❤Author Interview: Contemporary Romance Author Paula Onohi Omokhomion: Shape of the Sun #authorinterview

 


Paula Omokhomion is a Master of Public Policy student at the UC Riverside School of Public Policy, though she’s fairly certain that won’t be forever. She holds a B.S. in Public Health Nutrition from UNC Chapel Hill, where she also minored in Creative Writing (Fiction) and graduated with highest honors for her 120-page thesis novella, New Age Taffeta.

Paula developed her skills and love for writing fiction in a very, very interesting Nigerian boarding school, where the lack of television meant she had to invent entertainment for everyone else. She loves reading manhwa, watching Indian TV dramas, listening to music, and writing short stories.When not doing any of those or in the classroom handling R code, she’s refining her LinkedIn or taking Instagram selfies.
 She lives in California with her family, including her two fellow triplets, and is currently dreaming of a future PhD in public health—and maybe another novel.

Visit her website or connect with her on Facebook and Instagram.



I am so excited about your book, Shape of the Sun. Why did you choose this particular story to write?

I think circumstances made writing Shape of the Sun pressing. I had watched and read works back to back that made attempts to whitewash characters for the sake of being the lead. Thus, I really wanted to write characters that weren’t perfect but weren’t presented as being misunderstood or confused about their actions. Because if we are being honest, many people like that exist, and I believe fiction should give breathe to all sorts of people, even if its hard to see gray characters win while thriving in their actions. It exists and so this book was really placing this self-awareness beside romance and family saga.  




Can you give us a blurb so others will know what it’s about?

There is a longer blurb, but this is the shorter version:

A proud Child Trauma Pediatrician, who is the heir to an Indian construction empire, with a moral compass the breadth of superficial and an acting portfolio the level of an Oscar winner, falls for his old high school classmate - a deeply inconvenient development because it requires sincerity.

Sincerity looks like it will bring him less money (he’s that shady already), and it certainly doesn’t protect the inheritance he believes is his from falling into the hands of his half-brother, who is literally descended from hell.

Isn’t being rich better than falling in love?

Rajkumar ‘Raj’ Reddy thinks that too, but his traitorous heart cannot seem to understand the trappings of illogical emotions....

Shape of the Sun is literary fiction mixed with a cross of dark romance and family saga. Set in the wealthy and dangerous side of contemporary India and the UK, it follows the most consciously unreliable, avaricious, and gorgeous-eyed male lead to exist. SOTS is perfect for fans who want Romance with Accountability, and ever wonder if love can really mean anything when the rot is just too much.

 

Can you tell us a little about the main characters in your book?

The main character, Raj is a child trauma pediatrician; handsome and wealthy like many leads; consciously unreliable and morally flexible, like few male leads. He falls for the female lead, Manmeet,his old classmate and an architect, and knows he is in love but its in conflict with his greed and plans built on that greed. Then, there is also the villain, Prithvi, who is his step-brother and completely subversive, but at the same time is a victim of stigma that happens in elitist families. Raj also has childhood trauma too, and so these characters are adults that are carrying a lot, while also dumping a lot on others. 

 

Where and when does this book take place?

It shifts between Contemporary India and the United Kingdom and the timeline spans from 2022 to 28 years in (so late 90s). I took care with the locations because I have watched and read works from those places for over 10 years. 


They say all books of fiction have at least one pivotal point where the reader just can’t put the book down. What is one of the pivotal points in your book?

I don’t want to spoil too much, but I think a pivotal point is when the male lead, Raj, experiences trauma as a child. The way the time is interwoven among the present, you’d see what predates much of his actions in their earlier half. I’ve had many people read and when they get there, are so shocked and gripped by the story. That’s all I’ll say, so if you want to find out what it is, you should get your copy. 

 

Does your book carry a message?

Yes, it deals with how parental failures affect the next generation, and how society can be superficial. At the same time, it also highlights the tension around accountability despite past trauma, hints at classism and foreign consumerism (especially when the characters straddle privilege between a western country and a non-western one), and the pressures of womanhood in relationships and the workplace. Because the book is so subversive in that its really carrying on directly, you’d see a lot of social issues embedded in it and its left to the reader to decode if this can be isolated from the mindset of many unreliable narrators. I think it also helped that I study and have interested in these issues, so my work tends to involve them in some capacity. 

 

Where can we pick up copies of Shape of the Sun?

 

Is there anything you’d like to tell your readers and fans?

Its totally okay to interact with whatever literature or art you are with in real-time. I believe that we, as authors, need that reiterative feedback, whether positive or not, because it helps us grow and develop to be better. So, I await your feedback. In addition, when you get your copy of Shape of the Sun, try to read it in a relaxed position with a glass of juice or water beside you. You might need it. 


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❤Author Interview: Contemporary Romance Author Paula Onohi Omokhomion: Shape of the Sun #authorinterview

  Paula Omokhomion is a Master of Public Policy student at the UC Riverside School of Public Policy, though she’s fairly certain that won’...