Q&A: Renita D'Silva, author of The Forgotten Daughter

Renita D’Silva is an author. The Forgotten Daughter, her most recent novel, has been published by FingerPrint. Currently she is working on her fifth book, set partly in India and partly in the UK.

Describe your favourite writing space.
My writing space is wherever I can plonk my trusted laptop. It could be the corner of the sofa, the dining room table, the bedroom, the car, the park. I write in the car while waiting for the kids to finish their various activities in the evening. On sunny days, I squat on a patch of grass outside. I have written in cafes and on airplanes. I have got sand on the monitor and spilt tea on the keyboard.
 
Do you have a writing schedule?
Not as such. I write when I can, squeezing writing into pockets of time between looking after my kids, ferrying them to their various goings-on and tutoring (I also work as a tutor). I try to do most of my writing during the day when the kids are at school, but when I am on deadline, I write at all hours. Sometimes even through the night.

Ever struggled with writer’s block?
I think about my story and characters while doing all my other chores so when I do sit down to write, the words flow onto the page. Some days are better than others, of course, and there are times when I struggle. Then I take a break. And when I am doing something completely unrelated, like reading or washing the dishes or driving, the section of the plot I have been puzzling over resolves itself and I think, yes, that is exactly what that character would do in that situation.
 
What inspires you to write? Do you have a secret trick, or a book/author that helps?
I think like all authors I am riveted by people, by what makes them tick. I love witnessing snatched moments in peoples’ lives. I collect nuances and conversations and create stories around them. I am fascinated by families, by the constantly evolving dynamics between family members.
 
Coffee/tea/cigarettes — numbers please — while you are writing…
I have a huge mug which holds twice the amount of tea contained in an ordinary mug, and I drink at least five mugs a day, if not more.
 
Which books are you reading at present?
I am currently reading What Milo Saw by Virginia Macgregor.
 
Who are your favourite authors?
Ooh, hard to choose, there are so many. Harper Lee, Markus Zusak, Arundhati Roy, Anthony Doerr... I could go on and on.
 
Which book/author should be banned on grounds of bad taste?
I am a firm believer in freedom of speech. I think we write because we have something to share with the world. What one person finds in bad taste another person might love.
 
Which is the most under-rated book?
Reading is so very personal isn’t it? I have read books that have been so hyped up that they topple under the weight of expectation and leave the reader vaguely dissatisfied. The Anatomy of Wings by Karen Foxlee and The Gravity of Birds by Tracy Guzeman are two books I absolutely loved. They have won prizes but I think they deserve the success of The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins. They deserve to be read by everyone. Beautiful stories.
 
Which are your favourite children’s books?
Anything by Enid Blyton.
 
Which classics do you want to read?
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and Moby Dick by Herman Melville.

Who is your favourite literary character?
Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird.
 
Which is the funniest book you have read?
This is hard. I do love P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster books.
 
Which is the most erotic book you have read?
Lindsay J. Pryor’s Blackthorn series is incredibly erotic while at the same time being so much more.
 
Which book do you wish you had written?
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. So beautifully written. So evocative. Such mesmerising prose. A sad, lovely, unsettling story that stays with you long after you have read the last page.