Local author publishes romance novel
By Ashley Shah
Scripps Ranch author Prasanna Madabushi’s newest novel, “King in Hiding,” hit the shelves on June 10.
This is a historical romance novel that centers around an old Indian tradition called Swayamvara.
“Swayamvara is a tradition that involves a woman selecting her husband,” author Madabushi said. “After the 18th or 19th century, you do not see this tradition occurring anymore, something changed. However, I wanted to explore this custom.”
The novel follows a princess who has been told by her father, the king, that she can have a Swayamvara.
“The story begins with the princess going to find her father who has been in a battle with an enemy king. On the journey to find him, she gets hurt and a stranger finds her. The stranger escorts her back. They end up falling for each other on the way back. However, there is a plot twist that happens with their love story,” Madabushi said.
This story looks at various themes.
“Some of the themes I explored were: What makes a good marriage? What does marriage of equals look like? How do you know you have found the right person? These are themes that are applicable now, ” Madabushi said.
Madabushi started her journey to publishing this book in May of last year.
“I had already decided back then that I wanted to write something about this old tradition. It took me until December to get the first draft. After that, I had some friends, my editor and some members of my book club look over it,” she said.
This novel will be the first in a series of “groom choosing” novels.
“I am thinking of creating about seven of these types of novels. They will all be stand alone. I’m hoping to get one out every other year because I am in the process of working on a historical fantasy for my next release,” Madabushi said.
Her work follows two common themes, including medieval India, and royal families. However, this novel slightly differed from her past novels in her Magadha trilogy.
“The genre is romance. In my trilogy, I did not have that restriction. With romance novels, you know the outcome – a happy ending. So, it is more about the journey to get there,” she explained.
Madabushi described what she hopes her readers will gain from this.
“This is a light read. I am hoping readers can enjoy it. I hope they feel warm and nice while reading it. But, at the same time, I am asking some tough questions in this novel. I hope my readers can think about these questions themselves,” she said.
On June 24, Madabushi debuted the novel at the North Park Book Fair.
This year is especially successful for Madabushi as “King in Hiding” will be her fourth novel published.
“I started writing nine years ago in a midlife crisis. Instead of buying a car, I started writing a book. The first book took me five years to do because I didn’t know what I was doing. I have published a book every year since,” she said.
In addition to her novel, Madabushi had her poem “Unborn Words” published in San Diego 2023 Poetry Annual.
“On a whim, I wrote a short poem, even though I am not a poet. I was thrilled to see they accepted my poem,” she said. “The poem is about the life of an author. It says how it’s okay if you don’t want to put your story down because there are many books that aren’t read. We write for ourselves,” Madabushi said.
To continue following Madabushi, visit annabushi.com. Follow her on Facebook @annabushibook, and Instagram @anna.bushi.book.