Second Chance At Love by Ruchita Misra: Author Interview & Giveaway (Winners Declared)

Hi guys, I am very very excited to bring you this exclusive interview of author Ruchita Misra. Her third book, Second Chance at Love is about to hit the stores and being privy to insider information, I can tell you it is a fantastic book! Well, being friends with the author has its perks you see 🙂 I am also giving away copies of her book. Yes copies. In plural! I have 5 copies lined up for you guys…! How exciting is that? I have been wanting to do a giveaway ever since the blog turned one but wanted something special. For me, it does not get any more special than giving out my friend’s book 🙂

Ruchita talks about Second Chance at Love

Q. Congratulations on your third book Ruchita! Tell us how are you feeling in the days leading up to the release? Is it the same feeling as TIB and IDDI prerelease period?

A. Thanks, Ankita. No, I am infinitely more nervous and a million times more jittery than I have ever been before a release. Never before have i woken up in the middle of the night wondering what more I can do for my book. It is weird! I think this is happening because so much has gone into this book, that I cannot bear for anything to go wrong.

Q. So what is Second Chance at Love all about?

A. It is a romance that has been inspired from some extraordinary love stories that i have had the fortune to witness around me. The book is about love, about hope, about heart break and about healing. It is about how situations can break even the strongest of us and how some people can ‘unbreak’ the most broken of us. It is my most ambitious book yet and I really hope people will like this book.

This is the story of Bindiya and Samar.

Bindiya Saran, 28, is happy go lucky, cheerful and sometimes careless, a demeanour adopted to hide a sad, shameful past. When she is chosen to consult for a prestigious project, she must work with the hugely unpopular Samar ‘Satan’ Chauhan. He is filthy rich, the second in command at India’s largest conglomerate and is a hard task master who cannot and will not tolerate mediocrity. He also has a past he does not wish to talk about.

Samar is like an angry lion , restlessly pacing the cage he is locked up in, snarling angrily at anyone who dares to come close to him. And Bindiya is like this cheerful little kitten who bounces around merrily and before either of them can stop what is happening, and much to their surprise, Bindiya and Samar find themselves closer than they had imagined. The book is about whether they will be able to overcome their own demons to accept the love that stands before them.

 

Q. You have hinted on your facebook page that you are trying out a different genre with Second Chance at Love. We are curious. Tell us more!

A. I have now moved from romantic comedy – both ‘The (In)eligible Bachelors’ and ‘I Do! Do I?’ were rom-coms- to my first serious romance. It is darker than the previous books and i think a lot more mature. It deals with topics that I would not have dreamt of dealing with say 2 years back.

 

Q. Was it difficult for you to shift from a Rom Com to Serious Romance?

A. No. Infact it was most natural. I was 25 when I wrote my first book. I had lived a very sheltered life till then, my family had treated me like a ball of cotton. I had hardly seen the world, was very happy-go-lukcy, could laugh off most things and i loved theatrics. I think TIB reflected all of this. TIB was, in essence, what I was 6 years back.

Cut to SCAL- I have now lived away from home for 6 years, started life in a new country, worked in London, travelled the world, been through and seen close friends and family go through rough patches, became a wife and most importantly and life alteringly, became a mother. All of this – life- gives you perspective. And i daresay, makes you wiser, calmer and more mature. SCAL is in essence, what i am now.

However, I do retain my sense of humour and I hope to be able to get back to Kasturi day.

 

Q. You have partnered with Zariin Jewellers for Second Chance at Love. How did that come about?

A. Marketing of books has entered a new and very exciting phase. The author is a brand and is treated like one. I am lucky, my publishers, Harper Collins India, have a fabulous marketing team and we have partnered with multiple brands for SCAL. This includes Satya Paul, Zariin Jewellers, Essenza di Wills.

Q. Everyone who knows you said that the protagonist in your earlier books, Kasturi Shukla is a lot like you. How do you react to that? Do you like it or you want to tell them – “Kas is Kas and I am me!!”

A. Haha.

While I vehemently denied it then, the more I think about Kasturi now, the closer I come to the realisation that Kasturi indeed had a lot of me in her. I think any author’s first book is most autobiographical and mine was no different.

Will we see more of Kasturi and the gang in future? Any plans of turning that into a trilogy or would you continue trying different genres?

I honestly do not know. I think after SCAL will come another story with a new set of characters (not Kas) but who knows what will happen after that. As they say, never say never.

 

Q. What inspires you to write? Do you draw inspiration from the people around you? Ever paused in a conversation and said, “that will go into my book”?

A. It is a difficult question to answer and the process is actually a lot more complex than that. I get these flashing images of scenes that have people I do not yet know. These images are very clear and vivid, enticing enough for my brain to start whirring into motion. The characters then begin to take shape, and gradually the story emerges. Sounds like end of the pier stuff, I know, but honestly that is how things work for me. With time, this story will gain power and begin to consume me in a way that i will not be able to ignore it. And then I will HAVE to write. I am sure I get inspired by people around me, but if that happens that happens at a subconscious level.

 

Q. What is Ruchita – the woman like? How would you describe her?

A. It is difficult for me to answer that. I can probably tell you who I think I am but I think a better answer will be talk about what I want to be.

I want to be someone who is very stable in her response to situations- I am beginning to realise that no joy is only joy, there is some thing wrong always and similarly no sorrow is only grief, there is always a silver lining. I want to be someone who is respectful not only of elders but of life around her. And I want to be someone who can see and focus on the good in everyone.

 

Q. And finally, any parting thoughts?

A. A lot of hard work has gone into my latest book and I genuinely feel that this is a story that will resonate with anyone who has been or hopes to be love.  The first few reviews are trickling in and readers seem to be loving it! So if you are looking for a romance, please do order a copy.

Second Chance At Love on Amazon

You can order the book on Amazon by clicking on the widget below or scroll down to enter the giveaway…

Second Chance At Love Giveaway

All right, on to the giveaway. The rules are simple really. I dislike giveaways with a long list of to-dos. So have kept this really simple. Here are the rules –

1. Follow me on Twitter (@LifstyleProBlog) This is a mandatory step and earns you 5 entries
2. Tweet about the giveaway. Please do this from within the widget so that your entry gets counted. This is optional and gets you 5 entries. You can do this step once everyday to increase your chances of winning!
3. The giveaway is open till 21st Jan 2016. I will announce a winner after that.
4. The giveaway is open to residents of India only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Do drop in a comment after you have entered the giveaway so that I can validate your entries.