Interview With Shikha Kumar

Interesting people always leave a great impact of their presence on your heart. Recently I had chance to interview a very 'Interesting Author' who wrote an interesting story which created a great hype among the readers. Here I present, my interview with author of 'He fixed the match, she fixed him', Shikha Kumar.

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1. So introduces yourself -

I went to engineering college for my love for computers. I've been living a busy corporate life until my itch of writing conquered my senses. Today, apart from my full-time IT job and being a wife and mother, I'm an author, relationship expert, a blogger with TOI. Hands are full making life blissful.

2. How has your school and college life been? Would you like to share some instances / memories with your readers-

I have very cherished memories of childhood especially school days. I'm still in constant touch with my friends. We try to retrieve old times in best of our capacity. My friends whose kids goes to the same school tells me that my teachers still remember me for my energy and witty replies.

3. What inspired you to write?

Mostly few bad novels and a quote of Gandhiji - "Be the change you want to see in the world". So rather complaining about frivolous and irresponsible writings, I decided to pen my thoughts and see how best can I do my bit of making the world a better place.

4. You have been associated with bharatmatrimony.com and TOI? How has your experience been working with them so far?

It was very nice to make associations with them. As a debutante author, it was an absolute delight to get them interested in my book.

5. Every person faces a lot of hardships while writing a novel! Be it mood swings , writer’s block or anything else . at that time of point who is that one person who stood by you and had been your support at that point of time ?

I'm a woman, so mood-swings are part of my personality; hence I don't take that seriously. Since I'm juggling multiple roles, I find hard to take out time to write. My thoughts keep running on my mind, and my words keep haunting me the whole day. So effectively I always have much more to write than the time at hand, so writer-block never occurred to me. My husband is undisputedly by biggest support, best buddy and most merciless critic.

6. Tel us something about your debut novel “he fixed the match, she fixed him"

It's a love story of two enemies, Shreya & Kunal. The idea is that if love is determined it can even make two foes fall for each other. Love is a healer and especially the hearts that believe in its super powers, cannot overlook the blessings bestowed on them.

7. What made you write this novel, is it inspired from a real life story?

No story as such is purely fictitious, but thoughts behind it are mine or inspired by few incidents, I  closely witnessed. I took as a responsibility to write a story that could contribute in positivity about relationships.

8. Any one such character from your book which is close to you and is very special to you and why?

Shreya, of course. She's my wannabe. And when girls write back to me that they loved her, and the story has affected their relationships constructively; as an author my job is done.

And certainly I love Kunal equally. He's spoiled one, but that doesn't make him less-loved. I think there's a devil in each one of us, loving that devil is the only way to tame it.

9. Who is your favorite author and any one such person who writing and books has inspired you to write?

I loved "Fault in our stars" in recent times. I think apart from Twilight series that is one book I cherished reading thoroughly.

10. According to you, how does reviews, promotion and marketing help a book to become a bestseller?

You just can't do without them. A well-written book is never enough, word of mouth publicity is very instrumental in reaching readers. And without good reviews, aggressive marketing- there's nothing you can do about getting eyes to your book. With so many books in the market these days, a good book has to be well-promoted to stand out.

11. What do you like the most about yourself and your writings?

I love creating characters. Giving them a personality and an attitude is my favorite part of weaving a story.

12. Anything that you want to improve about yourself.

Trying to be little brief maybe. Keep a check on word count for next book.

13. If you have to describe yourself in 3 words, what would it be

Adamant

Witty

Emotional

14. At we conclude this interview, any suggestion/ message from your end for your readers/ well wishers /friends.

Be positive and insist on only consuming positive thoughts. Be happy and make others happy. Keep doing your bit in making the world a better place.

15. Any piece of advice from your end to your fellow writers.

Write good stories and be original. Perfection is a perception. Eventually a good story & storytelling matters, good English is important but not as such as engaging storyline. So focus on your characters rather vocabulary.

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