Today we interview Saurabh Garg, a first-time author. His first book The Nidhi Kapoor Story is out soon. We learn about how Saurabh got into writing through blogging, and about the storyline of his book and the main characters in it. Saurabh also shares his experiences of getting published and a few tips on how to write better.
1. You’ve been an avid writer for some time. Could you please tell us about how your interest in writing came about, and also about some of your other interests?
To be honest, I don’t know when I developed an interest in writing. But I can think of two distinct incidents, each led by a different individual that nudged me towards writing.
The first was sometime in late 2003. A friend from college showed me how to make a blog and “express” myself. I loved the concept of writing things that the entire world could read and react to. I wrote one and loved the kick of seeing my name on a piece of online real estate. The rush made me write more posts.
Soon these one or two infrequent posts turned into regular updates and I have now written some 1200 posts over the last 10 or so years. And I continue to write on that blog. It is at www.septemberthe22nd.blogspot.com.
Second, this was during those good old times when long chain mails were in vogue. One of the chain mails was sent to a thousand people I think. I made a smart aleck comment to that email and replied to all thousand.
One of those thousand in turn wrote back. We exchanged a few emails and I soon realized that the amazing young woman that had written back had a natural knack for writing beautiful, eloquent, long emails. We got into this fervent exchange of emails – each email extending pages and pages. And hours and hours.
Since she was such a good writer, I had to work really hard to meet her insanely high standards. I thought hard about each word. I read about grammar and generally starting reading a lot, only to make my emails as nice and interesting as hers.
And I think this exchange of emails is one of the key reasons for my interest in writing. Of course, now things have changed. We are still very good friends but we hardly get time to exchange those long emails. May be some time soon. Inshallah.
2. You’re the author of the book The Nidhi Kapoor Story. Could you please tell us a little about what this story is about?
It’s a fairly simple story actually.
One of the most famous Bollywood actresses of our time comes home to discover that her beloved pets have been maimed mercilessly. Along with the dead bodies, the murderer has left behind a letter threatening Nidhi, her reputation, her career and her entire family.
A worried Nidhi calls up the police commissioner, who assigns the case to his best officer, Prakash Mohile. Prakash is assisted by Rujuta Singh, a photojournalist working on a project to chronicle lives of policemen in Mumbai.
While investigating, Prakash and Rujuta stumble upon the dark past of Nidhi Kapoor and her father, Nishant Kapoor. A past that the Kapoors want to keep hidden at any cost. Even if that means putting Nidhi’s career and her reputation at stake.
Despite all odds, Prakash and Rujuta eventually discover the identity of the unknown assailant and find answers to mysteries that were buried in the Kapoor household for all these years.
That’s it. A simple story.
3. The Nidhi Kapoor Story was published through Grapevine India. Could you please share your experiences of getting your book published and what you did?
I was lucky to have a couple of friends who’ve published books in the recent past – Shatrujeet Nath and Sudhanshu Gupta. When my book was completed, I spoke to them and took their inputs about the next steps. From what I gathered, I had two options. A, go for an agent. And B, speak to publishing companies and try my luck.
Sudhanshu put me in touch with Sachin at Grapevine. Sachin and his team liked what I had written and they accepted the manuscript.
From there on, things went as expected. There were multiple rounds of editing, proofreading etc. Most of this hard work was done by the team at Grapevine.
So, unlike most other authors who often have issues working with publishers, I was really lucky.
4. Could you please share 3 top tips with authors on how to create characters?
I don’t know if I have three tips but here is something that has worked for me.
I am very curious by nature. So I keep my eyes and ears open all the time. I look around for interesting people. I look for stories that make me laugh, make me think. I look for stories that I would want to share with friends.
I then develop these interesting people into characters. Simple. In fact, all characters in The Nidhi Kapoor Story have been inspired by people I have known, seen, heard about.
Apart from that, I keep a notepad (or a note taking tool) with me all the time. I use Evernote. I log things as and when I can. And then I read those notes often. Each time, I try to add a layer of complexity or abstraction to those notes, until they reach a point where I am starting to see a shape emerge out of it.
5. How can people find out more about you?
I’ve been writing a blog since 2004. I don’t post as often as I would like to but it’s fairly regular. It is at www.septemberthe22nd.blogspot.com.
Apart from that I am on twitter at @saurabh.
Finally, I am on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheNidhiKapoorStory.
I am happy to connect. Please contact me and I would love to hear your stories and share some of mine.
Pre-order The Nidhi Kapoor Story and win a Kindle!
We would like to thank Saurabh for answering our questions. The Nidhi Kapoor Story is scheduled to be released in November 2014. You can pre-order it on the Amazon India store and on Flipkart. If you do pre-order a copy, you have the opportunity to win an Amazon Kindle.
To be eligible, simply forward your order confirmation e-mail from either Amazon India or Flipkart to friends.of.tnks@gmail.com. Saurabh will enter all names in a raffle. At the end of November, Saurabh will draw a lucky winner.
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/hv1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Hiten Vyas is the Founder and Managing Editor of eBooks India. He is also a prolific eBook writer with over 25 titles to his name.[/author_info] [/author]