About the Book:
An ace vintage car restorer and a pharmaceutical tycoon, Maxine and Krish have dramatically different lives and nothing in common. A chance encounter puts their lives on a collision course and a stubborn and steady attraction begins to bloom. Wanting each other is easy, it's happy ever after that's the problem...
Interview:
When did you decide to become a writer?
Writing was something I thought I’d do once life stopped getting in the way. Life, however, continued to be its pesky self and stayed very much in the way. When I got married to a sailor, to continue with my trend of unconventional life choices, I took a sabbatical from work to spend some “quality time” with him while he attended a course for his promotion exams.
Unlike me, he took his course and exams very seriously. A fact I did not know prior to our wedding. So, in effect, I was only spending quality time with myself. And I really didn’t need it…I sat down to type out what would be the first draft of The Girl He Left Behind. I haven’t stopped typing since that day.
What are your ambitions for your writing career?
My ambition is as simple as wanting people to read the stories I write. I’d love to be as widely read as possible. To know that people from all walks of life and all parts of the world are reading the words I wrote…that, to me, would be everything.
Give us an insight into your main character. What does he/she do that is so special?
Maxine Sheridan aka Max is my female protagonist in Driven by Desire and like me, is a proud flag bearer of unconventional choices. An Anglo Indian, vintage car restorer raised by her widowed father, Max believes in living life to the fullest. She won’t take no for an answer and refuses to let her lack of knowledge or talent stop her from attempting something new. Max is special because she has something that most people lack or forget to retain – a lust for life in all its glory.
Do you have a special time to write or how is your day structured?
I write whenever I can find the time. That’s my special time. 😊 I work full time and have an energetic toddler so mostly writing happens in the middle of the night when the house is quiet, and the rest of the day’s tasks are accomplished.
Where do the ideas come from?
I have always had a very overactive imagination. I’ve been telling stories since I was a child. The only difference is earlier I got punished for it, now I get paid. 😊
Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer to just see where an idea takes you?
I don’t start writing as soon as I get an idea for a story. I let the idea stew in my head for a while until I’m more or less clear about the broad plot or outline. As far as the finer details are concerned, I let the protagonists take the lead.
Any tips on how to get through the dreaded writer’s block?
Take a break. It’s the only thing that has ever worked for me. Step back from your story and let your mind find its perspective again. When that happens, the writing will automatically fall into place.
What can we expect from you down the line?
My fourth book releases with Rupa Publications next year. It is the story of three people caught in a tangled web of love, family, marriage and each other and their dark, desperate journey of redemption. But mostly, it’s a story of their quest to gain acceptance through love. The only choice left to us all.
About the Author:
Shilpa was a year and a half when she was first introduced to the world of books. Her mother would park her with a picture book on the floor of the kitchen while she finished her cooking for the day. While it’s no longer the kitchen floor, you can still find her tucked away in a cosy nook somewhere with her nose buried in a book. While books in all genres interest her, it was romance that captured her heart. While racing through every romantic fiction book she could beg, borrow or buy, her over active imagination started to work overtime and weave its own stories. Years in the corporate world followed by a stint of entrepreneurship crystallised her belief that all she really wanted to do was give life to the stories bubbling inside of her. She briefly managed to tear herself away from the world of fiction to find her own personal happily ever after and now spends her time happily focusing on the two loves of her life – family and writing romances.
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Author Interview
Interview:
When did you decide to become a writer?
Writing was something I thought I’d do once life stopped getting in the way. Life, however, continued to be its pesky self and stayed very much in the way. When I got married to a sailor, to continue with my trend of unconventional life choices, I took a sabbatical from work to spend some “quality time” with him while he attended a course for his promotion exams.
Unlike me, he took his course and exams very seriously. A fact I did not know prior to our wedding. So, in effect, I was only spending quality time with myself. And I really didn’t need it…I sat down to type out what would be the first draft of The Girl He Left Behind. I haven’t stopped typing since that day.
What are your ambitions for your writing career?
My ambition is as simple as wanting people to read the stories I write. I’d love to be as widely read as possible. To know that people from all walks of life and all parts of the world are reading the words I wrote…that, to me, would be everything.
Give us an insight into your main character. What does he/she do that is so special?
Maxine Sheridan aka Max is my female protagonist in Driven by Desire and like me, is a proud flag bearer of unconventional choices. An Anglo Indian, vintage car restorer raised by her widowed father, Max believes in living life to the fullest. She won’t take no for an answer and refuses to let her lack of knowledge or talent stop her from attempting something new. Max is special because she has something that most people lack or forget to retain – a lust for life in all its glory.
Do you have a special time to write or how is your day structured?
I write whenever I can find the time. That’s my special time. 😊 I work full time and have an energetic toddler so mostly writing happens in the middle of the night when the house is quiet, and the rest of the day’s tasks are accomplished.
Where do the ideas come from?
I have always had a very overactive imagination. I’ve been telling stories since I was a child. The only difference is earlier I got punished for it, now I get paid. 😊
Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer to just see where an idea takes you?
I don’t start writing as soon as I get an idea for a story. I let the idea stew in my head for a while until I’m more or less clear about the broad plot or outline. As far as the finer details are concerned, I let the protagonists take the lead.
Any tips on how to get through the dreaded writer’s block?
Take a break. It’s the only thing that has ever worked for me. Step back from your story and let your mind find its perspective again. When that happens, the writing will automatically fall into place.
What can we expect from you down the line?
My fourth book releases with Rupa Publications next year. It is the story of three people caught in a tangled web of love, family, marriage and each other and their dark, desperate journey of redemption. But mostly, it’s a story of their quest to gain acceptance through love. The only choice left to us all.
About the Author:
