![]() I loved this line in your novel: “The woman’s eyes showed her story was deep and troubled and not yet over.” It summarizes this story. So, I need to ask, how did this story come to you? You’ve selected one of my favorite lines and I’m so glad it resonated with you. In many ways, those who know me would say that The Direction of the Wind does not seem like a story I would write, and that is mostly because I am someone who has never even smoked a cigarette, so I’m dealing with subjects outside of my personal sphere of knowledge and that needed to be heavily researched. (My google search history while I was researching The Direction of the Wind would certainly raise a few eyebrows.) But at the end of the day, the story is about addiction and the impact it has on a family. And that theme, is far more common than we speak about. I have had people close to me who have struggled with addiction, and whether that relates to alcohol, drugs, food, gambling, or anything else, addiction is at its core a mental health issue that requires serious treatment. I really wanted to bring awareness, empathy, and compassion to this disease that is often misunderstood or judged by society, and through Nita’s and Sophie’s eyes, I was able to give two perspectives. I have also spent a lot of time in Paris and consider the city a second home, but I wanted to show a grittier side that is not often portrayed in media. There is a commonly held sentiment that the “West is best” when speaking about lifestyles and cultures, and I wanted to show that for someone like Nita, the West wasn’t the best choice for her despite her romanticized notions of it. I also love the line, which sets the overall theme: “The direction of the wind cannot be changed, but we can change the direction of our sails.” Where has the wind taken you? Especially your journey as a writer. I’ve been fortunate that the wind has taken me to many places thus far, and I can’t wait to see the places it takes me next. My journey as a writer was far from linear. As a nine-year-old girl, I knew I wanted to be a writer, but having grown up in an immigrant household that lacked financial stability, I knew I didn’t want that for my life. So, I became an entertainment lawyer and worked in Hollywood for nearly twenty years. Halfway through that career, the pull to write resurfaced, especially as I was working in an industry that centered around storytelling, but didn’t have the representation of my culture that I hoped to see. So, in 2009, I began taking writing classes and writing what would become my debut The Taste of Ginger. Within a year, I had finished my draft and began the process of querying agents and had some interest, but ultimately the book never found a home. For the next decade, I continued revising it and eventually started writing The Direction of the Wind, thinking that I’d have more success with another story and maybe The Taste of Ginger would be my “drawer book” that was good practice but would never be published. Then in 2020, during the midst of a global pandemic and racial tensions in the United States following the murders of George Floyd and many others as well as rising Asian-hate, I was offered a book deal for both The Taste of Ginger and The Direction of the Wind. It was a difficult series of events that led to my childhood dream coming true, because the publishing industry along with so many others was having a racial reckoning that it hadn’t been equitable in promoting all voices in the past. I wrestled with feeling like a token. But the converse is that it seemed the world was finally ready to start hearing authentic stories of immigrant families and the sacrifices and burdens associated with assimilation and acculturation. I was grateful to finally have a platform to share my stories and truly believe that my books were published at the right time. Because of the social climate, I was able to cover issues in a more direct and authentic way. During the decade in which I was writing and revising without a book deal, I was growing and developing along with the world, and I think that my books were able to reach a much wider audience in 2022 and 2023 than they would have ten years earlier. In 2022, I was able to fully achieve my childhood dream and retired from my legal career in order to be a full-time writer. While all of my novels center Gujarati families, each book takes place in a different country, allowing me to combine my love of travel and writing. I am so grateful that my life and work now consists of traveling the world and creating stories. Having quoted two lines from your work, all of us who have read this novel are reminded of the beauty of your prose. Can you tell us how you developed this skill and how you can dig deeply into emotions? Especially through dialog. First of all, thank you for the generous compliment. As for the focus on emotional development in my stories, I am someone who has always been fascinated by psychology (it was my university degree), and I think emotions and the human condition are at the heart of everything I write. Writers need to be observant, and I love seeing how people behave and trying to understand the why of people’s actions. When I started out, I took many writing classes at UCLA, because writing is a skill like any other, and I knew that creative writing was very different from the legal writing on which I had built my first career. That set me up with a good foundation from which to further develop my craft. I am someone who loves learning, and writing is an area in which we can continue to improve each day. My personal goal is to challenge myself and learn something new and grow with each book that I write, and so far, that has been the case. The layout of the narration by time and point of view allows the reader to become deeply involved in the story’s journey. Did you construct the novel by writing various drafts or outlines? Writing a dual POV