We are here with Nupur Chowdhury, author of the action packed fantasy novel A Flight of Broken Wings, who was kind enough to take some time from her busy schedule and grant us an interview! 

Thank you Nupur! And Welcome to The Magic Book Corner! It's great to have you here!

1. To begin, could you please tell our readers here a little bit about yourself?

I’m the girl who had her nose buried in a novel when I was supposed to be doing homework! 

My grandfather was a huge bookaholic, and he would read me stories every afternoon when I was little. Eventually, I grew too curious to wait for him to get to the next part, and began trying to read those books myself. And that’s how my love affair with stories began.

I’d wanted to write a novel since I was a kid, and had started on many projects which were later discarded midway. Finally, in high school, I managed to finish my first full-length manuscript. 

It’s been far from a smooth ride, but here we are now, tossing and turning midway through the voyage. I’ve written two more novels since high school, though one of them is yet to be published. 

And honestly, despite all the delight and heartbreak it’s caused me over the years, if I had to go back and do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. None of this is easy, but it is so, so worth it! 

2. What projects are you working on right now? Could you tell us about them? 

Right now, I’m working on two projects simultaneously. The first one, which I’m now editing, is a science fiction/thriller called ‘The Brightest Fell’. Yep, I shamelessly stole that title from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, which I love! 

It centers around a scientist who accidentally invented a drug that can make a person docile and compliant. And the ways in which various powers - including governments and rebel factions - seek to use his invention for their own nefarious ends. 

My other WIP is the sequel to ‘A Flight of Broken Wings’, for which I’ve yet to finalize a name. I’m only a couple chapters in on that one, but it’s going really well so far, so I’m hoping the first draft will be done by the end of the year *fingers crossed*. 

3. I loved your book A Flight of Broken Wings. And I'm happy to hear there is a sequel planned for it. Do you have any release date in mind? 

Yep, ‘A Flight of Broken Wings’ is the first book in a trilogy that I outlined in the final year of college. So yes, there definitely are more books to come! 

I’m currently in the process of drafting the sequel. The first draft will hopefully be finished by the end of 2019, but with editing, cover design, etc. I expect the book will be ready for publication by mid-2020. 

4. Speaking of A Flight of Broken Wings, what readership in particular would you say it would appeal to? And what should a reader expect when picking it up? 

I was a senior in college when I began planning that book. So the storyline and characters were based on my own tastes at the time and those of my classmates and friends. 

Keeping that in mind, I’d say the book would appeal to teenagers and young adults who love stories filled with fantasy and adventure. Some fans of the mystery/thriller genre have also told me that they loved the book, so I guess it has a little something for everyone. 

More than genre, age, or anything else, though, you’ll like AFoBW if you enjoy character-driven stories with interesting and flawed protagonists who sometimes do bad things with the best of intentions. 

I’ve always been fascinated by characters who made morally questionable decisions because they thought (whether rightly or otherwise) that it will serve a greater good. And that’s a theme I always try to explore in my stories. 

5. What was the inspiration behind A Flight of Broken Wings and how did it come to be? 

Oddly enough, the inspiration for this book came from a TV show. I’d been watching Supernatural (starring Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki) since I was in school. 

The show features angels and demons (along with a plethora of other supernatural beings), and while I loved that storyline in the beginning, it got me thinking... 

The angels were supposed to be super powerful, all-knowing, immortal creatures, who were nonetheless inexplicably invested in human affairs. This, I realized, was a common trope in fantasy fiction. 

You’d have some fantasy creature (elves/vampires/fae, take your pick) that has lived for centuries or millennia, that can blow the planet to smithereens with a snap of their finger...and yet they would be super invested in whether or not the hero got the girl (or insert any mundane mortal problem of your choice). 

I was intrigued by the concept, but it didn’t strike me as terribly realistic. So it got me thinking, if there really was a race of beings that was immortal and all-powerful, what would they be like? What would their motivations be? What about their vulnerabilities, both physical and (more importantly) psychological? 

I mean, if you never had to fight or hunt for survival, would you develop the instinct for violence? If you never had to compete for scarce resources, would you be competitive? If you don’t need food to eat or land to build houses on, what would you go to war for? 

So basically, I wrote the novel to answer all these questions that kept popping up in my head like annoying plot bunnies. And of course, also because I’d always liked characters that were pretty, witty, and badass! ;) 

6. When reading your book I pictured the Aeriel as a sort of warrior angel. Is this what you had in mind when writing them? 

