Interview

• Deeba: You are an IAS, and holder of Masters from Harvard and Delhi University. You have been Secretary, Government of India and Chairman, National Highways. Please share with us about your literary journey.

  Raghav :I have loved expressing myself. However, I got into serious writing when I started a blog of my own called Scratchmysoul.com in March 2008. I set the target of writing one blog a day. I did that for over a year without a break – whether on a train or a flight, whether in the morning or in the night, in the country or abroad. Suddenly I discovered that I had a writer hidden inside me, bursting with ideas and an improved fluency. I haven’t looked back since.

• Deeba: Are you a voracious reader as well? What do you read? Who are your favorite authors?

  Raghav : I am mostly a non-fiction reader and scan a lot of journals and periodicals cover-to-cover religiously, especially Time and Economist. I also read select articles from the New York Times.

  A few of my favorite authors are Stephen King, Jeffrey Archer, Ken Follett, Arundhati Roy, RamchandraGuha, and Yuval Noah Harari

• Deeba: You are also an author. Besides extensively writing on management and infrastructure issues you have also experimented with fiction: ‘Scent of a Game’ (Rupa) & ‘Kali's Daughter’ (forthcoming, Pan Macmillan). Please share with us your writing process.

  Raghav : Writing fiction is, apart from an internal urging, a product of time, space and external stimulus. Both my books have emerged in the course of my civil service career when I have been unexpectedly moved to a less strenuous assignment and I happened to be reading extensively on the subject which then formed the mainstay of the book. So I had all three of the requisitefactor endowments at my disposal. It is in moments of inflexion such as these that one’s imagination and energy conspire and impel one to innovate and create.

  Scent of a Game narrates the history of wildlife hunting in India and touches on the subject of illicit trafficking in endangered species while telling a very human story of a man arrested with a tiger skin near a national park. It is based around 2006, a watershed year in the annals of Indian wildlife when several prestigious and protected tiger reserves were surprisingly found to be bereft of any tigers whatsoever, quite contrary to earlier proclamations in that regard by the Forest Department.

  Kali’s Daughter is about life in the civil services beginning with the selection process, the common training at the Mussoorie Academy of the Indian Administrative Service and the Foreign Serviceofficers and their later life. It describes the subtle prejudices around caste and class that are latent and mostly hidden, but are often difficult to conceal, a perplexing narrative of an Indian society in the midst of churn.

• Deeba: Having tried both Fiction and Non-fiction, what comes naturally to you and what can the readers expect more from you. Any new writing projects on the cards?

  Raghav : After these two works of fiction I intend writing non-fiction. I have planned a book on the governance issues connected with the tribes of India, who are truly the most vulnerable people, left behind in the race for development. I’ve held jobs connected with that subject. Another book that I plan to do is based around the life and timesof one of the greatest Hindi poets of India whose work has had a tremendous, almost cult-like impact on the sensibilities of a large part of India, bestowing him almost saint like status. There isn’t a modern interpretation of his life, so I hope to fill that void.

  At the moment, I’m not quite sure which one will happen first, because I’m researching.

• Deeba: You are the President of the Society for Culture and Environment and Director of the Bhopal Literature and Art Festival. Can you share with us some interesting details of Bhopal Literature Festival?

  Raghav : The Bhopal Literature Festival held between 12-14th January 2019 at the prestigious Bharat Bhawan with three parallel sessions each day and a cultural program in the evening attracted about 70 authors, discussants and artists from across India and abroad and hundreds of cognoscenti from Bhopal and its environs, particularly college going students and teachers. BLF was a buzzing cornucopia of Padma Shri and National awardees. While all 56 sessions were curated thoughtfully some of the popular and more notable authors and discussants who attended this literary and artistic extravaganza were: environmentalists PradeepKrishen, BittuSahgal, Pranay Lal and VivekMenon; diplomat/civil servants Pavan Varma, TCA Raghavan, Rajiv Mehrishi, Amitabh Kant, Anthony de Sa, RajniSekhriSibal and SY Quraishi; military, intelligence and diplomacy experts General Ata Hasnain, General MohinderPuri, Shiv KunalVerma and AS Dulat; social commentators KekiDaruwalla, BachiKarkaria, Vinita DawraNangia, Anil Dharker, SeemaGoswami, Vinita Bakshi, AshaliVerma and KoralDasgupta; historians/mythologists ShonaleekaKaul, AshaliVerma, KK Chakravarty, Rima Hooja, Christopher Doyle; researcher/scholars like MadhaviMenon who is an authority on human behavior and sexuality. There were also many book launches and art exhibitions.

  What distinguished this literature and art event from others of this ilk was its unremitting conformity to literature and art. Notably, it discussed cinema without depending on film stars to give it glamour.

• Deeba: ‘Heartland Stories’ – is a heartwarming caption for Bhopal Literature Festival. What can we expect from the next year’s festival?

  Raghav :We would like to build on the momentum of the Bhopal Literature Festival first edition. More youth should want to get involved with literature for literature’s sake. Unfortunately, I have observed that even in Jaipur, despite their huge turnout from schools and colleges, student participation is mostly of a social nature. I would like to inspire the younger generations to read and expand their minds. Cinema and music is necessary, but it is all served easy, like fast food. Literature makes you think of possibilities in a far more compelling way and has to be encouraged further. It would be gratifying to see active student involvement.

• Deeba: Share with us your challenges and learning from the festival.

  Raghav : Some of the critical challenges were: Finding sponsors Building a team of capable organizers Getting the right logistics people Dealing with frequent changes in the itinerary of important speakers Getting the panelists right for any session

• Deeba: How can a new author reach readers / get exposure from festivals?

