Author Interview With
Rajesh Konsam
Author of Bittersweet - Debut Novel
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Hey Readers' Fam, we are back with another Author Interview. This time we will be having a conversation with the author of 'Bittersweet', most welcome Rajesh Konsam.
If you don't know about 'Bittersweet' book, then check out my review of Bittersweet here.
About the author:
Rajesh Konsam is a young software engineer and writer. A geek at heart, he loves programming and feel-good novels in equal measure. When not writing poems, he ticks travel destinations off his bucket list. Although Rajesh hails from Manipur, he works in Chennai after completing his B.E. in Coimbatore.
Bittersweet is Rajesh’s debut novel, and he is working on his next. Rajesh tweets as @RajeshKonsam, runs a feed on Instagram as @rajeshkonsam, and responds well to feedback at rajeshkonsam@live.com. More at rajeshkonsam.com
Bittersweet is Rajesh’s debut novel, and he is working on his next. Rajesh tweets as @RajeshKonsam, runs a feed on Instagram as @rajeshkonsam, and responds well to feedback at rajeshkonsam@live.com. More at rajeshkonsam.com
Follow him on Instagram: @rajeshkonsam
Reach out to his Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRajeshKonsam/
Order your copy of Bittersweet here: https://amzn.to/30GvVce
Before we start, there are two options for you. You can either enjoy the video of the interview or read it here on the blog. Thanks to the author for recording the answers in the camera for you all readers! (Video is available with subtitles)
Let's Start!
Q: Why you chose this musical theme for your book?
Before we start, there are two options for you. You can either enjoy the video of the interview or read it here on the blog. Thanks to the author for recording the answers in the camera for you all readers! (Video is available with subtitles)
Q: Why you chose this musical theme for your book?
A: I wanted to write a story about young millennials who come together and share their creative ideas, help each other out during their formative period and be emotionally available during your failures. Also, I'm a huge music fan and my brother is a musician, so yeah!
Q: The protagonist had many flaws yet your readers connected with the character and found very relatable, so what was the idea behind that character?
A: The protagonist here possesses the mindset of a lot of disturbed young millennials from our generation. So I decided to leave him that way. I think, he is more or less younger version of me. I remember having the same set of thoughts when I was younger and I remember this quote from my favorite authors, Anthony Doerr. A real diamond is never perfect.
Q: How important it is to follow passion according to you?
A: I think it's very important whether it's your daytime job or whether it's your secondary or tertiary passion. Passion is what keeps driving a life. Passion is important to make your reality better than your dreams. I wake up every morning knowing that I have so many things to look forward in life and they makes me happy.
Q: How is it being a writer in India and how was your experience publishing your debut novel?
A: I think it's a good time to be a writer in India. If you look around there are so many stories that need to be talk, there's a lot of culture and a lot of diversity. Yeah. I love being a writer in India. Coming to the second part of your question, how was your experience publishing your debut novel? I think it has been rather a very long journey for me. It was depressing in the beginning, a lot of publishers rejected me. But then again I met this wonderful literary agent Suhail Mathur from The Book Bakers literary agency. He helped me find a couple of publishers out of which Vishwakarma Publications came to my life and it has been an uphill journey ever since.
Q: What steps are you following for improving your language?
A: I must say, if you want to improve your language, you need to follow very good authors. In my case, I love reading books from Booker Prize shortlisted or Pulitzer Prize shortlisted authors, they write very well. But since I'm a contemporary fiction novelist, I love reading magazines, magazine interviews, I also watch Talk shows, they are very interesting and they help you improve your language.
Q: How’s been your journey so far as an author?
A: I think it has been a very good learning experience. I met a lot of new people, I met a lot of readers, I've learned a lot in just one month and the book is surprisingly doing well. I think I have to thank all my readers, I have to thank my publisher, I have to thank my literary agent, thank you so much. I'm starting to enjoy my success.
Q: You favorite book, author and genre and why?
A: I wish I could name any other book but my favorite book is Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. It's my favorite because there's very good character development in the book, I felt for the male lead, I could feel his pain and anguish throughout the book and it's one of the best examples of the good characterizations. Secondly my favorite author, I like Paulo Coelho who wrote 11 minutes, the kind of satisfaction I got when I read 11 minutes that I don't get from a lot of writers. And my favorite genre is modern classic because it has an artistic touch to it and is still set in familiar world.
Q: The most cliché romance plot you’ve ever read.
A: I once read about this novel where in, protagonist ends up in a mental hospital because he broke up with his girlfriend. I think its fine but then again the execution was very bad. And no, I didn't like it.
Q: 3 reasons why people should read your book ‘Bittersweet’?
A: Number 1: The thorough research done for the book. When you read the book, you'll see.
Number 2: Cultural diversity. There are characters from Kerala, characters from South India and Indo-Portuguese female lead and minor characters from the North-East.
And Number 3: There are a few surprises in the book.
Q: Three secrets about the book which readers don’t know yet.
A: Number 1: The book was written when I was a college student. I did my engineering in Coimbatore and that's when I completed the first draft of the book. It took some time for the book to get published.
Number 2: The Mumbai which you find in Bittersweet is an entirely fictional one. I have never been to Mumbai but I plan on visiting Mumbai soon.
Number 3: I maintain a colored chart for every book I write and in Bittersweet I used different colors to track flow of different characters and I did this primarily for shadow some of the characters and to help them throughout different chapters. I don't want some of my characters to go missing from chapters and that's why I used character chart using different colors. I think that's all. Thank You!
Thank you so much for being here Rajesh! We all wish you the best!
Show some love!!
Order your copy of Bittersweet here: https://amzn.to/30GvVce
Instagram: @rajeshkonsam
Twitter: @RajeshKonsam
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Will see you in the next post. Till then buh-bye. Take Care. Peace. ☮
