She is a story book example of how marvels of modern technology can literally take you places. How else can you explain the fairy tale success story of the Fiji born Kiwi-Indian romance writer Nalini Singh who lives in Auckland, New Zealand, has an agent in Los Angeles and is making international waves in the US as she adroitly marries paranormal romance with urban fantasy.
Nominated for a RITA award by the Romance Writers of America which is probably the biggest industry award in Romance, the world over, the thirty-two year old has been published in eighteen languages, including Japanese,Swedish, German, Italian and Korean. She's had twelve full length novels published so far, plus three novellas and is commissioned to write four more Psy/Changeling books and two more Guild Hunter books! Nalini also has two books and one novella releasing later this year.
Described by her critics as being "on the fast track to becoming a genre giant!" Nalini has an incredible fan following as she plots her way to success.
I met the petite but feisty writer on the eve of the release of her novel 'Branded by Fire' at her home in Mt Albert, Auckland.
It's not everyday that you come across a prolific Indian writer who writes about Angels and Demons and has happily winged her way to the top rung of the New York Times and USA Today's Bestseller list. What's more, she was recently nominated for the Sir Julius Vogel Award in New Zealand and even won it for her novella, 'Stroke of Enticement.'
So how did it all begin? When it comes to the love of the language, Nalini recollects that English was always her favourite subject in school. However what made her stand out from the rest of her ilk was that while every other teenager found herself lost between the passionate covers of a Mills & Boon, at 18, Nalini decided to write one herself! And though it didn't quite turn out to be the sensational page-turner she had imagined it to, it did inspire her to attend the Romance Writers of New Zealand conference that gave her pointers on how to write more than three chapters in a book. Life has indeed come a full circle now as Nalini Singh is going to be one of the speakers at the next Annual Conference of the Romance Writers of New Zealand to be held in Auckland from 21st to 23rd of August '09.
Ms. Singh's tryst with fame began unexpectedly when her second attempt at writing about the torrid affairs of the heart, did find its way to the desk of Harlequin-Mills & Boon. The young writer still feels the rush of hot blood on her face as she can clearly remember how her heart started thumping loudly when she nervously ripped opened the envelope and read it's contents that fateful morning. It changed her life. "Nothing ever can top that feeling. It was one day before my birthday. I couldn't believe it had happened. It was something I wanted so much!"
Six novels later, Nalini decided to add a new twist to her story. "I've always been fascinated by psychic powers, by the idea that we might have unawakened abilities within us, " says the celebrated writer who has left readers enthralled and in awe of her prodigious talent. "Experiments have shown that human's use only a tiny percentage of their brains. But what if we were suddenly able to access that unused remainder ?" She seems excited by the very thought and it's the 'what if' factor that prompted her to make the dramatic cross-over to Paranormal-Romance.
The lady who has packed in quite a punch in her thirty-two years on the creative firmament confesses to working nine to ten hours a day on her laptop. She has tried her hand at different professions as she has practised law, been an English teacher in Japan, worked as a librarian, bank temp and a candy factory help! She calls it grist for the writer's mill.
What is it being an Indian writer in the internationally celebrated world of romance? "Though I don't know too many Indian writers who work in the genre fiction world, I think it's probably the same as being any other kind of writer," she replies modestly. "I've read a number of writers from the Indian subcontinent, including Vikram Seth and Monica Ali and enjoyed them."
So has this romance writer found her knight in shining armour or is she waiting for one of her heroes to carry her off into the sunset? "Getting carried into the sunset can happen in different ways, " she deliberates." Sometimes, it might as simple as a smile across a crowded street. Who knows when it'll happen? " Nalini shyly rounds up, leaving room for another exciting chapter to be deftly woven into her life.