Many characters in the book deal with unexpected changes in their lives and would welcome facts to guide them. The title seemed to reflect the emotional struggles of the characters and almost implies that it’s simple to change a life.
Ayush Gupta’s First Novel Thank You Love, A romantic love story is available for pre-order on amazon.in. He studied Engineering at Dehradun Institute of Technology. At the ripe age of 23 his career has spanned 3 other occupations so far: author, businessman and speaker. With all these experiences at a young age, he cherishes a wish to share thoughts, dreams, aspirations and love with the people of this world through his writing.
Q: This is your first book. How did you come up with the idea for (Thank You Love)?
To be truthful, I was a person who couldn’t write a string of words correctly and I don’t know what brought the writer out of me. But, I believe that it happened because of the life shaking incident that I decided to pen down, which later went on to be my first novel- Thank You Love.
Creative writing was an art which was far beyond my imagination but that incident changed everything within me – the words flowed out and I didn’t dare to channelize them and honestly, I didn’t realise at first that I finished the book.
Q: What made you choose this theme for the story? What makes it special & unique?
This theme allowed my emotions to flow and as I spoke to my friends and people around me, I realised we all are touched by such incidents – A mosaic of feeling bundled together to form a real life person.
Q: What’s the novel about?
It’s about a basic set of human emotions like love, hope, faith, dreams and pain which has touched everyone some time or other.
Mine is a love story. That has a broken heart. That has a lost soul with no hope for his future.
Yet mine is a book with a protagonist who isn’t a hapless anybody. Sure he came from nothing. But now he works, and doesn’t hate it. He whines about his love life, but doesn’t resort to clichés to solve his problems.
This is a book that definitely does have all the makings of a regular old novel that could be written on a blog, or tweeted out in drunken spurts at people who don’t care. Where it differs is how the characters react to their problems. My book says — life happens, and in that life shit happens. Shall I give up? No way. I’m going to fight back. And nothing is going to stop me.
Q: Now, I’m throwing this one in for our aspiring writers. Did you come across any specific challenges in writing (Thank You Love)?
Yes, the ability to express emotions in words. But the challenges makes your journey beautiful and brings out a stronger you. Penning down your emotions and feelings isn’t an easy thing. Walking down the painful memory lane isn’t always a great idea but I loved doing that. It was like fighting a battle inside. It was a battle within me, which wasn’t about winning or losing but was about re-living those emotions in real.
Q: How difficult was it to get your first book published ? Share your experience.
I somewhat agree that Getting your book published is another difficult and tiring step after completing the writing part but that too depends on the publisher. Mine was Half baked beans they provided me with a platform to enthusiastically portray my thoughts, and being a startup publishing house they synchronise very well with the new way of writing.
Q: How did you begin writing? Did you intend to become a full time author, or do you have a specific reason or reasons for writing each book?
Before writing this book, I posted a short story on my blog. It happened because I wanted to move out from the closet I was boxed in. I wasn’t sure if I this way of doing it was correct until I saw the response and appreciation of the readers. I was glad by the appreciating messages and calls, I was extremely happy and that time I realised finally I got my new way of life.
I don’t intend to become another Chetan Bhagat or Durjoy Dutta but the love and excitement of the people, for Thank You Love, is giving me a thought to pen down another novel in sometime. May be, once Thank You Love takes its stand in the hearts of people I would start working on it.
Q: Will it be a squeal of Thank you love or do you have a specific reason or reasons for writing each book?
The next will also be the work of fiction but completely different of TYL and the reason would be specific “Just to feel good”
Q: What’s your biggest fear?
Losing track of what really matters in life; Being a good person who loves and cares about the people close to him and spread happiness in the world with no expectation in return.
Q: How do you manage to stay positive during your writing?
I must admit that it’s not easy at all. I am emotional yet an observant and reflective person. Whenever negative thoughts came into my mind, I said to myself that they’re temporary and that I have the power to change the way I think of what comes my way and they faded away. This is one of the reason because of which I am close to see my dream in the hands of many.
Q: Is Thank You Love based on your own experiences?
Yes, almost everything inside ‘Thank You Love” is out of my own experiences with love and life. However, at some places I have tried my best to include someone else’s experience, so that they can relate themselves more and can completely feel what is there in the book.
Q: Aren’t writers supposed to be solitary? Your views on this.
I need silence and solitude to enter into in my mind and pen down the words. To get that sort of solitude, I used to wake up at 3AM, when everything was still and silent outside.
I guess the same is there for every author. While writing it is very important that the author can flow with the mind, heart, emotions, sound and all other such things on which the novel stands. I write alone, but once in a while, a group session does me a lot of good.So, after completing each chapter I used to send it to my friends for their reviews on that.
Q: Any last thoughts for our readers?
Dear Reader, I have tried with all my heart to explain my odyssey of knowing that ―Love is beyond words and obvious logic. I hope when you turn the last page you will feel elated and happy. I hope this book will be your friend forever.
– Thanks for this candid interview Ayush Gupta.
