‘I don’t Wear Sunscreen’ – Wait a minute….Say whaaaat?
Well, to most of us who are beauty bloggers or anyone who knows the importance of using a sunscreen, this statement might trigger the need to give a long lecture on why sunscreen is essential. Before you make a long list of whys, let me reveal to you that this is the title of a book written by Kavipriya Moorthy.
The title planted some sort of curiosity in my mind and I continued to do my research on what the book would be about. What I discovered was that there is definitely something more to this book than what meets the eye.
Kavipriya Moorthy,an avid reader, writer, author, blogger and business analyst talks about her first book ‘I don’t Wear Sunscreen’. Read on!
Tell us a little about yourself.
Am Kavipriya Moorthy. I am based out of Chennai. I did my engineering and MBA, and now, I work as a business analyst in GAVS technologies, Chennai. I am a writer by passion, I do freelance content writing and ghost writing, which eventually led to the thought of writing a novel. My debut “I don’t wear Sunscreen” released by July 2015 and is doing well.
Why the title ‘I don’t Wear Sunscreen’?
I wanted a title that would quote the protagonist is a different person from the rest. I wanted to portray that she will not be one among the ten, but rather a person who will stand out in the crowd.
Once when I was riding, I saw other girls in the signal covering themselves with gloves, sunglasses, and caps whereas I didn’t really care about my complexion. That’s when the title struck me, I was advised to choose a different title as it sounds very girlish but, I felt this is the only title that ever fits.
What made you choose Laksha and Pallavi as your focal characters? Are they inspirations from real life?
Laksha and Pallavi are just any two close friends whom we can meet at any school, class or college. Indians grow this way; hence it was easy for me to pen about their life. I was Laksha once to a Pallavi I know, and vice versa. So I would say, they were inspirations from my life and I am glad most of them were able to relate as well.
From the reviews I’ve read, it seems to be a book with a lot of twists and turns and the reader can (and should) expect the unexpected. Was that a conscious decision? What is it that keep readers engaged in your opinion?
I used the shadow method. In this method, you giveaway whatever base write-up you have penned to a trustworthy person who will go through and say what they expect next. This helped me understand the generic expectation of the readers; I slept on the thoughts and came up with twists which my shadow reader didn’t expect at first and hence it turned a good read for all my readers.
Any tips for aspiring writers?
Yes. I would love to give them a few tips.
- Don’t worry about grammar, vocabulary enhancements, sentence structure et al. A novel is first a string of emotion that is converted into words. There are editors, copy-editors and proof readers to correct your language of the novel. So write what you want to portray.
- Don’t think hard to write something out of the world, if you feel like writing about a person sitting right next to you; just do!
- Ensure you show; don’t tell. Don’t pen a curriculum vitae for your character, give them the look and feel with your words.
- Ask your friends to comment ruthlessly before publishing; give your manuscript to about 5 to 10 readers.
- Last but not least; follow your heart – writing is where you turn a God and you have the privilege to do all that you want. Take charge!
Kavipriya blogs about professional ethics at Your’s Professionally and “scribbles” at preethinakshatra’s Blog.
You could buy her book ‘I don’t Wear Sunscreen’ on Amazon.
Image source (2nd and 3rd): amazon.in
