A couple of months ago, I met Shruti on Bookstagram. Shruti is a teenage author based in India, who writes amazing short stories. My review of her first anthology, Long Story Short can be found here. In celebration of her first publication, Shruti has agreed to do an author interview!
Intrigued? You can find Long Story Short on Amazon as paperback or eBook.
Author Interview
About the author
What is your favourite time and setting to write?
Writing dark short stories in the middle of the night hits hard. There are a few stories in my book that I’ve gotten the inspiration of, from the worst of my nightmares, and I overthought them until it became a good enough plot for me to write. So after 12 AM is the time my creative and depressed side wakes up and that makes a good pair for writing dark stories.
What kind of a book would you love to write one day?
I would love to write a super thrilling murder mystery novel that leaves readers smitten. I want to grow more and more as a writer to write such a terrifying plot one day that hopefully makes readers throw their book dramatically out of plot twists and make them hide it somewhere because of how horrific the plot turns out to be, but also gets them hyped up enough to keep reading for hours! 🙂
Who is your literary hero?
My literary hero is Colleen Hoover. I’ve read 8 or 9 of her novels and I realised that she’s the ultimate writer the world needs. She has a few must read books and I feel like every reader should give her book a shot at least once. She is a versatile writer and she has written everything from super dark goosebumps giving thrillers to Romance. Although she isn’t a feel good writer because her books always lead to one path- book depression for days!
What is your motto as a writer?
My motto as a writer is to never give up on it, for starters. Since I’m a teen writer it’s easy for me to grow up and lose this skill and get involved with a whole new different work. But writing is something I never want to look back and regret leaving. I would rather look back at it ten years from now and thank myself for giving it a shot as a hobby when I was thirteen.
What is your dream as a writer?
My dream is very random. I just want to be out somewhere in public and mind my business and then realise that the book one of the strangers is reading is mine! That would be way too overwhelming, I’d just cry!
About the anthology
What did you like best about writing this book?
I did a lot of trauma dumping and brainstorming here. But at the end of the day I know that it all worked out and I got recognised as a published writer. And it feels so good to hear that from other people. Everything about publishing this book intrigued me alot. Not just the writing part, but designing the cover from scratch and deciding the size of the book. Absolutely everything about publishing my dream book was fascinating to me!
Which is your personal favourite story of the collection?
My personal favourite story of the collection has to be “13 years gone” because it’s about childhood trauma and it personally hurts me to read it but I also feel proud enough to realise that I sure as hell have turned my nightmares into fabricating my biggest dream!
Which story did you find most difficult to write?
I think the story is “Right where they chat and eat”. The story doesn’t have any dialogue or any character apart from the protagonist. It is an insight into the mind of a girl with an eating disorder who hates her body as much as she hates getting judged by the people around. She knows that she’s a physical person and can be seen, and she doesn’t appreciate that fact!
What would you say to other young authors who are working on their first book?
All I’m gonna say to them is train themselves in a way that they take the criticisms the right way. Publishing a book out there is a rough thing and there are going to be people along the way who try to downplay your hardwork and creativity. There’s a fine line between discouragement and criticism that really matters. Just know that you aren’t bland, and you have that charm, enough to start a blazing fire in the eyes of all those who said you never had it. Because you did!
When did you know you wanted to publish your stories?
I started off writing stories as a hobby 2 years ago and it turned out to be something more important to me. I definitely had a dream of getting referred to as a published writer but I never really acted much upon it. I used to narrate my stories to my mother and she talked round me into publishing a collection. Though, I never thought that dream could come true any time soon, until it actually did!!
How did you experience the process to get your book published?
It was kind of a roller coaster ride. It was a fascinating journey with a hint of uncertainty. I was unsure about everything. I was working on the book alone and I was unsure if I was doing it the right way, if all the other writers do the publishing work the same way as I was doing. I was scared of leaving out on something prominent and of putting out there a book that I would regret. I knew myself as a writer and I knew that I was going to face some huge challenges, which I did. And I know for a fact that I don’t really take criticism the right way sometimes, I know that a single bad review could discourage me enough as a writer to not write for months. And it could possibly lead to my book being my biggest future cringe. Because honestly, my book and my writing mean so much to me!
What are you working on currently?
I’m not physically working on some work, but mentally my mind is working on fabricating a murder mystery plot. I’m not going to act on it until it turns out to be a good enough plot, and I’m fabricating a plot in my mind. I know who the murderer is going to be, I’m just thinking of a way people don’t realise that until I disclose that in the end!
Quick Round – My favourite…
Colour: Purple
Animal: Dogs
Book: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Movie: Five Feet Apart
Writer: Colleen Hoover
Dessert: Ice cream
Season: Summer