across two different time periods was a big challenge for me, because each storyline had to be engaging unto itself and they had to be connected in a way that made sense. I am someone who loves doing puzzles, and I saw this book as a big puzzle that needed to be put together. I had notecards with each scene written on them and had one color for Nita’s story and another color for Sophie’s story, and spread them out on my dining table, moving them around until I had a story that made sense and would be cohesive. In terms of drafts, there were many, as I was still very much in the learning phase of my writing. Plotting is the key element that keeps readers turning the pages, so I focus my first drafts on making sure that pacing is strong. Once I’m satisfied, then I go back through it and focus on the language and make sure each sentence is essential to the story and constructed in the best way possible. We move through Sophie’s character arc by attaching ourselves to many of her experiences or learned lessons. Possibly, some readers can identify with abandonment, curiosity, compassion, forgiveness, or at least compassioned understanding. Wow! Did you see this arc for Sophie when you grabbed this story idea? Where does Sophie come from psychologically—from a hurt inner child to a healed adult? Sophie’s arc was always very clear to me. I knew I wanted to write a character who had lost her mother early in life and had lived a very sheltered, comfortable life in India alongside her father. I wanted someone who would experience France and have a far more positive experience than her mother had, but still choose India as her home and not be seduced by the West. Sophie needed to grow into her own independent person who could take care of herself by the end of the story, and she navigates that journey well despite the many hurdles in front of her. While I am fortunate to have been raised in a healthy, loving two-parent household, the older I get, the more I realize how rare that is. Through conversations with friends or family, I’ve seen the impact that not having that stable upbringing can have on a person, and I wanted to delve into the emotional journey that stems from feelings of abandonment. And most importantly, I wanted Sophie to find compassion for her mother and use that as her guiding compass in life because compassion is one of the most important traits we can have in life. Okay, easier questions: What satisfaction did you receive when you placed THE END on this manuscript? What goals did you achieve? There is no better feeling than typing THE END on that first draft. Even though I know I’m going to go back through it at least a dozen more times, that first draft is the one where I know I have a book and haven’t wasted months (or years) of my life on a story that is going nowhere. After that first draft, I move to what I consider the fun part of revising, which is making sure the story flows and has the language I want. But the process of writing a first draft is all about battling imposter syndrome, and it’s nice to be able to move past that and really focus on making the story the best it can be. Why do you think the novel has been so greatly received in the marketplace? That’s such a tough question to answer. When I’m writing, I focus on writing the best story and not worrying about whether anyone will actually read it. But, naturally, that becomes a question when it’s heading toward publication because publishing is a business at the end of the day. I think many of the themes covered in The Direction of the Wind are very universal. As I’ve heard from readers since the launch of the book, I’m aware of how many lives are affected by addiction and I think that theme and the way Sophie responds to it has really resonated with readers. I’ve been humbled by messages I’ve received of people who have forgiven or changed the way they view loved ones who have battled addiction. For me, that is the power of good storytelling, and I’m humbled that the book has resonated with such a large audience. Working on another? Always. With writing as my full-time career now, I’m always working on another. My third novel A Good Indian Girl is being released on September 3, 2024, and I’m so excited for this book to reach readers. It takes place in Italy and is the culmination of my obsession with food and cooking, complete with original recipes in the back of the book. It is an immersive, fun and heartfelt novel about a disgraced Indian American divorcée who spends a summer in Italy, reconnecting with her passion for cooking and reckoning with cultural expectations to make the choice of a lifetime. I had so much fun working on this novel. I’ve also completed my fourth novel, which will be released in 2025 and takes place in Singapore. So, my days are currently spent working on my fifth novel, which takes place in Bali. Future goals you have set? I aim to write a novel each year and have so far managed to keep up that cadence. Having had the career in Hollywood before becoming a writer, I would be thrilled to see one of my stories adapted for the screen and have a true full circle moment of being on the other side of one of those talent agreements that I used to negotiate on behalf of the studios. Anything more you wish to share? Only to say thank you for reading and getting the word out about The Direction of the Wind. Writing is a very difficult business, and I would encourage everyone who enjoys reading to support those authors they love in whatever way they can. For those who can’t afford to buy the books, there are several free ways to support like requesting books from your local libraries, posting on social media, or leaving a review on Amazon and Goodreads. Every little bit helps to ensure that authors continue to have a platform to keep telling their stories, and we all appreciate the help from our readers so much.
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