Shivangi Ramsay speaks- On ‘Passionate Love’, marooned islands and more

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Shivangi Ramsay, with a shock-inducing cover pic and a verbose style of writing, seems to be our new go-to author. Her debut novel ‘Passionate Love’ is brutally real, unrestrainedly bold and boundlessly arresting. I caught up with her to extort a few ‘extra’ words where she talks on her passion, on her love, and on her ‘Passionate Love’.

Q1) Hi Shivangi. Congratulations for the debut novel. It’s a dream of a lot of young people these days to have a book of their own sitting on their desk. So, how does it feel now that your dream has come true? Has it sunk in yet?

Ans: Truth be told, the feeling is yet to sink in. It was a long-cherished dream to see my name in print.

Q2) The cover of ‘Passionate Love’ has…umm… no subtleties. A very ‘true to the title’ cover I would say. Fiery, bold and no-holds-barred! Was there any conscious effort on your part to go with such a bold cover?

Ans: No, it wasn’t deliberate in anyway. But truth be told, somewhere in my subconscious mind I had always envisioned a red-hot cover for my book. I am truly grateful to Sunill Kaushik for executing it in such a masterly manner.

Q3) All of us want to become a writer. There is a certain Elizabethan charm to calling yourself a writer, isn’t it! But tell us about the pitfalls of being a writer.

Ans: Being analyzed by hawk-eyed critics is the biggest pitfall of all. But if the criticism is constructive, it helps you grow as a writer. So no complaints.  We should always be open to productive feedback.

Q4) Coming back to your book, what inspired you to pen a story about a journalist and a computer engineer? Was it a random call or did you base your characters on real people?

Ans: My debut novel was supposed to be a contemporary romance between a sassy young lady pilot and her 30 year old boss. It took me more than a week to write the first chapter as I had begun living vicariously through my characters. The reason is plain and simple, I wanted to be a commercial pilot ever since my infancy. Sadly, I was denied admission in flight school because of my short-sightedness. Till date, I haven’t been able to bury my dream of flying high. Sorry for going off the hook. To cut a long story short, when I realized that I was getting dangerously addicted to the characters in my story, I changed the plot.

Q5) Now that the writing bug has bitten you and you have got a taste of what it feels to be a published author, what’s the next dish you plan to serve us? I’m sure you must be itching to cook up another novel, or maybe something is already in the burner?

Ans: What an uncanny coincidence! I finished the synopsis of my second book just last night. It is a historical romance set against the backdrop of the Indian Independence Movement. It is the love story of a revolutionary’s daughter, and the Viceroy’s nephew.

Q6)And what does Shivangi Ramsay do when she is not writing?

Ans: I am dining out in my favourite restaurant.

Q7) Pardon me this cheesy question but I’m incorrigible in that way! If you were marooned on an island with one author of your choice, whom would you pick (it can be any author alive or dead)?

Ans: Nicholas Sparks. He is smoldering hot.