Interview: Shilpa Mudiganti Blog Tour

I am so excited to have Shilpa Mudiganti here on my blog as part of the Always You Blog Tour! I read the eARC copy and as a debut by the author, it is awesome! Following is the interview that I did with Shilpa but first let’s get to know the author behind Always You.

About the Author Shilpa M Mirza grew up making up stories in her head. Starting with innocent babbling, genre of her stories changed with lessons growing up teaches us all. She thought life would be all about her stories until she completed her technical degree. Security of an IT job lured her leaving her stories to continue brew up in her head. Yet soon she had to fall in step with what fate had planned for her and she penned her first romance novella, Always You to be published by Inkspell Publishing. There has been no looking back since then. Juggling her day job as an IT geek, she has penned down her pet project, an exciting fantasy story of lions and wolves which, to her utter delight, is going to see the light of the day early next year. She says you would fall in love with her wonderful hero and heroine. When she has time to breathe, she spends time blogging, connecting with her readers and spending time with her loving husband. She lives at Ridgefield Park, New Jersey.

Yes I am. I work as a business analysis/solution architect at a major Internet firm. But my day job is due to my education. But I always loved reading books and fortunately, I felt the urge to write at a young age. My essays at school used to be well received and I realized I can write better than most. But then, I never really thought I can ever be a fiction author. I started freelance writer non-fiction about four years back and renewed my interest in writing after college. It was during one of those phases when I was talking to my friend about a story that I wished I could write, was when I realized may be I should. It was my friend who encouraged me to try it out and looked like I could write fiction. Since then, though unpublished I have penned 2 fantasy novels, one of which I am trying to polish for publication this year. Always You was a quick one but dear to my heart especially because this is my debut book.

A long weekend of Mills & Boons books! As I mentioned before, I actually write fantasy but I have always enjoyed reading romance too. Books from Harlequin or Mills & Boons are my stress busters where I can just relax and read about hot men. It was during one long weekend when I read about 4 Mills and Boons books that I decided I should write one as well. That was how Always You came about. It started out as a challenge for me but ended up being very close to my heart. 

It was not at all smooth ride but for different reasons. I never bothered sending Always You to big publishing companies because honestly, this book is too small for that. So, my experience has been with small publishing companies which unfortunately, isn’t that great. But it was a good learning experience and I am glad I went through it!

Lots of romance books and hot men!

It’s actually quite fun. I know my book’s characters and usually we have a picture of them. So, I just simply browse through a lot of names (A LOT) and say them aloud to get a feel. It depends on how the character is. For example, Alex or Alexander Knight is handsome hot, rich, tough and yet romantic. The name just felt right for him when I said it aloud. 

No. With my day job that usually stretches to unholy hours, I write just about anywhere and on any device. I write on my phone, laptop, iPad, and paper. Usually by the time, a book is over, I have the work scattered on all these four devices and a lot of syncing is done later. That is why I love apps that let me sync all the devices! haha!

I am currently reading Archangels’ Blade by Nalini Singh. My favorite author. Hmm. This is tough because I enjoy a wide range of books. But the one who would always be my favorite is Ayn Rand. She is more of a philosopher than an author. The only reason she qualifies as author because she wrote The FountainHead and Atlas Shrugged (and few other books explaining her philosophy). But her book left an indelible mark on my life and it continues to motivate me. So, I would say its Ayn Rand.

The Dark Morning, on the other hand, is the book one of a fantasy series called Legends of Elavanh. It is the story of Aira, who discovers her role in the magical shape-shifting tribe of Raikas and also gets to meet two attractive brothers Akshit and Samar. Its an action packed book and very unique considering it is based in the deep jungles of north east India. I cannot wait to share the books with all!