  Raghav : Attending festivals is important. Authors are human too. Aspiring writers can meet established authors and listen to them, comprehend them – howthey respond to questions, their reactions to situations, their overall body language. Their works are extensions of their personalities and experiences and everybody has a vast gamut of unique personal experiences to build upon. So a lot can be learnt by seeing and listening to others, especially those who have been successful.

• Deeba: One question I ask all my guests – what is your favourite non-alcoholic drink?

  Raghav : I crave freshly squeezed orange or lemon juice. Yes, I like the tangy, citrus effect.

• Deeba: Advice to the writers of ‘The Write Scene’ who are looking to get their work published?

  Raghav : Write and write. The more you write, the better you become. That will give you the flow. Also, get the broad conventions of modern writing correct by picking up a book on good writing. Most importantly, look out for topics that you will be comfortable writing about and read a lot about them. Look for unexplored areas. Facets that are not in the common domain. Build a canvas around them in your mind, and then start writing. Get your text in place. Then apply yourself to editing it, because that is as important as the basic content.

  Go for it!

• Deeba: Welcome Lipika to 'Candid with Deeba,' please share your journey with us.

  .

  Lipika Bhushan: Thanks Deeba for the invite. Well, after my MBA I started working with a brand consulting firm and then moved to take care of marketing for one of the largest white goods companies in India but its publishing that’s probably where I was meant to be and that’s where I still am since last 12 years.I started my publishing career with heading marketing for HarperCollins India but after about 7 years of enriching and exciting journey, I quit to manage my responsibilities as a proud mother.MarketMyBook was an idea I was toying with during my maternity break and that’s when I thought of launching a service that will help authors and publishers get better results through focused marketing.I must thank Kishwar Desai for being the first one to instil that faith in an absolutely new set up and there’s been no looking back since.

  MarketMyBook provides publicity and digital marketing assistance to writers and publishers and we have been managing book marketing for writers and publishers for the last 5 years. I’m glad that since its launch 5 years ago, we can boast of having worked with some of the biggest and best names in publishing such as Jeffrey Archer, Aatish Taseer, Peter James and over 60 others including those for publishers such as Pan Macmillan/Picador and Juggernaut Books.

  It’s been the most enjoyable decade and a half, of meeting interesting personalities, managing human behaviour and relationships and receiving accolades and satisfaction.

• Deeba: You were heading the marketing division at an International publisher of books, please share with us how are books marketed at a large publishing house?

  Lipika Bhushan: Ideally a large publishing house draws up yearly budgets for its forthcoming titles, allocates budgets according to the brand potential and numbers planned for respective titles and then draws a marketing plan for each title working closely with the writer on how energies can be channelized to collaborate for maximum impact. In addition to working on creating a pull from the market, it also involves a lot of internal marketing to help create excitement and confidence among the sales team and distributors.

• Deeba: Can you please share some help-tips as to how can independent authors, with not much budget market his/her books?

  Lipika Bhushan: Focus on network and leg work. Networking is important to build visibility and connect with prospective publishers and opinion makers.Those with small budgets should focus their energies on publicity and digital marketing instead of spending on retail promotions and events.Hire professional help for a few months around the release to give it the right push and get you the required visibility. Believe me, the ROIs are better with a professional working towards building your profile and getting your book the right attention.

• Deeba: When did you start your company – ‘MarketMyBook?’

  Lipika Bhushan: May 2013, right after getting back from my maternity break and quitting my job. And it’s been 5 fulfilling years of working with some fantastic writers and publishers; gaining a lot of insight on the industry with some great success stories. The idea is to work with a few writers/publishers but do a bloody good job of it.

• Deeba: Share some of your initial challenges and some ‘Wow’ moments with us.

  Lipika Bhushan: For a boutique agency fund is always a challenge. Unlike other industries, our partners especially publishers work on small marketing budgets and that restricts us as well in some ways. When we are able to deliver better results for every project that we pick, it’s a WOW moment. Every writer going back happy with what we could deliver for his book is a great feeling and a WOW moment. Every time a writer or a publisher you have worked with introduces you as the best in the industry is a WOW moment for us.

• Deeba: What is a modest budget that an author should keep in mind to market a book well?

  Lipika Bhushan: Every book demands a different kind of marketing mix. But to start with a minimum of about $1000.

• Deeba: Since marketing for authors with a traditional publisher is taken care of by the publisher, I would like to know your key services for an independent author. Can your company help make a best-seller?

  Lipika Bhushan: We have been helping create bestsellers.

  In 5 years of our existence and having worked with over 6 dozen writers not even once have we had to advertise to get work as firstly, we pick and choose what we like as a reader, secondly we always provide tailor-made marketing services that supplement and not duplicate the publisher’s efforts.

  With growing pressure of an increasing number of new titles and greater fight for space, while publishers do put in their marketing efforts but they have too many to focus on. Just by being more focused and continuously thinking of better ideas and pitches that help in media publicity and digital efforts, we are able to add tremendously to the visibility.

  So in short, writers should come to us once they have a fair idea of what their publishers can deliver on the marketing front so we help them take it to the next level especially in the area of publicity and digital marketing.

• Deeba: Do you also help in converting formats like into audio books?

  Lipika Bhushan: No. We let the experts do that job.

• Deeba: What does a weekend mean to you? One question I ask all my guests – what is your favourite non-alcoholic drink?

  Lipika Bhushan: Curling up with a book. Guess it’s the Pahari gene but the all-time favourite is ‘Chai’

• Deeba: Advice to the writers of ‘The Write Scene’ who are looking to get their work represented and who are looking for a publisher?

  Lipika Bhushan: You are making a pitch for something that you have really worked hard on, do get someone to read and edit professionally before making a pitch to publishers. Get a good agent to help you as many publishers only take representations through agents. Connect with publishers who are known for some success in the genre you write in.

