Featured Interview With Gigi Kaur
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Born and raised in the UK. I’m an anonymous author.
I’m a pharmacist, all I’ve known most of my adult life is how to be a pharmacist. When I decided that I wanted to write, and I wanted to write about things inspire by true events I knew that I couldn’t do it under my professional name. I am still a Pharmacist I still have my registration, I still practise and it is my primary profession and source of income. But writing is a passion, and life is too short not to embrace your passions. So I knew that I needed to write under a pseudonym- allowing me to remain an upstanding pillar of the community while moonlighting a steamy romance novelist. But its not solely my profession that lead me to writing anonymously, I am Indian. Being Indian and being open about sex is just not the done thing. Sex is still very much taboo within the culture which is surprising since the karma sutra very much highlights the importance of sexual desires and that scripture was created in India. But generally my family and wider community would not be very accepting to my style of writing. That and the fact that its inspired by true events!
I do have pets, I have 3 puppies- my little fur babies keep me very busy!
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I actually really enjoyed creative writing at school… but I didn’t get top marks for my writing so I assumed I wasn’t very good at it. I tired to write a book just after university, I think I started the first few chapters but I just didn’t have the focus. It’s only now that I found the focus and the confidence to write my story- and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every minute.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I have a very wide range of interest when it comes to books. But I would say I drew my inspiration for Jaia Lust from Eat, Pray, Love and 50 shades of Grey- not inspiration necessarily for the plot or the characters but for writing the book in general. There are so many books I’ve read, Harry Potter amongst many others in my childhood, books by Slyvia Day, Memoirs of a Geisha, Girl with a dragon tatoo series, Charles dickens, many many books. Usually when I go on holiday I take at least 4 or 5 books with me, at university I used to take text books but now thankfully it’s predominantly fiction.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Initially I was in two minds about even writing this book. I had heard about a lot of unrest within the Sikh community about interacial marriages and quite a lot of the explicit scenes are between Jaia (the main character) who is Sikh and her romance interests who range from white, black, and Hispanic. My worry was that the story itself would cause a lot of unrest but compounding that my pseudonym makes it very clear that I am in fact Sikh. But thankfully so far no concerns have been raised. The book takes a very modern view on romance its empowering with a strong female lead who is flawed and completely relatable. I wanted to create a character who was strong, smart, adventurous and sensual. I wanted a romance novel where happiness and fulfilment wasn’t hinged on a romantic relationship, with some self discovery and profound advice thrown in for good measure! It’s a feel good book with travel, passion and an element of real life.
As a pharmacist I know how important it is to talk about sex and sexual health feely and openly. So whilst I worry about the negative response this book might get I am hopeful that there will be some positivity in there too.
Jaia Lust:
Jaia has just finished university, ended her long-term relationship and has left her home town to start the first job of her career. The first job that actually means something, and will define her professional life.
All she has to do is focus; pass her pre-registration year, pass her exams and become the pharmacist she’s always wanted. How hard can it be? What could possibly go wrong? Will she be pulled astray? Dive deep into Jaia Lust, and discover the truth for yourself.
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