A talented young author of India is Ishita Bhown. You will love to interact with this young girl of just 24 years who became an author by chance. Take a look at the recent session with Ishita.
1) Ishita our readers will like to know about you as a human being and also about your background. So share something which you feel is unique in you?
I am born and brought up in Jaipur, Rajasthan. After completing B.tech from Jaipur, I am presently working as a software engineer in Pune. Right from childhood, I am very talkative and try to interact with any person that I meet. Friendship is my weakness and this weakness makes me stronger. While growing I realized that friends are a life support system. Friendship is the purest relationship, as friends are the people we choose and enjoy to stay with. They are the pillars of strength who understand us well and accept both the good and bad about us. For me, once a friend is always a friend. I think friendship remains unaffected by time and distance, but is a feeling of care and an inexplicably strong tie of fondness. The value which I hold for friendship is my uniqueness.
2)You are a qualified engineer so how the concept of authoring a book came into your mind?
From Engineer to a fiction author, the journey has been an unexpected one. I had never thought that I could write a book someday, and off course getting it published was way beyond imagination. This all happened just by chance. I have always had a knack of reading and writing, and so during college days, when I got bored in lectures, I started scribbling down a story on the back of my notebook. When I read that story to my college group, they all liked it a lot, and encouraged me to look for a publisher. I had a lot of free time in those vacations, and so I took their advise a bit seriously and started my publisher hunt.
3)Very recently you Novel: “ToGetHer – best friends are forever”. got published. So how was your experience ?
The experience has been wonderful so far. I have met many readers who turned into friends, many critics who have helped me improve and also met many talented people to learn and get encouraged. This is a lifetime opportunity to assess my own strengths and weaknesses, to interact with people from all spheres of life and to share knowledge.
4) Share us the moment when you saw your first copy of “ToGetHer – best friends are forever”.
That was an ecstatic moments not just for me, but also my family. The book which started as a random scribble was turned into hard copy. It was like a child to me, and getting to hold it for the first time was one of the happiest moment of my life not just because it was the output of many months of hard work, but also because of the proud expressions I brought on my family’s face.
5) Can you brief us the story of “ToGetHer – best friends are forever”?
I can never forget the first day of my college. I presume similar incidences are common among professionals throughout the country. Sharing the experiences of my friends and imagining the situation of other colleges, I could visualize the concept of this novel, which tells about a simple girl Ayesha and her interesting life, full of strange coincidences. The story takes you to the college campus, the carefree days and the excitement each day brought-from the first crush to romantic fantasies, strange co-incidences, to great misunderstandings, from detective instincts to protective feelings. This is a story which any one can easily relate with.
6) How the concept of the story of this novel came to your mind?
My hobby of reading and the way I lived the characters in the books that I read. It motivated me to write something, which others could relate with. I wanted to touch the lives of people with literary interests. I had a dream to attach other people to my fiction and thus started blogging. The positive response of my blog boosted my confidence and inspired me to write this novel, which derived inspiration from the general surroundings around me.
7) Who is the publisher of this Novel? Is there any obstacles you faced while searching for publisher of your novel?
Well, I come from a non literary background. I did not even know the names of 5 publication houses when I started my journey. Yet, google helped me. Within a few months, I had good offers from 3-4 publication houses. Finally I opted for General Press, a publication house based out of Delhi. I believe it is not that difficult, provided your manuscript is up to the mark. But yes, it is difficult to choose a right publisher. Today there are so many houses, some of them are greedy ones, who will leave no stone unturned to make undue profits at the cost of your ambition. So, one needs to be very cautious while making a selection and before signing an agreement.
8) What was the response or review about this novel from readers?
I share everything with my mother. So I almost begged her to read the book, before sending the final MS for submission. I wanted to make sure that the MS was okay, and that people would not make fun of me, once it is published . She was the first reader of my book whose appreciation brought it to its present form.
Dad read the book after it was published. He is a slow reader, yet, he finished it in 2 days. Those two days, I kept looking at his face to gather his feedback from the expressions. It was the same scary feeling like we get during the declaration of exam results. Those reviews are the most precious reviews for me.
I believe all my readers have been very generous in giving positive feedback and encouragement. Their overwhelming support and belief in me is a gift that I shall treasure forever!
9) Which is the next novel which is in pipeline?
After TGH, I have penned down 2 other books. One is a reference book on Basic computer sciences and the other one is a self-help book on presentation skills. Besides that, three of my short stories have been published in various anthologies. Presently I am working on my next novel, it’s still in the initial stage.
10) Who acted as an inspiration for you pen down this novel?
The free time in college days, my hobby of reading and the urge to share those interesting incidences that me or my friends experienced during college days acted as an inspiration for me to pen down this novel.
11) Do you have any other passion apart from authoring book?
I like to keep myself busy. Besides writing, I am fond of blogging, philately and love to work towards social welfare and look forward to volunteer at various NGOs.
12) How you rate yourself as writer?
Umm, I think the job of a writer is to write , and the readers should rate. Rating my self would be like limiting my own potential, thus I won’t like to rate myself. However, I constantly challenge myself to improve- both in terms of vocabulary and grammar.
13) Will you like to share your plans 5 years down the line as an author with our readers.
Being a debutant writer, I was a bit hesitant about the acceptance of my writing, but the positive response of the readers and their affection as well as feedback is definitely motivating me for a second attempt at fiction. I have some plots in mind, and hope to get them in the form of a good writing. I wish to write as long as I have something to share with my readers.
14) How you want to continue your career as an author or an engineer or Both?
Writing is my hobby, and being an engineer is my profession. I equally love both of them, and thus try my best to manage time between both these careers.
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