Q What inspired you for
this book?
A.Books are mediums in which one shares his/her
emotions, thoughts and feelings with his/her readers. Most book readers are
very passionate about their interest. So the feeling of being part of this
family is what really inspires me. The main inspiration for my book ‘Pinto Has An
Idea’ came from its main character Dr. Pinto, who I never met in real life but
he’s been so close to my heart in my imagination since my childhood. Dr. Pinto
is a character who can exist in real life. He’s a character who might be there
somewhere as we speak. I wanted to give this character a shape, to bring the
story out which had been inside of me for so long. I was just waiting for the
right time and opportunity and here we are.
Q. What was the
hardest part of creating this book?
A. As a new author, the most difficult part was
finding a publisher. I think I can write a whole book about that. I was lucky
that I found a reputable one, who’s well known across the globe. The second
most difficult thing was to bring out the story to perfection at all times.
When the manuscript is with you and awaiting for a publisher’s acceptance, you
keep on ‘improving’ it so it becomes a never ending process till it reaches its
destination i.e. to a publisher. To some extent it’s a blessing in disguise as
the end product becomes better but at the same time there should be an end to
it.
As a first timer, I think another difficulty you
face is that there should not be too much ‘you’ in the book. It’s extremely
difficult to avoid bringing your personality into the novel. It’s just the
matter of perception. For some readers it may be very natural and for others
it’s good or bad. To be honest I have used some of the surroundings and
settings around my plot which have been very realistic and associated with me
somehow. While doing so I’ve paid very detailed attention to craft my
characters in a fully fictional form.
Q. What do you hope
people gain from reading it?
A. Lately, young readers have seen several books
about college romance. Most of them are written for light reading and
entertainment. I felt that I should do something a little different. While I
have made my book entreating and humorous, I’ve kept a very high standard of
the intellectual part so I’d describe it as an intellectual and entertaining
read. Readers would be able to associate themselves with Pinto and Lavanya.
They’d also find that everybody has a Pinto and a Lavanya in them and this book
will help them achieve that nirvana through ‘enlightenment’.
Readers are the final judge.
Q. What are your
‘secret powers’ and some you wish you had?
A. I think I have the
ability to craft characters very close to reality yet a pure work of fiction. Characters,
stories and plot come to my mind in a fraction of second. So I can virtually
write one book a month, really, not exaggerating. As a first time author, I
need a lot of publicity and marketing so I wish I had some kind of magic
marketing capability or some magic wand so I could spread the word about my
book to everyone in the world. I’m confident if I can get the book to readers’
hand so they get a feel of it, they’d buy it. But the biggest challenge is to
increase the reach.
Q. How you become
a published author? Any inspiration?
A.Can
corruption be good for a society? You’ll find the answer in my book, how?
Similarly though I hated self-publishing route, it did help me write the book
to become a published author. When I was writing the book, I decidedno matter
what it takes to find a good publisher, I’d not give up. At the same time I had
the hope that I could self-publish my book if nothing works out. So at least my
efforts was not wasted. Finally I got one of the top publishers for my book,
the same publisher that published Harry Potter.
Q. Did you get any ideas
for your books from your own dreams?
A. Fiction is all about
dreaming. It may not be through dreams at night while sleeping alone. You could
be daydreaming as well. You may sometime call it imagination as well. For
writing a book you have to be a dreamer. I’ve tried that my dreams are close to
reality as much as they can.
Q. Why should we buy
your book?
A.It really doesn’t matter whether you are a keen reader or a passive one,
this book will be of your interest. Just buy it for humour and intellectual entertainment
and to read something different which you might not have seen in the market
earlier.
