For someone who has authored six best-selling novels, is considered one of the country’s young adult literary icons, and has also been a recipient of a 2013 Young Achiever Award, it’s quite unnerving
For someone who has authored six best-selling novels, is considered one of the country’s young adult literary icons, and has also been a recipient of a 2013 Young Achiever Award, it’s quite unnerving to hear the ravishing Nikita Singh say that she didn’t take to books until she finished high school. “I know, it’s hard to believe, but I never understood why someone would read a 400-page novel without any illustrations or pictures,” she sheepishly admits. “My dad had a massive library, and I would keep asking him to give the books away to make more space in the house. He’d tell me that he hoped maybe I would start reading someday. Little did he know that not only would I fall head over heels in love with the literary world, but would also become a writer,” Nikita beams.
The 22-year old who is currently based in Delhi is renowned for her teen romance novels, such as Love@Facebook, Accidentally in Love and The Promise. However, her latest offering, Right Here Right Now, does stray away from the premise of love and focuses on something deeper, she says. “Reinventing yourself is harder when you don’t remember who you were. It’s about a 17-year-old who wakes up in the hospital with no recollection of how she got there, and is diagnosed with retrograde amnesia. She doesn’t recognise her family, her friends, her boyfriend – and she has her exams to clear. The story is about coming of age and finding oneself – if you take away the amnesia factor, it’s actually something all of us go through — trying to be cool, peer pressure, career choices, etc,” Nikita explains.
The seven months between her 12th grade exams and college were the most influential for her as she discovered reading, Nikita says. “I started off with Harry Potter, of course, and then read nearly a book a day for all that time. Similarly, my books are inspired by day-to-day happenings not necessarily from my life, but from what I observe around me. Though I’ve only dabbled in young romance so far, I do want to diversify into other genres soon. Fantasy is something I’m excited about, signs off this author, who is also a publishing manager at Wisdom Tree, finds time to learn jazz dancing, enjoys her cardio work out and swimming.