• Deeba: At what age did you start writing? Share with us an anecdote.

  Nikita Singh: I started writing when I was nineteen. In the first 2 years as a writer, I wrote and published 6 books! Ever since then, I’ve consciously slowed down to an average pace of a book per year. Now when I realize I’ve written 11 books in 7 years, it sounds made up!

• Deeba: How many books have you published so far?

  Nikita Singh: Letters to My Ex is my eleventh book.

• Deeba: What’s next? At what stage is your next project?

  Nikita Singh: I’ve started working on my next book, which is actually a sequel to my last book, Every Time It Rains. We don’t have a name yet, but it picks up where left Every Time It Rains off.

  It’s actually the third book of the series. Like a Love Song was a story about Maahi and her friend Laila. Every Time it Rains was about Laila’s romantic relationship. In the next one, we see more of Maahi’s life.

• Deeba: How did you get published? Share with us your journey to publication?

  Nikita Singh: Back in 2010, I went to an internet café to do my research on publishing guidelines set by publishers. I discovered that most publishing houses require a synopsis, a few sample chapters and a short bio about the author. My bio was very short because I had done nothing in life yet; I was in college studying Pharmacy!

  Once I had my proposal packet, I went back to the internet café and sent it over to publishers. Fortunately, I started hearing back from them very quickly.

• Deeba: What is your writing process and how do you deal with writer’s block?

  Nikita Singh: My writing process is a running joke in my friend-circle! Basically, I plan my book subconsciously in my mind (aka procrastinate) for 8-9 months. And then I sit down to write when I’m about to miss my deadline. I then have no choice but to write really fast! I finish my first draft in 14 days.

  Then send it to my agent, who sends his notes. I read my manuscript for the first time, make edits based on whatever I feel intuitive and my agent’s notes. I send this second draft to my editor, and then we go back and forth on primary edits, copy-edits, proof-reading and typesetting for a couple of months, and there — we have a book!

• Deeba: What do you read? Share with us your favourite fiction and non-fiction book. What are you currently reading?

  Nikita Singh: I’m very bad at answering that question because it’s so hard to choose one! I read mostly fiction, but recently, I’ve been reading mostly non-fiction. How about I tell you some of my favourite authors instead? They are a mix of fiction, non-fiction, Indian, International, genres - Jhumpa Lahiri, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, James Baldwin, Vladimir Nabokov, Cecelia Ahern, Thomas Bernhard, J.K.Rowling, Rebecca Solnit, Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters… oh, so many to name!

  I just received a copy of 'Love a Little Stronger' that Preeti Shenoy sent me, and immediately started reading it!

• Deeba: What is your opinion about our initiative, ‘Young Author Awards’?

  Nikita Singh: I think it’s great! Every once in a while, people like to pause and think about the direction their life is going in… and this can be a major milestone in anyone’s life. I feel honoured to be nominated. I definitely cherish how it makes me feel.

• Deeba: There is one question that I throw at all my guests, what is your favourite non-alcoholic drink?

  Nikita Singh: Tea! I take it black, no cream or sugar. Literally the best thing ever.

• Deeba: What would be your advice to the aspiring authors of ‘The Write Scene,’ who are looking to get published?

  Nikita Singh: Honestly, I wish I heard more questions about writing than publishing. It seems as though everyone is focused on reaping the benefits of their imaginary hard work. 70,000 words on paper don’t just happen by accident. You have to write every single one of them, so that’s my advice — write.

• Deeba: Your quote on being nominated for Young Author Awards.

  Nikita Singh: It makes me so happy, to be recognized for representing my generation and their thoughts. I’m very grateful!

   

  To connect with Nikita Singh:

  Twitter: @singh_nikita

• Deeba: When did you know you wanted to become a writer? Did you get any professional training in writing?

  Anees : I must have been 15 or 16 when I first felt the urge to write. No, I didn’t attend any creative writing course. I am terrified by the idea of getting trained to do anything I naturally like to do. Anyway, I am not academically qualified to attend any university of high repute.

• Deeba: You have written five books over six years and in fact you had two books published the same year. What is your writing process? How long do you take to finish a book and how long does it take for you to edit it? Do you use an external editor or do you self-edit?

  Anees : It took me two decades to write those five books, not six years. They appear to have been written in a short span of time because they found publishers in quick succession after being repeatedly rejected for many years. I write continuously, I discard drafts continuously. And I like to write for long hours but that is not possible as I have a very hectic day job. My first book ‘The Vicks Mango Tree’ had more drafts than I could count and took six or seven years to complete. I could finish all other books in two years or so, except ‘Tales from a Vending Machine’, which took about six months to complete. Till my book is ready for submission, no one reads it, not even my literary agent. Once the book is with the publisher, an editor will step and we will have discussions.

• Deeba: How do you find time with your full-time job in advertising? With my background in Advertising, I am curious to know which area of advertising do you work in?

  Anees : Well, I write very early in the morning. I write at least 3 hours a day and I sometimes write during the lunch break. I started my career as a trainee copywriter with FCB ULKA, Cochin and now I head both the business and creative operations of the Cochin branch. Besides that, I head the creative department of FCB ULKA, Chennai.

• Deeba: How did you get your first publisher? How long did it take? Share with us your journey.

  Anees : As I mentioned earlier my manuscripts were repeatedly rejected for many years by publishers and literary scouts. About seven years back I sent a query letter to an agent called Kanishka Gupta in the guise of a young Muslim girl. This girl was the protagonist of ‘Tales from a Vending Machine’, the book I had just finished writing and wanted an agent for. The voice and the plight of the young girl moved Kanishka. He wrote immediately back, asking for sample chapters. Then he wanted to read the entire book. A week later he sold the book to HarperCollins.

