Interview With Author Gigi Kaur
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Born and raised in the UK.
I’m a pharmacist, all I’ve known most of my adult life is how to be a pharmacist. When I decided that I wanted to write, and I wanted to write about things inspire by true events I knew that I couldn’t do it under my professional name. I am still a Pharmacist I still have my registration, I still practise and it is my primary profession and source of income. But writing is a passion, and life is too short not to embrace your passions. So I knew that I needed to write under a pseudonym- allowing me to remain an upstanding pillar of the community while moonlighting a steamy romance novelist. But its not solely my profession that lead me to writing anonymously, I am Indian. Being Indian and being open about sex is just not the done thing. Sex is still very much taboo within the culture which is surprising since the karma sutra very much highlights the importance of sexual desires and that scripture was created in India. But generally my family and wider community would not be very accepting to my style of writing. That and the fact that its inspired by true events!
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Initially I was in two minds about even writing this book. I had heard about a lot of unrest within the Sikh community about interacial marriages and quite a lot of the explicit scenes are between Jaia (the main character) who is Sikh and her romance interests who range from white, black, and Hispanic. My worry was that the story itself would cause a lot of unrest but compounding that my pseudonym makes it very clear that I am in fact Sikh. But thankfully so far no concerns have been raised. The book takes a very modern view on romance its empowering with a strong female lead who is flawed and completely relatable. I wanted to create a character who was strong, smart, adventurous and sensual. I wanted a romance novel where happiness and fulfilment wasn’t hinged on a romantic relationship, with some self discovery and profound advice thrown in for good measure! It’s a feel good book with travel, passion and an element of real life.
As a pharmacist I know how important it is to talk about sex and sexual health feely and openly. So whilst I worry about the negative response this book might get I am hopeful that there will be some positivity in there too.
Jaia Lust:
Jaia has just finished university, ended her long-term relationship and has left her home town to start the first job of her career. The first job that actually means something, and will define her professional life.
All she has to do is focus; pass her pre-registration year, pass her exams and become the pharmacist she’s always wanted. How hard can it be? What could possibly go wrong? Will she be pulled astray? Dive deep into Jaia Lust, and discover the truth for yourself.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am a pharmacist turned romance novelist, crazy right? A chemist that is veering away from hard solid facts and into the land of make believe. Well, it might not be so crazy. As pharmacists and scientists, we also invent and create and allow ourselves to have that blue sky thinking. So, I guess from that perspective it’s not such a wild leap into writing fiction. That said however, I did struggle initially with getting my ideas down.
I had never written a book or created a plan to write a book. The closest thing I had done was write a plan for an experiment… So that’s where I started. The book became my experiment. Instead of a step-by-step experiment method I wrote chapter outlines, instead of a materials list, I wrote down my character names. Did I think about character arcs…no. Did I think about plot and structure…well maybe subconsciously when I outlined the chapters, but I had no idea.
Now, usually when you conduct an experiment you would do some preliminary research right? So, you’d think as a seasoned pharmacist and a member of the scientific community I would have done some research on how to write a book. I didn’t. I dove headfirst into my new passion project. And I enjoyed every second of it, learning and growing every step of the way! Creating Jaia and taking her on a wild adventure of sex, study and travel has been exhilarating and I’m excited to be able to share it with you.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have a very wide range of interest when it comes to books. But I would say I drew my inspiration for Jaia Lust from Eat, Pray, Love and 50 shades of Grey- not inspiration necessarily for the plot or the characters but for writing the book in general. There are so many books I’ve read, Harry Potter amongst many others in my childhood, books by Slyvia Day, Memoirs of a Geisha, Girl with a dragon tatoo series, Charles dickens, many many books. Usually when I go on holiday I take at least 4 or 5 books with me, at university I used to take text books but now thankfully it’s predominantly fiction.
What are you working on now?
The second instalment of the Jaia Series, Jaia Love.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still at the very beginning at my journey so who know it might be doing a interview with Awesome Gang!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Writing the book felt so freeing. I’ve mentioned that within the Indian community sex is hardly talked about. So I wanted to create a character who was strong, smart, adventurous and sensual. I wanted a romance novel where happiness and fulfilment wasn’t hinged on a romantic relationship, with some self discovery and profound advice thrown in for good measure! Writing the book actually felt very therapeutic. There’s something really cathartic about being in control of a characters destiny and taking them on a whirlwind adventure! So for all those wanna be authors sitting on the fence unsure if they should give it a go, I say do it, take the leap and dive into you masterpiece!
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Oh gosh, what a toughie. Erm:
– A book I haven’t read something steamy- I’ve recently been recommended Finishing school
– A Classic maybe a tale of 2 cities but if I’m stranded on an island maybe something a bit longer…
– Memoirs of a Geisha, something from a different time and place
– The Da Vinci Code
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