I'm excited to introduce today's conversation with Veena Rao, Atlanta-based author of Purple Lotus that has won all kinds of awards. The 2021 Winner of the AmericanFiction Award, Rao was Georgia Author of the Year Award Finalist in 2021. She's an Award-Winning Finalist in Women's Fiction for the 2021 International Book Awards. Rao is also an Award-Winning Finalist for Multicultural Fiction in the 2021 International Book Awards.

Just listen to what Newsweek magazine has to say. "Rao’s resonant novel is an ode to the value of personal dignity and the importance of being true to oneself  that carries on long after the final chapter."

Kirkus Reviews calls it a moving and polished novel that highlights Rao's literary promise.

Purple Lotus is the dazzling tale of an Indian American woman finding her way through the labyrinth of tradition to self-awareness in the modern world, according to Author Elaine Neil Orr.

Tara's story is one of hope and a woman's finding her own self-worth. Rao’s novel is about women empowering other women.

Website: https://www.veenaspulse.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/veenaraowrites

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/veenarao/  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/VeenaRaoNRI

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Purple-Lotus-Novel-Veena-Rao/dp/1631527614

A Conversation with Veena Rao, Award-winning Author of PURPLE LOTUS

Just a very first question that may seem a little off the wall but tell me what your childhood home was like.

[00:00:30] We had a lot of we were a close family, lot of love. But it was a very traditional family. We grew up You know, with a lot of wonderful books around us. None of English authors and American authors. And so I fell in love with the make-believe world of books pretty early in life. And so when I was 12, I declared that I would grow up to become a world-famous writer.

[00:01:20] I worked as a journalist and then we moved to the U S in 2001 and I continued to work as a journalist and then I launched a newspaper of my own, and I was so consumed with the challenges of running the newspaper that. I didn't have any time for creative writing and neither did I have time to read fiction.

[00:01:47] Lovelace: There are a couple of things I wanted to just say a little bit about you. Yes, you are a journalist by profession. The founding editor and publisher of NRI Pulse. Is that correct? And it's not only is it a popular Atlanta- based Indian American newspaper.

[00:02:39] Veena Rao: You know? That was just on a whim. I just woke up one day and decided that, you know, I didn't have any money, no backing, no family, nothing. I just woke up one day and I decided that I would be the one, you know, the market was full of magazines. And back then in 2006 it happened 2006. But there was no newspaper that served the south Asian communities of Georgia and around the U S as well. And so I thought, you know, I have a background in journalism. I know the community well, so why shouldn’t I be the one to fill the gap, then fill the need.

[00:03:41] But after that, you know, recession hit in 2008 and things got difficult. But you know, there's one thing, I think many of us immigrants learn you know creating a new life for themselves for ourselves in a new country is that you have to persist. You're going to fail because you're going to your start.

[00:04:26] Lovelace: I'm not surprised at all, because it, it looks marvelous. And I want to just say, first of all, congratulations on that. I want to mention Purple Lotus, which I have right here beside me. I know you have the cover behind you. You have received tremendous awards for this debut novel, which is extraordinary.

[00:05:49] Veena Rao: Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, but you know, it's been a long journey.

[00:06:00] Veena Rao: Yes. You know, it took me 10 years and multiple, multiple drafts to write Tara's story because although I'm a journalist, I did not know much about creative writing. I don't have an MFA or any fancy residencies. I've never attended a writing workshop in my life. So I taught myself to write fiction just by reading other fiction in the similar genre. I read a lot of immigrant fiction like Jhumpa Lahiri, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and a lot of other authors and paying careful attention to character development and plot progression and style.

[00:07:02] And so my manuscript was rejected multiple times over the years. And of course, each time I saw a rejection in the email, it felt like a personal blow. I've gone to bed crying several times. Somewhere in the back of my head was this little voice that reminded me of my childhood dream.

[00:07:44] I entered the, I happened to come across the, SheWrites Press SparkPress (STEP) step manuscript, contests. Open annually to women of color. I came upon this contest on [00:08:00] the SheWrites Press, Twitter feed. So I you know, I submitted my manuscript and forgot about it because, you know, I was so used to seeing rejection letters.

