always act sensible, will you keep yourself problem-free? Theoretically, you should. That’s how life works, doesn’t it? Obedient children don’t get to stand in the corner. Someone who hits the brakes meters away from the red light is unlikely to get into trouble with the traffic police. So the wise ones of us, the well-disciplined ones must always lead a smooth, easy life. shouldn’t they? If you’re careful never to lose your heart, you can’t get hurt.

Or can you?

Have you ever got stuck into trouble in spite of being wise?

That’s my heroine Vishakha’s quandary in my book Bollywood Fiancé For A Day. Her trouble is that she has kept on the safe side of life. She even agrees to an arranged marriage as per the Indian tradition. But fate doesn’t spare her from deception and hurt. That too, from her trusted ones. Her sister and fiance profess they have fallen in love with each other and all she can do is stand aside out of their way. At the same time earning pitying looks of her extended family.

If your pride was trampled and an attractive Bollywood idol offered you a way to rebuild it? Wouldn’t that be hard to refuse?

But can Vishakha trust him?

Should she? A glam Bollywood star so distant to her own universe.

What do you think?

What about you? Have you ever played safe and ended up still sorry? Share it here. I’d love to hear

Filed under: Book Enthuse

Get to know Adite Banerjie

Please welcome Harlequin author and dear friend Adite Banerjie. Adite is looking forward to the release of her debut book ‘The Indian Tycoon’s Marriage Deal’. Let’s hear more about the book and the writing journey from the author herself by the way of this question-answer session.

Q: Tell us something about yourself and how you got into writing?

Thank you so much, Ruchi, for hosting me on your blog.

I have been writing so long that I don’t remember a time I wasn’t! Soon after I graduated from college I did a course in journalism and I knew that I wanted to be a writer. After a fulfilling and exciting career in journalism I decided to switch to content writing and researching/writing about social development issues, and consumer and marketing issues. I tried my hand at fiction writing and got hooked to screenwriting. For several years I would crunch numbers and write reports during the day and lurk on screenwriting forums to learn the craft at night. Writing a novel was the only thing that I hadn’t planned to do.  LOL.

Q: Your experience of writing a book – easy as pie or hard as nails?

Actually a bit of both. There were times when I was writing up a storm and the book was virtually flying off my fingers. And there were times when I struggled to write even 500 words. If I wrote 100 words I would cut out 150!

Q: What motivates you to write?

My life pretty much revolves around writing. If I’m not writing a book, I’m working on a script or an article or my blog.

Q: What inspired The Indian Tycoon’s Marriage Deal?

I have always been a fan of Mills & Boon novels that had a revenge theme. And I knew that I had to write a story about a girl who wants revenge. The rest just followed.

Q: Please describe your book briefly.

Here’s the back cover blurb for “The Indian Tycoon’s Marriage Deal”.

 ”Krish Dev needs to find a bride—and quick! With a marriage arranged by his father looming, Krish finds the key to his freedom in Maya Shome, but is this dazzling beauty really all she seems? Maya has only one thing in mind: revenge. But when the host of the most exclusive high society party asks her to dance what is meant to be an innocent tango leads to an engagement to Krish—her enemy’s son! Arranging their own marriage could work to their advantage…if they can resist mixing business with pleasure!”

  Q: Tell us about the main characters in your book.

Maya Shome is an independent young woman who has had a pretty tough life. She works as a landscape designer. After the death of her only parent she vows to wreak revenge against the man who ruined him. Krish Dev is the reluctant heir of his father’s business empire. But he has serious issues with his dad and besides he is setting up his own business project. He knows how manipulative his dad can be and will do anything to stay out of his control.

Q: How do you overcome writer’s block?

I have come to realise that a bad case of writer’s block usually means that there’s something in my WIP that’s not working. So I try to look at the problem from different angles and brainstorm different approaches and then go with the one that I think would work best.

Q: Does writing get in your way of life?

Someone very wisely said, “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” I think, in my case, the first one is infinitely easier than the second! LOL.

Q: What’s next in your writing plans?

I plan to finish a script that I have begun and am very excited about. I have just finished my second book for Mills & Boon which is set at a big fat Indian wedding.

And here comes our rapidfire round:

Favourite movie

Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (Hindi) and Casablanca (English).

Worst movie

Housefull

Any secret habits?

