Shubham Kulkarni, a twenty year old computer student is also a bookworm. He calls himself as Bookman. He is a blogger and he reviews books from different authors.
After reading 56 books within a year and reviewing several of them; he got inspired to write his own and since then being a successful author became his dream. When he is not reading or writing he solves the Rubik’s Cube which helps him to feature some new ideas for his content.
He marks the first step towards his dream through his first book, Just the Two of Us which is very close to his heart.
TBE: Tell us about your book, can you share with us something about the book that isn’t in the blurb?
Shubham Kulkarni: Just the two of us – till you broke my heart is very close to my heart. Just the two of us is a story which tells about the abstruse side of love. In every book or movie we see that every love story ends at a positive point but not all the stories are enough fortuitous to have an end with positive and happy memories; some takes very nasty way towards the end and they cease very tragically. It is not a regular love story people usually admire for; but it’s the story which tells the darker side of love to which people are aware of but they don’t agree with it. This story is really unpredictable and it will keep you entangled with the story-line until you reach to the end.
TBE: How did you get the idea of this book?
Shubham Kulkarni: Relationships and break ups are so common things this days that the youngsters have become used it. Many times bad break ups leads to damage the complete life of an individual or two. Sometimes very small issues leads to damage the relationship and ruins the life of the beaus. Love is not always a joyous feeling sometimes it destroys your life, your dreams. I always wanted to write on such subject which will show the darker side of love to the readers.
TBE: What is the key theme and/or message in the book?
Shubham Kulkarni: As I said earlier I always wanted to show the abstruse side of love to the readers and I’m sure that the tragical cease of this book will surely shock the reader and will make him/her to think.
TBE: What was your writing process for this book? What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?
Shubham Kulkarni: The writing strategy I used while writing this book is very modest, I used to write every day and every night. Persistency and congruity are the two terms I followed and obeyed during the writing process of this book. Mostly I used to write in the soulful silence of night. I use to like being isolated while writing this novel. Sometimes my mind and my heart used help me to confine the words very beautifully; and sometimes I only used to write without any reference, without any logic; but being persistent is what I followed and kept writing.
During the process of writing this novel, no any other thought bumped into my mind. I always used to think about this novel and its story-line wherever I used to go. Sometimes when my laptop was not with me, I used to pen down the thoughts in my diary. Also my best buddy, my Rubik’s cube helped me a lot to feature some new ideas for the content of this book.
TBE: How did you research on the subject?
Shubham Kulkarni: It’s a fictional story and a simple creative tale so I didn’t read anything or did research regarding the subject of this book. The words got confined from my heart.
TBE: How long does it take you to write this book?
Shubham Kulkarni: As I used to write every day and night, it took me about two and half months to write this book. The editing and publishing process extended the time period to five months to complete this book.
TBE: During your journey from the idea of this book to the publication, what was the most difficult thing you faced? Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Shubham Kulkarni: There are few challenging things I faced during the process of this book. The first challenge was to find the right publishers who would give you a freedom and who bears a capability to justify your hard work and make the book look better and I feel fortunate that I selected the right publishers for making this dream of mine come true.
The next challenge that I would like to mention is sometimes your mind and your heart do not help you, sometimes your creativity and your imaginary power do not go with you and I faced many such moments when I wanted to write but I was not able to and that feeling was really very frustrating.
The other challenge was to face the judgments and opposition from the people you are familiar and unfamiliar with. I was aware of the fact that people gonna judge me about this book so I was pretty prepared for that. I knew that whenever you try to do something different in life; you will have more mouths speaking against you than supporting you. Mostly the people who know you, tries to judge and demotivate you but again my self-motivation helped me and the result is in my hand.
TBE: What is the significance of the title?
Shubham Kulkarni: The title ‘Just the two of us – till you broke my heart’ is so captivating that everyone likes it. The title creates an eagerness in readers that it makes them to read this novel. The title of this novel states a normal relationship between two beaus but the subtitle is what shows the tragedy of this story. Just the two of us – till you broke my heart a regular love story with a nasty end.
TBE: What do you hope your readers take away from this book?
