Had a lovely chit-chat with one of my favorite Indie Romance authors – Rubina Ramesh of Finding the Angel & The Knitted Tales fame. Have a looksy:
Me: Including a Faberge is certainly a new idea. How did you come across it? Did you need to take permission to use Angel in your book?
Rubina: Hi Dola, thanks for these insightful questions. Fabergé had always fascinated me. I used to read about it a lot since my mom was very fascinated about this whole concept of Faberge. I believe in the old ‘bonedi’ Kolkata’s house, these were collected as a status symbol. And since they were priceless, many stories are associated with them.
Even in the European aristocracy, they played a very important role in the mysticism of these Faberege eggs.. But when my mom used to tell me stories about these eggs and how many of them have disappeared – stolen since they were considered priceless. I mean can you imagine Dola, the eggs which we take so much for granted, can be priceless 😛
Since the Fabergé I spoke about is lost and there is no ownership claim, I didn’t need permission for that. But yes I did write to the Faberege company after the book was published and to my surprise they reverted back. It was a wonderful moment in my life.
Me: Your characters are so lively they jump out of the book. Do you plan their sketch or write on the go?
Rubina: Coming from a critique like you, this is a huge compliment. Thank you 😛
I really wish I could plan out my stories. I have tried that method but failed miserably. I write from one scene to another as my characters take me. Sometimes I do miss a scene or two but during editing, generally I take care of it. But this is not the best method I suppose but planning and plotting never worked for me. I am still working on this method.
Me: You have self-published 2 books. I understand you had an offer to traditionally publish Angel but you chose the Indie route. How has your journey been? Do you regret letting go of the trad-pub deal?
Rubina: Of course it’s a dream for every author to be traditionally published. I have that too. But under any circumstances, I refuse to write what a publisher wants me to write. The world of publishing has changed. I would rather have my readers tell me if I should write or not. I can take criticism – as my reviewers will tell you. I cannot take butchering of a book. I like my space a lot. So if my book is bad, let the readers say that openly. For this book, I have five star ratings – not from friends only. And I have one star and two star ratings rating too. I accept both with love. Now my aim is to win over that person who gave me a one star rating in my next book.. or the next.. or the next. Writers grow with every book they write and that is the only mission I have in my life.
Me: Does the success of The Book Club ever interfere with your writing? Which do you like more, reviewing and marketing or writing?
Rubina: The Book Club is not mine alone. So everyone does their bit. TBC to me is my strength – a virtual world where we can speak about our love for writing without boring the life out of our family. 😛
Me: Tell us about your next book.
Rubina: I have two coming up. Maya and Kept. Maya is a two book series though both will have an ending of their own. Maya is a romantic thriller while Kept is a drama or romance – yet to decide.
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