[00:08:48] Lovelace: I think it's great. And it does resonate. It really is. It's a marvelous book and the character development is wonderful. And I love the way that you structured the book with timelines that shift. To go from Tara's early life to present day, essentially the present day and how you tied up. And I don't want to divulge anything, but the use of the doll. Andin the early parts of the book and I, I saw someone had mentioned your Mark Twain quote that nothing that grieves us can be called little by the eternal laws of proportion, a child's loss of a doll and a King's loss of a crown, are events of the same size.

[00:10:30] And that's lost, that's broken, that's shattered. And so. You know, it's this sense of loss. It stays with her all her life. And of course the uncle who is a father figure to her, he falls victim to the voices in his head. He's a schizophrenic, and then he starts to target her. And so in order to avoid him, she stays closeted in her room upstairs, and that's where she spent seven years of her life until she's 13. And that is, you know, affects her very, very deeply and is responsible for the Tara, the adult Tara that we see. You know, who lacks self-esteem, who is very fearful, who, who is very unsure of what she wants in her life and all that has to do with the deep-rooted fears.

[00:11:29] Lovelace: Just what is the underlying message of Purple Lotus?

[00:11:44] Even if you feel vulnerable or fearful and like you have a little control of your life you know, there's still hope. That things will change that you can change your life. And even if you cannot you know, there are a lot of immigrant women who [00:12:00] are not able to, who do not have the same choices that other women have.

[00:12:27] And I think that's at the bottom of everything.

[00:12:51] And that just, that was so appealing. That summarized things I thought so well, because you know, it's first of all, the journey Tara's journey from that insecure young girl who suffered from abandonment, of course, under the circumstances, but managed to find herself in a room with books too, that would open up her imagination and lead her to do some other things, to use those skills later in her life.

[00:13:34]

[00:13:56] And a couple of them, a couple of the Southern characters in my [00:14:00] book. Ruth and Dottie, they're based on my own friends who are my rock stars. They based on my friends, friends with Nancy Hayden. Nancy just passed away, but Francis is 99 years old. And I acknowledged them in the acknowledgments, so they have been my rocks.

[00:14:46] Lovelace: One of the things that has fascinated me that you've overcome clearly to leave a patriarchal society in India, far more, much more tradition. And the whole concept of arranged marriages. And that was certainly brought out with Tara's marriage. But so many Indian American women I'm sure go through the same transition. It's a difficult, it seems to me I don't want to project, but it seems to me that it would be very challenging to leave one culture and come into this other culture. That's far more permissive and.

[00:15:45] Right. But not all traditions are good for you. There are some great traditions. We just celebrated Diwali and I love the word. The festival of the Indian festival of lights, but there are some traditions that hold you back, [00:16:00] that prevent you from living a full life and they are the traditions that you need to sort of you know, confront or try to change.

[00:16:37] And especially in the past 10 years that the world is flattening. And you see a lot of American culture here and a lot of Indian culture. A lot of Indian culture in America, there's a lot of cultural exchange. But the problem is with a lot of immigrants, who've come here in the sixties or seventies who hold onto their old beliefs. They hold onto the old traditions.

[00:17:29] And that is where the friction starts. So, but, but you know, each time I go to India, I'm shocked because it has changed. The culture there has changed so much.

[00:17:48] Veena Rao: It's a huge change every time I go there, it's pretty shocking sometimes.

[00:18:04] Veena Rao: Let me go back a little and talk about me starting to write Purple Lotus. I sat in front of a blank page and the first two words I typed was Purple Lotus.

[00:18:26] The Lotus grows in murky waters in dirty stagnant water, but it is unblemished. It grows so beautiful and pure. It rises toward the sun.

[00:18:55] Lovelace: I love that. I love the imagery and the lotus is a beautiful flower. I didn't know all of the nuance, the symbolism. And I think that's amazing that you started your book with that, those two words.

[00:19:26] Lovelace: What about your writer’s process, your writing process? How, how do you. Talk, let's talk about how you write. Everybody wants to know. How did you write that? How do you, do you know, everyone has a different question about, do you sit there every day? Do you, do you write for eight hours a day? Do you, you know, everyone thinks that there's a magic bullet, right? I think every writer is different.

[00:20:07] And that's when I do most of my writing, but I usually create the scenes during long walks while I'm meditating or when I'm in my shower or when I'm cooking or doing anything mechanical. So that's when I see the scenes. I follow my characters and let them lead me into their lives.

[00:20:59] Lovelace: I agree completely, and it takes a long time.

