Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I come from a charmingly sleepy town of Siliguri, located in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India. I now reside in Delhi-NCR. I am completely brought up in Siliguri and I worked as a computer teacher in the best schools of India and then moved on to New Delhi to start a career in international conference and exhibition management.
Mountains and Manhattan is my debut novel.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Mountains to Manhattan is my debut novel. The novel speaks of a pristine culture and a struggle for its survival and it upholds human aspirations and its subtle nuances. The book is gender sensitive and written from the depths of the author’s heart and not merely for the sake of writing. It reflects the family values and solidarity in struggle; it is a celebration of feminine courage and youthful dream of an aspiring adult. It is also a classic in its own right because it is the first novel about Tibetan nationality crisis.
No one has written so closely in a form of a fiction about the nationality crisis faced by the Tibetan people in India, I thought of giving a voice. I always believe a fiction is a popular media to take a serious issue to the general populace.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am a method writer. I do all my research, jot them down, plan out the plot and then start writing. When I write, I am deep into the characters, place and time. I prefer writing at night and I write at a stretch for days. If I take a break then I lose the involvement.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
All my all time favorite authors are all from the Bengali literature. Namely, Sarat Chandra Chattapadhay, Bamkim Chandra Chattopadhay, Rabindranath Tagore, Bibhutibhusan Bandhopadhay, Shankar, Sunil Gangopadhay, Sukumar Roy, Satyajit Roy, Manik Bandhopadhay, Samresh Mazumder, Suchitra Bhattacharya and many many more…
Among the English writers I like John Grisham, Dan Brown, Khaled Hosseini, Ashwin Sanghvi are to name a few.
What are you working on now?
I have just started working on my next plot.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
All social media channels and book tours are the best way to promote books. More the personal interaction an author have with the readers is the better. It help in sales.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read, read and read whatever you can lay your hands on. Irrespective of the genre, good or bad writing. For obvious reasons you will leave the bad writing and learn from it that what you didn’t like. Do not repeat in your writing.
While in the planning stage of a book, don’t plan the ending. It will come up as you progress and while you write do not think of grammar, choice of words etc, just keep writing. All these can be improved later.
Listen to the criticisms and preferences of your trusted ‘first readers.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Whether your book get published or not as a writer you should keep on writing.
What are you reading now?
The Summons, John Grisham
What’s next for you as a writer?
It is on a development state.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Very tough to reply. I would pick all from the Bengali Literature.
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