Subhechcha Ganguly 
Queeny Yalangi works for an MNC but her passion is always writing. She has curated a wonderful book. Let us know more about her in this interview.
Q1)Tell us about what inspired you to become an author?
Ans: I was always fascinated with the bed time stories my mom and grandpa used to tell me when I was young. I fell in love with those stories and started searching for more. Then I asked my mom
“ Where can I find more stories?”
She said “Books”.
I read hundreds of books ever since and I used to adore those authors and their thought process while reading their books. I used to dream everyday that one day I will become an author and I will sign books for my readers. That passion grew along with time and I started preparing my own speeches for college competitions, elocution competitions and National level seminars. People loved my thoughts and I won all the competitions. The knowledge I gained from books helped me to speak my mind without any fear and made me strong and confident. My mom and professors encouraged me at my every step. I never really spoke about this before but my mom is a single parent and I grew up with her ever since my parents got separated when I was 2 years old. So there was some loneliness and unspoken pain hidden inside me. And I had no one to talk to. I had no friends. Books were the only friends I had until college. So I found solace in books. One fine day in 2011, after college I was at home and suddenly I got the urge to write something. I don’t know what happened I just poured my thoughts in my diary and it turned out into a beautiful poem and I felt peace after writing it. I wanted to feel that peace again. So I continued writing. It’s been a decade and I’m still writing.
Q2) How did you think of curating the solo book “Life in Hyderabad a city of Tales ?” .Also attach the link for buying the book .
Ever since I started writing I started observing people from all walks of life. The more I observed the more I understood them. I started seeing their love, their pain and their tears. I used to sit with them and listen to their stories for hours with patience. Then I started writing a blog under the title “Life in Hyderabad.” Everyday I used to write a story which inspired me. It reached readers and they loved it. They accepted me as a writer. So I started writing more. Then in 2020 I have decided to publish my book with the same title “Life in Hyderabad” with the stories of people of Hyderabad city. Life in Hyderabad is a book of anecdotes about the untold stories of love, longing, pain and optimism. Stories of people who fall in love, who live in love and who dwell in that pain forever. Most of the stories around us are unheard, unspoken and ignored. So I wrote this book to be the voice of all those stories. I always believed that stories connect people. Some stories have a happy ending while some remain without an ending. Every character in this book has lost something or the other, faced setbacks, abandoned, left out by everyone. But they never lost their hope. They never gave up. That is what inspired me to write their stories. You can grab this book from Amazon, flipkart, booksclub, Barnes and noble and kobobooks.
Amazon book link:https://www.amazon.in/dp/B08W3P69WR?ref=myi_title_dp
Q3)Nowadays people have lost the habit of writing and expressing their emotions .Since your book is on a similar topic ,Tell us about what is your take on the topic ?
Ans: Yes, earlier we used to write letters to our loved ones and wait for the replies anxiously. Now we Whatsapp them. Everything became digital now and we are using more emojis to express our feelings. Sadly, we are also losing the human touch. We comfort, console and love people virtually in the shared pics and gifs. The love at the time of our parents was different, they had limited access to people. Talking to people was a dream then. The love we see now is different, we have access to anyone in the world through social media. And people are looking for better in everything including people. It is okay to look for better opportunities in career but we are easily replacing the people we love. Life in Hyderabad book is about such stories. “The unwanted love story” is very close to my heart. People believe that they are in relationship out of love, when it’s actually lust. But they don’t accept it. After a while they break up. And that lands them in depression and they go and meet new people but they still continue living in the past and they ruin their present. This is what happening around us though we ignore it. It is effecting the relationships, careers and everyone around us. We don’t bother about the feelings of others anymore, all we know is to just become cool in our circle and leave everyone behind that comes in our way. I came across a few people who are very talkative on social media but they are very silent and emotionally unavailable when I met them in person. I still don’t understand if technology is a Boon or Bane. But I believe that it can only be changed when we stop relying so much on technology and start doing things which makes the human inside us alive and it can help us becoming more expressive. I suggest that we should start writing letters and meet at least 10 new people everyday, smile when we look at them, help one person at least in a day and start repairing our relationships before we leave people. Because when you start leaving people that becomes a habit. It is dangerous as it sounds.
Q4) There are several tough spots in the writing journey .Stating from chosing the correct publishing house , to formulating the book etc .What is your take on the entire topic .How did you manage everything ?
Ans : When I first decided to publish my book all I had was manuscript. Then I started searching for the publishing house. After talking to a couple of publications I met Fanatixx publication team. I had no idea about publishing process at first and they guided me in my every step. They first explained me the process and listened to my vision about the book and why I wrote it in first place. Then I travelled with them for almost an year and published the book. I must say I’m very lucky to have met such a wonderful team. Like you said there will be tough spots in any work. Sometimes you don’t agree with them. Sometimes they don’t agree with you. But when you know something is good for the book and for your dream you have to work as a team. At the end you cannot do all the works on your own. Someone has to edit the book, proof read it, design a cover page, print it, pack it and deliver it to readers. So it’s good to have someone to guide you through the right path. I suggest the debut authors to not trust anyone blindly when you handover the manuscript. It’s your life’s entire work. So do the background check. Check their previous work. Talk to them and know their knowledge. When you are sure about them start working with them. Since we are discussing about publishing process I have something to tell you all. Very soon I’m starting a master class for aspiring writers and debut authors to guide them and mentor them throughout the publishing journey starting from writing a book and publishing it. You can follow my social media accounts for further updates.
Insta:author_queeny_yalangi Twitter: yalangiqueeny
Q5) Any note you want to share with the authors ?
Yes, if you are an aspiring author and want to make career in writing, WRITE EVERYDAY. That’s the only mantra. When you write everyday you will start playing with words. And also do research and learn about different writing styles and publishing process and read as many books as possible to be close to your passion. Love you guys. Thank you Subhechcha for this opportunity. Love and light.
