Q: Welcome to my blog. In one sentence, tell me something that describes you as a person?
Thank you Amy, I am a person who believes life needs to be progressive and constructive.
Q: How many books have you written? How many of those are published?
Pandora’s Box is my debut novel.
Q: If you could “create” your own genre of what you write, what would you call your books?
Realistic Fiction. Fiction inspired by true events, real life characters and geo political issues. Most of my stories are woven around realism; my endeavor therefore isn’t in sending out a message rather it is to make the readers think about issues at hand from a different perspective. Ever thought about the amount of secrets a room lizard knows about people? What if it had the power to share?
Q: Without quoting your back cover synopsis, tell me about the last book you published.
The last book I published is also my first. It is a collection of short stories inspired by true events, tales of legendary figures told with a very different perspective in mind. Each story has a climax that compels the readers to read the story again with a different perspective. The best part is that after a few stories the readers try really hard to guess the climax, sometimes they succeed and sometimes they fail, and that makes the whole reading experience really exciting.
Q: Tell me something about yourself that is separate from writing.
Apart from being an author I am also a banker by profession, a painter and a photographer. My weekdays go by working for the bank and promoting my book, weekends are usually spent in travelling with my camera in search of good pictures. A Libran mind usually works overtime in trying to balance out life and I am no different, amidst all humdrum I make sure I put in one hour of jogging everyday.
Q: Who is your favorite Author?
Apart from me, it would be Sir Salman Rushdie, Jhumpa Lahiri, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Roald Dahl.
Q: What is the last book that you read?
The last book I read was Man’s search for meaning by Viktor Frankl. It really provides an answer to the ever haunting question : what provides meaning to a man’s life? It is a must read for every curious soul.
Q: When writing, do you have a system or something you plan, or do you just write?
Before I begin to write I draw the entire plot on a whiteboard. It may sound strange but I do this to be fair to my readers, to give them something that would thrill them without losing track of reality and a good plot. I am a little obsessed about the narration, if it isn’t world class it ain’t going there in my manuscript. Writing ergo for me is hard work.
Q: Is there something that you always do when you write? (I.e. Listen to music, have complete quiet, drink?)
It is almost mandatory for me to listen to music while I write. I love listening to Brahms, Beethoven, Bach, Mozart and Hans Zimmer while I write. Music I believe has the power to enhance one’s concentration and imagination. It fills the void in an empty room vulnerable to your personal ‘Mara’ that keeps distracting you.
Q: Tell me why you write.
I write to tell tales about the strangeness that lies in reality. Writing is a medium to express just like painting, any art form is an extension of the artist himself. Probably the restlessness manifests itself into creative outbursts of every kind.
Q: Any final thoughts that you would want your fans or future authors to know?