I’m hoping to write 20 books before I die: Anuja

Men in uniform take centre stage in author Anuja Chauhan’s upcoming novel, Baaz, unlike her previous women-oriented books — Those Pricey Thakur Girls (2013) and The House That BJ Built (2015), which formed a two-part series. Chauhan is determined, though, to avoid sequels for Baaz. “Writing sequels is irritating. Imagine writing about the same characters for four years. Besides, with those two books, I realised that there are way too many girls in my life — daughters, aunts, grandmothers,” explains Chauhan.

Over the last decade, she has published five books, and gained a reputation as a modern-day chick-lit writer. But Chauhan couldn’t care less about labels, or the fuss about whether a novel is autobiographical. “All fiction, at some point, is derived from personal experience. I am hoping to write 20 books before I die, and all of them will be memoirs,” says the writer, whose earlier works have been partly autobiographical.

Even Baaz offers glimpses of Chauhan’s childhood, which was spent across army cantonment areas. “My oldest first cousin is a fighter pilot who has won a Vir Chakra. My maternal uncle was a largerthan-life, dashing army man. So the writing gets a certain sense of authority,” she says.

ANUJA CHAUHAN’S NEW NOVEL BAAZ OFFERS GLIMPSES OF HER CHILDHOOD, WHICH WAS SPENT ACROSS ARMY CANTONMENT AREAS. IT WON’T HAVE A SEQUEL, SHE SAYS