Interview with the one who changed the idea of narration. The author of Surrogate Lies -Shantanu Munshi

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We have a talented writer with us. The one who changed the idea of narration. The author of Surrogate Lies –Shantanu Munshi

Hi Shatanu

Welcome to Outset

Tell us about yourself

I come from the humble foodie city of Indore where most of my upbringing happened. Central India is a place where life is still very relaxed and I most certainly come from that school of belief-one should have a nice balance between everything life throws at you.

I did my engineering from Medicaps Indore and MBA from IIFT Delhi and am currently working in a pvt bank in the cultural city of Chennai.

I am a creative person by heart. I am more comfortable writing poems, articles and stories than crunching numbers and driving sales. I have started on my journey to become a full time author with this first book of mine and I hope that is the first of many to come.

Apart from writing I relish reading fiction, playing lawn tennis, sketching, playing tabla and bathroom singing. I belong to a middle class family with values and hard work as the backbone of its ethos. Reading comics was a vital part of my childhood and one of the reasons I got attracted to writing, though I attribute the writing genes to my grandfathers.

Your book has a different style of narration and overall plot is unconventional. Was that intentional?

Yes, very much so. I wanted the book to be as unique to the readers as possible. That is the beauty of literature or any other art form-it allows one to experiment. In current Indian fiction writing landscape, there is a great scope of introducing variety of writing and I am trying to do my bit.

Going forward too, I intend to continue experimenting in the genre/writing style/narration/Characters, to develop different flavours to my writing and keeping the readers interested.W

When did you recognise that there is a writer hidden inside?

I knew always that I can write. I used to write long answers to short questions in academic examinations and used to read a lot. Though the real journey towards becoming an author/writer began in my late twenties when I started writing articles and poems.

And when I started receiving appreciation from my well-wishers, I knew that I had discovered the writer within.

Are you a roadster? Did you hitchhike or go on a road trip with strangers?

No, not yet. All the travel accounts in the book are pure work of fiction. Though I would like to be involved in such road trips in the future.

How was your publishing experience?

I would rate it as a mixed experience. Obviously the joy of publishing first book overshadowed lot of compromises that I had to make though now I have lot of learnings with me for my subsequent book(s).

I believe that authors are still short changed for their work, though I still give credit to the publishers for taking a chance with first time authors like me.

It is difficult for young writers to have a direction. What is your advice to them?

The first part and most important is-write quality, there is no substitute for it.

It’s easy for young writers to get swayed to get their books published quickly without improving their craft.

Secondly, all young writers should read a lot, should experiment a lot, should create their own style and brand of writing. Write for yourself!

Writers tend to have writer’s block. Did you ever experience one?

No, not yet. I tend to attend to multiple projects at once to keep me occupied-stories/poems etc. which blocks out writer’s block for me.

Are planning your next book?

Yes, I am already deep into my second book. It will be completely different from my first book in terms of the setting/genre etc. It is in continuation with my effort to write something different and experiment.

How can the readers reach you?

Readers can reach me via social media/website or through email, the coordinates of which are below.

Social Media-

https://www.facebook.com/shantanuvina…

https://www.facebook.com/TheSurrogate…

https://twitter.com/shantanumunshi

https://twitter.com/SurrogateLies

https://www.instagram.com/shantanumun…

Website-

https://www.shantanumunshi.com/

Blog-

https://shantanumunshi.blogspot.in/