Which comes first–your voice or your niche? Author Vash Karuppa found both through a writing hobby that became a passion. Her debut romance, Destiny for Love Arranged, delivers an engaging romance that delves into the bonds of family, friendship, and South African Indian culture. Please join us for a talk with Vash as she details her journey to becoming a published author and find out what’s next.
Tell us about your journey to become a published author.
It has been an incredible journey thus far. I started writing my novel with no intention of publishing it. Writing is a hobby and at first it was simply a way of me enjoying putting my plot onto paper. Once complete, a few friends read the draft and motivated me to consider publishing it. That started my journey into the “real” world of an author. I was blessed indeed because when I made the decision to go ahead with [publishing], I had a tremendous amount of support from the writing fraternity. As a debut author, it has been phenomenal.
For many years, I have read articles around the call for diverse romance novels that incorporate multi-cultural aspects into a traditional romance plot. In addition, I’m a hopeless romantic myself and always had a plot in my head around a story that integrates family and friendship bonds (which I have been blessed to have throughout my life) together with a typical romance story. When I eventually decided to put pen to paper, it all just naturally came together, giving birth to Destiny for Love Arranged. Finally, I do believe there aren’t too many novels written which share intricacies of the South Indian culture and I was determined to do this. Looking at the feedback received thus far from readers, it was well received.
Whats parked the idea for this romance series?
Destiny For Love Arranged is a contemporary, gripping and angsty, second chance Indian romance that reveals the love of family and friendship bonds during trying times. All protagonists are of South African Indian origin.
The story revolves around Aariyan Ranjan, a highly successful CEO of a Hotel Empire and Varini Iyengar, an Oncologist, who are forced into a temporary marriage of convenience to help them resolve personal dilemmas. While Aariyan is determined to treat their marriage as he would any other business deal, love rarely listens to logic, and what follows is anything but business. On the other hand, Varini soon finds herself gravitating toward and rejoicing in the love she thought lost forever with a hidden hope that their marriage of convenience will end in a union of everlasting love. The story is embedded with cultural anecdotes familiar to any family of Indian origin. It takes their family, friends and a life-threatening situation to show them the love they lost is worth fighting for.
In short, this is a story about family, friendship, and starting over, as Aariyan and Varini embark on a journey toward a second chance at love. You will get to share in their moments as they discover that vulnerability can actually be their strength and the most perplexing problems can be overcome with the support and resourcefulness of a loving family and faithful friends.
This is Book 1 of a trilogy.
Give five words that best describe this book.What message do you hope readers get?
A gripping, angsty, emotional, fun-filled and diverse book.
Give us one or two of your favorite lines from your current book.
I will understand if you don’t want to be a part of my life any longer, but I need you to know, for as long as I live, you will always have my heart. I want and need you more than I do my next breath, but I will let you go if you want to be free of a life with me.
Tell us about your writings pace and your daily routine.
Writing Space – A quiet space in my little apartment directly next to a window where I can have the warmth of the sun and sounds of chirping birds to keep me company while writing.
Daily routine – Have a day job so get to writing a night for at least 2 hours in the week and whatever time I can hijack on the weekend. ”
What’s one of your favorite comments you’ve ever received about your writing? Who did it come from and how did it impact you?
“No spoilers from me… This book was just wow for so many reasons… Mostly I just want to say thank you to Vash Karuppa for the journey and that you made it possible for me to understand and enjoy the Indian culture… The characters in this book and the emotions wow… So Real… And then the country… South-Africa! Can’t wait for more great books from this Author and for the journey to continue… I enjoyed it so much…”
It is a review by a member of my Reader Network. It had an immensely positive impact owing to the reiteration that my intention to showcase my culture was well received. In addition, I was pleased to know that the emotions I so desperately wanted readers to feel was indeed achieved. ”
What’s your biggest struggle as a writer?
Biggest struggle – not enough time to write. Trying my best to manage a day job, family and writing.
What has been the high point of your career, so far?
That my debut novel has received an 4.8 average rating in less than three week since it went live. In addition, the fact that so many readers are recommending the novel to friends and family.
What was the low point of your career? And how did you handle it?
Having to cut down on the story line due to publisher maximum novel length requirements. I handled it by taking what parts I had to remove and added them to Book 2 🙂
Give us the name of a diverse author you’ve read that you would highly recommend to readers.
Brenda Jackson
What’s next on your writing journey?
Destiny for love arranged is a trilogy so I am busy with Book 2 & 3 currently.
What’s your favorite piece of advice to writers?
Keep on going!
My family, friends and people I encounter everyday are the greatest inspiration for my novels.
If your latest book had a soundtrack, what would be the first three songs?
Everything I do, I do it for you (Bryan Adams), We are Family (Sister Sledge) and I’ll be there for you (The Rembrandts)
To learn more about Vash, visit her online at:
WEBSITE:
https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/bookjourneyswithvash.wordpress.com/4 — (In construction – will be live by 24th April 2019 at the latest)
FB PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/bookjourneyswithvash
TWITTER PAGE: https://twitter.com/VashKaruppa
INSTA PAGE: https://www.instagram.com/vashkaruppa/
AMAZON US
AMAZON UK
GOODREADS
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44655221-destiny-for-love-arranged?ac=1&from_search=true
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