Being a doctor by profession, what attracts you towards writing?

Writing for me is a form of expression. If there is something I strongly feel about I write it down. Then it could be a poem, a blog, a movie review or a novel. My protagonist Rhea and her journey attracted me towards writing her story.

What age did you start writing?

I must have been six or seven when I started reading story books. Apart from reading my favorite pastime used to be weaving stories around certain characters that inspire me. Like, when I was seven my heroine was an intelligent teacher’s pet, at sixteen she was a rebellious teenager, at twenty she was a young dreamer and so on. I started writing poems or small articles for school magazines at the age of 12 or 13. I used to debate on various topics in my growing years with my mother and aunt in the form of long letters. Little miss misfit is my first attempt at writing a novel. Now I also write blogs at wordpress.

Who has been your role model?

As far as reading and writing is considered my father Mr Ashok Potdar, inspired me to read a lot ,while my mother Anjali Potdar and my aunt Mrs Vaishnavi Andurkar, who is a published poetess inspired me to write and express. I always look up to them.

Tell us something about your novel, little miss misfit

I shifted to Nagpur from Mumbai after my marriage. Rhea, my miss misfit, is the girl I observed in a lot of girls I came across in central India. Even in privileged and educated families with equality of gender, there are still some typical expectations from women; to be immaculate, disciplined, polite and always correct. I wanted to write about those women who can make mistakes, fall prey to attractions, may not be disciplined but still have their heart and soul in the right place. In short, I wanted to write about a normal Indian girl next door, who we so like to mask under our own perceptions.

Who is your favorite character from the novel?

My novel is Rhea’s story. But I have worked carefully to etch out Siddhart’s character, who is Rhea’s husband. I like his genuine and honest character graph.

What kind of readers do you have in your mind?

I’m sure Little Miss Misfit will appeal to all the readers above the age of 14 -15 years. There is something for every age group and gender to connect with. I feel all the girls and boys from 15 to 30 years and their parents from 50 to 70 years should definitely read this book.

What difficulties did you face in writing the novel?

I had lived with the story for a couple of years before I started writing. So the flow was easy. But being a full time dentist managing my two dental clinics, a big joint family and my then five year old son, finding time to write was difficult. I mostly found time at night after everyone was asleep.

Tell me something about how you got your publisher?

Being entirely new to this world, me and my husband Dr Sarang Kandurwar struggled a lot to find the right publisher. We were offered a lot of self publishing deals but I always wanted a publisher who would like my work and publish it. After a search of almost an year we came across the literary agency the book bakers who introduced us to the big foot publications and I got my dream traditional deal.

What is the initial response and feedback from Amazon and other sites?

I got a wonderful response from my readers of pre orders as well as Amazon and Kindle. I have a 4.5 * rating. I feel blessed that my readers like Rhea’s journey and my style of easy, simple writing which keeps the reader hooked to the story and compels them to read further.

What do you like to read?

Well, the list is long. Simple everyday stories and mystery thrillers both appeal to me equally. In school, I read the usual classics like pride and prejudice , where as in medical college I got hooked on to thrillers like Sheldon, Archer, Robin cook or Danielle Steel. Later I got interested in Khaled Hosseini ‘s world. In short I like a book which tells a story of complex human emotions in a simple way without being prejudiced or hypocritic about the character’s feelings. Be it the girl\boy next door, politician, gangster, doctor or a social reformer.

What is your next book about?

After I completed Little Miss Misfit, I started writing my second book. It’s a little different story that I am attempting to write, so writing wise it is taking more time than my first one but I’m more than halfway through and quite satisfied by that much. Meanwhile I have also published a couple of blogs and poems on my wordpress site which have more than thousand readers and some very positive reviews.

Title: Little Miss Misfit
Author: Amruta Kandurwar
Publisher: BIGFOOT PUBLICATIONS PVT. LTD.
Available: Amazon