• Deeba: Do you ever get writer’s block? How do you handle it?

  Anees : Sometimes I write slower than my usual pace. But I always find a way to regain my rhythm.

• Deeba: Which of your books is closest to your heart and why?

  Anees : I like or dislike all my books for different reasons. But they all have the same place in my life.

• Deeba: Share with us your five all time favorite books. And what are you currently reading?

  Anees : ‘A House for Mr Biswas’ by V S Naipaul, ‘In a Free State’ by V S Naipaul, ‘Chronicle of a Death Foretold’ by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, ‘A Single Man’ by Christopher Isherwood, and ‘The Sound and the Fury’ by William Faulkner. I am currently reading ‘Satin Island’ by Tom McCarthy.

• Deeba: There is one question that I throw at all my guests, what is your favorite non-alcoholic drink?

  Anees :Tea.

• Deeba: What would be your advice to the aspiring authors of ‘The Write Scene,’ who are on the road to get published?

  Anees : Read, read, read. Write, write, write. And never give up. Never.

• Can we have your views on our new initiative of ‘Young Author Awards’ to recognize the next generation authors under the age of 30?

  Anees : Writing is a lonely and excruciating task. And nothing can be more rewarding than recognitions from people who love and promote literature. I sincerely hope Young Authors Awards will inspire the new breed of writers to write more and write more creatively.

• Deeba: When did you think of becoming a writer? Share with us your journey.

  Ashwin : My passion for reading was ignited when my maternal grandfather would bombard me with books that were far ahead of my time. He would insist that after reading every book I must write a letter detailing what I liked and what I didn't. That was the genesis. But the spark happened much later. I was in Srinagar and ended up visiting the tomb of a Muslim pir. The shrine is called Rauzabal or “Tomb of the Prophet”. Local land records acknowledge the existence of the tomb from AD 112 onwards. The sarcophagus at Rauzabal has been placed along the north-south axis according to Muslim custom but the true burial chamber beneath reveals that the grave of YuzAsaflies along the East-West axis as per Jewish custom. A carved imprint near the sarcophagus of Rauzabal shows a pair of normal human feet that bear crucifixion marks on them. I was fascinated with the notion that the man buried in the tomb could possibly be Jesus Christ. This led to my first book, The Rozabal Line.

• Deeba: What’s your take on self-publishing?

  Ashwin : Self-publishing is an extremely crowded space in which it is almost impossible to be noticed. While most new authors will tend to look at success stories, the reality of the situation is that the average self-published title sells around 100-150 copies, mostly to the author’s friends and family. Virtually none of the mainstream newspapers or magazines wish to read or review a self-published title, so getting visibility is almost impossible. Distribution of your title tends to be limited to online stores because the brick-and-mortar stores rarely stock self-published titles (though Crossword has just started a program that does). It is important to understand that self-publishing takes the pain out of getting yourself “out there”, but once you are, it’s rather difficult to make a living from it. Self-publishing is an easy route to getting your work out into the public domain but it places a greater responsibility on the author as regards content, quality, editing, cover design, pricing and promotion. Treat self-publishing as a serious endeavour to get all the elements right. If you keep your expectations low and your personal commitment high, you might just be one of the few lucky ones to strike gold.

• Deeba: What is your writing process? How long do you take to finish a book and how long does it take for you to edit it? Do you use an external editor or do you self-edit?

  Ashwin : On weekdays, my writing usually happens early morning between five and nine o’clock. Saturday is a day when I catch up with my latest project because I am able to write or research for several hours at a stretch. Sundays are entirely for my family. I usually take around eighteen months to write a book. The first six months are spent on research; the next three months are devoted to building the plot outline; the following six months are used for the actual writing of the story; and the final three months for editing and polishing. I use three editors on every book.

• Deeba: Do you ever get writer’s block? How do you handle it?

  Ashwin : I rarely face writers block. The reason is my organized style of working. I spend several months collating research, then several months developing a plot outline. By the time that I start writing, my job is like that of a child using crayons within a colouring book. With the outlines drawn, how difficult is it to choose which crayon to use?

• Deeba: Which is your favorite piece of work till now?

  Ashwin : That’s like asking a parent to choose a favourite child. I cannot answer that question.

• Deeba: How do you decide on your topics to write on?

  Ashwin : Most people have ideas but they have no idea that they have those ideas. I am simply methodical about jotting down all my observations on a daily basis. Over the past decade, I have emailed myself around 12,000 times with various ideas. When I start work on a new book, I simply review my past observations and then decide on a topic that I can live with for the next two years.

• Deeba: Your 5 favorite books. And what are you currently reading?

  Ashwin : Top 5 favourite books:

  • Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
  • Autobiography of a Yogi by ParamahansaYogananda
  • Freedom at Midnight by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre
  • The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
  • The Art of War by Sun Tzu
  • Currently reading: Sapiens—A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari

• Deeba: On a personal front, what does a weekend mean to you? Your favorite pastime?

  Ashwin : Family, books, whisky, cigars.

• Deeba: There is one question that I throw at all my guests, what is your favorite non-alcoholic drink?

  Ashwin : Water, because it can be added to whisky.

• Deeba: What would be your advice to the aspiring authors of ‘The Write Scene,’ who are on the road to get published?

  Ashwin : One: don’t think about writing... write! Two: don’t quit your day job… it could be a while before royalties can sustain you. Three: don’t think of yourself as a writer but as a storyteller… words become irrelevant if your story is great. Four: become thick-skinned… rejections and criticism are part of the process of evolving as an author. Five: remember that the words are not yours, they come from a higher power. Stay humble even when you’ve made it.

