Sonali Dev | Kimi, A Heroine with Unique Challenges and an Even More Unique Spirit
Giveaway
Characters always come to me before plots. Plots in fact are something I have
to
wrestle down, often earning me a few hundred gray hairs before a book is done.
But the characters, they are what make sacrificing my jet black locks worth
every lost strand. When I started writing A CHANGE OF HEART, I
meant to
write a story about Nikhil, a doctor with Doctors-Without-Borders, finding
healing after his wife's death when he meets the woman who got his wife's
heart
in a transplant.
The woman was Kimi, a wealthy politician's daughter who has been sick her
entire
life, and then her father acquires the heart that saves her but it's by
nefarious means. Despite all her physical challenges, Kimi was such a bright
and
optimistic character that she really was more a healer than someone in need of
healing, so she just didn't work as someone who fit with Nikhil, who really
needed to resurrect the dead healer inside him. Jess โ initially a secondary
character whom the villain employs to entrap Nikhil โ was that force for him.
Nikhil and Jess just worked, leaving me with Kimi whom I loved, and I had to
discover her story.
So, really, A DISTANT
HEART came from this girl with all these challenges who refuses to feel
like
a victim and fights for everyone around her. What would that takeโ to live and
feel alive in the confines of an entirely isolated ivory tower? What would it
take to keep you going, to keep you grounded and hopeful and fighting? It
would
take a huge spirit, but also someone who engaged and nurtured that spirit.
Someone like Rahul, who can stand up to anything, shoulder anything, no matter
how much he's tested, even if he himself doesn't know that about himself.
I think of Kimi as a rocket who has been pumped full of fuel for years. She's
been stuck in a sterile isolation chamber for twelve years. While in
isolation,
she's obsessed with the news and with gathering knowledge about the world.
This
makes her somewhat of an insufferable know-it-all, but she's been revving her
engines for years, waiting to be blasted into the world. So when that finally
happens nothing will hold her back, not her parents' being overprotective, not
the love of her life breaking her heart.
She's determined not to let the world and all its rules and limitations get in
her way. This, of course, comes with some learning experiences, because seeing
the world through books and screens isn't the same as living in it, but she
learns from them and keeps going. The way she interacts with the world is
exactly how I wish I could.
Her name means โmiracleโ in Sanskrit, and to her parents, thatโs exactly
what Kimaya is. The first baby to survive after several miscarriages, Kimi
grows up in a mansion at the top of Mumbaiโs Pali Hill, surrounded by love
and
privilege. But at eleven years old, she develops a rare illness that
requires
her to be confined to a germ-free ivory tower in her home, with only the
Arabian Sea churning outside her window for companyโฆ. Until one person dares
venture into her world.
Tasked at fourteen years old with supporting his family, Rahul Savant
shows
up to wash Kimiโs windows, and an unlikely friendship develops across the
plastic curtain of her isolation room. As years pass, Rahul becomes Kimiโs
eyes to the outside worldโand she becomes his inspiration to better himself
by
enrolling in the police force. But when a life-saving heart transplant offers
the chance of a real future, both must face all that ties them together and
keeps them apart.
As Kimi anticipates a new life, Rahul struggles with loving someone he may
yet lose. And when his investigation into a black market organ ring run by a
sociopathic gang lord exposes dangerous secrets that cut too close to home,
only Rahulโs deep, abiding connection with Kimi can keep her safeโand reveal
the true meaning of courage, loss, and second chances.
Romance
Contemporary
[Kensington, On Sale: December 26, 2017, Trade Size
/ e-Book, ISBN: 9781496705761 / eISBN: 9781496705778]
Sonali Dev's first literary work was a play about mistaken identities
performed at her neighborhood Diwali extravaganza in Mumbai. She was eight
years
old. Despite this early success, Sonali spent the next few decades getting
degrees in architecture and written communication, migrating across the globe,
and starting a family while writing for magazines and websites. With the
advent
of her first gray hair her mad love for telling stories returned full force,
and
she now combines it with her insights into Indian culture to conjure up
stories
that make a mad tangle with her life as supermom, domestic goddess, and world
traveler.
Sonali lives in the Chicago suburbs with her very patient and
often amused husband and two teens who demand both patience and humor, and the
world's most perfect dog.
I have faced a similar challenge, for personal reasons and by choice. The challenge is, once things change, to find a comfort level with being in "the world" again. That is something I still have some issues with, (Edward Washington 10:27am December 29, 2017)
I would face a great many challenges. Not being able to have sunshine, walks, fresh air and my life would be severely impacted by these difficulties since my health problems would be increased. (Sharon Berger 1:49pm December 29, 2017)
I am permanently disabled due to a bad car accident so I am most often bed bound due to my condition. I have learned that all you can do if live your life one day at a time. (Nina Campbell 6:43pm December 29, 2017)
"What is the most unique challenge you'd face if you were locked away as Kimi was for health reasons? Tell us below and be entered to win!" Loss of muscle mass--it would be a unique challenge in the sense of a very serious challenge! Inactivity is a terrible thing! (John Smith 11:44pm December 29, 2017)
I'm always fascinated by the creative process that authors go through to craft their stories. And it intrigues me that the characters will demand that their stories be changed right in the middle! So, wonder what you're gonna do with all of those mice insisting on coming in. Do THEY get their own story? ;-) (Marcia Berbeza 12:05pm December 30, 2017)
Looks like a good read! Thanks for a chance to win. (Connie Sahn 6:40pm December 30, 2017)
Would love the chance to read! (Rebecca Shields 8:19pm December 30, 2017)
this sounds good (Debbi Shaw 10:36pm December 30, 2017)
Canโt wait to read! (Chrissey Dormer 9:54am December 31, 2017)
I'm thankful to not ever having to face this problem, but I have an idea boredom would be my greatest challenge. I would need to find ways to create an interesting life within the confines of one room. (Anna Speed 1:40pm December 31, 2017)
there are some days i wouldn't mind be all al one, but for the mostpart i'd miss being able to walk outside in the fresh air. i also think i'd be terribly bored -- after all there are just so many books one can read in a day (!). it'd be very difficult be able to look out and see the world going by without me. (Sandy Haber 5:17pm December 31, 2017)
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