In Conversation with Surabhi Kaushik on Writers Beyond Borders and Much More!

Meet An Extraordinary Woman - Surabhi Kaushik

“Writing has been my passion and profession for over 2 decades now. “

Surabhi Kaushik is a professional writer based in Charlotte, North Carolina. She and her husband and son moved to the US in 2105 from Mumbai, India.

We met by chance, as fans of Author Alka Joshi, and I knew Surabhi’s story had to be shared with my listeners!

Surabhi doesn’t have a work visa for the USA yet, but she gives of her time and talent and serves the community as a volunteer. She initiated a writing group—Write Like You Mean It, at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library, and she conducts writing workshops in other Charlotte, NC libraries.

Surabhi led writing programs and assisted hosting events at the library for five years. In that time, she logged well over 500 hours of service. Kaushik shared, “Volunteering at the Library has been an enjoyable learning experience for me because it has given me a space to showcase my talents, meet new people and be part of a welcoming community. The writing group has given me a sense of belonging which was important to me as a newbie immigrant.”

In November 2020, Surabhi received the North Carolina Governor’s Award for Volunteer Service.  

Her work has been published in several magazines and on websites in India and the US. Some of her writing may be found on India Currents . Check out her writing talent on her blog Writers Mind.Surabhi .

SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES & LINK TO SURABHI'S PROGRAM WRITERS BEYOND BORDERS

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/surabhi.kaushik.52/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/writersmind.surabhi/

Writers Beyond Borders

The virtual program hosted by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library. The FREE ONLINE PROGRAM meets the third Wednesday of every month. It is a FREE program. Register for the program here.

Thanks for listening to Part II of my two-part episode featuring my conversation with New York Times bestselling author Alka Joshi.

In this episode, Alka continues her discussion about her path to publishing her debut novel The Henna Artist. It’s a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick.

Reese Witherspoon said, “Captivated me from the first chapter to the final page.” 

Alka talks about hiring two developmental editors for her manuscript after she had been working with her agent for several years on changing her novel. Initially she resisted the feedback, but she realized the comments were nuances and brushstrokes that could help elevate her novel to bestseller status. Now she encourages everyone to find a developmental editor, but particularly ones that are interested in the genre they’re writing.

Alka discusses the reasons she cut almost 150 pages from her novel, and it wasn’t because of the reason I imagined. We discuss the publication of The Henna Artist and the novel’s meteoric rise to bestseller although it looked like the 2020 launch might not succeed after the pandemic caused everything to shut down in March.

 We talk about the Netflix series in the works for The Henna Artist and book two in the trilogy The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, and we discuss the third novel that Alka will publish in 2023.

 Alka shares the ways readers can find her online and she encourages writers to visit her YouTube channel to see the videos she made about traditional publishing vs. self-publishing. She talks about how to get an agent and how to deal with self-doubt. She encourages every woman to write her story.

Make sure to listen to Part I of the conversation with New York Times best-selling author Alka Joshi.

www.alkajoshi.com

www.thehennaartist.com

Now a Netflix Project

New York Times Bestseller

Reese Witherspoon Bookclub Pick

LA Times Bestseller

USA Today Bestseller

Toronto Star Bestseller

Globe & Mail Bestseller

Indie Bookstores Bestseller

Publishers Weekly Bestseller

Longlisted: First Novel, Center for Fiction

Amazon Summer 2020 Readers Pick

Goodreads Finalist Choice Awards 2020: Best Debut Novel & Best Historical Fiction

Indigo 10 Best Books of 2020

HCC Spring 2020 Fan Choice Winner

Follow Alka:  Instagram  Facebook Twitter  Bookbub  

NYT Bestselling Author Alka Joshi, The Henna Artist and The Secret Keeper of Jaipur

In Episode I of this two-part episode of Bollywood and Books, New York TImes best-selling author Alka Joshi talks about her novel The Henna Artist.

In our conversation, Alka talks about her childhood in India and her path to publishing her debut novel The Henna Artist. It’s a New York Times bestseller and a Reese Witherspoon Bookclub Pick. It’s also an LA Times Bestseller and a USA Today Bestseller.

The Henna Artist is now a Netflix Project. We’ll talk about that in part two of the conversation.

Alka discusses the reasons she launched an ad agency and hired women to help her implement projects for clients. It was all about empowering women.

 She created the character Lakshmi to give her mother the chance she never had--to lead her life in the independent way in which Alka has been able to lead her own life. She wanted her mother to experience that independence. She talks about her fascinating journey to publication. She advises writers that they need passion, patience, and perseverance--stick-to-itiveness, to get good at what they're doing. 

 Make sure to tune in next week for part two of the episode with author Alka Joshi. We'll talk about the Netflix project for The Henna Artist and book two in the trilogy The Secret Keeper of Jaipur and we’ll discuss the third novel that Alka will publish in 2023.

www.alkajoshi.com

www.thehennaartist.com

Now a Netflix Project

New York Times Bestseller

Reese Witherspoon Bookclub Pick

LA Times Bestseller

USA Today Bestseller

Alka shares her writing tips on her YouTube Channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqNLMIc32Z-y4hzkiE3o6rQ. 

Follow Alka Joshi:

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Bookbub

YouTube

Order on: Amazon Barnes&Noble Goodreads Indiebound Target BooksAMillion Walmart & your favorite indie bookstore.

Listen to Episode 11 of the podcast on your favorite podcast players or by visiting the podcast page...