How do you get a marketing professional with three little kids running around the house, and a husband who’s the antithesis of her, to sit down and write a 264 page book? She simply translates her chaotic world into words and out pops a gleaming new novel!
Yashodhara Lal, author of Just Married, Please Excuse, (Harper Collins, Rs 199) claims she had always dreamt of writing a novel. “I’d always wanted to write — primarily because as a kid I read a lot and just felt connected with the written word.” Caught in the middle of the perpetually busy corporate world and a family to care for, she nevertheless found her alone time blogging. That final little nudge to write the novel came with health complications after delivering her twins and she realised there was no time better than now.
How did she hit on the right formula for the story? “The everyday occurrences in the course of married life were what I used to write about on the blog – and a lot of readers said they made great stories. It so happens that Vijay and I are very different from each other, so the idea of the book Just Married, Please Excuse was born from there. The tagline for the book is ‘Opposites attract…trouble!’.”
A story about the beginning after the happy ending, the book is almost autobiographical as she draws instances from her own life. And with a little spice for taste she turns the story into one that is easy to connect with and a joy to read.
‘Funny’ is definitely what she wanted and funny is what Yashodhara got as her book is filled with little humorous instances. A fan of Wodehouse, Bill Bryson, Gerald Durrell and James Herriot, she says she finds her inspiration in those books that adorn her prized shelf.
Another book is on the way, and this time she is attempting a fiction about two divorces. “It’s a very big thing for me to have actually written something that people have enjoyed. Especially since it’s been a long-standing dream, pushed to the backburner for so many years.
And it’s a big challenge to write a book, even in today’s context where it’s seemingly so easy to get published. So the sense of accomplishment and fulfilment is huge.”
Yashodhara is hopeful of writing sequels to Just married, Please Excuse . Until then it is more blogging and more family time to inspire another good book.
