Author Interview with Aarti V Raman

Dear Readers, please welcome once again author Aarti V Raman whose new release 

WITH YOU I DANCE #WYID 

is trending upwards on Amazon.in.

Let’s talk romance, RT…

Thank you so much for having me over, FK! I love talking romance, books and hot dudes with you.

Haha. Me too :)

1.What’s your personal brand of romance?

If you’d asked me a year ago, I would have said my personal brand of romance involved Chris Hemsworth, a waterfall, white shirt and jeans. Now though, it’s that moment of utter quiet and peace you have with yourself and someone else. Where the world is revolving or going to hell but you’re Ok, you just be. And it’s not perfect but it works. And it can be for five minutes or a lifetime but that feeling stays forever. I know, cheesy, right?

I also wouldn’t mind a trip to the shoe store, though!

2.Where did you get your inspiration from for WYID?

Dance has been a big part of my childhood, like every Indian kid, especially South Indian kids. In fact, I even won a few Bollywood dance competitions back when I was in school and participated in all Annual Day dance programs.

When I thought of writing about a broken woman who has to come back home to India and deal with her well-meaning but ‘not-understanding-her’ family, I pictured her to be someone delicate and yet with a core of strength that carries her through to the other side. Ergo, she became a dancer.

Also, I might have seen Natalie Portman in Black Swan around that time and thought she was smoking hot!

3.Do you dance like Meera?

If you mean, do I know ballet? The answer is no. I don’t know ballet. I do have five years of classical Bharat Natyam training under my belt although I never did perform my arangetram.

But, on the other hand, I do dance with the same abandon and sheer joy of living that infuses Meera when she moves. I don’t always succeed but I try!

4.What did you have to research for WYID?

Being a great fan of classical music, I had to comb through the greats – Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Wagner, Prokofiev and others to find that one perfect opera that my beautiful heroine would completely screw up. In the end the choice was obvious, if a bit clichéd. Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan Lake’ opera.

5.Who is your favorite character in WYID?

Hey! I can’t play favorites among my babies. But I admit, I have a soft spot for the Sagar siblings – Meera and Bullet. Being an only child with a ton of cousins who made my childhood and adulthood so memorable, I could only guess at the inner workings of a relationship as complex and fragile as that of siblings, that too, siblings who had not seen each other in years.

But Meera and Bullet made it damned easy to write about them, mostly because they are fully formed people in their own right.

6. Difference between love and lust?

Love is when you want to tear the clothes off of your S/O while both of you are wearing your rattiest pair of PJs. Or just Netflixing without the chill, LOL. Lust is needing to dress up in an LBD and fuck me shoes in order to impress. I guess, comfort, trust and intimacy is the difference between love and lust.

7.What do you think of the Tall, Dark and Handsome trope? How does it work for Abeer? Or doesn’t it?

Abeer is TDH, but he is TDH with a twist. He isn’t vengeful or brooding. Or at least, he tries not to be as he helps Meera with setting up her ballet school/business venture. The TDH trope exists for a reason – Women love men they need to fix and most TDH’s (like Krivi Iyer from Kingdom Come) come with damages to their souls that need careful tending.

In WYID, both characters are coming from a place of deep emotional scarring. Abeer tells Meera that he thought she was dead, when they meet again for the first time, so he isn’t exactly Mr. Sorted but he isn’t your traditional Alpha Male TDH either. I’d call him the caramel-flavored version of the trope – Sexy, Suave, Confident and Screwed Up.

8.Your favorite romance author or a memorable romance you read that you must share with our readers:

Heart of Obsidian by Nalini Singh. In recent times, it’s pretty much the best romance I have read which had me weeping copiously and sighing in hopeless writer’s envy. Other authors that come to mind are Shilpa Suraj, Adite Banerjie and Sarah MacLean. Reading them all is such a pleasure.

9.The nicest gift you have received from a loved one! Does Abeer give any special gifts to Meera?

Shoes! And books! And handbags. And clothes. Ok, kidding. I am at that stage where I prefer gifting things to my loved ones than getting them, but my nicest gift yet is yet to be given me – a pair of nude Loubotins and turquoise Manolo Blahniks. Any takers there?

Abeer does give Meera several somethings – advice on how to start a business, lead on a rental space in a posh Mumbai neighborhood and …the last one happens in the last scene of the book. Read it y’all to know what it is.

10.What would you cook up for a romantic dinner?

I adore cooking, it’s my stress buster. If it were a romantic dinner with a holiday the next day, I’d go the whole hog. Dum Aloo Kashmiri, Jeera Rice, Dal Makhani, Rotis (which will be ordered cuz I can’t make) Salad, Papad and, for dessert gaajar ka halwa

This is Indian romantic date. I am open to an Italian, Chinese or Thai date. 

11.On a date - would it be jeans and a top or a long sexy gown?

I am like five one, FK. I have to wear dresses that flirt with my knees to appear taller. And black, to appear slimmer. So! A short LBD.

12.Your favorite fragrance.

Azzaro Silver Black. If a man wears that, I am doomed (in the best way possible, of course). Women too, I don’t discriminate. (winks)

13. Share a little something about WYID that no one knows about yet.

WYID was written as part of the April NaNoWriMo2013 challenge. The thing I remember the most while writing it was that it was such a simple story to tell. A girl trying to not get married at her parents’ behest and figuring out what she wants to do in the meantime. It turned into this beautifully layered tale of second chances and two people who have to re-love each other and themselves while confronting demons.

It’s kind of the best thing about writing, right? The places you go with it.

It is, RT. And that’s it. Thank you for visiting my blog, and allowing us a peek into your life.

Author Bio:

Aarti V Raman is an Amazon India bestselling romance writer who dabbles in romantic thrillers and contemporary romance. Happy Ever After are her three favorite words in the English lexicon.

Aarti graduated from Mumbai University in 2007 with a degree in Mass Media focused on Journalism which provided her the perfect background for conducting sound research on any project. But she has also worked as a copy editor, social media consultant, and commercial content writer-editor while pursuing her goal.

Aarti’s ambition of honing her craft and writing stories, particularly romances that have strong characters and stronger plots that remain etched in the reader’s minds, grew when she sold her first novel WHITE KNIGHT (Leadstart Publishing), in 2012.

In 2013, her work was excerpted in the Tamil Edition of Mills and Boon novels. And in 2014, her short story “Post-Coital Cigarette” was chosen to be part of the Rupa Romance Anthology “An Atlas of Love” curated by bestselling author Anuja Chauhan.  Her last novel “Kingdom Come” (Harlequin MIRA) has enjoyed a brief stay at the bestseller lists in Amazon India. Her third book “With You I Dance” (Fingerprint! Publishing) released in April 2016 and debuted on the Amazon India Romance Bestseller list.

Aarti was chosen to be part of the Goa Arts and Literary Fest 2014 in December 2014 and The Hyderabad Literary Festival in January 2015.

She is represented by Red Ink Literary Agency, India.

You can find her at www.aartivraman.wordpress.com. She loves to hear from her readers and friends on email at kingdomcomethebook@gmail.com, on Facebook as Aarti V Raman-Author and on Twitter @RT_writes.

Kingdom Come: Amazon India, Infibeam, Flipkart

White Knight: Amazon India

With You I Dance: Amazon India, Flipkart