Today I have a unique voice, a responsible writer with me. The author of a book that mesmerized me with the imagery and unexpected twists.
Please Welcome Tushar Sen, author of Pandora’s Box.
Hi Tushar,
Welcome to my virtual teté-a-teté
Tell us about the journey of a banker to a writer.
My romance with writing began a decade ago when I started writing short stories for magazines and contests. Though I took sometime to take that leap of faith. I’m still a banker by the day and a writer thereafter. I believe the journey has just begun.
How did your interest in Geo-Political Scenario develop?
I believe every responsible writer has an unsaid connection with the geo-political scenario around, because it shapes the fabric of development and civic order of every nation. No one is insulated from the repercussions of a deteriorating geo-political situation world over. I therefore felt compelled to write about such issues and let my readers experience hard hitting tales that will urge them to be more compassionate and responsibly responsive to world disarray.
Do you have specific political inclination?
I believe in development and progress of humankind. I believe in providing food to every citizen than enforcing what they can or cannot eat. I believe in fueling power plants to lighten up villages rather than fueling vehicles to outer space. I believe political and religious leaders are meant to unite people and not otherwise.
Where did the imagery of the stories like WWI come to your mind?
That’s an interesting question, actually the idea first germinated in my mind when I wrote my poem the spider’s wedding and then later heard about the story of actrurus constellation and oysters. The Free Fall was the first story in this series. I wanted to experiment story telling from a different perspective, one that goes unnoticed mostly even right under our noses. Also, it makes a reader weave a different story while reading and the twist in the end makes her read it again with a different perspective. The revelation in the end serves well as a surprise element and a second reading then seems like putting up LEGO pieces referring a manual.
How much research do you do?
The foundation of any story inspired by true events is – research. Doing extensive research is easy in this age of Web 2.0, what’s difficult is making sense of the exhaustive data and weave a story that might appeal to a larger audience. My research is thorough to the extent that I make my characters jump off the page to dazzle my readers.
What made you decide to sit down and actually start something?
It started as an anthology of my work; the short stories I had written for magazines and contests. But then they weren’t sufficient for a book sized collection, so I decided to write a book instead. My priority being good narration, shocking but real ending and a gripping tale. Narration makes me anxious, I’m known to re-do /re-work the entire story over and over again if the narration isn’t up to the mark to the extent that even my publishers were flustered. Every paragraph I write undergoes a scrutiny and innumerable re-work till it reflects good literature rather than pulp.
Did you do a press release, Goodreads book launch or anything else to promote your work and did it work?
I did a Goodreads giveaway and the response was overwhelming. I did a countdown on facebook and twitter where I released posters of each of my stories everyday. A friend of mine extended her helping hand and ran a contest on instagram.
Why do you think that other well written books just don’t sell?
Authors feel they have arrived in life once their books hit the stores, but the bitter reality is that not many would know his/her book is released. So even if the content is good mankind needs to know it has arrived. Selling is a function of awareness. Rich authors mostly hire PR agencies and the other authors opt for smart shoe-string-budget strategies to publicise their work.
What do you think of “trailers” for books?
Ofcourse, a visual medium works wonders. It instigates curiosity and gives a fair idea about the novel in 90 seconds. What more can you ask for.
Do you have a trailer or do you intend to create one for your own book/s?
Infact I do, it is a 90 second trailer made by me using basic animation softwares, the music however is by my favourite classical composer – Orff. The video caught on very quickly with 40000 views already. You can check out the trailer Here
Do you think that giving books away free works and why?
It works when you give away to the right set of audience; voracious readers, reviewers, influential persons, libraries, well-wishers and so on and so forth.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Write well, read it several times and don’t approach publishers until you start loving your work. Content is king, re-work on your draft till the time it’s devoid of mistakes, critics are mostly fair and not compassionate. The urge to write something different should not overpower a good narration and a story readers would relate to.
Where do you see publishing going in the future?
Future publishing is impatient owing to fierce competition. The window provided to an author to prove himself/herself is getting narrower with time. Having said that, there’s silver lining with the growing statistics of kindle and tablet readers.
Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included?
Not that there’s anything you haven’t included, but it’s my personal observation that in India very little is done to promote literature, I understand there are budgetary constraints but there can be ways to encourage talent without spending a lot of money. Secondly, our called LitFests need to accommodate fresh talent alongside the veterans.
How can readers discover more about you and you work?
Readers can always connect with me through twitter, facebook, Goodreads and email (sen.tushar@hotmail.com)
Website: www.panbox.in Facebook: facebook.com/tushar.sen.737 Twitter: @tusharsarojsen
AMAZON. COM : http://goo.gl/awrLS9
BARNES & NOBLE : http://tinyurl.com/on4lour
FLIPKART: http://goo.gl/WkKzZ4
LANDMARK: http://goo.gl/GjkelQ
CROSSWORD: http://goo.gl/0oY6qc
AMAZON.IN: http://goo.gl/mqgvH7
REDIFF: http://goo.gl/iPJHwQ
Goodreads: http://goo.gl/K22nrG
Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take part in this interview.
Pleasure 🙂