• Deeba: Can we have your views on our new initiative of ‘Young Author Awards’ to recognize the next generation authors under the age of 30? (http://www.youngauthorawards.com)

  Ashwin : Excellent initiative. I hope that it will inspire many young authors to persevere.

• Deeba: At what age did you start writing? Share with us an anecdote.

  Manu : My sister introduced me to reading on a sustained basis when I was about nine or ten, and by my early teens I was writing some (terrible) poetry. I remember doing a “fantasy” novel and inflicting it in my family when I was around twelve, and a couple of short stories when I was still in school. But it took me some more years, till I was about nineteen or twenty, to really start writing in a serious, intelligent fashion. That is what culminated in my first book six years later.

• Deeba: Is this your first published work?

  Manu : Yes, The Ivory Throne is my first published work.

• Deeba: What’s next? At what stage is your next project?

  Manu : I have a book scheduled for publication in June. It is a history of the Deccan in India, from the thirteenth century till the early eighteenth, at a time when the region was a fascinating landscape featuring princes of Persian origins, warlords from Africa, and a magnet for ideas from around the world, all of which left a mark on Indian culture and India’s evolution as a society and people.

• Deeba: How did you get published? Share with us your journey to publication?

  Manu : It was quite simple actually. Once I finished putting together most of my manuscript at the end of 2014, I wrote to VK Karthika, who was then publisher at HarperCollins India, with a few pages of my introductory chapter. The next morning I had a response, asking me to send in the rest of my manuscript. Eleven months later, during which I continued to tinker with the text a great deal, the book was in stores.

• Deeba: What is your writing process and how do you deal with writer’s block?

  Manu : The process is simple—write, write, write, and don’t get distracted! As for the occasional “block”, taking a long-ish break and then returning to my writing ordinarily works for me. I also tend to reward myself in small ways when I achieve self-set goals. This works as adequate motivation where I am concerned. Besides, not writing is not an option.

• Deeba: What do you read? Share with us your favourite fiction and non-fiction book. What are you currently reading?

  Manu : I read a great deal of narrative non-fiction because my writing, at the moment, is all non-fiction. In terms of favourites, there are far too many to name and I really cannot think of one that triumphs over others. At the moment I am reading Lyndal Roper’s Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet.

• Deeba: What is your opinion about our initiative, ‘Young Author Awards’?

  Manu : An excellent initiative—I welcome all efforts to support and promote writers!

• Deeba: There is one question that I throw at all my guests, what is your favorite non-alcoholic drink?

  Manu : Plain water. I drink bucketsful every day.

• Deeba: What would be your advice to the aspiring authors of ‘The Write Scene,’ who are looking to get published?

  Manu : Quality is paramount. A badly, hastily written book never goes away, and will haunt you forever. So it is better to really invest time and produce something that you can be proud of for the rest of your life, and something that makes a real contribution to the world of the arts.

• Deeba: Your quote on being nominated for Young Author Awards.

  Manu : I am thankful for the nomination, and hope the Awards become an avenue for young creative minds to meet, to grow, and to exchange ideas as well as good writing.

• Deeba: At what age did you start writing? Share with us an anecdote.

  Vedant : Believe it or not, I never actually liked writing during my school years, in fact, I loathed it (since I wasn’t too good at it). However, I started cooking and learning since I was 12, and found passion in trying new foods, combinations and even comparing dishes. To practice and improve my writing skills (for academic performance), I started a food blog- The Foodie Journey; where I wrote about restaurants, recipes and food facts. I quickly discovered new unlikely passion- Writing! But only about food. This blog was fun, useful and developed my writing skills.

  However, as I grew older, my consumption of fast food (especially burgers) and the delicious desserts I cooked was alarmingly high- which led to some unwanted chubbiness during my teen years. That’s when I started researching(around 15) about making my favorite junk foods lighter, quicker to cook, and most importantly feel less guilty. I discovered new/lighter ingredients, cheats and hacks to making recipes quicker, simpler, and calorically reduced.

  “Cheat it All: A Young-Eater's Guide to Good Food and More”, contains more than 75 daily, ‘quick-to- toss- up’ delicious recipes that even today’s teens(who may even not know how to cook) are not intimidated to try in their kitchens. The second part of my book is quite exciting and inspiring: Interviews and insights from some of Indias most influential fitness/food related icons- John Abraham, Tiger Shroff, Mary Kom, SainaNehwal, Vikas Khanna(Chef) just to name a few.

• Deeba: Is this your first published work?

  Vedant : Yes this is my first book ever- Published when I was just 17.

• Deeba: What’s next? At what stage is your next project?

  Vedant : I am currently in my second year at Ecole Hotelier De Lausanne (Switzerland), rated as the best Hospitality Management school in the world! I’m always on the lookout for new ideas/ unique concepts for perhaps another book( which I probably will at some point)- for now, the plan is to completely learn, absorb and experience.

• Deeba: How did you get published? Share with us your journey to publication?

  Vedant : Well, this book has gone through 2 different publishers- finally being published by Niyogi Books- who are very reputable in India.

  They liked the idea, we had several meetings, I wrote the book, and then I worked closely with their editor. Quite uncomplicated if you ask me.

  The aim with the book is to educate, inspire and empower youngsters like myself to cook smarter, healthier and feel amazing!

• Deeba:  What is your writing process and how do you deal with writer’s block?

  Vedant : Writing this book was a deliberately slow process. I was 16 when I started wrting this and took 18 months to finish, while juggling high school. The first thing that I did was draw up a plan, with concrete ideas, recipes, and the concept. After, I just followed this plan and made a manuscript, while changing things on a daily basis (adding or removing recipes, etc).

