After bagging an engineering degree and completing business management, how did you switch to writing?

I started writing in my final year of college. It was like a hobby at first. After I started working, I realized that I needed to write more. Since I wasn’t getting enough time to write, that’s when I made that switch. In college, when everyone was going out and having fun, I enjoyed staying at home and writing. So it didn’t feel like a sacrifice for me, which is why I quit my job and started writing.

What is the book ‘Pocketful O’ Stories’ about?

This book is a collaboration with ITC Engage. They came up with the idea of compiling a book on short stories. I had been toying with this idea. As soon as ITC came along with this idea, I got direction about what to do next. We received more than 11,000 entries, so I had to shortlist those entries and pick the best ones.

Most of your stories revolve around love and relationships. So would you consider venturing out into different genres in the future?

Generally this question is only directed towards writers writing love stories and not towards writers penning thrillers, for example, Stephen King who wrote hundreds of thrillers. I do prefer writing about the genre of love. However, I have also written a thriller ‘The Girl of My Dreams’. But somehow the books I write are always marketed under the romance genre.

 

Are all of your stories in your books fictional or does it have some connection to your life?

My earlier books were more real because I did use some real life experiences. For example, my first book, ‘Of Course I Love You’ was heavily inspired from my life but as I grew older, drawing direct inspiration from my own life for my stories feathered out.

A lot of writers suffer from writer’s block. How do you deal with it?

A writer’s block is usually a combination of laziness and self doubt. So there’s a way of writing yourself out of this block and that’s the only way to continue writing. I’m not a very plot-based writer. So when I get a writer’s block, I just write about what the character would be doing at that moment and that helps me maintain the flow of my writing.

Note: The paperback edition of Pocketful O' Stories is priced at Rs. 199.