I started writing after reading the epic
tale “A Suitable Boy” by Vikram Seth. I didn’t really care for the political
backdrop of India during the time of its independence and Partition in the late
1940s, but I relished the glimpse into a world I knew almost first-hand, that
of the Indian culture. You see, I’m a 3rd generation Indian born and
raised on the island of Mauritius. I, a Muslim, grew up among Hindus, Tamils,
Chinese people, African-origin peeps, mixed race folks...and on the outskirts
of ‘our’ world were the White descendants of the island’s former colonists
(mainly French, and English).
I’ve always wanted to write, and after
seeing what Mr. Seth managed to do with his tale, I wanted to do the same thing
for Mauritius – to showcase the life of culture, mores, traditions, and values
we all lived here as members of the Indian diaspora. This is the world I know,
and I wanted to share it. That’s how I started THE OTHER SIDE (Island Girls #1),
the story of an Indo-Mauritian divorcee who leaves London and returns to the
island, only to be shunned because she dared get a divorce. To make matters
worse, she crosses paths with her first love, the one that got away...and he
turns out to be a White man, descendant of French settlers who brought
indentured labour from India to work in their cane fields after the abolition
of slavery.
The book had everything I wanted to see
in a story that would reflect my culture – societal opposition, gossip,
overbearing mothers and matchmaking aunties, and the setting was my beautiful
island that I tried to showcase both in its physical and lifestyle aspects.
And I was told, by people I considered
authorities in the publishing world, that this kind of book would never stand a
chance of being published. I was too unknown; Mauritius was too much of an
obscure nation; my ‘drama’ wasn’t “Indian” enough....
I was a newbie, and I wanted to write.
So I listened to those people, and shelved the books I wanted to continue
writing. I dabbled into other genres – all of them falling into the
‘mainstream’ of popular fiction. Rom-coms set in London, romantic suspense set
in Europe.... My heart still beat for the cultural stories, though, and I guess
that showed in my work.
I went through a dry spell at that point
– nothing of mine was ‘selling’, and in a way, no wonder, because these were
perfunctory writings. You know how they say that when you’re passionate about
something, it shows?
Well, this applies to books, too. Your
passion shows in your writing – at one glance, an editor first, then a reader,
can see which story was close to your heart because something intangible will
resonate from those words, leap off the page to grab whoever is reading. That’s
passion, and you need it to rise above the slush!
Case in point – around October of 2011,
a friend of mine who was with Decadent Publishing emailed me about their 1NightStand line. The premise was that
Madame Evangeline, who runs the agency, pairs 2 people on a blind date aka a
one night stand. They can choose to be together just for the night, but more
often than not, Madame Eve works her own brand of ‘magic’ because she brings
together people who are totally suited for one another.
The best thing about this line, my
friend pointed out, was that the stories could take place all over the world!
I thought, what have I got to lose? This
story could be set in Mauritius, and it could have an echo of the cultural
themes I loved to infuse in my work. I’d reached rock bottom by then, and so
threw everything I had into this story of a Mauritian career girl who wants to
forget for one night that she is an executive vice president of legal affairs
and of mixed race, with no ‘side’ truly accepting her, and just be a woman.
Madame Eve pairs her with a Swedish expat who’s working on the island and who’s
not at all looking for The One. Clash of cultures, shroud of expectation,
doomed-before-it-starts story between these two...can they make it when morning
comes?
ONCE UPON A STORMY NIGHT was born, and
written, and polished, and subbed....and about a month later, I had a contract
offer in my inbox.
The kicker? The editors for the line had
loved the unique, ‘different’ setting that I exploited without turning it into
a guidebook, and they also adored the cultural slant of the conflict that made
this story rise above the meeting of two career people who might’ve met their
match.
I had thrown all of my passion into that
story, writing what I wanted to write, showcasing what I wanted the world to
see, giving conflict I knew first-hand because this was my world, my universe,
and – as I’d always known it deep down inside – my niche in writing.
That story was my rise above the slush
pile, and since then, I haven’t looked back. I now write what I want to write –
evident in the Island Girls Trilogy, of which Book 2, LIGHT MY WORLD, just came
out – and this enables me to satisfy my passion and also bring it to other
genres I also love (like, I have series about small town romances set in
England).
Want to rise above the slush pile? Write
what you want to write, what your heart is telling you to write, what your
passion will fuel! That’s the real ticket!
From Mauritius with love,
Zee
Light My World Blurb
It is a truth universally acknowledged that to find a prince, a girl has to kiss a few frogs along the way. But what happens when a modern-day princess comes across…an ogre? So what if a girl has to kiss a few frogs to find her prince? Tired of her Indian-origin mother’s relentless matchmaking, Diya Hemant is determined to find her Prince Charming on her terms. Armed with a definitive list of requirements, she is sure she’ll know her man when she meets him…
But looking and finding are two different things, especially on the tiny island of Mauritius… When her path crosses surly British widower Trent Garrison’s, it’s hate at first sight. And though fate keeps pitting her against him, she’s certain he can’t be turned into a frog let alone a prince. Can this modern-day princess overcome her own expectations and see beyond the ogre to the man beneath?
Buy a Copy: Amazon ~ Decadent Publishing ~ Amazon UK ~ Barnes and Noble ~ All Romance Ebooks
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