  Regarding the writers block- I’ve learnt that time heals everything, a Writer’s block is nothing. I made sure to stay calm, rest well while being motivated enough to respect my own writing related deadlines.

  Also interestingly, I had to cook almost all the recipes (75+) in the book within 4-5 days when we were photographing dishes.

• Deeba: What do you read? Share with us your favourite fiction and non-fiction book. What are you currently reading?

  Vedant : The kindle has to be one of the smartest purchases I ever made. I read mainly non fictionself growth related books and autobiographies to always stay motivated in life and am currently reading “Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy: David D. Burns”.

  Till a few years ago I strictly read a ton of cooking/ food related books and magazines. 2 of my favorite authors are Joe Wicks Aka TheBodyCoach and Todd Wilbur (fast food hacker).

• Deeba:  What is your opinion about our initiative, ‘Young Author Awards’?

  Vedant : I think that any initiative that appreciates or recognizes anyone’s immense efforts(such as this one) should definitely be supported.

• Deeba: There is one question that I throw at all my guests, what is your favorite non-alcoholic drink?

  Vedant : Either an ice cold Fanta or a thandai(even have a recipe in my book).

• Deeba: What would be your advice to the aspiring authors of ‘The Write Scene,’ who are looking to get published?

  Vedant : Believe in your work, be open to different opinions, listen; and you’ve got to give everything- remember that you get what you give in.

• Deeba:  Your quote on being nominated for Young Author Awards.

  Vedant : It is my absolute honor to be nominated. “I’m going to evolve, as long as the world revolves”.

• Deeba: I have read that you took up writing just to keep your fingers busy! Share with us more. What’s your background and how did your train yourself to be a writer?

  Alexander: I did, too. I used to smoke for the British Olympic Team, 60 cigarettes a day and I gave up overnight. I had to find something publicly acceptable to do with my hands and find an outlet for my wildest cravings, so I wrote a book.

  I’d been an editor, journalist and publisher before getting involved in PR and communications, so I’d written millions of words: speeches, magazine articles, op-eds, press releases, white papers and pretty much every sort of document you could think of. So I thought why not? I had no idea of how much I didn’t know about writing books and, to be honest, if I had known I might well not have had the courage to start.

  But start I did and soon found myself enjoying myself thoroughly writing a spoof of international spy thrillers. You know the sort of thing, man finds shadowy cabal which is trying to rule the world and sets out to defeat them while seducing a very lovely girl and then getting her and saving the world just in time for tea. I wrote a book that sort of clamped jump leads onto the nipples of that genre and plugged them into the mains. It was tremendous fun to write, although I’m not so sure it’s quite as much fun to read. I thought it was enormously funny and still do, but have to note that one of its first Amazon reviews was ‘This book is not funny.’

• Deeba: You have written six books and have self-published them by choice! Share with us your journey.Which is your favorite piece of your work and why?

  Alexander: I sent that first book off to agents in London and sat back leafing through luxury yacht catalogues to see which one I’d buy with the advance on my royalties and was devastated to get back a photocopied slip saying ‘No’ from them. I was to get 100 more before I realized Space my first, intended to be funny, book wasn’t going to make me the billions.

  One of the last agents wrote a note on their slip, ‘Look, humour doesn’t sell, dear boy’ and that made me decide to write a serious book, so I wrote Olives – A Violent Romance, a thriller about a young British journalist who goes to live and work in Jordan. A got a load more rejections for that, then a request for a ‘full read’ which is sort of like a major date.

  I waited three months and they came back to me with ‘It’s a bit low-key’ and that put me into a blind fury. I mean, blackmail, terrorism, betrayal, bombs, dead people and smashed dreams are all ‘low key’? I stormed off in a rage and wrote Beirut – An Explosive Thriller which is a testosterone-soaked international spy thriller. That one landed me an agent, who shopped the book around London’s 14 top publishers. After seven months, they’d all said ‘No’ in various ways. I sent him Olives, to see if he could sell that and, three months later, he hadn’t bothered to read it. At that point, I jacked it in. If my own agent couldn’t be bothered to read my work, I’m done with conventional publishing. I took great personal pleasure in terminating our relationship.

  I self-published Olives, printing 2,000 copies in Dubai and then putting it up for sale on Amazon, Apple et al. It attracted a lot of critical acclaim, then controversy and then sales and it sold out. Meantime, I went on to write Shemlan – A Deadly Tragedy, which was the third in what I call the ‘Levant Cycle’, a trilogy of sorts, they follow a roughly contiguous timeline and share many of the same characters.

  Of the three, Shemlan is by far my favourite, it’s more nuanced and complex, but is still a thriller. I barely bothered with agents, just self-published it right after I’d self-published Beirut – An Explosive Thriller.

  I was advised by someone in publishing who knows what they're talking about to 'get out of the Middle East', so I wrote a new thriller A Decent Bomber, set in Northern Ireland. It’s about an ex-IRA man who becomes a farmer, who’s yanked back out of retirement when a bunch of Somali crook-cum-terrorists blackmails him into making bombs for them.

  A bestselling author pal asked me where my next book was to be set. 'Northern Ireland' I replied. He plunged his head into his hands and moaned, 'Dear boy, next to the Middle East, that's the worst place in the world to set a book, if you want to sell it to British agents and publishers. Set one in Tuscany. They holiday there and feel they understand it.'

  Which, in its way, is both funny and profoundly depressing.

  My newest book is psychological thriller Birdkill. It's set in the UK, which was by no means intentional. So much so that I went to some lengths in the book to disguise its actual location.

  A Decent Bomber took a good two years to write. Having finished it, I found Birdkill was in my head and it wouldn't go away, a sort of brain eating maggot of a thing which wrapped me up in a mad, obsessive dash to bring the book to life. So that was written in about six weeks from start to finish. Which is all a bit mad, to be honest. And I do consider Birdkill to be my best work to date. It’s the book I’m most proud of, for a number of reasons. But I still like Shemlan, a lot.

