Sundari Venkatraman : Queen of Romance Novels
Valentine's day just passed by. Love is still lingering in the air. Sundari Venkatraman, prolific author and queen of Indian romance novels, shares her thoughts about writing romance novels and other stuff.
1.Are you ever tempted to explore other genres?
All the time, though there will always
be shades of romance in my books. I have written Indian Mythology for children,
the first five avatars of the Dashavatar of Vishnu and published them on Amazon
Kindle. I will be writing and publishing the other five avatars this year and
maybe more books in this genre in 2021. I love Indian Mythology and I also
believe there’s a huge quotient of romance and valour in our myths that call
out to me.
My latest book is a Romantic Fantasy
called Love in Agartha which came out in January 2020.
Plans are afoot for both Historical and
Paranormal genres, both combined with Romance, most definitely.
2.Do people treat you differently as a
romance author when compared to authors of other genres?
To be truthful, I don’t really know how
to answer this question as I know only how I am treated and don’t know how
other authors are treated. But yes, there is this publisher I know who insists
that romance is not literature. I strongly believe that the written word is
literature. I love what I write and as long as I have avid readers, it doesn’t
really matter. For example, I don’t read Horror. I’m just too scared. That
doesn’t mean I don’t respect Horror writers. They make an effort at their craft
too.
3.Do you
celebrate Valentine's day?
Not really. That’s probably because
Valentine’s Day has become a huge thing in India in only the recent times and I
have been married for more than three decades. So, I haven’t felt the need for
this one day to celebrate my relationship with my husband.
But it’s fun to watch what’s happening around
me for sure.
4.Do you
think it is necessary to be romantic to write romance novels?
5.Are you
a plotter or a pantser?
A pantser 90% of the time. I plan a hero
and a heroine and one basic line that will hold the story together. Beyond
that, I just let them go, watch them in action in my mind and just write the
scenes as they flow.
6.Do you
write every day? What does your daily writing schedule look like? Do you write
in the morning or night?
I try my best to write every day, though I
don’t really succeed. At a stretch, I have written for ten days at a time. I
don’t have a specific schedule, not for want of wishing. If I write in the
morning, the story flows better and longer and stretches into the night. If I
write at night, I can at least tell myself I have written that particular day.
I try my best, and succeed most times, to write 30000-40000 words every month.
7.How old
were you when you read your first romance novel? Do you remember the title's
name?
I was thirteen when I read my first
Mills & amp;Boon romance and fell headlong in love with the genre. Don’t forget
that I am talking about Mills & Boon in the early 1970s. The love affair
continues till date—not with M&Bs but with Romance. I remember, not one,
but three romances I read back to back for the first time. In the order of
reading, they were:
If Love be
Love by Flora Kidd
Adair ofStarlight Peaks by Essie Summers
A Season for
Change by Margaret Way
I still love reading Margaret Way and have a
few of her books in my collection.
8.HFN(Happy
for now) or HEA(Happy ever after). What is your preferred ending in romance
novels as a reader and a writer?
A: HEA, definitely. My stories end with the presumption
that the hero and heroine are together it ‘death us do part’. I prefer a
clear-cut end to both the stories that I read as well as write.
9.What
aids/hampers the progress of romance writers?
Let’s first talk about what all aid the
progress of romance writers. Amazon Kindle is the first thing that comes to
mind. I know for a fact that Romance is the biggest selling fiction genre on
Amazon; it gets the maximum readers. Social Media is a great boon in terms of
promotion. Readers of Kindle are most of them found on Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram. Then there is the reach beyond the seas, to all English-speaking
countries. Book reviews—it doesn’t really matter if they are positive or
negative, five stars or one star—help a lot. The more the number of reviews,
the better push the book gets on the Amazon website.
Regarding ‘hampers’, I would cite
Social Media for this as well. It can be too distracting for some. Most of the
time, writers of romance or otherwise, slow down because of interesting (?!)
posts and videos on Instagram and Facebook. This takes a lot away from writing
time.
As
for Distribution, well, I’m not sure if I am the right person to answer this
question. If you get readers interested—via social media and offline
events—they will find your book from wherever it’s available, be it online
stores or offline bookshops.
10.Can
you recommend three books for aspiring and newbie writers of romance?
A: The
Thakore Royals and Marriages Made in India are series written by me and
Destined by Rubina Ramesh. I know I must come across as one who admires one’s
own writing. Well, you might be right. 😉 But, if you are talking
about newbie writers in India who are keen on writing romances, then the above-mentioned
books are definitely inspirational as they portray the lives of the people of
India, along with their families. I believe that family drama goes hand in hand
with romance in our country.
To buy a copy of Sundari's latest book Love in Agartha, click here.
To know more about Sundari Venktaraman, visit www.https://www.sundarivenkatraman.in/
To buy a copy of Sundari's latest book Love in Agartha, click here.
To know more about Sundari Venktaraman, visit www.https://www.sundarivenkatraman.in/
(PS: I am an affiliate of Amazon. When you buy books through the above hyperlinks, I will receive a small percentage of sales which helps me run Kahani Takbak, a platform to promote Indian books, authors and illustrators.)
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