Kind of, yeah. I pictured them initially as hippy, eccentric, and artsy individuals who nonetheless looked very regal and menacing at first glance. 

That discrepancy between the way they looked and the way they acted was one of the first characteristics of the Aeriels that I thought of. 

Of course, that idea developed and morphed a lot over the course of writing, so much so that by the end of it, I didn’t think of the Aeriels as a homogenous race. Instead, I saw them as unique individuals with the same kind of variety that humans have. 

7. Why Ruban? Why a broken hero? Did you have anyone in mind, when writing him, or is he purely fictional? And how did you pen him down? 

Simply because his story isn’t all that unique. It’s dramatized, sure, but stories like his are a dime a dozen. Humans are prone to categorizing and stereotyping. It’s actually one of our greatest strengths. We can categorize things and put neat labels on them. 

However, this can be a problem if done recklessly or without thought. We all face tragedy and misfortune. And when that happens, it’s all too easy to point at one group of people and say to ourselves that they were responsible for it. Because when your problems have a face, a concrete form, then they can be destroyed. But most problems are more nuanced and complex than that. And most people have their own neuroses and agendas.  

But at the same time, the people who stereotype others are not always malicious monsters, and from their perspective, they might have very good reasons for doing so. I wanted to explore the psyche of such a person, explore the reasons why we as humans have this tendency of stereotyping and blaming groups for the actions of individuals, and then try and create a believable redemption arc for my protagonist. 

I never intended for Ruban to come off as malicious, but nor was he a typically heroic person. He was blinded by rage (he had reason to be) and flawed like we all are. And the story was essentially an exploration of his prejudices and how he broke through those blinders, if indeed he ever did. 

8. Could you tell us a little about your writing process? Are you a planner or just take it as it comes? 

Oh no, I’m a meticulous outliner. I can barely write a long-form article without an outline, much less a novel. 

9. Did you face many obstacles or disappointments in your writing career? Which were the biggest and how did you deal with them? 

Too many to count. But I think that’s true for any dream that you might have. If you’re never disappointed, you’re not dreaming big enough. 

My biggest disappointment, I guess, was in high-school, after I finished writing my very first manuscript. I loved that book, and had my heart set on having it published. So I sent out query letters to dozens of agents and publishers and got unanimously rejected by them all. 

It broke my heart, and I didn’t write another novel for over three years. But you know how you can tell when you have a true passion? You can’t stay away from it, no matter how much heartache it causes you. (Come to think of it, that’s also a pretty solid sign of addiction! :p) 

That’s writing for me. Getting rejected is sad, and it does get me down for a couple of days every time I receive a rejection letter. But not being able to write, that’s like being suffocated. And I’d rather deal with the pain of rejection than be creatively stifled. 

At the end of the day, we can't avoid pain in life. It’s inevitable. The best we can do is to find something that makes the pain worth it. For me, that’s creating stories and sharing them with readers. 

10. Do you have any advice for other upcoming writers? 

Develop a healthy relationship with failure. It’s inevitable, not just in writing but in life in general. Success isn’t really about avoiding failure; it’s about facing it and moving forward despite it, until you reach the finish line. 

The only way to lose at this game is to stop trying. Just make sure you never let yourself do that, and everything else will fall into place. After all, I wouldn’t be giving this amazing interview if I stopped writing because my first book got rejected over twenty times! 

11. And lastly, just before we part, do you have any message for our readers? 

Yes, just one. Thank you so much for listening to me ramble for the last (lord only knows how many) minutes! It’s been a blast (for me at least) and I hope I didn’t bore you more than is polite. Keep reading and being wonderful! 

About the Author: Nupur Chowdhury

Website: nupurink.blogspot.com

was born in: Kolkata, India

writes: Humor and Comedy, Fantasy, Mystery

Nupur Chowdhury is the author of A Flight of Broken Wings and The Classroom Effect. Apart from novels, she enjoys writing poetry and the occasional short story. She was four when she started writing. Now, some 20 years later, it’s more an addiction than a hobby. 

Nupur likes coffee, street food, fanfiction, and sleep. She dislikes yogurt, slow internet, unnecessary cliffhangers, and being woken up in the morning. 

You can find her on Facebook, Wattpad, Goodreads, and Amazon. And if you can’t, it’s probably because she’s busy sleeping.