Get to know – Author Sumeetha Manikandan

I’ve been quite tardy at blogging. Let me extricate myself from the blame by putting it all on the session break! With kids at home and trying to keep them entertained plus supporting daughter in her studies by taking her to a study camp…well, you get the picture. I’m really thankful to Rubina for snapping me out of the tendency to lag.

Let me resume normal service by introducing you to a lovely lady who has got published by Indireads. Please welcome Sumeetha Manikandan. Let’s get acquainted with her through a question and answer session.

Q:Tell us something about yourself and how you got into writing?

I live in Chennai and I have been writing for many years now. I have been a bookworm all my life. And that’s what prompted me to try my hand at writing. Earlier I used to write for pleasure but never thought of posting them as blogs or stories. I wish I had started blogging early on in my life. That’s one of the biggest regrets that I have.

Q: Your experience of writing a book – easy as pie or hard as nails?

I would rate my experience as somewhere in the middle – between these two extremes 🙂

Q: What motivates you to write?

Mostly it is a germ of a thought or a feeling.

Q: What inspired you to write this book?

The Perfect Groom was inspired by a true incident that happened to a friend’s friend. I heard it as an annecdote from a friend almost ten years ago.

Q: Please describe your book briefly.

Perfect Groom is the story of Nithya, a young girl who wants to be independent but family circumstances and not-so-well-meaning relatives push her into an arranged marriage. Ashok comes with the tag of the ‘Perfect Groom’ – handsome, rich and an NRI. But Nithya soon discovers that her Perfect Groom was not so perfect after all.

Q: Tell us about the main characters in your book.

Nithya – a young girl, fresh out of college

Ashok – a handsome NRI who is wedded to her

Vasu – Nithya’s childhood friend and distant relative, whom she meets after many years

Q: How do you overcome writer’s block?

I read all my favourite books during this period and go for long winding walks while listening to Sting.

Q: Does writing get in your way of life?

No. Life gets in the way of writing 🙂

Q: What’s next in your writing plans?

Right now waiting for my second book to see the light of the day 🙂

 

And here comes our rapidfire round:

Your favourite movie

Last of the Mohicans

The worst movie you’ve seen

RGV’s Aag (remake of Sholay)

Any secret habit?

Keep guessing 🙂

Actor you’d fall for in a heartbeat

Daniel Day Lewis and George Clooney (Hollywood)

Hrithik Roshan

Favourite book.

Huge list of books starting from Pride and Prejudice

Fallback option when the fridge is empty 

Pizza and garlic bread

What comforts you when things go bad?

Music

Your most comfortable outfit

Nightie!

Hope you all enjoyed getting to know Sumeetha as much as I did. Sumeetha, thank you for sharing your experience of writing with us. So happy to Pride and Prejudice is topping your favourite list too…it sure tops mine 🙂

Do check out Sumeetha’s book. You can know more about it and read some reviews of it if you check out other posts in the Book Club Tours. Details and buy links below.

 

The Perfect Groom by Sumeetha Manikandan

The Blurb

 

Very little has gone right in Nithya’s young life. So, when a proposal from a young, handsome NRI comes along, her mother jumps at the opportunity and packs her daughter off to the US with her perfect groom.

 

Nithya seems to have settled in with Ashok, ostensibly happy, if as yet childless, in her new life. When an old flame comes back into her life, however, the cracks in her perfect marriage begin to show…

 

Buy @

 Amazon.in | Amazon.com | Amazon.uk | Amazon.ca |Indireads |Smashwords |

Watch it

 

Meet the author

 

 

The Author’s Thoughts

 

An author and a freelance writer, Sumeetha Manikandan has been writing for many years now. After working in dotcom companies, like Sulekha for over a decade, she started freelancing from home. 

 

Her debut novella, ‘The Perfect Groom’ was initially written in a script format, which was later converted into a novella for Indireads. The Perfect Groom touches a taboo subject that is most often shrouded in secret whispers and exclamations in the tambrahm community. Inspired by a real anecdote, ‘The Perfect Groom’ is in parts the true story of a girl who rose above myriad challenges to make her own way in life.

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