Please give an intro of your book to the readers.


Fate’s Design is about the protagonist, a socialite, who is the wife of a rich man in Moscow. She finds herself in a struggle to establish her identity while fulfilling her responsibilities towards her family. Fate has her two year old daughter snatched brutally from her. The kidnapping and murder of her daughter act as a catalyst for her to take some difficult decisions.
As it turns out, these decisions not only give her the identity that she had longed for, but also entwine the lives of all the characters around her into a song through struggles of conscience and identity, through the deepest lows and greatest highs, and through the flame of madness and the stings of survival.     
I believe that readers would love the easy flow of events, with delicately constructed scenes that explore deeper themes such as familial love, separation from loved ones, growing up to face the harsh realities of the world, among others. The emphasis has been to explore the raw emotions felt by the humans which portray the characters of my book.


How did you train yourself to write such a complicated theme at this young age.


I am a voracious reader, and firmly believe that books are the best medium of getting to know about beautiful insights of life. The trigger for the book came from a casual conversation that I had with one of my friends one day. He spoke about a girl who gets bullied every day in the school, apparently for reasons that had nothing to do with her. Her father is a famous composer. I started developing the character of Asterope around the father of this girl, and thus she has been shown as a singer in the story. However, I realized that I needed to work on a compelling plot, the other characters, situations and locations. It took me more than a month to prepare the sketch. I then realised that I have to develop a character with shades of a person with unfulfilled desires, and a strong will to establish her own identity, and thus the flow of the story started. 


I watched videos on how to write good stories, I read a lot of books, and of course at every stage wherever I needed help on finer understanding of complexities of life, I consulted my parents, who I must admit have taken a lot of pains to explain things which I could then understand. Beyond this there was no special training that I took. 


Tell us about your background


I am a 14 year old student of Chinmaya Vidyalaya Anna Nagar in Chennai. I have been regularly contributing short stories to my school magazine. I am inquisitive by nature, and love to explore different places and spend time trying to understand the culture of the people there. 


I live in Chennai along with my parents and grandmother. Both my parents are academicians. My father is the Director of RSB Chennai, and my mother is a PGT Mathematics at Dawn School Chennai. This is my first attempt at writing a novel. I also play the piano, and am a Grade 8 student of Trinity College of Music. My musical background was also instrumental in music forming the backbone of the story of Fate’s Design. 


Which genre is your favourite


I like reading dystopian fantasy novels.

Did you maintain a time table or pattern in writing books?


I do not know whether to call it fortuity, but the chanced discussion about the girl who used to be bullied somehow created an impression in my mind. I was in Kolkata then. We shifted to Chennai in 2015. When the entire city of Chennai was struggling with floods in November-December 2015, I had a lot of free time as my school was closed for more than a month. I utilised that time to complete the first draft of my novel. However, I soon realised that the first draft needed a lot of work. I then started devoting as much time as possible, whenever I could, towards fine tuning the first draft. It took me about a year to come up with the revised draft. Thereafter, I worked on it again for the next two to three months with renewed vigour to come up with the final draft that could be sent to the publisher.    


How was the cooperation from your school?


I informed my school only after the book got published. My Principal, teachers, and my classmates were very happy to know about my book.


How was your publishing experience?


As a young boy, I did not have any idea about publishing. I wrote the book, and then left it to my father to talk to publishers and get it published. From him I have come to know about Good Times Books Pvt. Ltd. and am thankful to them for seeing the spark in my writing and accepting my manuscript. I am very happy with the way the proof reading, typesetting, cover page designing and post publication promotions have been and are being done by the publisher.    


How are you planning to promote your book?


Apart from the promotional activities undertaken by Good Times Books Pvt. Ltd., I wish to conduct Book reading sessions in select schools and bookstores in Chennai and Kolkata. The digital marketing platform will also be used for creating awareness and generating interest. 


I hope that readers will like my story telling. I strongly feel that this book could be an inspiration for those who want to live their dreams. Many people today, more than ever before, are going through an existential crisis. However, if one is willing to step out of the confines of their daily lives, and try and pursue their ambition, good things will happen to them in the long run. They should also be willing to face challenges and hardships in the near future, but continue showing resilience to keep moving forward. 


Are there more books in your pipeline


I have a plot to a subsequent book in my mind centred on the lives of two of the main characters of Fate’s Design. The subsequent books will see some dapples of different genres and not remain strictly in the genre of family drama. I have not yet started writing these books, but I most definitely will, in the near future.


How can the readers reach you?


I may be reached through my mail id subhashishdey03@gmail.com. My Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/Subhashish-Dey-164302827480440/ through which all events surrounding my life can be tracked.

I would love to get inputs from the readers, which I believe will help me grow as a writer.