The Hindu Lit For Life | Prajakta Koli gives a sneak peek into her first novel

I started out as a content creator in 2015. When I started, I had tunnel vision. I thought, main toh apne kamre main videos bana rahi hun; isse agey kya hi meri duniya hogi? (I am making videos in my room, what would my world be other than this?). I did not think I would have end up having friends in Nigeria, London, Germany, Spain... I did not know there were doors that would open up for content creators. I remember being so stunned when I got an audition for Mismatched. I was stunned when I got Karan Johar’s film Jug Jugg Jeeyo. I got to be in Creator of Change, a documentary with Michelle Obama.

And now I debut as an author with Too Good to Be True, a classic romance novel. Being a true romantic at heart, I wanted the book to have a sound track. A song that tells the story, and a certain visual to go with it. I shot the song in Mussoorie.

Someone told me writing is not tough, sitting down to write is tough. I started writing my debut novel Too Good To Be True in March 2023. Sometimes I wrote one chapter in an hour, sometimes it took days. But when I sat down to write, no matter what, I did not get up half way. I have actually read my book 70 times because every time I wrote a chapter, I started reading from the beginning.

Prajakta debuts as an author with a romance novel

The book is about Avni and Aman. Avni is a 23-year-old post graduate law student who works part time at a book store. She loves romance books and has been taking refuge in these stories. One day Aman walks into the book store and challenges everything that Avni thought romance to be. The book is about her and Aman dealing with a relationship that starts off being too good to be true. None of it is poetic or complex. It is extremely straightforward. Both the characters are open and transparent. This is a work of fiction but the only similarity with my life is that both Aman and my fiancé have brown eyes and dimple.

Initially, I wanted to make a show out of it. I started writing down snippets but eventually they started looking a lot like chapters. I had eight to 10 chapters. I depend so much on my audience and community and I announced to them that I would be writing a book. Ab bol diya toh likha toh padega (Now that I have said it, I have to write it). As this is my first book, I did not know how to go about it. Harper Collins reached out to me and everything came together so beautifully.

What are you reading currently? I am reading If We Ever Meet Again by Anna Huang.

One book you recommend everyone reads: The Last Queen by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, and the Twisted series by Anna Huang.

A Bookish Affair Prajakta Koli in conversation with Rosella Stephen will take place on January 18 at 6.05 pm at Sir Mutha Concert Hall