'I always wanted to write a thriller'

TG: This is the first time that you have ventured into the thriller genre. What kind of challenges did you encounter ?

I have grown up reading thrillers and I always wanted to write one. I had been struggling to write one for years now. Most of the times the premise wasn’t believable enough. I wanted the book to be twisted but in a way that’s relatable. That was the biggest challenge “ to tell a story that readers could believe in.

TG: There have been a few books and movies that centre around memory loss including the Bourne series and recent film Fever. Were you not wary of people drawing comparisons between these and your book?

Not at all. I have seen all these movies in the past but I don’t think it draws anything from them. The only part that’s similar is the memory loss so I wasn’t concerned at all.

TG: What do you think is the best way to handle crazy exes? And have you had to deal with a crazy ex yourself?

I have had to from time to time in the past, and maybe sometimes, I was the crazy ex. I wouldn’t know of any sure shot way to get rid of a crazy ex but getting clean out of a relationship, not being friends immediately after the break-up surely helps.

TG: You've made a name for yourself as an author who writes romance. Most guys shy away from admitting to reading or even watching anything mushy. Looking back do you think you would have been okay if you had known that you would make a name for yourself in this genre?

Absolutely. When you’re young (and often when you’re older) love makes for a major part of everyone’s lives. And I write about characters I see and live and breathe every day and they do fall in love. Falling in love is one the most beautiful things that can happen to anyone. It’s not something to be ashamed of, it’s something to be celebrated. And guys not wanting to read romance is not romance’s fault, it’s the books’ fault.

TG:Considering that you have a huge female fan following and also considering that men and women have different ways of looking at love, do you take advice from your wife while penning your story?

Not really, I don’t. I may ask her for perspective sometimes but that’s rare. And I do believe that men and women do look at love in exactly the same way. It’s just that sometimes the influences men and women grow up in are different and hence their projection differs but how they act is often quite similar.

TG: You've stated previously that you didn't grow as an author in the first three years. Why do you say this?

I was studying and working alongside writing books and wasn’t reading enough books. That I think hampered my writing a lot. I was writing the same book over and over again with different characters but the same emotions. I wasn’t taking writing seriously back then.

TG: You've also mentioned that you take criticism very seriously and it helps you a lot. Could you elaborate on such an instance?

After my first four books, a lot of my readers had started pointing out the repetitions in my books, the use of the same characters, the reliance on an overly commercial name of the book, stretching a franchise too far etc. Over a couple of years it really got to me and I wrote a book that had nothing to do with what I used to write. The book was 'Till the Last Breath' and remains to be one of my highest selling books.

TG: An author almost always puts a little of himself in every book he writes. Which character from your books so far would you say you identify with the most?

I identified most with Deb when I wrote him in my first book. But I have changed now and the character remains the way he was written. But he was the most like me. In my recent books, the characters behave quite differently from how I would.

TG: Your advice to upcoming authors?

Read a lot. That’s the only way to learn how to write. There’s no other way.

TG: Any ideas for upcoming books as yet?

I am working on the next one. Right now, it’s a lot of words and ideas and paragraphs and I don’t really know what’s it all about yet but there will be a central long-arching love story. It might be more than one book.

BOX

SYNOPSIS

After waking up from a coma, Daman learns that the girl who was in the car accident with him has vanished. However her hazy face and name ( Shreyasi) remains fixed in his mind. In an effort to piece together the missing pieces of his memories, Daman starts writing a blog which soon lands him a publishing deal. Under editorial pressure he agrees to change Shreyasi's character a bit. Big mistake. A terrifying beauty who claims to be Shreyasi then begins to stalk and threaten him.