Welcome to the second edition of Fangirl Fridays, the post in which I present the awesome writers (and their awesome books) that generally leave me in this state while I’m reading:
Today I’m fangirling over Falguni Kothari, whom I was lucky enough to meet at my local RWA chapter. Falguni is hilarious, and her books exhibit her trademark sense of humor, as well as angst, sexual tension, and just all around you-need-to-read-ness.
Take it way, Falguni!
What kind of books you write?
Hey Alyssa! Thanks for having me here for Fangirl Friday. To answer your first question, I write stories focused around the South Asian diaspora. My stories are about relationships, largely romantic but not always, and how the simplest of things can complicate a perfectly smooth-running one. I write in a variety of genres all linked together by my fondness to create a fascinating character, be it a contemporary one or a legend from myth, and a beautiful world around him/her.
It’s Your Move, Wordfreak! is about an online romance and what happens once the couple takes their relationship offline.
Bootie and the Beast is a nod to the classic fairytale, where a supermodel/ party princess gets stuck in the Beast’s house for a time due to her own actions, and how the Beast’s inner demons are soothed as a consequence.
Soul Warrior: The Age of Kali is a mythic fantasy novel based in the legends of South Asia. It’s about a demigod, Lord Karna, whose life and celestial duties on Earth get irrevocably complicated by an affair he had two decades ago, and its unforeseen consequences.
My upcoming romantic women’s fiction, My Last Love Story, is about a fate-battered woman who learns to love and value life again at the insistence of her dying husband.
What is your favorite romance trope? Do you have a fav book/books that features this trope?
I don’t have a fav romance trope, but I do seem to favor the “tortured protagonist with secret past trope in most of my books.” The hero(ine) has an emotionally charged past, is most often keeping it a secret from everyone or refusing to deal with it…until it becomes apparent s/he cannot have a future without dealing with the past.
My favorite book/ series, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, also deals in this “secret past” trope. I’m a total fangirl about Herself and Jamie Fraser.
What are you working on now? What project should we be keeping an eye out for?
I’m working on a romantic suspense novel based in Mumbai’s sex trade. It’s a dark, gritty book. I cringe every time I come across some devastating research on sex trafficking in India even as I’m loving the way this book is shaping up because of it. It seems awful to me that I’m writing about these victims, or situations, from my safe little ivory tower while such horrific things are happening to them. The thing is that I can’t not write it. Not now, after knowing so much.
If your essence could be encapsulated in one gif, which would it be?
I guess you’re not asking about my eau de perfume? Let’s see…I suppose this is me after accidentally stumbling into my writing career.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m mostly a humble human being. But I’m also honest. 🙂
Falguni’s latest book, Soul Warrior (Age of Kali book 1), is just 99 cents right now! Check it out!
Twisted myths. Discretion advised.
Fight fate, or succumb to destiny?
In the dark Age of Kali, the Soul Warrior alone stands guard over the Human Realm, protecting its denizens from evil-willed asuras or demons. When a trick of fate appoints him guru to a motley crew of godlings, he agrees to train them as demon hunters against his better judgment. Suddenly, Lord Karna is not only battling the usual asuras with sinister agendas, but also rebellious students and a fault-ridden past.Spanning the cosmic realms of mythic India, here is a tale of a band of supernatural warriors who come together over a singular purpose: the salvation of Karna’s secret child.
