Interview with Medha #AuthorChatter #anshuasks

Happy Monday and happy start to a new week!!

I am having such a fabulous time interviewing and getting to know fellow authors along with @Ashwini_Menon and @priyreflects. 

Today we have Medha Nagur in the spotlight! Medha is known in the blogosphere for her simple conversational writing style, while her friends and family believe she is a complex philosophical nerd.

Medha lives in Bangalore with her techie husband and two kids

Behind the scenes with Medha Nagur

‘The Last Seychelles Flame’ is an unusual title for a book. What is the significance of this title, especially with your book?

I am glad you asked me about the title of my first book. I wanted it to be anything but usual and there you have it. After I released it on Blogchatter, people told me that it’s hard to forget this title. Some even said, it simply gets etched in your mind!

My protagonist’s life takes a turning point after she lands in Seychelles, both in terms of her professional as well as her love life. A flame is ignited within her after she meets the love of her life in this place. It is also here in Seychelles that she gains the much-needed confidence as a fashion photographer. And hence the title.

Ronnie is quite a disturbing character. Has someone in real or reel life or book has inspired you to build this wicked character?

Ronnie is my antagonist and so he had to be wicked, a crook. Obviously! I wanted him to be a person who is not capable of dealing with his internal ordeals and hence throw it out on somebody who is vulnerable!

Sometimes we see people turning nasty towards their loved ones, especially to their partners- wives or girlfriends, without any valid reasons, mostly due to their own insecurities. And Ronnie is one among them. His failed career, a self-induced one at that due to his unstable character, is to be blamed here.

I don’t see it coming from one particular reel or real character, but yes, my subconscious mind may have drawn his character traits from a number of similar reel world personalities that have left their impression on me over a period of time.

How much of the story has been inspired by your real life?

I am a girl from a small town, or a tier-two city. It is an additional effort for people hailing from small towns to make their mark in bigger cities. Moreover, if you are from a lower middle class, it makes it all the more difficult due to lack of exposure to certain luxurious aspects of life. When I say ‘luxury’, it’s not only about the things that money can buy but also the kind of experiences you would have otherwise. And in this book, I try to portray lack of such privileges ‘Adrija’ endures, especially in her new-found career in a big city. This is the only aspect that is drawn from real life I guess.

Are you happy with the response your ebook got?

Yeah, I am! When I signed up for ‘Blogchatter eBook carnival’, my aim was to garner feedback from the readers and I saw this opportunity as a ‘Project beta-reading’. It was not the number of downloads I was concerned about but the honest reviews and the opinions were what I was looking for.

Given that there were hardly any marketing efforts from my end, I am contained with whatever I have received. It helped me a great deal in shaping my book further and I will be soon releasing the 2nd edition of this novella on Amazon. Last week of July to be precise.

Amen! Wishing you all the best, Medha!!

What are you currently writing?

I am working on a novel, which I had started writing almost a year ago, even before I penned down “The last Seychelles flame”. It was a complex subject I was dealing with and was terribly stuck with the book. But, writing the novella before proceeding with my novel provided me with all the insights and experience that I lacked earlier. It’s much easier now and I am halfway through the novel already.

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

How I wish I had this one superpower to juggle my work and my kids efficiently. Then, I would call myself a “Wonder juggler”! Lol!

Is there one subject you would never write about as an author? What is it?

I am a big believer of the saying ‘never say never’!!

At some point or the other, I have been tempted to do things that I earlier said I would never do. And so, to answer your question, I don’t think there is any such particular subject I would like to rule out as a possibility as of now. You never know what strikes a writer’s chord!

You said it!

How do you overcome writer’s block?

Some say writer’s block is a myth. However, for me, it’s as real as my craving for a cup of ginger chai (just like my protagonist Adrija) at least once a day.

I believe writer’s block is simply a lack of inspiration to write at a given time. That could be the result of your mental makeup at that particular time of the day. What I do is, I take a break – listen to music, read something that helps me clear the block, relax my mind and try to calm down myself in the face of the unruly chaos.

Share tips on publishing and marketing your ebook.

It is too early for me to share any tips on something that I haven’t tried myself yet. My book is due to be published on Kindle by the end of July and my marketing plans exist only on my Evernote at the moment. So basically, it’s all theory as of now.

Since this is my first book and my first attempt at self-publishing on Amazon Kindle, it would only be appropriate for me to talk about it after I actually publish it, learn from my experience and understand what works best and what doesn’t. Will get back to you on this next time, if at all you happen to interview me again! 😉

Throw some light on how you research while writing.

The best place for me to research is internet (no points for guessing there!). You can hardly find people these days who can spare time to share insights to queries related to their expertise. I simply go to ‘Google scholar’ for more in-depth research-oriented information, which I believe are reliable and trustworthy.

For any other kind of information, I choose to gather data from any reliable sources on the internet like blogs, articles written by experts and even inputs from friends at times. ‘Google library’ is yet another treasure trove that I constantly look at when it comes to research materials since you can find hundreds of free books on a variety of topics.

I mostly read a little about the topic I am writing on before I even start and then I might dig deeper on need basis as I write.

Quick glance into Medha’s book

Adrija has all the qualities for a boy to reject her marriage proposal, and so her parents are worried about finding a groom for her, suitable or not, that’s not their point! One such quality among many is, she is only 5 feet tall.

Okay here’s another, she is also 32 years old. Officially, a girl with a rule book dares to break all the rules one day, fortunate one or not, well that’s not her point.

As a consequence, in her quest to become one of the best fashion photographers in the country, she lands in the city of dreams, Mumbai, alone and broke.

And then as the life shows her the beauty of love, a second chance at it for her, in Seychelles on one of her professional tours, her ex-returns to claim her back.

What happens when her ex, who now has horrendous motives, tries to flip both her love and professional lives upside down?

Will she give up to destiny’s desires or fight for hers own?

Will she ever fulfill her dream of seeing the photos clicked by her on the fortune five fashion magazine covers? Will she be able to unite with her true love?

Read what fellow authors have to say about Medha’s book :

https://anshubhojnagarwala.wordpress.com/2018/06/09/book-review-the-last-seychelles-flame/

https://priyreflects.com/2018/06/13/book-review-the-last-seychelles-flame/

https://kathamukh.wordpress.com/2018/05/26/not-a-detailed-review/

https://thevagabond.me/2018/05/27/book-review-the-last-flame-of-seychelles/#more-3066

Download the book for free from here 

Dramatic reading of the book. It packs quite a punch!!

Do check out Link to GoodReads page – 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40746935

@NagurMedha, do comment and let us know how this interview experience was for you. And do read, share and comment on your fellow author’s interviews as well.

Peeps, how was this virtual rendez-vous with Medha? Did you like it? Did it make you think?

Do comment and share your thoughts. I would love to hear from you.

Also, hop onto Ashwini’s blog for ‘l’ecrivain incroyable‘ of twist endings – Varad and to Priya’s blog to read Kathakali’s interview.