I’m so happy to be doing this interview with Alka! When I got my Chadwick newsletter stating Alka would be on campus I wished I was back in school. Instead, I reached out to see if Alka would speak with me and she agreed! I had the best time interviewing her. Enjoy!

Hiiiii!!!!! How are you…. Hi! Oh, my goodness you are not going to believe this, but we are getting ready to remodel the house …okay…and we have no furniture. So, I had to run around the house and get a stool to sit on. Ahahaaha…well, I am so happy that you are here.

I love your glasses before we get started… Oh, thank you! Yes, and I even brought out my chunky jewelry, and I know that you love the chunky jewelry. Ahahahah, yes! … I love it.

I also love your dog’s jewelry as well; it is just so cool. Ohhh, thank you. She is a very reluctant model, she’s a tomboy. So, she does not like jewelry, and she does not like the collars. She is so pretty.

So fun fact… I was looking through my alumnus newsletter from Chadwick School. For those that are not aware, Chadwick School is my private prep school in California. That is where I saw that you were going to be at Chadwick giving a reading. That was the one time that I wished I was back in school. Then I realized… wait I was like I am an adult with a platform I will just request an interview with her. And now here we are.

I have already pre-ordered the trilogy The Perfumist of Paris that will be out March 2023. You know that seems so far away, but it really is not. I know it is only like six, or seven months away.

People may not be aware, but you were first an advertiser, and had your own PR Firm for thirty years. That is amazing. You received your B.A. from Stanford. Tell us about your trajectory, did you major, or minor in literature? When you think about it advertising is a form of literature, you are creating ads. You are selling a story in thirty seconds or so to an audience. So how did it come to be…

I did not know what I wanted to do when I was 18 years old, in college. I applaud those who know what they are going to be at that age, like a doctor, attorney, or engineer. I had absolutely no idea. I initially thought that I was going to be an architect, because I always liked to draw.

When I started at Stanford, I majored in Art History. Mainly because I could attend one of the campuses abroad, and I wanted to go to Stanford in Italy. So that is where I ended up going. Now I did not know what I was going to do with that major when I got out.

When I graduated, I still did not know what I was going to do. I went on these interviews. I did work at several firms for four years. But I was not enjoying it, I liked the money… I just was not enjoying it. I know! did you find that it was killing your soul. Yes, I just was miserable.

So, I said to my dad that I have done all the things that you have asked me to do, now I am going to do what I want to do. So, I explored what I could do creatively. I started looking into advertising. I started taking classes in advertising. I thought that way I could use all my artistic skills. So, I went to an advertising agency to be an art director.

Through it all I have come to know that you must be ballsy. You must show folks that there is a spirit, a spark in you, and someone will recognize that in you. Exactly!... that spirit can be harvested and developed. Yes, exactly!

I was in advertising for about ten years, when I realized… hey I can do this, why I am working for someone else. That is another ballsy thing, I decided to open my own advertising firm. I had enough money to live off for six months.

I set up the office. I started asking folks if they could get me into their companies for a pitch. Another ballsy thing. I walked in like I knew exactly what I was doing, I didn’t know what I was doing at all. They said… we have this huge launch coming up do you think that you could work on it. My response was sure I can.

Oh, yes. As my dad always says - say no to nothing. If you get through the door, say no to nothing, and figure it out as you go. Act confident and figure it out later.

Yes, and isn’t that funny. It is the thing that men have been doing for ever. I have been reading about how men get their jobs, it is their confidence, and saying yes, I can do that. Yes, it is the confidence, that bravado, and if you don’t have that bravado no one will talk or look at you. I was like I don’t know how to do it. He was like do you want to live at home forever.

Also, I made my main character not have any children, because there is a stigma in our society that a woman should have children. And if you don’t want to have children you are some sort of dried-up worthless person. For me I still question if I want children, it is a lot of work. I know that having children is a lot of work, I am in my thirties, but it is okay if you don’t have it figured out. That is what I love about your characters. In India with the historical fiction, it is okay to be different, and want to be independent. There is nothing wrong with you. I love that and identify so hard with that.

Exactly, and I remember when I was like around 47 years old, I said to my mother… that I was sorry that I did not make you a grandmother. I know that you would have been a great grandmother to my children. My mother looked at me and said honey I never expected children from you. Yes, I was never that person.

I think that is so important. However you come that is okay, just own it. If you want ten children, great. If you choose to not want any that is fine, and there is nothing wrong with you. There is nothing wrong with whatever choice someone makes.

