Exclusive Interview With Shikha Sharma

Shikha Sharma is a nineteen year old student of Delhi University. Her debut novel “I Loved too Much… He Loved too Many!” will hit the stores early next year. An avid reader, Shikha works as an Editor and has edited many books. 

In an interesting conversation with Read In Park, Shikha speaks about her life, herself and her upcoming book.

She can be contacted on Facebook .

Congratulations Shikha for your first novel. So, when is it releasing? Are you excited?

  

Thank you so much! The book would release in January and yes, I am excited. Very excited in fact!

Tell us briefly about your book for our readers?

It’s a story about the journey of love, the journey of lives, fidelity and obsessions; it would put across some uncomfortable questions in front of the readers. Also it offers something people could connect to. I just wish people like this story.

How you hit upon the interesting title “I loved too much, He loved too many.”?

It came in the conversation with a friend. And I so loved this title that I just could not think about settling for something else. And it feels good when people use the term ‘interesting’ for it. (laughs)

New titles are hitting the market every single day. How you think your book is different from others?

I guess the writing style and the portrayal of characters would be something that would set it apart.

Is your novel sexually charged?

I can’t believe that you are asking me this. So unfair it is! Anyways, I am not answering this one. Read the book and know yourself.

What are you promotion strategies? How are you promoting you book?

Well, I have a few plans in my head. You will know them when I change them into actions. And I think that promotion is very important for a book as I have seen books that are amazing but not much people know about them and this is just because of lack of promotion because to read a book, people should know that the book exists.

Tell us something about yourself?

I am a student of English Honors, this is my final year. I edit books and work as a content writer. I have written this book and plan to write more and if all goes as planned, I would be a speaker in an event soon.

Since when you are writing? Writing is passion for you or it just happened accidentally to you?

Writing has never failed to fascinate me. I used to write stories even in my Maths class. (laughs) On a serious note, since my childhood, it was something I used to do to create a space of my own where there were my characters, my story and my world which used to be there for me every time I needed that. I know it sounds strange but for me it was a world of wonder where I used to imagine faces on the marbles on the floor, used to write strange descriptions of people and since I had a handicap with drawing in my early childhood and also with Mathematics in all my life, so writing used to be the only saving grace for me.  

 How long did it take you to complete writing the book? Is there any message you want to give to young generation through your book?

It took me twelve days to write this book from beginning to end but I had the story in my mind for more than a year. And the message would depend on its interpretation by the readers. Right now, telling that would create spoilers. I just want to sit here and wait for readers to interpret it in their own way.

According to you, what is love?

Isn’t it so difficult to define it in words? For me, it’s something that I do to my Mom. No matter how many differences we have, no matter how much we argue, at the end of the day we love each other, I don’t think about changing my Mom after a fight with her and I guess this is how things should be between all the people who are in love, at the end, they should respect whatever they share.

Your dream date?

Ummmm… Ranbir Kapoor. He has been my most prominent crush.

How difficult it was for you to find publisher? Can you share your experience with the publisher?

Luckily, Mahaveer Publishers replied to me in two weeks so it was not very difficult. And they are amazing and support me in every possible way.

What kind of support you are getting from your parents, relatives and friends?

My Mom and Dad are happy and so are the relatives. It feels great when they call up and appreciate. There is support from my friends too.

What you do in your free time when you are not writing?

I don’t get much free time but whenever I do get, I play with my rabbits or listen to the songs by Pink.

Are you working on your next book?  Would you like to switch genre in future?

Yes. I am working on a book with Subhasis Das. Its title is ‘Mumbai Unplugged’, it’s a love story set in the back drop of Mumbai and I don’t think I would be switching genre in the next few books. Come on, I am young. Isn’t this the perfect time to work on romance fiction? 

What kind of books do you like to read? Who are your favorite authors?

I read a lot. In fact, I read anything and everything I can lay my hands upon. Genre doesn’t matter. And my favourite authors are Charlotte Bronte, Ruskin Bond, D.H Lawrence, Salman Rushdie, Dan Brown, Cicilia Ahern, Novoneel Chakraborty and Chetan Bhagat. And Subhasis Das too. Since I have to work with him, he will kill me if I don't mention his name here!

Any suggestions for aspiring authors?

 Stay focused as there are a lot of distractions while writing, especially because there are no deadlines, no bosses to take care that you work seriously and the temptations always come in attractive packages, you will always find a shopping session with your friend a reason enough to procrastinate that one chapter you were supposed to write. So just stay focused.

Last but not the least, sum-up your book in 5 – 10 words?

It is something that would make people think even after it gets over.  

Thank you Shikha so much. We wish you all the best for you novel. May it touch the hearts of readers. 

Thank you for having me here.