ON VIGNETTES AND LUCID WRITING SLICES SERVED ON A DIVERSE PLATTER

Author Interview: Richa Gupta

Richa Gupta lives in New Delhi. She has been a senior teacher of English in reputed schools for 20 years and an Instructional Designer for training and e-learning in the corporate sector for nine years. Through the years, she has also executed a large volume of technical editing and curriculum development assignments and conducted training workshops in technical writing. After an academic and professional career, she has devoted herself to creative writing since 2017 and published her previous novel “Skeins” in 2018. She has recently come out with the book “Slices of Life”, which is a short story collection. In a candid chat with Chirdeep Malhotra, she talks about her latest book, her writing journey, her favourite books and authors, and much more. Read on!





Please tell us more about Richa Gupta as a person.

I grew up in a nuclear family in Delhi and led a hectic professional life till 2017, after which I seriously took up two passions: writing and painting. Since 2017, I have published three books—two novels and a collection of short stories—and made a slew of paintings in mixed media—mainly textured acrylic or oils on canvas. My only son stays in Bangalore, so there is plenty of time to pursue my interests.



Has writing always been a part of your life? Or did you chance upon it later on and then instantly fell in love with it?

I have always been fond of writing since my childhood and have been writing even while I was teaching English or working as an editor, a reviewer and an Instructional Designer. I wrote poems when young, speeches for school functions as a teacher and plays for students to dramatize, the textual content of e-learning courses and review comments to enunciate principles of language and Instructional Design. I even conducted training workshops on technical writing. In every professional sphere, my colleagues and students acknowledged my ability to write well.
So, language skills and writing have always been my core strengths though I took to creative writing late in the day.



If you had to describe your book “Slices of Life” in one sentence, what would it be?

It is a kaleidoscopic compendium of diverse slivers of existence with the ingredients of plot and character, sprinkled with human emotion, spiced by dilemma and life choices and served in the platter of lucid language.



Now tell us a little bit more about the book!

‘Slices of Life’ is a collection of 12 short stories in a mixed bag of genres from futuristic Sci-Fi to grim realism to social satire and a whodunit. Each story depicts a different scenario of commonplace individuals from different strata of society grappling with a dilemma that is unique to their circumstances. The universal themes depicted will leave readers with enduring images of individuals in the swirl of life, for example, an urban housewife’s hilarious search for a suitable cook, a lover’s yearning in a dystopian world, a mother’s defence of her daughter’s idealism and a to-be-bride’s planning of her bridal couture.



How did the idea of writing this book originate? When did you start writing this book and how long did it take you to finish it?

I started writing ‘Knots’, a whodunit, in October, 2018 after publishing my novel ‘Skeins’ in September, 2018. I was a big Agatha Christie fan in my teens and have read each of her novels. This whodunit, initially intended to be a novel, was inspired by her modus operandi: keeping the readers guessing and revealing the murderer at the end. However, ‘Knots’ is different from a Christie murder mystery because of the identity of the narrator of the story.
Since I got busy with my son’s engagement and marriage from November, 2018 to June, 2019, I gave ‘Knots’ an early conclusion and changed it from a novel into a short story. It was easier to write short stories as I could start afresh after each story. I grew to love this medium of creative writing and wrote several more stories, the last one ‘Dusk’ being written in April, 2020 during the lockdown for the pandemic. These are the stories included in ‘Slices of Life’.



The book contains short stories delving into diverse genres of grim Realism, Sci-fi and suspense. What made you incorporate such a melange of genres for this anthology?

I wanted to experiment with various genres of writing and vary each story not only in content but also the style of narration. In fact, I am even thinking of writing a play one day, a comedy in the tradition of Bernard Shaw. Why should a collection include stories only in the same genre?



While writing fiction, how do you create well-rounded characters and give them a life of their own?

I draw on my experience of life and my imagination. I get their character profiles clear in my head: their geographical and social milieu, their looks and appearance, their past story and how they will develop throughout the story. If I am not familiar with the details of a profession or strata of society I want to depict, I do research on it. Also, I try not to explain but to show their personality through their interactions, dialogues, expressions and feelings. If these are depicted authentically, the characters will grow organically and readers will identify with them.



What, would you say, is the main difference between “Slices of Life” and your previous book “Skeins”? How are they similar?

The main difference is that ‘Skeins’ is a novel whereas ‘Slices of Life’ is a collection of varied short stories. The former is a story about 16 diverse women between the ages of 25 to 67 who go on a group tour to the Iberian Peninsula while each story in ‘Slices of Life’ deals with disparate characters from different milieus facing a dilemma in their specific circumstances without any continuity from one story to another.
However, both experiment with a unique format as they are departures from the regular novel and short story collection. While ‘Skeins’ features the lives of 16 women travellers instead of a singular protagonist, ‘Slices of Life’ includes short stories in a range of genres.



The book also has a story about the Coronavirus lockdown. How have you spent the lockdown?

The story ‘Dusk’ deals with an incident that really affected me: the tribulations of a marginalized migrant family during the lockdown. During these four months, I have busied myself in creative pursuits. I churned out ten oil and acrylic paintings on canvas, edited and published ‘Slices of Life’ and wrote articles for online publications.



Can you recommend five books from any genre, for our readers to add to their reading lists, that you particularly cherish?

One of the best books that I read in my teenage years is a biography of Michelangelo titled ‘The Agony and the Ecstasy’ by Irving Stone. To speak of contemporary books, I would suggest ‘The Book Thief’ by Markus Zusak, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Atwood, ‘The Forever House’ by Veronica Henry, ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’ by Amor Towles and ‘Pachinko’ by Min Jin Lee.



What are you working on next? Any exciting new projects our readers should look out for?

I am writing short stories and will bring out another collection of short stories sometime next year.



There are many new writers and poets who are aspiring to get their work published. What would you say to them?

They should get their work published only if they have a passion for writing as well as the patience and sufficient means to await recognition and monetary remuneration. They should be prepared for the scepticism and domination of traditional publishing firms and the profiteering of self-publishing firms. Overnight success as an author is rare, and financial returns are slow to come in.



Can you share with our readers a motivational quote that keeps you going?

“Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” ― George Bernard Shaw