KAMINI KUSUM | AUTHOR INTERVIEW

KAMINI KUSUM | AUTHOR INTERVIEW
on Aug 20, 2019

Interview by bookGeeks: A huge fan of Danielle Steel and an admirer of Shobha De and Paulo Coelho, Kamini Kusum is a management professional by the day and author by the night. Her debut book “Secrets, Sins & Struggles” is about the journey of five women who beat all odds to achieve their dreams.

bookGeeks:	Tell us something about yourself. What is Kamini Kusum like on an average day?
Kusum:	I am a very simple human being trying to juggle with my every day’s task along with following my passion that is writing. I have been into corporate world for over 12 years now and life is certainly hectic ; even more when you have a family and kids at home. But somehow my passion takes out time among all these.
bookGeeks:	When did you first feel the urge to write?
Kusum:	I have been writing for over 10 years now. A few articles got published in magazines but this is the first novel I have been able to bring out to my readers.
bookGeeks:	In your novel “Secrets, Sins and Struggles” you have written inspiring stories of 5 female characters? Were the inspiration behind those characters from real life?
Kusum:	They are not real characters but yes, they definitely are inspired by some real life incidences. All the five female protagonists in my book are women to dream, dare, desire, falter but then rise like phoenix .These females are someone whom readers can easily relate to people they meet in their life. Apart from that I think a little bit of me is there in all these characters.
bookGeeks:	How do you maintain that delicate work-life balance? How do you find time to pursue your writing interests?
Kusum:	When you constantly crave for something, day and night think about that and are willing to put all the extra efforts, things do fall in place. They have to ! Efforts never go in vain. I write at night after I am back from office and free from my duties at home, also on weekends and keep framing and researching the plots on my way to office in my cab.
bookGeeks:	If given a chance would you want to pursue writing full time?
Kusum:	Definitely, that is there in mind when the appropriate time comes.
bookGeeks:	What according to you is the biggest hardship which authors face in the Indian publishing industry? What can be done to remove it?
Kusum:	The biggest hurdle is to get a good publisher. Though there are many but finding the genuine is a task. For first time authors it’s a bit difficult but there are ways we can overcome that. The concept of Literary agents is now growing in India. They can be of great help even to the new authors. Then there are good self-publishing companies as well.
bookGeeks:	Name one female fictional character who has inspired you the most?
Kusum:	Its from my own book- Pooja, a character who strongly believes in never say die attitude and keeps fighting till she has achieved what she wanted.
bookGeeks:	Any new project/book that you are currently working on? Will you continue to write inspiring stories or will you venture into other genres as well?
Kusum:	I am currently working on a novel that is an intense and inspirational love story. This is almost complete. There are a few areas that I am comfortable writing in- romance, inspirational fiction, issue based fiction and intense love stories. These will be areas where I will keep on writing.
bookGeeks:	A few words for your readers.
Kusum:	We should always do what we are comfortable in. If college and chick lit romance is selling or if some author has hit big with mythological fiction, that doesn’t mean we too should start writing that stuff. Mimicking the path of successful people doesn’t assure us of success. Originality always pays. So, lets write what we are good at!
bookGeeks:	A few words for bookGeeks.in
Kusum:	BookGeeks is doing a brilliant job. The video reviews done by Sankalpita are really nice. Thanks, bookGeek for this interview.