CBC: The Sessions (a.k.a. The Review Book)

Interview with Anupriya Saraswat

Name: Anupriya Saraswat

Wattpad username: theredhairedbrunette

Favourite quote: "Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing" - Benjamin Franklin.

Currently writing: Desperately seeking time for - Hello, Again and Letters To You. Actually writing - a dissertation titled Voids in Architecture : A Study of Unbuilt Spaces.

Currently reading: A bunch of stuff - there's Thackeray's Vanity fair, The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling, and the entirety of the CBC's featured works.

Currently eating/drinking a lot of: Diet Coke. So, so much Diet Coke.

Favourite non-literary hobby: I'm not sure I have any hobbies left - I alternate my time between working and reading and cram my social life and writing in the interstices. But if counts, I suppose it's music - nothing makes me feel more alive than singing with my 'band'.

Authors who you love: J.K Rowling (It's more sentimental than logical), Cornelia Funke, Christopher Paolini (again, sentimental, not logical), Vikram Seth, Jane Austen, Ashapurna Devi, Premchand, Mahasweta Devi (I've only ever read one of her books, but it made me weep for hours on end). And for what it's worth - Lady Altair and Jewel5 from Fanfiction.net

Tell us about how you started writing: If my parents and their embroidered binders are to be believed, I wrote my first poem at the age of four (something about birds?), but if my memory is to be trusted, I started writing when I was twelve. I was the stereotypical outcast - the small town kid in a big city, and the class's favourite punching bag. Instead of trying to fit in, I'd write maudlin snippets about being tragically misunderstood. This soon turned to avid daydreaming where I cooked up an alternate universe about my lost-princess alter ego who (drumroll) saves everyone from her evil twin. While my series of three novels, two spin-offs and a movie deal never progressed beyond three random chapters and countless character sketches, I did fall a little bit in love with storytelling. A few nudges in the right direction by amazing parents, two exceptional English teachers and a few friends who played guinea pig to my half-cooked tales, and here I am.

Would you like to write for a living? Why?

No. I'd definitely love to have my work published, but I think writing would lose its charm if it were to ever become my livelihood. Besides, I love where I am right now.

Why did you pick this story to be featured?

Quite honestly? It's the only thing I have here on Wattpad. But even if I did have other stories featured here, I'd still pick it - it says more about me and my abilities as a writer than any of my other pieces. It's a tale about a tale (if only you squint hard enough) and it's quite literally a reflection of my psyche. It's a deeply personal narrative and I couldn't think of a more honest way to represent myself.

What inspired you to write this story?

In one word? Heartache. Severance of a friendship, loss of love, and turbulence in life - it all just snowballed one winter when I was watching What If in the wee hours of the morning at my parents house. It was a deeply cathartic moment of clarity and the next thing I knew, I was penning down what would eventually become the first chapter, which my brother read the following day, swatted me on the arm, and asked me how I was planning to follow it up. Amy across the atlantic and sea-eyes Adam had been bouncing around my head for a while, and hence Hello, Again came to be.

What is your favourite relationship in this story?

It'd be a tie between Amelia & Trevor and Sarah & Adam. One says little and jumps from moment to moment, and the other plays out between the lines, with only a handful of conversations to attest to it. They are quite beautiful friendships, without which Adam and Amelia would never come to be.

What do you think makes this story stand out?

The narration - In @greatblueheron's words, it's an omniscient style of storytelling, the kind I hoped would reflect the entire fate-reliant theme of the story. You'll find that Moments - stellar, consequential, or simply there - make this story, not a linear narrative. It's a recollection of a life well lived, not of plans yet to come to fruition.

What do you hope readers take away from this story?

Hope. If anything, have faith that things will ultimately work out for the best, even if they don't go according to plan. It's a story, above all, about love and loss and life, and the beauty of fractured fragments.