How did the journey of being an author start for you?
It started in my MBBS days when I used to write short stories. My best friend Dr Chinmoy Sahu advised me to write a novel as a continuation of one of my short stories, ‘The other side of the road’. My first novel,’ Way back in love’ was self-published in 2011 is the continuation of that story. It’s a story about two schoolmates Ramanuj and Roushni meeting after ten years and where they stand now.
What was your first written piece?
A short story named, ‘Slow withdrawal’. It’s about three MBBS classmates ( two boys and a a girl) hang out together for 4 years after joining the MBBS course, when suddenly two of them go beyond friendship to become lovebirds and the third guy is neglected carrying the torch of friendships. He takes a slow withdrawal from their life with an emotional turmoil leaving behind his friends to be happy.
What is your current work about?
Bones in the blue barrel is my 4th novel. It’s a crime mystery inspired by true events from Kerala barrel case.
Inspector Raghu Ram doesn’t like cold cases. When he is challenged by his new and latest case, he is determined to leave no stone unturned. A few kids stumble upon an abandoned blue barrel with an exposed human skull packed with cement and concrete. Post mortem and forensic reports suggest that it is a homicide, which happened two years back, but there’s been no missing case report of the deceased. There are no leads and only a barrel full of bones.
Assisted by his able team members, can Inspector Raghu Ram crack the case?
To unfold the mystery you need to buy the novel. It will solve two purpose. One , you will solve the mystery and the second is the charitable work you will do by donating an amount to the blind school after purchasing the novel.
In what genre does it fall in?
Crime/ Mystery/ Thriller ( Fiction) inspired by true events.
Do you have a personal favourite character?
Dr Bhagat Choudhury, the Head of the department of forensic and toxicology in the novel.
What is that one element in your book that can keep the readers hooked to it?
Puzzle behind the crime. It’s a difficult cold case as the deceased and the culprit are to be traced without much of a clue other than a bundle of bones.
Did you ever go through writer’s block? How did you overcome it?
Not in this case as I had already decided my ending before starting the novel.
How many hours in a day do you usually write?
I don’t write regularly. I am not a writer but a story teller. Whenever I come across good stories which I haven’t read or heard earlier, I usually take a note of it to elaborate it later.
Plot, character, settings, what comes first to you? How do you decide which one to give priority to?
Plot is the backbone of any story. Rest of the things fall in its place. But to write a crime fiction, you need an algorithm to join the dots taking into account all three( plot/ characters and settings) which I did in my novel.
If you could meet any one character from all the books you have read, who would it be and why?
My all-time favourite book is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand which I read in Class 12th. I love the character John Galt. Galt is a philosopher and inventor is a very powerful character who believes in the power and glory of human mind and the righteousness to use their minds solely for themselves.