27 June, 2017

#Interview with Ruchira Khanna, #Author of Breathing Two Worlds


About the Book:
Neena Arya, a Delhi-born goes abroad for further studies and decides to settle down there. Determined to be a 'somebody' from a 'nobody' she blends with the Americans via the accent and their mannerisms while having a live-in relationship with her European boyfriend, Adan Somoza.

When illness hits home, Neena rushes to meet her ailing dad. Tragedy strikes and amidst the mingling with relatives and friends, she finds herself suffocated with the two different cultures that she has been breathing since she moved to the United States. How will she strike a balance between both the cultures as she continues to support her widowed mother? Will she be able to do justice to her personal and professional life after the loss?

Amidst the adjusting she bonds with an ally and learns about ties beyond blood. On what grounds will she be able to form an invisible thread that she has longed for since childhood?

Breathing Two Worlds ventures into cultures and ethnicity allowing Neena to ponder upon her foundation and priorities.

Available on Amazon

An Interview:

What inspires you to write?
The norms of the society! 

How did you come up with the idea for your current story?
These days most of the population has been immigrating to different countries due to work thus, making most of us breathe two worlds as we try to juggle between two cultures and try to prioritize things in our life. 

Are there some stories tucked away in some drawer that was written before and never saw the light of the day?
There are a handful of them that are incomplete. Need a home or just left unedited. 

What is your favorite scene in the book? Why?
The Airplane scene when the couple is returning home from their India trip. 

What is your most interesting writing quirk?
I enjoyed penning down a character called Carl for my book titled, “Voyagers into the unknown” 

I have portrayed him as an irritable, antisocial workaholic who has burned all of his bridges. It was a challenge to bring him gradually to terms towards the end of the book.

What is the best piece of advice you would give to someone that wants to get into writing?
Write from your heart! 

If you were to be stranded on the famous deserted island, what three things would you carry?
Books, Paper, Pencil

Can you share with us something off your bucket list?
Honestly, I don’t have a bucket list. Since they just lead to desperation, and uneasiness if not fulfilled. I take life in its stride and plan things there and then. 

Tell us three fun facts about yourself.
- Love to Laugh.
- Have a quirky laughter that makes other people also laugh when I laugh
- Face gets all RED when I laugh

What do you have in store next for your readers?
Currently working on another novel that encircles ambitions and agony.



Book Trailer:

Excerpt:

"Oh!" the Mom answered, but could not contain her curiosity with one hand holding the hyper toddler and the other on her hip she could not resist, "You two don't look like brother-sister, hmmm. So, what is your relationship?" she inquired with a slight smile in a soft voice but without any inhibition. A handful of seniors sitting in the same room observed all the drama and nodded to each other while their fingers were moving on the Tulsi neck beads.

Neena rolled her eyes and thought to herself, "Jeez! We Indians are always darn inquisitive."
Nikhil immediately got up and started walking towards the dining area. This was happening to them for the umpteenth time, and he was now tired of clarifying things. He had lived in this country for half a decade now and still he could never understand the fascination Indians had for marriage and children. 

Neena was confused at first because it was unlike Nikhil to be so rude. On the contrary, sometimes Neena referred to him on lessons in patience but today it was different. But then she didn’t have a choice; she felt it was rude to walk away from the young mother leaving the conversation unanswered. Moreover given Indian mentality in all possibility, she might even follow them till she had a convincing answer to her question. 


About the Author:
Ruchira Khanna, a biochemist turned writer, left her homeland of India to study in America, where she obtained her Master’s degree in Biochemistry from SJSU and a degree in Technical Writing from UC Berkeley.

After finishing her studies, Ruchira worked as a biochemist at a Silicon Valley startup for five years. After the birth of her son, Ruchira took a job as a technical writer, so that she could work from home. Soon, she began doing freelance writing work as well.

Her love of writing grew and she started working on her own books. After four years of freelancing, Ruchira published her first book, a fiction novel for adults called Choices.

Then came the children’s book The Adventures of Alex and Angelo: The Mystery of the Missing Iguana. She got a thumb’s up review from Kirkus Reviews.

In January 2016, she has published her second fictional novel Voyagers into the Unknown. It talks about the quest for happiness as the heavy hearted tourists travel miles from different parts of the world to Raj Touristry in Agra, India. Return to their respective home with a healed heart. This book talks about their journey!

In Breathing Two Worlds, Ruchira talks about ethnicity and cultures, and helps to strike a balance via a fiction-drama novel as her characters breathe two worlds.

In addition to writing books, she is a holistic healer associated with Stanford Healing Partners and also maintains a blog of daily mantras on Blogspot, called Abracabadra. Ruchira currently resides in California with her family.



Find her on: Website Blog



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