Authors’ Background: Rishabh is an emerging Indian author with a deep passion for storytelling and creative expression. After three years of persistent effort and personal growth, he is now proudly publishing his debut book – a heartfelt work shaped by emotion, introspection, and lived experience… a beautiful with poems of his own.
His writing reflects the quiet strength of ordinary moments, the unspoken thoughts we all carry, and topics that remain unnoticed around us in our everyday life. For Rishabh, stories are more than entertainment – they’re a way to heal, inspire, and connect people across time and distance.
Outside of writing, Rishabh enjoys spending time with his family, acting, reflecting on life, and getting lost in fictional worlds. He believes that everyone has a story worth telling – and this is his.
Questionnaire:
The Literature Times: Under the Stars beautifully captures teenage love and nostalgia. What inspired you to set the story in 1985 America instead of contemporary India?
Rishabh: Well the story was firstly situated in India, but as I went deep in the story, connecting all points… basically this is the point of developing the story. I preferred to present this story in a different way that would be a bit out of my league or say challenging. But that’s what I loved the most, the research process of this story. The next story/book will be definitely situated in India… if I ever start.
The Literature Times: The relationship between Joe and Autumn is both innocent and heartbreaking. Were any parts of their bond inspired by real-life experiences?
Rishabh: Umm… fortunately and unfortunately no… fortunately because if I was at Joe’s place, I probably won’t be able to handle what he went through but of course life teaches us to somehow live. And unfortunately, because the love he experienced with Autumn… the bond… the connection… I haven’t – yet, but I don’t search, I believe I’ll find it at the right time, right point of my life. But there are some parts of their story, some experiences that are inspired from my life.
The Literature Times: The novel begins and ends with Joe as an author—was this “story within a story” structure intentional from the start?
Rishabh: Well I was thinking a lot on how to give a proper ending, as well as an engaging start… at first, I just wrote his teenage story what he has written in his book. But by the end, it all came perfectly, the points/ideas aligned. But in the back of my mind, I guess- I wanted to start like this. But when you read the ending, it was just with the flow of story not pre-planned enough, I only had a basic clue… I personally love how it ended.
The Literature Times: The magician’s character and the mansion add a thrilling, mysterious element. How did you balance the genres of romance and suspense in one narrative?
Rishabh: When I decided to finally write this story, it was supposed to be romantic at first, but then it would be boring for the audience and me as well… and I couldn’t afford that because I had to live with the character and story for some time until its finished. So, adding the elements of mystery and thrill added light to the story, content and was exciting for me as well. Creating balance between both genres was difficult but somehow it all came out good… Maybe because I watch a lot of movies and have read novels of this genre.
The Literature Times: Stars and magic are recurring motifs throughout the story. What do they symbolize for you personally and within the novel?
Rishabh: That’s really a very good question, umm… for me personally, they carry more weight… in this story, for me, the stars are hope for a new and better life where Joe and Autumn can be together and can live their lives in their own way… away from all the noise and rules that are built to suppress human capabilities, creativity and suppress freedom. And magic… for me it carries belief in stars and a strong bond, that is unknown but still exits between two main characters.
The Literature Times: The ending of the novel is both tragic and peaceful. Did you always know how you wanted Joe and Autumn’s story to end?
Rishabh: The ending was the first thing that hit me and motivated me to build this beautiful story around it. So, I had the clue of the ending but it got more elaborated and beautiful by the time I ended it
The Literature Times: You mentioned in the preface that a “redhead” inspired the character of Autumn. Could you share more about how she influenced this story?
Rishabh: Hehehe… well, I would like to keep it personal, but when I was creating the characters for this story I found the “redhead” person to be really matching to what I imagine Autumn as… so yeah, Autumn is the lifeline of this story and so I thank the redhead for the influence. By the way I guess, many people can actually maybe get a clue of the person when they read the book.
The Literature Times: How did your research process for 1980s American life help shape the authenticity of the characters and setting?
Rishabh: That’s a great question again, I wanted the story to be challenging for me, it turned out to be exciting too. While I was writing this story, I realized how important a background is… a setting that the audience can relate to. I was looking for different timelines but the character personalities that I had in my mind really fit in with the 80’s really well. During the process, I learned a lot about that period of time, the vibe, the songs especially, the movies, and how people lived actually… it was all so exciting, I really enjoyed myself through the process.
The Literature Times: As a debut author, what was the most challenging part of bringing Under the Stars from idea to completion?
Rishabh: Well to be honest, I had no clue that this book will get published and I even didn’t have any idea if I was gonna publish it. But I just kept writing because I was just loving the process, the engagement, the research, the story and writing… it made me feel good… maybe because I was creating something all on my own. The challenging part was of course getting the 80’s vibe feel real to the audience, I had to research a lot for that. As the first part of this book ended which took really long, I felt motivated, I was like- if I came this long, I can even complete it. The second part didn’t take that long because now I knew I can complete it. As I was about to end, I was getting the ideas to publish it… well that was another challenge… the bigger one, because we generally have no idea of how these things are done… but I kept working, the stars aligned, it finally got published.
The Literature Times: What message or emotion do you hope readers carry with them after finishing Under the Stars?
Rishabh: It’s my first book, I hope what I worked on for three years pay well, and that would happen if at the end the audience feel what I felt when I completed this book. I think at the end, if I can pass on the same feelings to the audience through my book what I felt when this book ended… I did it.