• Deeba: What’s your take on self-publishing?

  Alexander: I'm so glad I did it in many ways, but I must caution anyone looking at the self publishing route that it can be both exhausting and distracting. I would still rather traditionally publish, but as long as conventional publishers reject my books as too unconventional, I have little choice but to go direct to the reader!

• Deeba: Share with us your 5 favorite books. And what are you currently reading?

  Alexander: Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet is a remarkable work that captures a certain Egypt of a certain period and renders it timeless in a gloriously sensual portrayal of a world we’ve lost. The quartet is a collection of four books that form an interlinear – they each tell the same story through a different narrator’s perspective. It’s a mesmerising journey. Michael Oondatje’sEnglish Patient. Waugh’s A Handful of Dust. The Honourable Schoolboy is my favourite Le Carré and TE Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom is a book I have long treasured.

  I’ve just finished reading Ernl Bradford’s brilliant account of the Fourth Crusade. Stellar stuff, honestly! And now I’m onto Steve Coll’s stunning Directorate S, which is a history of the conflict in Afghanistan from 2001-16. His previous work on the CIA in Afghanistan, Ghost Wars won him a Pulitzer and Directorate S should get him another. It’s a fascinating, profoundly alarming book for anyone who questions how we’ve been prosecuting our glibly labelled ‘war on terror’.

• Deeba: What is your writing process? How long do you take to finish a book and how long does it take for you to edit it? Do you use an external editor or do you self-edit?

  Alexander: I don’t really have a process as such, but have learned the hard way that planning ahead is a good thing. I’ll generally have a book sketched out before I start writing. I wrote Olives in a month and took seven years editing and honing it, while other books have taken a more conventional 3-6 months. A Decent Bomber took a good two years but then I wrote Birdkill in six weeks as a massive sigh of relief.

  A Decent Bomber was hard because it is set very close to home. I met a former IRA man as part of my research for the book and came away realizing I’d written a cartoon and had to pick myself up and redo things because he was so very, very scary and yet had a humanity and humour to him. I hope that comes through in Pat now, because it hadn’t before. That one meeting cost me a good six to eight months.

  I used to use editors, but I now self-edit. It takes a while to get into the groove of editing, there are a whole load of ‘rules’ and things to look out for that signal sloppy writing or bad practice – and the trick is knowing when to rein things in and when to let them go. It’s really not about finding grammatical errors, I do have a proofreader who does that for me and she’s wonderful. She bullies commas and is horrid to full stops.

  The last book I had professionally edited was Shemlan. My editor took about 20,000 words of backstory out of the MS to make the story ‘race along’ more. Five years later, I put them back in again. I liked my backstory and it was actually key to the book I wanted to write. I suppose at the core of it, I don’t like being told what to do.

• Deeba: Do you ever get writer’s block? How do you handle it?

  Alexander: That all depends. Do you mean writer’s block as in ‘I can’t work out where the hell this scene is supposed to go now?’ or as in ‘That’s it. I don’t want to write another book. I’m fed up with the whole damn thing and there’s not a shred of an original idea in my tawdry, humdrum excuse for a mind.’?

  The former’s a doddle. Cup of tea or take a few hours off – I usually take it to bed and dream the solution. The latter’s a bite of the Black Dog and takes longer to solve. If you have an elegant solution, do let me know.

• Deeba: On a personal front, what does a weekend mean to you? Your favorite pastime?

  Alexander: Tootling around the UAE looking up archaeological sites. There are a whole host of lost cities and hints of ancient peoples dotted around here and nobody seems to care quite enough to build things like visitor centres – outside the amazing visitor centre at Sharjah’s Mleiha, which I would recommend to anyone looking at a day trip outside the city. I’m very fond of finding a hotel somewhere nice and just going for a big, fat relax. Hatta’s brilliant for that.

• Deeba: There is one question that I throw at all my guests, what is your favorite non-alcoholic drink?

  Alexander: Tea. The drink that refreshes and does not intoxicate.

• Deeba: What would be your advice to the aspiring authors of ‘The Write Scene,’ who are on the road to get published?

  Alexander: Read. Write. Repeat.

• Deeba: Can we have your views on our new initiative of ‘Young Author Awards’ to recognize the next generation authors under the age of 30?

  Alexander: It’s an excellent idea. Anything that helps young people (or old people for all that) to write is a good thing. The Middle East, in particular, isn’t very good at telling its own stories. And if you don’t tell your story, someone else will do it for you – and you’ll be very unlikely to enjoy the result.

• Deeba: At what age did you start writing? Share with us an anecdote.

  Sanil: I started young. I started a blog and then I got around the world.

• Deeba: Rebound is your 3rd novel, what’s next? At what stage is your next project?

  Sanil: There are some projects in the pipeline. You shall hear about them soon.

• Deeba: How did you get published? Share with us your journey to publication?

  Sanil: It's a simple story of persistence. I used to send some of my work to various editors and they often sent me their feedback. Some did some didn't. I took the feedback and always worked on it and sent back for more feedback.

• Deeba: What is your writing process and how do you deal with writer’s block?

  Sanil: I don't get writer’s block. There is so much to write about. I always have something to write. I am a travel person. I usually write best while travelling and interacting with new people, experiencing new places.

• Deeba: What do you read? Share with us your favourite fiction and non-fiction book. What are you currently reading?

  Sanil: I read both, fiction and non-fiction. My personal favourite from recent books I have read is Mitch Albom’s work. He knows how to paint reality through fiction. I’d love to write a book with him too!

