Hureen Saghar Gandhi: Author of Page 6 and Beyond- Interview

Hureen Saghar Gandhi is the author of book Page 6 and beyond.

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About the AuthorVidhya Thakkar- Indian blogger, Mumbai blogger, book blogger, Book blogger Mumbai, Book blogger India, lifestyle blogger, product reviewerVidhya Thakkar- Indian blogger, Mumbai blogger, book blogger, Book blogger Mumbai, Book blogger India, lifestyle blogger, product reviewer, Mumbai book blog, bloggerVidhya Thakkar- Indian blogger, Mumbai blogger, book blogger, Book blogger Mumbai, Book blogger India, lifestyle blogger, product reviewerVidhya Thakkar- Indian blogger, Mumbai blogger, book blogger, Book blogger Mumbai, Book blogger India, lifestyle blogger, product reviewer, Mumbai book blog, blogger

Hureen Saghar Gandhi lives with her husband and their two wonderful daughters in Northern Virginia. She savors her ever-growing collection of memories from her travel escapades and meeting people from all around the world. Her passion lies in capturing the moments (that may get lost in time) through her camera lens. And recently through her writing, she humorously brings to life her fond memories.

She holds a Biochemistry degree from St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad, India and Bioinformatics Degree from George Mason University, Virginia, USA. However, her zest to travel kept her away from practising any of these skills.

Her other talents extend to being a gardener, a chauffeur, a cook, a therapist, a preacher, a travel agent, a match-maker, and other wide-ranging skills that she keeps adding on with each passing day.

 Page 6 And Beyond is the result of her ironic and funny observations of leading the Page 6 column of her old school’s WhatsApp group. Her writing explores her day-to-day encounters with various characters from all walks of life where their idiosyncrasies are playfully distilled into a comical brew.

Interview


1: What are your interests other than writing?

-I have a variety of interests that keep me and everyone around me involved if not entertained. My interests get ? or ?as per the situations and phases of life. I have gone through inflicting my family and friends with Sanjeev Kapoor style cooking to self-indulging scrapbooking phase to a knitting phase where anybody I know wore a scarf knitted by me and then moving on to embracing anything and everything my kids have shown an interest towards. However, some things I have managed to keep perennial. Gardening is one of them. Makes me feel connected to mother nature. Another one is photography. I enjoy capturing landscape as well and pictures of people and their emotions. And I love love love travelling. If a  ? ride is involved even better. And greater the distance of flight, higher my level of excitement. Although truly any chance to explore a new city, its landscape, its culture, its history, and the food is good enough reason for me to get enthusiastic about travel ?

2: What inspires you in life?

-Possibilities!!!! The world is full of never-ending possibilities. I am a die hard optimistic and always tend to ?? of life!

3: How long it took to finish your novel?

-A very long 17 months I would say ?! Six months to get my first draft ready, eight months to edit and get illustrations ready, two months to work on other elements of the book including to get the emojis in my book to format it right! Lastly and most importantly one dedicated month was to reach out to people who inspired my humor in this book and to break the news to them.

4: What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?

-For my book Page 6 And Beyond, it was an average of six hours dedication of work most of the days. Of which 30-40 minutes start of the day was dedicated to getting me into the mood to write something that can make me laugh and eventually others. The series Gilmore girls was a good ⚽?

 5: Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?

– I capitalized on various life experiences of meeting different people across the world, visiting and living in various cities. Many stories were inspired by my school’s WhatsApp group and some by my book character’s social media profiles ?


6: some authors in your genre that inspire you?

-To be honest, I am more of a fan of thriller/suspense ?books but when I read Twinkle Khanna’s Mrs. Funnybones ? it inspired me to write Page 6 And Beyond. ??

7: What are some great books you’ve read recently?

– This would be my first book listening on Audible, “Dying to be me” by Anita Moorjani. One of her quotes that stayed with me was,

“I detach myself from preconceived outcomes and trust that all is well. Being myself allows the wholeness of my unique magnificience to draw me in those directions most beneficial to me and to all others. This is really the only thing I have to do. And within that framework, everything that is truly mine comes into my life effortlessly, in the most magical and unexpected ways imaginable, demonstrating every day the power and love of who I truly am.”

― Anita Moorjani, Dying to Be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing

8: What types of books do you enjoy in your downtime?

-I read any fast-paced books. Thriller and mystery are my favorite genre.

9: What are the upsides and downsides to being an author?

-Well! The biggest upside of being an author ( who seeks inspiration from real life events and people around her for her stories in the book) is that now when anything goes wrong in our lives, my children’s first response is NOT “What in the world? Or What are we going to do now?” But it goes excitedly something like… “Is this going to be in the book?” ??( I guess it has helped them to deal with their ‘first response’ to any unforeseen challenges…?)

The downsides of being an author-

One downside being a self-published author is that you have to be your own book salesperson. Writing is one thing and selling is another. Combining those two is a difficult process.


10: What is the main thing you want readers to take away from your book?

Live, Love, Laugh

Live every moment!

Love unconditionally!

Work hard, Laugh harder!

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