They are best kept secret!   J

Actor you’d fall for in a heartbeat.

George Clooney.

Favourite book

Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh.

Fallback option when the fridge is empty

Domino’s pizza or any other takeaway!

What comforts you when things go bad?

Playing with my dog.

Your most comfortable outfit

T-shirt and jeans. 

Great answers, Adite! Lovely to have you here and looking forward to reading your book.

You can find her at:

Website :  http://aditebanerjie.com

Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/AditeBanerjieWriter

Twitter: @adite

Buy her book at :

Infibeam

Makemeread

Filed under: Author Interviews

For my online friends

Now I'm finally a published author one book old and this morning finishing a convo online I realised what was the best thing about this writing journey. 

Of course the book is a unique award and it's absolutely thrilling to have a published work and be able to say I've written this. But what I got were the priceless friends I've made on the way. Friends who've supported me sometimes in unexpected ways. Surprised me. Friends I can talk to in troubled times and those who understand and totally 'get' it. 

So this post is for my friends. I can't name you because I might miss someone, there are so many of you who helped in each of your unique special ways. But at the risk of getting soppy, much love to you all and thank you. Because without your contribution, I wouldn't be feeling so great at this point in my life. 

So as I finished the chat this morning,  I was filled with this warm fuzzy feeling and grateful to my book because it brought me inadvertently in contact with such awesome people. 

Do you have awesome friends? What is more important in being published?  The book or the journey?

Excerpt from my book - Bollywood Fiancé For A Day

Here's an excerpt from my book. Vishakha has been waiting for Bollywood actor Zaheer to show up. She's already upset over her broken engagement and waiting for him makes her even more angry. Who does he think he is. But the unrepentant actor is more than just annoying, she finds. Read some of their word exchange :

‘A girl like me?’ She threw his words back at him. ‘By theway, what exactly do you mean by that?’He shrugged, showing off sinewy shoulders. ‘Stuck-up.Starchy. Clinging to trivialities.’He didn’t believe in pulling punches, did he? ‘There’s noneed to be insulting or to act like I’m in the wrong. You wereaware of the whole schedule of this event. Or weren’t you?These things get arranged months in advance, but you stilldidn’t bother to turn up on time. Of course, you think you’reentitled to do anything, being a celebrity.’‘Well, it has its advantages.’ He raised his brows at her neargasp. ‘What? Did you expect me to deny that?’ He grinned,totally unconcerned, his famous, oddly endearing cheek cleftsshowing up.Frustration made her breathe in a quickened rhythm. For amoment they looked at each other, locked in a silent exchangeof vibes—provoked and seething on her side, mocking but unruffledon his. He spread his hands in a peace-making gesture.‘Hey, don’t get uptight again. It only makes me want topush your boundaries and see how uppity I can make you.’Gold flecks showed in the warm hazel eyes. Somehowthey sent some errant signals to her system, which had herpulse jumping in response.

Here is where it's available : http://www.infibeam.com/Books/bollywood-fiance-day-ruchi-vasudeva/9789351060581.html
http://www.flipkart.com/bollywood-fiance-day/p/itmdhhuwhyegzchu?pid=9789351060581&otracker=from-search&srno=t_1&query=bollywood+fiance+for+a+day&ref=45fb560c-7749-43f6-9c8d-6e58bddc0bae



http://ruchivasudeva.weebly.com/

Here are the links for my guest posts :http://millsandboo...

Here are the links for my guest posts :

http://millsandboonsindiaclub.blogspot.in/2013/08/unexpected-love-encounters.html

http://pebbleinthestillwaters.blogspot.in/2013/08/an-interview-with-ruchi-vasudeva-author.html

http://aditebanerjie.com/2013/08/11/romancing-bollywood/

Today's post is at Mills and Boon India club about how lo...

Today's post is at Mills and Boon India club about how love strikes unexpectedly.
Unexpected Love Encounters
Hi everyone,
I came across this very cute saying...The best relationships usually begin unexpectedly
Do you believe in this? And if you don’t...have you heard about the couple who met through Facebook because they have the same name? Yes, really. Isn’t it amazing when things happen at a totally unexpected place and time, yet turn out to be so right?.... 
Read the rest of the post here
and comment on their blog to win a copy of Bollywood Fiancé for a Day