Sudha Balagopal

Welcome to another Sunday Speed Date! This week I have Sudha Balagopal joining me.
Sudha Balagopal’s fiction straddles continents, melding cultures and blending thoughts, representing ideas and desires from the east and the west. Her work delves into the everyday lives of ordinary people to reveal larger, universal truths. She is the author of a novel, A New Dawn, and two short story collections, There are Seven Notes and Missing and Other Stories. When she’s not writing, Sudha teaches yoga.

Welcome Sudha! First, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I grew up in India and have lived in the United States for more than three decades. In a sense, I’ve spent my adulthood here. Perfectly natural then, that my fiction tends to blend the experiences from both cultures. When I’m not writing, I teach yoga.

Tell us a little about your latest project.

I am thrilled that just this past week, my latest book, A New Dawn, was released. It is my debut novel, so it’s very special to me. The story centers around Usha Param, a recently widowed Indian immigrant in Phoenix. After her husband dies, Usha, who’s never dated in her life, decides to pull the pieces of her life together and remedy her aloneness—she registers on a dating website. Of course, things get complicated. And from there, the story evolves as she gropes and finds her way forward.
Congratulations on your new release! That’s always an exciting feeling. :)

Tell us one unique fact about your family.

I am the lone non-engineer in a family of engineers.
Yay for creatives! 

Any interesting scars? If so, how did you get them?

Scars are a natural by-product of life. I couldn’t have lived so long without scars. Some are visible while others are not. Some are skin deep and others embedded.
I consider phobias scars too. Especially if they are the result of an encounter. Years ago, I woke up early one morning to find a snake in my living room. I’m still petrified of walking through dark rooms.
I never really thought of phobias that way, but it makes total sense. And I can understand about the darkened rooms. That would traumstize anybody.

What is the last book you read for fun? Why did you choose that particular book?

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin.
I’d just finished reading The Spinning Heart by another talented Irish writer, Donal Ryan, and he made me want to find an Irish writer immediately.
Don’t you just love it when one author leads into another surprise author? Books…connecting the world, one reader at a time.

How long have you been writing?

Writing and I go back a long way. In fact, I’d venture to say that I’ve been writing as long as I’ve been reading. Not fiction, which came to me much later in life, but words in one form or another have always been a part of my life.

Desk: messy or organized?

Interesting question! I write at my kitchen table. It’s not unusual for me to have a dish simmering on the stove while an idea brims and spills on to the page. Is the table messy? I’d say it is!
A messy desk is a sign of a creative brain, after all.  :)

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

I didn’t start the story with any grand idea or message. As I focused on Usha and her loneliness after the death of her spouse, I realized this is not just her story, but a universal one. We all live in a world where technology allows us to connect with others literally with the tip of a fingertip, yet we are more isolated than ever.
It’s kind of sad, isn’t it? It makes me treasure my in-person relationships even more.

What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?

Hmm…I loved writing the chapter where Usha and Raja meet. Their marriage is arranged, but her excitement and exultation when she met him for the first time is not unlike that of a young girl on her first date. Such an arrangement doesn’t necessarily preclude romance.
That is so sweet. I love love in all its forms.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in writing this book?

That the most unlikely people can find connections in the most unexpected of places—culture, background, and other differences notwithstanding. Marcy and Usha find friendship across a parking lot. And Arjay and Usha strike up a conversation in a mostly silent library. Well, what do you know?

Are there certain characters you’d like to go back to and revisit or expand on?

Perhaps! A couple of them are telling me they are not ready to leave me yet. Marcy, Usha’s best friend and her daughter, Veena, are enticing me. So we’ll see . . .
I love it when side characters develop a life of theories and starters whisper to you. That’s how you know you did your job with them! 

What are your pet peeves or interesting things about you that you dislike?

I dislike the fact that my extremities are always cold. It gives the person I am shaking hands with the impression that he/she is making me nervous.
Oh, no! 

What was the last movie that made you cry?

The Namesake
I just looked it up, it sounds so good! I love movies like this, they always make me feel closer to my own family. From IMDB: American-born Gogol, the son of Indian immigrants, wants to fit in among his fellow New Yorkers, despite his family’s unwillingness to let go of traditional ways.

What was the first car you drove?

How I loved our Toyota Corolla…

What advice would you give to writers just starting out?

Write, write, write. And more than that, revise, revise, revise. Don’t lose hope, persistence is your friend. Keep lots of snacks, drinks and chocolates close by. Join a critique group. They offer strong shoulders to lean on.

What other projects do you have in the works?

More fiction. I write like I cook, several dishes on the burners at the same time. A new novel called to me a while ago and I began writing it. But then it told me it needed to percolate. So, while it does that, I’m working on shorter pieces. There’s always a short story or a flash piece that occupies my mind.
Yes! Always keep something going, even if it’s not what you had planned. Like you said, write, write, write. 

Where can we find out more about you and what you write?

I am fairly active on social media and on my blog.
You can find me at www.sudhabalagopal.com where you can locate a link to my blog. Connect with me on my Facebook Author Page. I also have a presence on the Amazon author page and on the Goodreads Author Dashboard.
Wonderful! I can’t wait to see you around online. Thanks again for stopping by!