Writer’sBlock
Priyadarshini Narendra has spent several years in the advertising industry. Her first book, Two Chalet School Girls in India, was published in the UK in 2006. Her second book, You Never Know When You’ll Get Lucky, was recently
published by Fingerprint.
QDescribe your favourite writing space.
My bedroom, late at night when everyone else at home is asleep.QDo you have a writing schedule?
Not really. I just fit it in around my insomnia bouts.QEver struggled with writer’s block?
Yes! The story ideas come easily but finding the voice of the characters and bringing them to life — that’s the hard part.QWhat inspires you to write? Do you have a secret trick, or a book/author that helps?
Pregnancy! I wrote both my books when I was pregnant with my second and third child respectively. So now whenever I tell my husband I’m working on a book, he faints :)QCoffee/tea/cigarettes — numbers please — while you are writing?
None of the above. It’s more like foraging expeditions into the fridge for anything spicy that tickle my imagination.QWhich books are you reading at present?
The Gabriel Allon series by Daniel Silva, The Complete Works of Shakespeare, India Discovered by John Keay and some of my favourite Georgette Heyer’s.QWho are your favourite authors?
M.M. Kaye. I love the way she captures India and her love for it shines through; Jean Plaidy — her historical novels really bring the characters to life while incorporating a wealth of detail; Dorothy L. Sayers; Elizabeth Peters for her fun take on Egyptian archaeology; J.K. Rowling; Noel Streatfeild, Georgette Heyer — these are all authors that I like to go back to and re-read time and again.QWhich book/author should be banned on grounds of bad taste?
I dislike the concept of a ban — if you don’t like it, don’t read itQWhich is the most under-rated book?
What to Expect When You’re Expecting by Sharon Mazel and Heidi Murkoff.QWhich are your favourite children’s books?
The Shoe series by Noel Streatfeild; Harry Potter, though I’m not certain I’d classify them as pure children’s fiction; Horrid Henry by Francesca Simon and lots of books by Enid Blyton; the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
