Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
The Counter Terrorist is my maiden attempt at fiction writing. Now about me:
Robert Donator writes about what’s important and not just what is interesting. He sides with difficult ideologies and unpopular arguments. To muzzle an individual who struggles with history and an ideology turns him into a dangerous figure in times that command great conformity. This book may be barred in India as it demolishes several sacred shibboleths promoted by political parties.
Robert, an intense observer of Indian politics and an occasional writer is a descendant of Englishmen who came to India to serve the British crown was born in May 1966. His grandfather Nigel, as a major in the British army saw action against the Japanese in Burma under Field Marshall Sir William Slim. Robert’s father Richard became a part of the legatees of John Company or the East India Company. He became a tea planter in the hills of Darjeeling, the same place where Robert grew up and went to school. His two siblings, both sisters, went away to London to settle down there after finishing their schooling in Kurseong, in the district of Darjeeling.
However, Robert who was too much in love with Bengal and India had decided to settle down in Calcutta permanently, which was once the capital of Lord Robert Clive’s business empire. It later became the first capital of the British government in India before it was shifted to Delhi. He is married to Dipti, a quintessential Bengali who hails from an old aristocratic family of Calcutta. They had met at a golf club of which they are both active members. They have two sons, Prasun and Sujon who though they found cricket more alluring than their studies, yet managed to pursue higher studies in New College, Oxford.
Robert is a tea taster with a former British firm now under Indian ownership in Calcutta. He lives in the same sprawling bungalow that his grandfather had built decades ago in Alipore, surrounded by stately trees with acres of green lawns interspersed with flower beds of various hues, which both he and Dipti personally nurture with much care. They still play their rounds of golf starting at dawn at the green Tollygunj Club, whenever they are not holidaying in exotic locations. Otherwise, it is tennis or the swimming pool that keeps them active in the event of the golf course becoming out of bounds due to the vagaries of nature.
What began as a casual diary for recording his reactions to world events, specifically to matters relating to escalating Islamist terrorism that has affected India no less, he took to writing seriously. Out of his meticulously researched efforts, a political thriller, a maiden attempt he has called The Counter Terrorist has emerged. It is about an ordinary young man rudely jettisoned from a cozy life of domesticity and thrust into an unfamiliar life of a detested and short-lived Jihadi. Can he survive in such violence charged surroundings of which he had no desire to be a part?
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Counter Terrorist. It is inspired by the fact that trying to eradicate terrorism by force alone will not work like trying to wipe out malaria by spraying insecticides. Only a counter force from within can tackle it by striking it at its roots.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes, I write against the mainstream that endorses politically correct writings with an eye on winning awards and good reviews from the Left and Liberal cabals that control public opinion to compel people to stay within the parameters set by them. I have my own rules that refuses to fall within any watertight compartment like Right Wing, Leftist, Liberal etc.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Too numerous to list here as it includes classics, contemporary fiction, thrillers, religious books, management books, books on psychology etc.
What are you working on now?
My second book also a fiction with action and adventure as its central theme where a lone wolf tries to rectify things he feels needs to be set right without being accountable to anyone but his own conscience.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Amazon, Goodreads
Do you have any advice for new authors?
You can write the best books in the market but unless they get reviews they won’t sell as people will be moved when others have liked it.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Show don’t tell.
What are you reading now?
The five Hadiths of Islam
What’s next for you as a writer?
My next book tentatively titled The Tyranny of Memories
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?
1.How to make a tent out of leaves and branches. 2. Spearfishing in the sea. 3. Making potable water from seawater. 4. How to make fire out of dry leaves and twigs.
Author Websites and Profiles
Robert Donator Website
Robert Donator Amazon Profile
Robert Donator’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile