Hearty
congratulations for the rave reviews which initial chapters of the
Magician are receiving. How does it feel?
Thank
you for the kind words, Mahesh. Yes, the response to the initial
chapters has been overwhelmingly positive. This definitely thrills
me. And also encourages me because I now know my readers are eager
to read the forthcoming chapters. The feedback and insights I have
been receiving have been so valuable, I feel such a sense of
gratitude. On another note, every Friday evening feels like my exams
just got over. (Note: The succeeding chapter of the novel is sent
out every Friday).
Please
tell us how did the concept of the Magician come to you? Do you
believe or read tarot?
The
Magician is what is called a Major Arcana card in a traditional
Tarot deck. It generally refers to the
creativity and energy within a person to transform their life. The
persons whose birth card is The Magician have the power to manifest
their desires. They are inspired to apply skill and initiative to
accomplish all their goals.
I’ve
been interested in Tarot and other methods of divination for quite
some time now, not so much for predictive purposes as much as to
understand myself (yeah, some might call me self-absorbed)
In
fiction, even though the storyworlds may differ, the development of
the character(s) is constant and an important part of the narrative.
The character arc often shows them overcoming an irredeemable
situation using their talents/skills with immense courage, to emerge
triumphant. Just like The Magician.
This
concept had been swirling in my mind since quite some time and when
it was ready I wrote down the story.
Your
novel is being circulated one chapter a week that too by email to
its subscribers. What is the thought behind using this method ?
I
consider this to be an experiment, of sorts, Mahesh. I wish I could
say it was a well-planned out strategy or something, but it really
was an impulsive decision. I’d been pondering the current state of
publishing-affairs. Also, I’d become a bit less reticent about
putting out my writing in front of my readers. I think both these
factors coalesced into that one impulsive decision, but with a
caveat. No posting it on Facebook or on my blog.
It
would only be by subscription through email because I reasoned that
those who subscribed would be the real readers, the interested ones.
And I’m really glad I did this.
Do
you think printed books are going to disappear soon and it is all
going to be about e-books?
I
consider an e-reader to be a ‘device of ease.’ Once it becomes
the default device (which books are at this point in time) then
perhaps we’d only read e-books. I’d say the statistics
currently stand at 50-50. But every single day I’m grateful for
the internet and the e-readers for enabling me to access e-books,
especially those related to the craft of writing.
Please
tell us something about your childhood.
Whenever
I think of my childhood I remember this quote by Chris Patten: Those
of us who had a perfectly happy childhood should be able to sue for
deprivation of literary royalties.
That
said, I remember my voracious appetite for reading. Even at meal
times. If I didn’t have a book to read (which was rare), I’d be
reading the newspaper and, in desperate cases, the labels on the
bottles and jars of pickles and jams. Come to think of it, it was
almost like feeding your soul at the same time as your body. But I
was equally interested in sporting activities so when I was not
reading I could be found playing football or seven tiles or even
kho-kho with the girls and boys of the housing society we lived in.
What
kind of books do you read? Who are your favourite authors?
When
I look back at what I used to read, I can see phases. Once upon a
time I was a fiction-freak. This was followed by the non-fiction
phase: books on personal development, marketing, business
management, spirituality, the works. Now, it is a mix of both.
It’s
quite difficult to say who my favourite author is. I love to read
any book by Michael Lutin. He’s an astrologer. But in fiction, I
adore Salman Rushdie and Hilary Mantel, for the style of their
writing. Well, this really is a very tough question.
How
much time do you devote for writing? Give us some tips as to how
working professionals should take out time for writing?
I
try to do the Morning pages (as recommended by Julia Cameron in The
Artist’s Way) and if I’ve been lazy or neglectful, say for more
than three days at a stretch, I get excruciating headaches.
As
for formal writing, I prefer to do that immediately after the
morning pages. Two hours. The best way to approach the discipline of
writing, in my view, is to do it unemotionally. Fix up a time and at
the dot of that minute, sit down (or stand up, it that’s the way
you’re oriented) and write. Use whatever time you get; during
lunch hour, during your transit times. Ideally, you’d be doing an
hour or two of writing, early in the morning or then late at night.
The timings again depend on whether you’re an early worm or a
night bird. When I say unemotionally, I am pointing at any inner
critic and self-doubt issues that might arise when it is time to sit
down and write. Ergo, all emotions are best kept for the narrative
rather than for the process.
What
would be your advice to budding writers?
Read
a lot! Write a lot! Rinse! Repeat! And once you’ve written a lot,
study the craft of writing to make it even better. In fact, I’m
also offering a NaNo Note a week, along with the chapter, as a guide
for those who want to write a novel during NaNoWriMo.
Have
you tried finding a traditional publisher? How was your experience
of finding a publisher?
No,
not yet. The publishing industry “lives in interesting times”
currently. Perhaps when my next book is ready I’ll have some
fascinating experiences to recount.
These
are the days of aggressive book marketing. Books have to be
promoted. Your take on this?
Marketing
guru, Al Ries’ quote from Positioning:
The Battle for Your Mind
says it much better than I could: “In our overcommunicated
society, the paradox is that nothing is more important than
communication.”
Tell
us about your future projects.
On
the personal front, a couple of novels and a book of short fiction
are on the anvil. The professional agenda includes The Wrimo
Anthology which is getting ready and should be published soon. I’m
also editing a friend-client’s first novel.
Your
interview cannot be complete without asking about wrimo. Please tell
us how did you become liaison
for wrimo India and share with our readers your experience of
holding that post for all these years?
I
became the NaNoWriMo ML for Asia:India region in 2011. In 2009 and
‘10 I was thrilled and excited to win the NaNoWriMo by writing the
50K words of my novel. But since 2011, nothing has given me greater
pleasure than to motivate other writers to fulfill their authorial
aspirations. This is a voluntary service and the sense of
satisfaction is incomparable.
I’ve created a community of wrimos
on Facebook. In November we meet in the NaNo forums but in other
months, this group is the adda of the wrimos. Here, wrimos encourage
each other to write more as well as hone their craft. I organize
online workshops in the different elements of novel writing and
marketing which are conducted by experts. Published authors join us
for chats about their authorial journeys. The awareness and interest
in writing and through that, NaNoWriMo, and vice -versa,
has
grown rapidly in the last few years. It is one of the best times to
be a writer in India.
