All Aboard by Kiran Manral – An interview

I had a talk with Kiran Manral when she had published her second book ‘Once upon a time’

 Now she is back with yet another book ‘All Aboard’, a story completely different from her other two books but entertaining nevertheless. Her characters are normally the people you meet on daily basis. She talks about an interesting character from her book Rina Massi, “eccentric retired school mistress who is the protagonist Rhea Khanna's aunt and she's a livewire.”

Synopsis:

When Rhea Khanna is dumped just days before her marriage, by her boyfriend of four years, the only thing she wants to do is to get out of the city to clear her head.  The opportunity presents itself immediately when her aunt, a retired school headmistress, invites her to accompany her on a Mediterranean cruise.

As Rhea struggles to cope with her grief of being dumped at the altar, she finds herself getting attracted to the seemingly unavailable Kamal Shahani—the infuriatingly attractive ex-student of her aunt and a hot shot entrepreneur.  To add to the confusion, Sonia, Kamal’s very attractive ex-girlfriend boards the ship in a bid to win him back.

Will Rhea heal her broken heart, or will she end up even more shattered than she was when she got on this cruise?

Kiran Manral Speaks:

 What was your inspiration behind writing the third book?

It began with an anecdote I heard about a friend of a friend who decided to go on her honeymoon after her fiancé ditched her at the last minute, albeit taking a friend along for the company. I thought that was a most fun way to deal with the heartbreak, it was the mark of a survivor, and somewhere the seed was sown for this story. Of course, I did change it around a fair bit, but that was the genesis of this book.

Share some resources that help you when you are writing

Spell check on the computer. Seriously. And of course, Google baba.

Your favorite character

From this book? Rina Maasi. She's this eccentric retired school mistress who is the protagonist Rhea Khanna's aunt and she's a livewire.

A paragraph of your work before and after editing

Ah, the work goes through so many infinite versions, from first drafts through four edits plus a rewrite to simplify my tendency to run on and on with sentences as long as paragraphs, that this is quite difficult, because one really doesn't have first drafts anymore.

Your favorite (not too famous Indian) author, why?

I must say Annie Zaidi. Not because she's a dear friend but because what she writes goes straight to the heart, always.

You prefer: twitter or facebook..why?

Both have their place, but twitter definitely helps you to reach to a lot more people a lot quicker, facebook is limited to friends and family and a few acquaintances in my case.

Three books you would read in isolated places

Ah, I prefer to read in a crowd so I am not compelled to make conversation. But books I can read over and over again, Jerome K Jerome's Three Men in a Boat, anything by P G Wodehouse or Dave Barry or Erma Bombeck, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

You prefer: Ebook or hard cover, why?

Can I be contrarian and say I prefer paperback. Ebook, I have still to acquire an electronic reading device. If Kindle decides to convert me, I'm open to the trying of it. Hard back is too much of a pain to carry around and I have a book in my handbag wherever I go. Ergo paperback.

Favorite place to hang out: beach, cafeteria or library

None of the above. My favourite place to hang out is at home.

What book you reading now? How do you choose it?

Am between books right now. Therefore am busy re-reading Bridget Jones, Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding. It is great fun to read Bridget Jones, she's someone who could have been me.

Thank you Kiran for sharing your thoughts, wishing you success on your new book. Shine on…….

The Pre-order links for the book here:

Amazon India

Flipkart India

Amazon.com