Padma Venkatraman Interview--Part 1

Padma Venkatraman recently took the time to answer some questions for us.  I will share Part 2 of Padma's responses on Friday. 

THANK YOU, PADMA!

From Book Slammer Barnabas: 

Q) What is the best part about writing realistic fiction?

A)The writing process is what I love best. I love immersing myself in the heads and hearts of characters. When I’m deep into writing, it feels schizophrenic – I can hear my characters; and as the book progresses, I’m watching a movie in my head. I don’t feel time go by.  

Also, I feel that realistic books are more likely deepen a young person’s empathy and compassion; realistic books are more likely to change the course of a young person’s life. Some of the most humbling and miraculous moments of my life are when someone comes up to me and tells me that they’ve been inspired to change because of one of my characters.

Q) Are all of your characters at least loosely based off of real people? If not, how do you usually come up with original characters? 

A) Many of my characters are based on real people in some way, or else they touch a real experience I had. Vidya in CLIMBING THE STAIRS undergoes experiences my mother had growing up in India in the 1940’s for the most part, but she is a lot like I am. Uido, in ISLAND’S END,  is on the outside nothing like me, but she struggles with issues of leadership, just as I did when I was the chief scientist of cruises on ships that were filled with white males, on which I was the only woman and person of color. Veda, in A TIME TO DANCE, is passionate about her art, just as I am passionate about mine; writing is, in many ways, my life, the way dance is hers.

That said, I usually only see the resemblance between my characters and myself or someone else after a book’s done. It feels to me like my characters show up in my head – at first sort of shadowy, but then, they soon start to possess me; even the minor ones. I dream their dreams.

Q) How much do you value realism in your works? For what reasons would you consider sacrificing some realism?

A) The story comes first. The character and the plot considerations outweigh all else. That said, I try hard to be true to place and time – I don’t enjoy books in which things are distorted (such as historical fiction in which the heroine has modern sentiments). I do a tonne of research and do all I can to stay accurate.