• Deeba: What is your opinion about our initiative, ‘Young Author Awards’?

  Sanil: It is a great initiative. Appreciation and recognition is always a great initiative. I feel this is a perfect platform for the next generation authors.

• Deeba: Take us through your normal writing day?

  Sanil: I don't sit at one place and write. I like to make notes and then put them all together later. I don't write in order. I write as it comes and then put the pieces together. A messy cupboard being organized is the ideal analogy of my process.

• Deeba: There is one question that I throw at all my guests, what is your favourite non-alcoholic drink?

  Sanil: Mango Juice! There’s a sense of comfort, belonging and a homely feeling each time I take a sip of cold mango juice. Maybe, it stems from being younger and chugging pints of it, although the limit was one glass a day!

• Deeba: I read in one of your interviews that you consider yourself a cook, what does cooking mean to you?

  Sanil: Oh I love cooking but that doesn’t mean I’m good at it. I love eating, I consider myself better at doing this!

• Deeba: What would be your advice to the aspiring authors of ‘The Write Scene,’ who are looking to get published?

  Sanil: Persistence is the key. Never give up. Keep going, one step, one action and one word at a time.

• Deeba: Can we have your views on our new initiative of  ‘Young Author Awards’  to recognize the next generation authors under the age of 30?

  Sanil: I’m so glad to see something like this. These are things that will contribute to keep youngsters motivated.

• Deeba: You are a humorist and a thinker, do we see some similarity there with PG Wodehouse? Is he your strongest inspiration/influence?

  P.G.Bhaskar: Well, firstly Deeba, thank you for referring to me as a ‘thinker’! That is a first for me and makes me feel terribly important! But to answer your question, I was not inspired by Wodehouse to write but yes, I am an ardent admirer of his and have read his books many times over.

• Deeba: You are an Author who has warned his readers that you are not done yet! How much more would you tease them? What is the next book you are working on?

  P.G.Bhaskar: I am working on two things right now. One is the third in the ‘Jack Patel’ series, after ‘Jack Patel’s Dubai Dreams’ and ‘Jack is Back in Corporate Carnival’. The other is a collection of thoughts, stories, and quips on various subjects. Whether these turn into ‘books’ or not, only time will tell. I write for pleasure, though always in hope.

• Deeba: Your first book was ‘Jack Patel’s Dubai Dreams’ with Penguin and then your next two books ‘I Stole Her Story’ and ‘So Who Says I Am Middle Aged’ were with Cinnamon Teal and now your latest release ‘The Silliest Autobiography in the World’ is with HarperCollins. In common knowledge, if one book is published with one publishing house, they invariably take all other books and one does not have to go looking for a different publisher. Your experience indicates something else. Can you share with our readers how does publishing work?

  P.G.Bhaskar: You are partly correct. I have actually done three with Harper Collins (India) - ‘Corporate Carnival’, ‘Mad in Heaven’ and most recently ‘Silliest Autobiography .. ’ So it can work that way. But editors and publishers do tend to move from one publishing house to another, so sometimes authors move too. Besides, there could be differences – creative, financial, marketing and any other – so that could also explain a switch. Besides, there is competitive pressure between publishing houses as well, which could explain a change to a rival publishing company.

• Deeba: Did you consider having a Literary Agent? What was your experience?

  P.G.Bhaskar: Very briefly, in the initial stages. But I have never had an agent, so I don’t really know how it works. I have friends who have worked with literary agents and I have mixed reports from them.

• Deeba: Have read on HarperCollins site that you ponder on as varied topics as ‘policy of Trump’ to the ‘lost handkerchief’ (Yours not Trumps!)!  This line definitely has to have come from you! Share with us, please! Even your FB posts cracks us up! Are you as humorous in your daily life and at work? Or have you saved this side of you for your writings?

  P.G.Bhaskar: I confess I wrote that. I used to be very serious as a child. But somewhere down the line, I started looking at life through a prism of humor. In person, I respond differently to different people. There are some people who find me funny and there are others (who shall not be named) who find me boring and grumpy.

• Deeba: Your top five favorite books and authors? What are you currently reading?

  P.G.Bhaskar: This is a little embarrassing.  I must admit that I have, over the last few years, not done much reading. A couple of names that do come to mind are Bill Bryson and Chitra Divakaruni

• Deeba: What is your writing process? How long does it take for you to write a book? Who do you edit your books with?

  P.G.Bhaskar: I don’t know if I have a process. Only with ‘Mad In Heaven’ did I have a synopsis of some sort before I started writing. With all others, I simply started on them and then let it flow.

• Deeba: Do you ever get writer’s block? How do you handle it?

  P.G.Bhaskar: Well, I haven’t done much writing in the last three years, except little snippets here and there. I’m wondering if that is a block of sorts. But it’s probably just lack of motivation because the publishing process can be tedious.

• Deeba: On a personal front, what does a weekend mean to you?  And what is your favorite non-alcoholic drink?

  P.G.Bhaskar: Just the usual stuff. I like to spend time with the family, do some yoga maybe, watch a film … that kind of thing. My all-time favorite beverage is the good old masala chai, made the proper Indian way, with some milk and plenty of sugar!

• Deeba: What strategy would you recommend to aspiring authors of ‘The Write Scene,’ who are working on their manuscripts?

  P.G.Bhaskar: Whatever works for them. I am not sure if one person’s strategy would work as well for another. But do learn to keep kicking your own butt. Else, it’s all too easy to let things drift.

• Deeba: Can we have your views on our new initiative of  ‘Young Author Awards’  to recognize the next generation authors under the age of 30?

  P.G.Bhaskar: I’m so glad to see something like this. These are things that will contribute to keeping youngsters motivated.

To know more about our guest, please log into his website: PGBhaskar.com