In her debut novel Rising Before Dawn Breaks, Author Archika Srivastava explores the delicate balance between ambition, grief, and self-discovery. The story follows Kayal Khanna, a woman who loses everything yet finds the courage to face life’s chaos head-on. Through a deeply personal journey, Archika shares her insights into writing, the inspiration behind her fiction, and how life sometimes mirrors art in the most unexpected ways.
In this exclusive Author Q&A, Archika opens up about her writing process, the emotional depth behind her characters, and the lessons she hopes readers will take away.
Q: How did your journey as a writer begin, and what inspired you to pursue fiction specifically?
I’ve always been that kid who lived more in her imagination than in reality. I wrote poems in school, edited the school magazine, and later turned to blogging, so writing was always my quiet refuge. But somewhere between deadlines and boardrooms, I started ghost-writing for others and stopped writing for myself. Then in 2022, life handed me a wake-up call — a tiff with my boss that made me question everything I was doing. It was uncomfortable but also clarifying. I quit my job on impulse, packed away my professional mask, and decided to finally write my story. Six months later, I had the skeleton of a book and a very different sense of who I was. Fiction felt like the only medium that could hold all the contradictions, questions, and emotions that real life refuses to tidy up.
Q: Were there any moments of personal experience or emotion that directly influenced key scenes or plot twists in your book?
Writers are like emotional magpies. We collect glimmers from life and hide them in our stories. We don’t see people as they are; we see them as who they could become in a novel. So yes, the world around me inspired parts of the book. But interestingly, in my case, life started imitating art. For instance, after writing the scene where Kayal meets the yogi in the ashram, I ended up meeting Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in real life at his Bangalore ashram — something I had never imagined for myself. There were several such eerie overlaps later, as if the universe was saying, “Since you’ve written it, now live it.” So, while the book isn’t autobiographical, I’d say it became strangely prophetic in parts.
Q: Many readers connect deeply with the themes in your story. How do you decide which ideas or issues to explore in your writing?
That’s truly heartening to hear because that’s exactly why I wrote this book — to make people feel something again. I think many of us get so consumed by ambition or routine that we stop questioning the moral compass guiding our choices. We stop asking why.
The theme I wrote came from that space — from observing how easy it is to lose ourselves in the race and call it success. I’m drawn to the quiet conflicts beneath polished lives, the tension between control and surrender, ambition and emptiness, duty and desire. Those contradictions fascinate me. They’re what make us human.
Q: Dialogue can bring characters to life. How do you approach writing authentic conversations, and do you ever draw inspiration from real-life interactions?
Absolutely. Real conversations are goldmines. The pauses, the tone, the unspoken power play — they reveal so much about people. I often borrow those subtleties from real life. But I also love drawing from strong on-screen personalities. For instance, the character of Birendra in my book carries shades of Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada and the Baroness from Cruella. I wanted that mix of elegance, ruthlessness, and emotional complexity.
For me, good dialogue isn’t about sounding realistic; it’s about sounding true. It should echo the character’s inner world, not just fill the silence.
Q: Imagery and description often transport readers to another world. How do you decide which sensory details to include to make the setting vivid?
I love books that transport me completely, where you can almost smell the earth after rain or feel the wind brushing past. Kristin Hannah’s writing does that beautifully, and I’ve always aspired to create a similar immersive experience.
When I write, I close my eyes and watch the scene play out like a film: what’s the colour of the light, what sound fills the silence, what emotion sits in the air? Those are the sensory cues I hold on to. I write what I would want to feel if I were standing in that moment.
But we also have to strike a balance. Too much description can slow the pace; readers’ minds naturally jump ahead, wanting to know what happens next. So, I try to use imagery like seasoning — just enough to make the scene come alive without taking away from the flow of the story.
In today’s world, where visual content surrounds us constantly, words have to work harder. I use imagery not just to describe, but to evoke, to make readers experience the story rather than just read it.
Q: Writing can be both solitary and collaborative. Do you rely on editors, beta readers, or other forms of feedback, and how has that shaped your work?
For me, writing was mostly a solitary process and intentionally so. When an idea first arrives, it feels almost sacred, like a divine download. I see myself as just a medium through which that idea wants to reach the world. If you open it up too early for opinions, the purity of that flow can get diluted.
That said, once the first draft was done, feedback became invaluable. My editor, for instance, was never entirely convinced with the story. She even suggested I delete the last three chapters! (laughs) But I was convinced they were needed. Sometimes you have to trust your inner voice, even when others don’t see what you see yet.
Of course, there were also plenty of logical gaps that my editor and a few kind friends who volunteered as early readers helped me catch. So, while the story began in solitude, it evolved with the help of many gentle critics.
Q: Were there any particular challenges during the development of your story, and how did you overcome them?
Oh, many! There were moments I genuinely thought I’d never finish the book. Writing a novel while juggling a full-time job and motherhood was no small feat. (My daughter Alaina could easily qualify as both my biggest distraction and my biggest motivation!)
But honestly, your people make all the difference. The ones who remind you why you started when you’re ready to give up. I remember one of my friends, who writes for films, once told me something that really stayed with me: “Kahani achhi ho sakti hai ya buri… lekin buri kahani se bhi bura hota hai kahani ka adhura reh jaana.” That became my reminder to keep going.
Whenever I felt like giving up or doubting whether my work was good enough (because trust me, it will never feel perfect to you) I used to remember those lines. And they gave me the strength to finish what I started.
Q: With fiction genres constantly evolving, how do you experiment with narrative structure, style, or perspective to keep your stories fresh and engaging?
Honestly, I didn’t set out to follow or break any trend. My only intention was to write a story I’d be proud to share with my people. I haven’t read too many books myself to know what’s trending and maybe that helped me stay authentic. It kept my writing instinctive rather than influenced.
Even today, I struggle to fit my book neatly into a single genre. It’s part women’s fiction, part corporate battle, part psychological thriller, with spiritual and philosophical undertones running through it. At its core, it’s a story of transformation.
So instead of trying to label it, I let it be what it wanted to be. For me, Rising Before Dawn Breaks isn’t a book written for the market; it’s a book written from the heart. And if it happens to make someone pause and see life differently, that’s all the success I need.
Discover Kayal Khanna’s journey of grief, resilience, and self-discovery in Rising Before Dawn Breaks. Available now on Amazon — get your copy today and experience a story that asks: If you could become anything, truly anything — what would you choose?
