Yashodhara Lal's USP is in taking the ordinary and making it hilarious. She graduated from IIM-Bangalore in 2002 and has over 12 years of experience in the Marketing Domain across two large corporations in FMCG and media.
She lives in Gurgaon with her husband Vijay, and the three small children they call Peanut, Pickle and Papad - all of whom never fail to provide her with material for her entertaining blog at http://www.yashodharalal.com.
'Just Married, Please Excuse' is her first book. 'Sorting Out Sid' is her latest work of fiction.
Interviews
Author Interview : Yashodhara Lal
Author Chats Reader's Corner by WritersMelon - March 10, 2014
PRB: How would you describe yourself as a woman? What are the traits in yourself that you cherish?
Yashodhara Lal : As a woman – or as a person in general – I’m extremely multi-faceted and passionate about pursuing everything I love. I know that life is about choices, but I’m willing to try skimming the surface of many things while going into the depth of one or two fields. The trait I cherish most about myself is my sheer enthusiasm and the ability to fire others up with it too!
PRB : Any weakness that you would like to rectify in yourself?
Yashodhara Lal : I’m yet to win any awards for being calm, centered, patient and unemotional. I’m thinking I may cool down when I hit 40, but that’s still a while away, so I think I may need to figure out a way to be less sensitive in the meantime.
PRB : Did you face any hurdles in the process of being a published writer? How did you juggle your daily job with writing?
Yashodhara Lal: There are always hurdles when you’re out to accomplish anything worthwhile. I wrote my first book while nursing my twin sons, after a complicated pregnancy and two surgeries. But it was a wake-up call for me and I’m so glad for it in retrospect. I had trouble managing a full-time corporate career along with raising 3 children and also writing, so I’ve moved to part-time consulting opportunities now which seems to be working better, at least for the moment. When the kids are a little older, I may choose to step up the corporate work though. For now, I’m exploring and finding my balance. I think it’s important to make choices and give up some things, even though I’d like to have it all!
PRB: How do you perceive your male characters being a woman writer?
Yashodhara Lal: I start out with nothing but ideas and observation; the character evolves somewhere around a third into writing the book, and then takes on a life of his own. I think that’s the nicest part of writing fiction – being able to develop convincing characters that have a mind of their own. I’m not sure how it happens, but it’s a great feeling especially when people ask ‘How on earth did you do that? Get inside a guy’s head so convincingly?’
PRB: Your message for thousands of women aspiring to be successful writers.
Yashodhara Lal: Please, read a lot. Don’t be amongst those writers who proudly proclaim that they don’t have time or the inclination to read. It’ll make for better writing, I promise. And secondly – don’t think too much, just go ahead and do it.
Self-editing too early will kill your books – finish that first draft and then go back to the beginning.
