Richa Gupta is the author of the book Slices of Life and Skeins.
Check the book review of Slices of Rise HERE.
About the author:
“After an academic and professional career, Richa Gupta has devoted herself to creative writing since 2017 and published her previous novel ‘Skeins’ in 2018. She has been a senior teacher of English in reputed schools for 19 years and an Instructional Designer for training and e-learning in the corporate sector for nine years. Through the years, she has also executed a large volume of technical editing and curriculum development assignments and conducted training workshops in technical writing. She lives in New Delhi, India.”
Interview:
1: If you have to write in some other genre, what would it be?
Apart from novels, I have written a collection of short stories. I would also like to write plays though they are not too popular nowadays and have to be staged rather than read.
2: Your favorite part from the book?
I can identify with Vidya’s youthful aspirations being aroused by meeting an aunt she had visited often when young and with whom she had lost touch and Kritika’s realization that she had buried her true desires under her professional success. These instances illustrate that “there are instances when the truth suddenly pitches at us with an undeniable impact. Our buried feelings come to the fore due to a trigger in our environment.”
3: Tell us about the idea behind the book.
I wanted to portray women of different ages from varied backgrounds, their challenges, aspirations, relationships and achievements and how they can resolve problems if they decide to do so. The physical journey to Spain and Portugal embodies an inward journey of self-discovery. A conducive environment and strengthening relationships can empower women to achieve success in any sphere they desire.
4: How much time did the process of writing take?
I took only three months to write it and another two months to edit and refine the draft. I edit my books myself and do not use an external editor.
5: What has the process of writing this book taught you?
As I depicted each of the 16 characters, I identified with their individual struggles and challenges. I wanted to show each of them winning over their circumstances though that is not possible in life. So, there is the character of Vidya who compromises with her aspirations due to her maternal instincts. I learnt to aim for success but to accept and compromise when necessary.
6: What inspired you to write this book?
I was inspired by the lives and aspirations of women in different walks of life and their coping mechanisms.
7: Five books one must read in one’s lifetime
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
- The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
- The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
8: Tell us about your publishing journey in 6 words.
Painstaking and excruciating yet cathartic and exhilarating.
9: A quote or para from the book that inspires you.
“The real failure will lie in not making an effort at all. You’ll never know where you stand until you try.”
10: Tell us about your future plans. Planning a new book?
I am toying with several ideas for my new book, but I am not sure which one will materialize.
11: What is literary success for you?
Having a loyal readership that waits anxiously for my next book.
12: A message for all the readers?
“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney
About the book:
Slices of Life’ is a collection of short stories or vignettes that provide an immersive and entertaining experience of diverse scenarios of life in motion. They are slivers of existence with the ingredients of plot and characters, sprinkled with human emotion, pervaded by the aroma of human dilemmas and served in the platter of lucid language. Sometimes searing with agony and often pervaded with beauty and yearning in the midst of travails in a contemporary or futuristic reality, they explore relationships and the human struggle to find meaning amidst chaos. They describe the consequences of our choices and characters who are at the threshold of a discovery or have reached the zenith of tolerance. The universal themes and enduring images of commonplace individuals in the swirl of life are embedded in a mixed bag of genres ranging from bathos and futuristic Sci-Fi to grim Realistic fiction and a suspenseful Whodunit.