[00:21:09] Lovelace: It takes as long as it takes and it's so beautifully written. It continues in a way, haunt me the story and also encourages me to see just how, how strong Tara became and the things that she had to overcome.

[00:21:29] You mentioned Atlanta and the south. And how, how do you feel like that influenced Purple Lotus.

[00:22:42] Probably not, probably not because this is my truth. Especially, you know, I'm working on my second novel, which is set in rural Georgia and more Southern culture there. So this is what I feel most comfortable writing?

[00:23:20] Veena Rao: Yes. Well, it wasn't really very brave. I would say. What I'm working on, my second book has more issues that I touch upon that I should be worried about. Having said that I must add that questioning the belief system that I grew up with wasn't very easy, especially since I was the timid obedient child of the family.

[00:24:06] I have not lived in India for 20 years. You were say a single woman, they're still labeled. And as long as there are labels, there's some stigma around it. And I hope we can have, the whole point of my book is to have healthy conversations around these topics,

[00:24:55] It's absolutely true. It's a wonderful quote. That kind of recognition is, is huge,

[00:25:08] It's wonderful. The Kirkus Review said "a moving and polished novel that highlights Rao's literary promise. Well, I think that's fantastic to have Kirkus reviews mention you in such positive light. The recognition that you're receiving from national publications is fabulous.

[00:25:56] Veena Rao: It paid up beautifully. [00:26:00] Yes. Yes. And I'm very, very grateful for that. I'm extremely grateful to my wonderful publisher. SheWrites press and also my publicity team book sparks have been wonderful to me. And

[00:26:20] Veena Rao: Yes. My publicity was part of it, which is a huge deal for any author, any of this. So that was wonderful.

[00:27:00] Veena Rao: Exactly. Yes. And there's so much I've learnt about marketing. Although having BookSpark on my team. It was a huge boost for me as an author, but I've also had to learn about marketing. And it's, it was an eye-opener and there was so much I had to learn. And I learned in the past year about marketing, about putting myself out there, getting on panels, doing interviews, pitching to publications. It's the whole different ballgame.

[00:27:39] Veena Rao: It was hard. It was hard. It was very, very difficult because you know, none of us, I think a lot of authors are introverted. We're not used to putting ourselves out there. We're not used to bragging talking about our books, but all that has changed in the past year.

[00:28:06] Lovelace: No, not at all. In fact, you know, if it's a fact you can brag about it. We certainly can spend a good deal of time talking about what you've accomplished, because it's really phenomenal. And I'm just really, I'm thrilled for you. I think it's, it's a wonderful thing. Do you? This was, I read another article that I thought was just really pretty wonderful and that was it was in the Mangalorian.

[00:28:40] Lovelace: And you talked about the immigrant fiction but the recognition you're receiving in your home country is pretty wonderful, too.

[00:29:16] And I've had all this wonderful publicity from back there. And despite talking about breaking tradition and convention and all that. You know, the response has been largely positive, even from my own community, very conservative community.

[00:29:41] Veena Rao: and my mother, even though she a very traditional woman, she was very, very, very proud of me. She read the book page two page.

[00:30:04] Veena Rao: Well, no, not really. I think we've touched upon everything. Yes, everything.

[00:30:46] Veena Rao: Sure. Well, my website is Veenaspulse.com, V E N N A S P U L S E dot com. That's my website and I'm also very active on social media. You can find me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter. I think, yes, that's it. And YouTube. I have a YouTube channel as well. Yes. And the newspaper I run it's called NRI Pulse. N R I P U L S E dot com.

[00:31:30] Veena Rao: Thank you.

[00:31:36] Veena Rao: The ones that have influenced me are not necessarily Indian. I would say the author of the Kite Runner which is a huge, huge mega success.

[00:32:07] And I fell in love with the two female protagonists. And these two lay women, they motivated me to write Purple Lotus. So the credit for writing purple loaders goes to Hosseini.

[00:32:30] Veena Rao: Oh yes. My books are available. Okay. Amazon and wherever else books are sold. And I've also put up the links to the book site on my website veenaspulse dot com. And of course you know, Purple Lotus is available at independent bookstores and that I think should be the first choice of as people we all need to promote independent and support independent bookstores.

[00:33:27] Veena Rao: Thank you for having me and Bollywood and books are two of my favorite things. So I'm very excited to be here.