Welcome readers! Hope your summer is going well, even if it is coming to an end. This week we are introducing Debut Author Rahul Kanakia whose novel, Enter Title Here, was released on August 2nd, 2016. You can check it out here!
And now for the interview!
What character trait would you thieve from someone else (and who from)?
I’d steal Scarlett O’Hara’s complete and utter self-possession. I read Gone With The Wind while in 9th grade, and she made a huge impression on me. I’d never before realized how far it’s possible to get on chutzpah alone. Hopefully I’d temper it with a little more kindness and self-awareness though.- What’s the last lie you told?
“My last lie? Hmm, I can’t really remember.” - If you could punch one
personcreature on the planet with absolutely no repercussions, who would it be?
A shark - What possession do you consider your “precious”? So, something you’d fight to the death for on the slopes of Mt. Doom.
If we’re being honest, I probably don’t have a possession I’d die for, but I sure do like my Kindle. I splurged and got the really stupidly expensive Kindle Oasis: the one with physical buttons and a weird asymmetrical shape that’s better balanced for one-handed reading. I love e-readers. They are amazing. I’ve gotten to the point where I only own maybe 20 or 30 physical books. The other 500 are in Amazon’s cloud. - Best one line writing advice you’ve ever gotten?
Don’t end a scene on a line of dialogue. Which sounds stupid, because authors do this all the time, and it can actually work really well, but my instructor went on to explain that scenes should contain a moment or two of relaxation at the end: a place for the reader to collect themselves before moving on to the next scene. Otherwise the story just feels like an incessant series of loud bangs. I think about this all the time, and the transitions between my scenes have been much-improved because of it. - What book do you wish you’d written?
That cancer book everybody’s talking about: The Emperor of Maladies. I haven’t read it, but it looks so weighty and serious. I bet I could be weighty and serious! I wear glasses! I have a beard! If any of you work at CNN, just know that I think I could be a great “Medical Expert. - You can only listen to one song for the rest of your life. What is it?
Probably Dvorak’s “New World Symphony.” I personally am left numb by most classical music, but my fiancé is a huge classical music nerd and has been dragging me to tons of concerts, and I for some reason really enjoyed this one, which was Anton Dvorak’s attempt to capture the spirit of America in symphonic form. I’ve listened to it dozens of times since then, and my appreciation has certainly deepened. For instance I initially thought the second movement was dull and slow, but I’ve slowly come to understand its pleasures. Anyway, it seems like it would bear up under a lifetime of listening a little better than would my usual standbys, which re mostly pop-country and Broadway musicals. - You magically obtain the ability to cast one and only one spell from the
Harry Potter universe—but you can cast it as much as you like. Which one is it?
Whichever spell lets you apparate. I’m tired of having to stand up and physically walk from my bed all the way to the refrigerator whenever I get hungry. 
With only your wit and an oft-malfunctioning magic wand, you are forced into a death match with either Shelob, the enormous spider from Lord of the Rings, or Voldemort. Who do you choose?
Shelob. She seems like she can be reasoned with.- Describe your debut novel in one sentence:
GOSSIP GIRL meets HOUSE OF CARDS.
Thanks Rahul! Check in next month as we continue the debut author series!
If you want to get to know Rahul better, you can also check him out at his twitter and his web site!
Twitter: @rahkan
Website: http://www.blotter-paper.com