We have as a global society have programmed that once a woman reaches a certain age she is done. And that is in the workforce and in life. You ignited a passion that you always had, and at 51 years old you literally knocked it out of the park. You are a New York Times Bestselling author. Then I read that Netflix picked it up, is that true?

Yes! Netflix is developing The Henna Artist into an episodic TV Series. Did you have to pinch yourself… Yes, I did. I did not know that as an author you can tell them I want this to be a Movie, or I want this to be a TV Series.

So, I decided that I needed each character to be developed fully, that is why I decided on a TV Series. I wanted The Henna Artist to be developed like the series Downton Abbey. Oh! I love Downton Abbey too.

I love the sets, the costumes, we get to see the furniture, the food, and we will get to see how everything blends. The evolution and how they blend, and the historical aspect. I am a huge Downton Abbey fan as well. Is it true Freida Pinto is going to play Lakshmi?

Yes, she wanted to play Lakshmi. So, once you have a big star, or big director attached to a project there is more a good chance that it will make it all the way to completion. In reality only about ten percent of books that are optioned make it to completion. I did not know that, and that is scary. Ahaaha… yes and what is even scarier is that what is produced mostly I don’t even want to watch.

For you was it scary to start something new; or was it a natural progression. And if you didn’t have fear, was it because you were doing it for fun because you really enjoy it. Was that what allowed you to be so successful because you did not have any pressure on yourself?

That change was very natural. I made so many career changes in my life. Right out of college I started working for an insurance company, then an internal auditor, then to advertising, then marketing, and lastly, I had my own firm. I also did event marketing… putting on big events. After that I got into this writing thing, and for me it was natural.

All of us have that ability to go from one steppingstone to another. With every steppingstone you accumulate all of your skills, to get to the next steppingstone. Where we are harnessing all the skills to get to that point. When we use it in a positive way it is great.

I just love it. Now we are going to talk about The Henna Artist that is sadly coming to an end March 28, 2023. I love the duality of Lakshmi’s character with her sister, Radha. It is an interesting dynamic. How did you come up with that duality, and how each one plays off of the others character? Then how each one is trying to better themselves, but they are both so different…

I think I knew from the beginning that Radha would come in and Lakshmi’s character would have never been or met her before. Radha would show up and get pregnant, she wanted that family. Both characters are strong willed and stubborn. Yet Lakshmi knew that this was her younger sister and she need to protect her.

From there I knew the storyline would start. That is how I knew that I was going to develop the two characters.

I thought if Radha becomes Lakshmi…does she come full circle. She built this life and will she allow anything to disrupt it…

Through all the twists of the two characters both Lakshmi and Radha really start to depend on each other.

I heard that you put no pressure on yourself to write for a designated time or days for your stories. And I wonder if that is what makes your books, characters so authentic and amazing…

Yes, I do not know how people can be that disciplined to write for a proscribed number of days, for a set amount of time each day.

I love how you know it, and you own it. And like you have said, ‘I always make my deadlines’. So, you are disciplined, you just give yourself a wider net to be creative. If you were not, then you would not make any deadlines.

Yes, you do the same thing because as we grow older, we know that people are depending on us. We know that we need to meet our deadlines because then they (those that depend on us) will take ownership of the project and take it to the next level. We learn that if we do not do our job then it hurts other people.

Yes, and I have found if you do not give a 100% then it is very hard for the people around you to give a 100%. I respect their time and they will respect your time.

Are you working on another book series after The Perfumist of Paris…

I am! It was the book I was working on before The Perfumist of Paris. I started the book in 2019 and started doing the research.

My last question is how you relax and unwind…you are so creative…

My favorite shows to watch are detective shows. I love them.

Have you seen Luther, with Idris Alba…

Oh yes! I love Luther and Idris Alba too. I do not know why the Brits are so good at the detective shows. I don’t know if it is the way that they write them, and how they develop their characters.

Yes, it is so psychological, and they do suspense so well. You can binge watch them before you realize it. Thank you soooo much Alka for giving me your time, and I know that I went over. I have simply loved our conversation. Thank you again… It was my pleasure!

ALKA JOSHI- NYT BESTELLING AUTHOR OF ‘THE HENNA ARTIST’

DR. MAMINA TUREGANO- TRIPLE BOARD-CERTIFIED DERMATOLOGIST

AMANDA BAUDIER- FOUNDER OF ‘FULL PLATE, FULL CUP’