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“Maya Kapoor swaps the snowy mountains for the glittering ocean.”
Maya
Kapoor arrived in Mumbai with a glamorous dream, quite literally. Maya
wants to be a serious fashion writer for the high-end fashion magazine,
Glamorous but luck is not in her favor. Instead, she lands a job with a
local fashion magazine, Style. Maya hates everything about it but for
now this is all she has. Despite all the odds, Maya is excited about
living an independent, fashionable life in the city of dreams.
At
twenty-five, love has eluded Maya. But when she bumps into the dashing
photographer, Aryan Malik, she falls head over heels for his gorgeous
smile and charming manner.
But Maya seems to be
stuck in a rut - her credit card bills are sky-high, her melodramatic
mother can't stop ranting, the boss is unbearably cruel, her younger
sister has decided to tie the knot, and she's not sure if Aryan could
love a simple, confused girl like her.
Will
Maya get the fairytale life she dreamed about or will she let everything
slip through her fingers? Read her diary and find out.
1. A warm welcome to you at Reviews and Musings, talking about your debut novel Fashionably Yours– how did this whole idea get conceptualized?
I have always been fascinated with fashion and often I wondered what it would have been like to work in a fashion magazines. Hence I started to weave this story of a girl who dreamt of working as the serious fashion writer and she did fight for it. But life is not always easier for everyone, at least not for her. But she is a strong girl who may not know how to get what she wants but she definitely knows how to carry on and never give up. I bet this book will make you laugh but would also make you shed a tear or two.
2. Why did you choose this particular genre and topic for your debut novel?
I love chicklit. I am obsessed about it. I have read all sorts of authors and genres over the years but chicklit has a special place in my heart. Agreed that these pink, fluffy books don’t exactly teach a person the valuable lessons of life or so on but they teach you to live a little, to laugh, to love and to lighten up. In my perspective it’s easier to make people cry but what takes real effort is to make them laugh.
3. In today’s times there has been a sudden surge in the chicklits in the market. What are your thoughts on this?
Well we all have enough shit going on in our lives on day to day basis which is enough to send any sane person down the hill. We need something to take us away from the realty for few hours and in to the glittery, dreamy world of fiction and fantasy and here comes the chicklit. Basically chicklit is about for a woman by a woman kind of books.
4. Can you tell us something more about you, as an author and as an individual? Are you different from the author you in your real life?
I am pretty much same as an author and as an individual. I am a kind of no-nonsense person. Most of the time I am honest, straight forward and I absolutely can’t pretend. I love laughing and dreaming. I love kids, I love cupcakes, I love Zumba, I love long walks, I love sparkles, I love Hollywood , I love Chanel No. 5, I love winters and I am Christmas crazy.
5. Your views on Fashion as an industry, the way you have tried you capture it in your book, is it really as glamorous, beautiful and fun place to be as it seems in the book or is it what is hidden behind that zing zang with its harsh realities.
Fashion is a tough industry to survive but I think if you know how to get what you want and you really have that spark and fire in you then it’s like a cake walk and it’s same with every field and industry.
6. When was it that you felt you are born to write, was it there since your childhood or something specific that trigged your inclination towards it one fine day?
To be honest, I don’t know how all of this started but few years back when one of my professors in MBA college asked me where I see myself after five years, I said I see myself as a published writer. I don’t know why I said that but hey it’s only 4 and half years and I already have four of my coffee table books out and now I am published fiction writer. How awesome is that?
7. We would like to hear your journey of becoming a published author. Any particular incident (good or bad) that you would like to share with our readers.
Ah! Memories. I got my publishing deal with Harlequin India in a very dramatic way. I sent out my entry into the Annual Passion Aspiring Authors Auditions 2013 only an hour before it was supposed to be closed down as I wasn’t even aware of this contest till the very last. After that I waited to hear from them for couple of months and when after the long, tiring wait they announced the result of the winners, I found out that I didn’t win. That was the heartbreaking moment for me and if truth to be told, I did cry a river. For two days straight I didn’t step out of my room and then suddenly something unexpected happened. I got the email from Amrita Chawdhary, Publishing Head of Harlequin India and in the mail she said that though I didn’t win but she would like to read my full manuscript. I was over the moon. I couldn’t believe my luck! Without much delay I sat down to finish my book and after several mails back and forth and various rounds of edits, I finally got the deal.
8. What is the message you would like to give out to your readers through this book?
After reading the book, I hope that the women/ladies/girls understand that how important it is to dream, to fight for a life they want and that they are definitely worth more that they get appreciated for.
9. Do we see you experimenting with genres in future?
I don’t have any plans of doing it for now but maybe, just maybe I could get tempted to write Young Adult (YA).
10. If given a choice is there anything you would like to change in the book. Why?
Not a single thing. I like it how it is.
11. We would like to know about any future projects you are currently working on.
I am currently working on my second book. But I think it would be too early to talk about it. But I can tell you that it’s about a girl who gets jilted a night before her wedding.
12. Some words for your readers.
I hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I enjoyed writing it. It will take you on a fabulous ride of laughter, glamour, love and tears. And last but not the least, never let someone dull your sparkle.
Thank you very much for your time!