Storizen – July 2019

COVER STORY

JULY 2019 STORIZEN MAGAZINE | 17

Curiosity about history. Dedication
to research. A sense of
dispassion. A willingness to go
against the popular grain. But
most of all, a deep desire to tell a
story that informs and entertains.

That writing one book does not in
any way equip you to write the
next. With each book I find myself
a novice, having to figure out once
again how to go about this
business of conjuring worlds via
words.

What is the biggest surprise that
you experienced after becoming a
writer?

Which genres you enjoy reading
the most? Which you don’t enjoy
at all?

I enjoy reading anything that’s well
written and nuanced. I am a
sucker for language, for words
that when strung together create
entire worlds and characters I
want to journey with. (You could
say I am a failed poet.)

Anything you would like to say to
your readers?

Read, read a lot. Reading makes

us better people, if only because it

opens the world to us. But write

only if the story would kill you if

you didn’t. And I mean it, literally.

Study the past to define the future.

What are some ways in which you

promote your work? Do you find

that these add to or detract from

your writing time?

Mostly, I write. But when I have a

new book out, I ferret for every

scrap of attention the book is

getting and feed it to social media.

What projects are you working on

at the present? When can we

expect a new thriller from you?

What about the last book in the

Mehrunisa Trilogy after the Hunt

for the Kohinoor?

Several. Mehrunisa Book 3 is

definitely in the pipeline. However,

I am currently vested in multiple

books set around India’s

independence and partition, most

of which read like thrillers.