Exclusive Interview With The Author Of “DAWN IN FLORENCE”, Nayana Phukan

About The Author:
Nayana Phukan, the author of the bestselling novel ‘Dawn in Florence’ is a software engineer and an avid traveler. Nayana is a bookworm since her childhood days and she always had a dream to write books of her own. She started writing her debut novel ‘Dawn in Florence’ in November, 2019 and finally, published it on the last week of July, 2020. Nayana currently lives in the city of dreams, Mumbai and she believes in enjoying every moment of life.

Chit Chat Session

Please tell us about yourself?

I am Nayana Phukan, a software engineer, a writer and the author of the bestselling novel ‘Dawn in Florence’. I was born and brought up in the beautiful green valley of North East India, Assam. I shifted to Mumbai in 2011 to join TCS after I graduated from Jorhat Engineering College, Assam. I have completed nine years in the IT industry and have just started a new career as an author. I am currently living in Mumbai with my husband and I believe in enjoying every moment of life.

Since when did you start writing?

Since my childhood days, I have been a bookworm and I always had a dream that one day, I would write novels of my own. I still remember writing stories and poems for my school magazines when I was a kid. But for me, the challenge was to find an ample amount of time for writing. Apart from being an engineer and a writer, I am also an avid traveler. I was planning to start a travel blog for a long time and finally, on one fine day of 2018, I started my writing journey as a travel blogger.

When did you actually realize that writing is something which you would like to pursue seriously as a profession?

As I have mentioned above, I started my writing journey as a travel blogger in 2018. During that period, I also started to draft some small stories in my spare time and eventually, I developed an interest in writing fiction. That was the time when I realized that I should take writing more seriously. I understood how passion is different from the profession and following a passion is always the right thing to do. I started writing my debut novel ‘Dawn in Florence’ in November 2019 and finally published it in the last week of July 2020.

Who is your motivation or what inspires you the most?

Many people motivate me. As an author, I am a big fan of J.K Rowling and her inspirational story motivates me a lot. From mother Teresa to Kalpana Chawla, from Stephen Hawkins to Elon Mask, many people motivate me and inspire me to grow in life. When it comes to inspiration, I believe that inspiration is everywhere. From our surroundings to the television, from our daily life to the news portals, from the people around us to the books, inspiration lies everywhere. All we need is to open our eyes and breathe it in.

Tell us more about your book – “Dawn in Florence”

‘Dawn in Florence’ is a tale of unconditional and mature love that does not follow any prejudice. This is a story of a strong and independent single mother Leena Shenoy, who fell in love in her late thirties, far away from her kids and her motherland India, in the beautiful city of Florence, Italy. Stunning Italy added colors to the black and white life of Leena. Her complicated love story that blossomed in the beautiful parts of Italy, taught her about that side of love, which is just like a rose with thorns, beautiful yet painful. Life is not always fair but every chapter of it teaches a new lesson and only if we learn to inhale the bright side of it, life becomes beautiful. From the magical Venice of northern Italy to the breath-taking Amalfi coast of southern Italy, from the fashion capital Milan to the architecture capital Rome, every chapter of her Italy diary was full of surprises, love, friendship and unexpected turn of events. She had never imagined falling in love with someone far away from her homeland, but love always comes without prior notice and it can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere.

Is ‘Dawn in Florence’ just like other romantic thrillers out there? If not, what is unique about your book?

‘Dawn in Florence’ is different from other romantic thrillers out there. Leena, a dedicated architect and a mother of two, flew to Florence for her project work but she had never imagined that she would fall in love with someone there. Love does not depend on age, status and surroundings. Though she knew that falling for a married man could give her nothing else but heartbreak, she could not stop herself from falling in love with Siddharth. Unlike any typical Mills & Boons novel, this story ends with a realistic note rather than a fancy ending. Many love stories remain incomplete due to social pressure and taboos, but every love story is beautiful whether it meets a destination or not.

Can you throw some light on your future project(s) / forthcoming work?

I have just started working on my next book where you will find more suspense than romance. It is a thriller novel with some mysterious characters and lots of suspense. I hope very soon I will be able to complete this novel and publish it to the world.