'Written in the Stars' is a romantic comedy about life, love: Divya Anand

Divya Anand the author of two bestsellers 'Dare Eat That' and 'I Hate My Curly Hair' has come out with her new book 'Written in the Stars (Penguin India)', which is a romantic comedy about life, love, and whether the biggest things in life are the choices you make or what destiny has in store for you.

A story set in an e-commerce start-up gives the reader a sense of the workplace dynamic of a tech start-up in India, 'Written in the Stars' is the story of Sitara and Abhimanyu and their tryst with destiny. Divya Anand share some important moments in her journey of 'Written in the Stars' with The Hans India.

Tell us about your journey as an author?

My first book 'Dare Eat That' is a guide to bizarre foods from around the world. It came about as a result of my husband's quest to eat every species he could find. This was followed by a children's picture book, 'I Hate My Curly Hair,' which features a curly haired girl who learns to accept herself as she is. 'Written in the Stars' is my third book, and my first romantic comedy.

What is the story behind your book 'Written in the Stars?' Where did you get your idea for the book?

'Written in the Stars' is a workplace romantic comedy that looks at whether life and love are an outcome of our choices or if they are written in the stars. One of my ex-colleagues once mentioned that he would follow a particular astrologer for all his decisions, including things like when he would schedule important meetings at work. The thought of an otherwise analytical manager choosing to use astrology for decision-making was something that stuck with me. I began thinking about how this trait could be used by others at work, and that then spun off into this idea of someone trying to use this horoscope obsession with unintended consequences!

Tell us about the book

When all her efforts at political maneuvering, sucking up and even doing her job fail to land her that elusive promotion, Sitara decides it's time to use the new marketing head Abhimanyu's obsession with his horoscope to her advantage. Soon, she's rescheduling meetings, pitching ideas and picking launch dates based on his horoscope. Sitara is so focused on manipulating Abhimanyu with the career section of his horoscope that she doesn't pay attention to the personal section. Hilarity ensues when these star-crossed signals result in Abhimanyu pursuing Sitara romantically, without realizing that the 'signs' are engineered coincidences in her quest to get promoted. Soon, Sitara is faced with choosing what she really wants-a career progression or true love. She must chart her own course even if what she has in mind may not be what the stars ordained.

Tell us about the characters. And which character is close to your heart?

Sitara and Abhimanyu are the two lead characters. Sitara is an ambitious product manager at Glam, an e-commerce startup, who's trying to get a promotion. Abhimanyu, Glam's marketing head is a horoscope-obsessed senior leader standing in the way of her promotion. The book also includes their colleagues, some of whom (Upasana and Shirin) happen to be Sitara's friends and trivia teammates. My favourite character is Kavya, Sitara's flatmate and best friend, who is the voice of reason in Sitara's life.

How writing happened?

I ended up writing this book during the peak of the pandemic last year. As I worked from home, I began missing some of the social elements at work - drinking chai with a friend at the tapri nearby, walking up to people's desks to ask questions instead of necessitating meetings, those HR events that everyone dreaded. There was a point when I think we all even began missing that annoying co-worker that you probably thought you'd be happy not to run into everyday! A lot of these worked their way into the book, and of course having free time during the pandemic helped me write since I couldn't make any other plans.

Challenges you faced while writing this book and in your life as an author?

My biggest challenge is balancing my writing with my full time job. It pushes me to be very good with time management as I spend a lot of my evenings and weekends on writing!

What is your writing process like?

I plot the book in detail, starting with a synopsis and then breaking out into chapter outlines before I begin writing the book. I typically write my first draft in one complete flow. I don't read or edit it. I just try to get something on the pages. Then I take some time off before going back to the book and rigorously edit it. My first draft is very rough, and only for my eyes. The second is where I consider what parts work, and what don't and that's the version that I polish and send to my beta readers. I then use their feedback for the third draft. I sometimes have a fourth draft, mainly for one last round of edits before I send out the manuscript.