BENGALURU: Lisa Ray has donned many roles in her life: model, actor, social activist, and now, author. The last one, she says, is not a one-time venture but something she intends to continue doing. “My book, Close to the Bone, is not a one-off, it marks my writing debut,” she told CE during her recent visit to the city for a lecture series hosted by The Ritz-Carlton.
The memoir was initially commissioned in 2010, but Ray withdrew the first manuscript she submitted and mulled over the content before rewriting the entire book over the last year-and-a-half. Her work focuses on the life-experiences the actor-model has gone through, including being diagnosed with multiple myeloma (blood cancer that affects plasma cells) in her 30s.
“I was not scared at all about writing about my life. The book is not a cancer memoir. I see it as a writing memoir, and I think it is the writer’s job to be honest and reveal things one wouldn’t see or talk about every day,” the 47-year-old said.
Published last month, the book has already received a good response, with many people reaching out to Ray to discuss her work. Each of them, she said, had connected with the book differently. Some have even been left surprised despite knowing the author well. “The book is like me extending my hand to the reader and not having them see my life from the outside. It was easier to do this through a book and demystify many things, including fame, pain and my personal journey,” she said.
Ray recently also became a mother to twin girls through surrogacy and hopes the book “resonates with them on some level and serves as a cautionary tale on another.” She added that though she hasn’t thought about the response they might have to it, she will bring them up to be “strong, empowered, free-thinking girls with multiple identities.”
Ray revealed that closer to the deadline, she was hardly away from the writing desk, metaphorically at least, since she was always thinking about the book. And she is already planning her upcoming books. “I have a few ideas already. I’m not going to reveal more but I intend to keep writing.”