Prathiksha Selvaraj moved to Kingston from South India in September 2023 to study a Master's in Forensic Science Toxicology at Kingston University. 

However, having always been a keen writer and having always "wanted to work in books", Selvaraj decided to pivot to a career in publishing and then publish her own novel. 

After graduating from Kingston in 2025, Selvaraj did various internships at popular publishing houses, including Penguin Random House before becoming a Bookseller at the Waterstones store in Sutton where she now works.

However, Selvaraj says that she used to always write short stories as a child and then essays and poetry based on her "feelings and emotions" in her early adult years, and after winning a short story competition during her Bachelor's degree, she decided to "get back into writing stories". 

Last year, she wrote a scene for a nine-page short story, which, after feedback from her friends, she decided to turn into a full novel. 

"My friends loved the scene and said I should turn it into a full book," Selvaraj said.

'Across Time and Space' is Selvaraj's first published novel (Image supplied)

She began writing Across Time and Space, which she says falls under the Contemporary Romance genre, in June 2025 and completed it in February this year.

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The novel is based in Kingston, which Selvaraj says she is "very fond of", and follows the story of Luna Vikram, an aspiring astronaut, who is half British and half Tamilian, and her romantic interest, Cooper Murphy, a talented painter, who has avoided connections because of the transitory nature of relationships. 

However, a chance encounter with Luna draws them into an unexpected bond that challenges Cooper's beliefs.

While Selvaraj places the book under the Contemporary Romance genre, she says that "romance isn't the whole story". 

She told Nub News: "It's so much more than romance, it deals with grief and hard life choices and various types of relationships, including platonic and familial ones.

"I wanted to write it as a book which is relatable to normal people. It's not like fantasy or overly romanticised where the characters aren't believable. 

"I really like books that are emotional and relatable and deal with character flaws and growth. So I wanted to write a book like that because I enjoy reading such books."

The author's love of reading stems from childhood when she enjoyed reading the Jereromo Stilton series, which was written by an Italian storyteller and "popular in South India", and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

Speaking about Kingston, Selvaraj said: "I love Kingston with it being so close to the river."

Across Time and Space is available to buy as both print and e-book from books2read here, and Amazon.

Old London Road Cafe in Kingston also has a limited amount of print copies available for purchase.