Good morning. It’s Meet and Greet Monday!
With us today is Romance Author, Ruchi Vasudeva.
Welcome, Ruchi!
– Thank you, Kacey! It’s a pleasure being hosted on your blog.
What’s the most exciting thing that has happened in 2014 so far?
Writing wise I’m excited about a lot of things. I’m working on a new project with a new editor. I’ve subbed a new partial in a novel setting about a hero, who is more dom than the ones I write usually. But the most exciting thing this year has to be the release of my book by Harlequin E. That’s my debut book, Bollywood Fiancé For A Day. It has a new cover and will be out in America come June 2nd!
Tell us, what’s the first thought that comes to your head when you read the following words…
Romance…timeless, can feel overhyped but is all too tangible and needed in life on daily basis.
Winter…hot coffee! Historical romances…Basking in the sun, unshelling and munching peanuts…that’s what we do in Punjab J
Vacation…sorely needed! We usually go to hill stations in summer, so…mountains and time with family.
The 90s…well, I was in med school then, so drowning in studies, tea in gallons and sometimes bunking classes for movies…!
The Walking Dead…ugh! That’s all I can say. Though I used to do a mean zombie dance to get kids in splits when they were younger *g*
What three words best describe you?
Hmm…forgetful, dedicated, fingers in too many pies! 😉
What is the most devilish thing you’ve ever done?
The fact that I took up romance writing though I belong to a family with a very conservative mindset would be it. Otherwise in pranks, I’m mostly the victim than the instigator!
What is your favorite junk food?
All junk food is my favourite. (Hope kids don’t hear this after the lectures I give them about eating healthy.) If I had to pick one, then double cheese pizza would top the list.
What is your favorite meal that you wish you could eat at least three times a week?
Red beans and rice, cooked the Punjabi way. Here’s a pic, courtesy flickr.com
If we were to come over to your house for dinner, what dish would you make us?
If you’d like to eat Indian, then poori chana that is spicy gram curry and puffed flour roll outs, see the pic below 
What do you like to do for fun and relax?
Spend time with my kids. Watch movies with them and hubby or just go for walks and talk.
What are you a collector of?
Books, I guess. Also clothes and shoes. Anything with sentimental value. I hoard a lot on kids’ old drawings and craftwork, the clothes they grow out of, greeting cards, things like that. That’s one reason I find hard to find storage space in the house.
What is your favorite TV Show?
Hindi: Mahabharat. It’s an awesome show with fabulous costumes and sets, depicting the epic in a grand way with emphasis on characterisation that appeals to the writer in me. http://www.startv.in/show/mahabharat-promos-videos/558/2
And among the English language shows, I love to watch Boston Legal. It’s fast, tentacled to the current world and laced with gutty humor.
Have you read any books that have made you cry?
I do cry a lot when I get to the angsty part in romance or in fact in any fiction novel or even in films. I cried reading Penny Jordan’s swan song A Secret Disgrace. I read it twice and cried both times. I cry while writing the angsty part in my books too.
Where have you traveled that you’d love to return? What made it so special the first time?
Kashmir because it’s so beautiful you can’t get enough of it! 
How many speeding tickets have you ever had?
None. I don’t drive a car, only two wheeler. I’m no speed freak.
What is your least favorite household chore?
Cleaning. *sigh*.
Who are some of your favorite authors?
There are so many in the romance genre I can’t possible name them all. Michelle Conder, Trish Wylie, Penny Jordan…are a few. In other genres, I love Georgette Heyer’s historical and whodunits both. And speaking of whodunits, Agatha Christie is an evergreen favourite. I also love P. G. Wodehouse’s humorous writing and Erle Stanley Gardner’s nippy lawyer and Sidney Sheldon’s unputdownables.
Who is your celebrity crush?
Tom Cruise. Going to base a hero on him soon.
Tell us about your big break in the publishing world. Was there any one person believe in your work first (besides yourself of course)? What did you do to celebrate your first 
contract?
The opportunity to get published came my way when I won the Passions contest hosted by Harlequin for Indian authors every year in December. I won in the third season. One of the prizes was a chance to work with a Mills and Boon editor and hone a novel for publication. Mine was accepted and a fabulous two book deal was a dream come true.
My family especially my daughter and my writing group has been immeasurably supportive. Julia Broadbooks, Alyssa Fox, Doris O’ Connor, Raven McAllan, Jorja Lovett, Cherie Nicholls, Kiru Taye and in fact everyone in my group helped me when I first shaped this story. Couldn’t have got it into print without them.
To celebrate getting published, I and my family went out for a lovely dinner. That was after I had calmed down enough to share the news, lol! It was beyond thrilling to nail that contract.
Did you always want to be an author?
Growing up it was a toss-up between being a doctor and an author. Writing isn’t really perceived as a career and in those days it was even less so. Luckily I made it to medical. Once that career was underway, writing kept pulling at me until finally I gave in and began to really give it a shot.
No matter the story, where do you always draw inspiration from when you begin each story?
Nothing is charted out for when a new idea will grab you strongly enough. I don’t draw inspiration as much as it just pops into my mind. While writing my second book, You Can’t Fight A Royal Attraction, I was reading a news item about a vintage car rally when the idea of the story just rolled out and the premise I had been puzzled about began to take shape. So nobody can tell when or where inspiration will hit. I say keep your eyes and ears always open 🙂
What do you find most challenging about writing?
Everything. That’s also the fun of it. Taking an idea and shaping it into logic. Researching. Trying to plot the story. Then writing and finding it was going off in another direction altogether. Then the sagging middle when you lose sight of the conflict. Writing the end, trying to make it really punchy. .Last but not least, trying for publication, editing, marketing. Every step has its own set of troubles and is challenging in a different way.
What is your one pet peeve about the writing business?
Marketing, that nowadays has fallen a big way to authors. We shouldn’t have to do that.
Blog post: Seven tips about writing a short story
http://ruchivasudeva.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/seven-tips-for-writing-a-short-story/
Blurb of Bollywood Fiance For A Day
Winning the chance to meet the ultimate Bollywood heart-throb, Zaheer Saxena, is just what Vishakha needs to take her mind off her recent humiliation—being jilted the week before her wedding! And when gorgeous Zaheer offers to be her fake fiancé, the chance to save face with her family is just too tempting…
It’s a deal that benefits them both—Zaheer is warding off any unwanted female attention until his next film is finished—but can Vishakha trust herself not to hope that her dream fiancé for a day could turn into for ever?
Buy Links:
Contact Ruchi:
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RuchiVasudeva
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ruchi_Vasudeva
Blog: http://ruchivasudeva.wordpress.com/
Website: http://ruchivasudeva.weebly.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kacey's Kreations 