Shubham Kulkarni: The readers will go shocked and blank minded after completing this book. The end of this story will make the readers to think, simultaneously it will arise many questions in their mind. This story will surely show the other side of love to the readers.
TBE: According to you what is the most challenging thing for budding writer? And what are common traps for them?
Shubham Kulkarni: I think every budding writer faces the challenges I mentioned above. The biggest challenge many writers face is failing to maintain the continuity and persistence. Many writers lose self-believe in the middle of writing the book and they just cease writing their book.
The common traps that make this happen is the rejection and opposition from the people surrounded by them; and one should learn to neglect that and should keep working.
TBE: What marketing strategies do you find most helpful? Any resources you would recommend to other authors or aspiring authors?
Shubham Kulkarni: In this era, social media promotions is the best option to promote your book, it helps a lot to reach out your book to the many people. Online marketing is currently better than offline marketing as it reaches out to many people. Once you know your target audience you can focus more on promoting your book to them.
When it comes to offline marketing, mouth to mouth publicity is always the best. Meeting the avid readers and making them aware of your book leads to promote your book a lot. Also arranging book launches, newspaper articles are few other strategies one can go for.
TBE: When did it dawn upon you that you wanted to be a writer?
Shubham Kulkarni: Basically, I am an avid bookworm, you will always find me reading something. I used to read and write many short stories and quotes during my teenage. I always dreamed of writing something of my own but never tried it due to the inferiority feeling I had with me since my childhood.
But after reading many books I got inspired; and a thought of write something of my own stroked my mind and I started working on it. The day I realized that’s what I am made for and that’s what I needed to do in my life, I started writing this book.
TBE: Do you read much and if so, who are your favorite authors?
Shubham Kulkarni: Yes, I am a hard-core reader, you will always find me reading something. I become little confusing when it comes to choose the favourite author as I like many books and many authors. But to name a few, I would say that I like Paulo Coelho, Murakami, Robin Sharma, Sidney Sheldon, Dan brown and John Green. In Indian authors I like Jhumpa Lahiri, Ruskin Bond, Sudeep Nagarkar, Anuj Tiwari and Amish.
TBE: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Shubham Kulkarni: You will always find me reading if I am not writing. Writing and reading are the two things I am completely obsessed with. Also I like to solve Rubik’s cube in my free times.
TBE: In your opinion, what is the most important thing about a book?
Shubham Kulkarni: When it comes to judge a book, you can’t go with a name of an author, even a debutant author can create a magic with his words. In any type of the book, the feeling of author behind writing that book is very important. When an author confine his words from heart, the book becomes more beautiful and interesting.
TBE: What does your family think of your writing?
Shubham Kulkarni: When I told about this dream of mine to my father, he supported me from that moment. I always say that he is the main pillar behind this book and it was really not possible without his love and benedictions. And talking about my mother, she passed away three years back but she is always there with me, blessing me from somewhere.
TBE: What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your book?
Shubham Kulkarni: Through this book I learned that dreams come true. You can achieve what you want if you work consistently for that. Another thing I learned is the amount of hard work authors do, readers complete any random book within 2-3 hours but an author works day and night for months to write the book. I also learned the power of words, I learned that you can express your feelings through words.
TBE: Do you have any suggestions to help me (any one) become a better writer? If so, what are they?
Shubham Kulkarni: You can achieve anything in your life if you keep working hard for it. If you want to be better writer, write from the bottom of your heart, your words will surely create a beautiful story.
Anything done with the will power and from the heart becomes adorable, so work hard. Choose the right publishers according to your need, concentrate on your editing and create a beautiful book.
I always say that “Just breathe and work for it”.
TBE: A common misconception entwined with authors is that they are socially inept, and they are often associated with loner tendencies; is there any truth to that?
Shubham Kulkarni: Well, I would say that it depends upon the individual’s nature. In my case, I like to socialise and meet new people but when I am reading or writing I love to be alone and enjoy my company with the words.
TBE: Do you have a set schedule for writing, or are you one of those who write only when they feel inspired?
Shubham Kulkarni: Well, I would say that I am both kind of person. Though I don’t have any schedule for writing but I always prefer to write consistently and try to keep myself inspired for that.
