Hi Aditti Gaur,
Hope this finds you in good spirits!
It’s a pleasure to take your interview today. So let’s start:
1. I know it’s cliché, but tell us something about yourself.
Aditti: About myself! It’s always been a tricky question for me. But I’ll try to describe myself to you (laughs). I am a graduate who has an ample experience of working with a leading DTH brand for almost half a decade. Later, I quit that 9 to 5 corporate culture job, got married and moved to Gurgaon. I was born in Delhi but my complete up-bringing was done in Meerut (U.P.). Presently, I am living in Gurgaon with my husband and a 11-month old baby girl. Apart from that I am an introvert person, an observer, music and book lover and a live cartoon to my little kid.
2. Have you always wanted to be a writer?
Aditti: No. I’d never ever thought that one day I will be a published writer. It came to me as a surprise. As an introvert person I used to write diaries, like we all does at some age but instead of penning down my journal routine I had a weird habit of writing scenes or dialogues. One day, my husband found those scenes interesting and he encouraged me to write the whole story.
3. How does it feel to be a published writer? Do you think it has changed you in any way?
Aditti: It felt really great when people you don’t know starts recognising you. They appreciate and love your characters. This whole thing doesn’t change me as who I am on my personal front but yes, it does change me from being totally anti-social to a slightly social person.
4. So who is Adhira? Are Adhira and Aditti same? Please tell us if there are any similarities or dissimilarities between you and your book character?
Aditti: Adhira is just like every other girl we have in our society. She is like you, me and anyone. Every girl can relate herself with Adhira especially when they read how she managed to overcome the complexities life throws at her. She is a sweet caring and a very friendly girl, who loves to care about everyone around her. At the same time, she is independent, strong willed and ambitious girl too.
Adhira and me are very different to each other. But, in some ways we are equal too. She is a walking inspiration to many, which I am not.
5. Tell us about your journey from being a blogger to an author. What or who inspired you to write?
Aditti: My love for diary writing inspired me to blog. On my blog, I used to write about the things I have a keen interest in like lifestyle, relationships, healthcare and numerology. Also I wrote few short stories which I posted on my blog.
6. Do you think this achievement is solely because of you or you wish to share credits?
Aditti: No. This is not mine. The whole credit goes to Ashish (my husband) who not only encouraged me to write but also supported me in every possible way. Secondly, the person who always stood by my side is Tushti Bhatia. She helped me, motivated me, and encouraged me to bring second edition of Adhira. Ashish, Tushti and Sandeep deserve all the credits. They stood by my side as the strong pillars of strength.
7. Give us a glimpse of your book in 30-40 words.
Aditti: Adhira… Love: Lost and Found is a story of a young independent, fun loving girl. This is her journey – of struggles, achievements, responsibilities, passion and love. Where once love was lost, it is quickly found again.
8. What was the toughest and easiest thing about writing your debut book, Adhira… Love: Lost and Found?
Aditti: You know Ila, the tough thing to do on this Earth is to empathise with someone’s pain without showing any sympathy towards them. Same happened with me, the most critical part is to describe her emotions where she came to know about her disease ‘Aplastic Anaemia’. The whole thing become more crucial when you choose such a rarest disease ‘Aplastic Anaemia’ to describe, which I am sure very few people know about.
9. What message do you wish to convey through this book?
Aditti: I want to spread love among all my readers through Adhira. I want to give a message to our young girls to be strong and have faith in your dreams.
10. What do you think about the writing industry these days? Do you think becoming a full-time writer is an advisable option?Aditti: It could be great for the ones who cracked a handsome deal with a top publisher. Or the ones who are financially capable enough to go for self-publishing.
11. Tell us something about your future projects. Are you writing anything at the moment?
Aditti: Currently, I am writing a sequel to Adhira… Love: Lost and Found.
12. How has the reader-reaction been? Have you received any criticism so far? Please share that with us.
Aditti: Readers loved Adhira’s story. Yes, I faced a lot of criticism for the 1st edition of Adhira. According to few of my reviewers, the character of Adhira seemed faked to them… probably because they haven’t seen anyone like Adhira so far in their life. But I took their negative comments positively and tried hard to correct every tiny grammatical mistake in 2nd edition.
13. How do you handle criticism?
Aditti: If anybody points out my mistake, I wholeheartedly accept that. I believe nobody is perfect in this world, we are humans – we do mistakes. I accept my flaws generously.
14. These days, almost everyone is becoming a writer. What’s your take on it?
Aditti: How can somebody whose 1st book didn’t work well comment on this? But still if you ask, I think people should write from their heart. Now-a-days, I’ve seen many people are spreading plagiarism and this is the worst thing for a writer. It is not only bad for whom whose work have been copied but also worst for the one who done these things. Every person has their unique quality, why waste it by copying someone’s work?
15. Any tips for budding writers?
Aditti: Write from your heart put your soul in your story and have faith in your dreams.
16. How important is the role of an editor according to you?
Aditti: Editor plays the most important role in a story. They can either make it or break it. When you put your heart and soul in a story, they put their mind. And I am blessed to have Dhivya as my editor. She is the best we can ever have for Adhira.
17. Do you think reviewers play a pivotal role in influencing the fate of the book?
Aditti: Earlier people used to go book stores and brought the book they seem interesting but now things have changed. Now-a-days people prefer online shopping and they like to read the reviews before buying anything and everything. Here the role of our reviewers matter the most.
18. Why and how did you choose M. A. D. publishers (an imprint of Author’s Paradise) for your book? How has the experience been?
Aditti: I published the first version of my book last year through some other publisher and I was not happy with the way things were going. As a result, my book lacks in editing and promotions which leads to complete loss. I completely made up my mind to quit but then one fine day, Tushti called me up and told me to re-publish Adhira. She was so sure about the story that we (Ashish and Me) had to agree on taking a second chance. This is how everything started. The experience has always been amazing when you have two lovely people standing by your side to support you in every possible way.
19. How does it feel to be interviewed by me? *basically the interviewer wishes to hear praises* *haha*
Aditti: Usually people like me hate to be interviewed due to our introvert sides. But, I love the way you make me comfortable with your questions. I really enjoyed our conversations.
20. Anything that you would like to tell us? Your favourite writers? Your hobbies? Or just some sneaky peaky details?
Aditti: I love reading suspense, thrillers & mythological books. Sidney Sheldon & James Patterson are my favourites along with Devdutt Pattnaik and Ashwin Sanghi. Apart from reading I am a huge fan of Vishal & Shekhar’s music. But I like to listen songs in every genre & every language, depending upon my mood.
Wow! So we have come to an end of this awesome session.
Description
Buying Link: Amazon
Readers, let’s be kind to the writer and buy the book soon. Do share your feedback with me once you read Adhira.
Happy Reading!
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