An Interaction Between Author Pawana & Author Shreyan Laha.
Pawana Tripathi is a feminist poet from Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh who has authored five poetry books, namely ‘Emotional Streams’, ‘Warrior in Her’, ‘Shattering of Fear’, ‘Omnibus Saga’ and “She’. She is also the co-founder of Kavyam, a literature platform and has won the author of the year by Hanuel Publication, she has been awarded by more than 10 firms and institutions along with she has been interviewed by more than 20 media and newspapers too.
Shreyan Laha is a sci fi author who has four books of the genre to his name: ‘Not Worth Living For’, ‘A Tiny Reason to Live’, ‘A Year Without Summer’ and the latest one, Virtually Lost. He has won numerous accolades for his writing including the Rajiv Gandhi Youth Literary Award in 2014 and Top 50 Influential Authors by Delhi Wire in 2021. He works in Indian Railways and is an alumni of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar. Besides writing, he loves watching football and collecting perfumes.
Author Pawana :- Hello author, tell us about your writing career start and all motivation and challenges you faced ..?
Author Shreyan – I started writing blogs in 2009. One day, one of my articles was reblogged in a once famous blog (which now stands deleted). This gave me confidence to go for the larger format. I published my first book in 2014, which was pretty imaginative yet juvenile but then, it also bagged me the Rajiv Gandhi Youth Literary Award. The first challenge I have faced being in a small town is networking. Back then, I knew no one. My only connections with publishers were online. Now, after establishing a fair bit of knowledge about publishing, it is required to find the right publisher. For new authors, publishing is such a roadblock and thankfully, I have come across Bigfoot and Griffin.
Author Pawana – Out of all of your books, which one leaves a bit of sour taste in your mouth?
Author Shreyan – This is tricky. I would say “Not Worth Living For”. It was my debut sci-fi book but at that point of time, I had a pretty nihilistic outlook on life. Hence, the book was steeped in fatalism. The chief protagonist is a college girl from Mumbai and the guy is a spy from the RSV headquartered in Moscow. Now, just like any other Indian – I wanted to write about a fictional character who works for R&AW and not the Russian intelligence. However, I had to skip the idea with a heavy heart owing to the fact that one: it would be a tremendous responsibility; and two, during that time period we were seeing a lot of films and books being harshly criticised of their infantile portrayal of agents in national service. I do not want to be clubbed in that group.
Author Pawana:- How do you go about your novel – it’s planning and execution..?
Author Shreyan – A bit of MS Excel always helps. I keep tabs of various characters and how their characters would progress in every chapter. Earlier I felt it was a tedious task, but its just like gym – you get used to it and the difference in your work shows. Apart from that, I write the chapter outlines I.e. each chapter in four or five lines in advance. They come in handy when I have to explain my novel to a publisher.
Author Pawana:- Why gave you chosen the genre sci – fi particularly?
Author Shreyan – I needed to find a niche where I could both find interest, and flourish. In the early 2010s, there was a flood of books in the young-adult / romance genre. Mythology, too was gradually taking up space. Children’s stories are either thrust down the schools or never have any sales. Horror genre was rising; but going behind something without any interest would be cheap bandwagoning. On top of that, my first book was a paranormal romance already.
Science fiction was the only focus I could find. Besides, Meanwhile, I was also inspired by writers like Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov. Aldous Huxley too. Hence, I decided to give sci fi a try.
Author Pawana :- Have you visited somewhere ever specially for writing any novel..?
Author Shreyan: I wish. Once I went to Amarkantak to write a novel but I was quickly reminded of other responsibilities, so it didn’t come to fruition.
Author Pawana:- What character you loved writing the most..?
Author Shreyan: Plines of ‘A Tiny Reason to Live’. He was the comic relief in an otherwise novel attempt for me. It was for the first time I wrote about an actual space adventure. Much like Star Wars. Comic relief in serious stuff always makes the work more interesting!
Xaria of ‘Virtually Lost’ would be a close second. It was a tremendous responsibility writing such a character. Xaria is a sixteen year old girl who is educated by a cult which doesn’t believe in any restrictions and celebrate a weekly rave festival where everyone is allowed to do whatever they wish. As a human being, she comes across as a really kind and compassionate human being. I had to restructure some parts of the initial plot while writing about her entire character. It felt like I was scriptwriting for a movie!
Author Pawana:- What do you think about your future writing new novel or any sequel…?
Author Shreyan: I havent thought of a sequel, although I have plans for a new novel. It will be out later this year or in early 2024.
Author Pawana :- Brief about Virtually Lost and challenges about writing from woman’s point of view..?
Author Shreyan: I consider it one of the challenges an author must undertake. Observation skills are paramount in any good literature. Writing from the point of view of the opposite sex is one of the parameters. When I thought of writing a story from a woman’s point of view, I wasn’t really thinking of anything. Just a change from the usual characters I write would be fine, I thought.
So, I went ahead and as the story kept shaping – I loved the output. The only challenge I faced were the description of reactions. A boy and a girl might react way different to the same situation. Before every line, I had to sit back and assume as to how the women I know might proceed with the plot. Funny thing is, few people have noticed this and cared to leave a comment. This might be one of the rare incidents where I can consider apathy as a parameter for success!
Author Pawana:- What’s your opinion about my book SHE that you have gone through recently…?
Author Shreyan: How should I put it? It’s deep and at the same time meant for the masses, which are often seen as two opposing attributes. You have done a commendable job writing this book due to the fact that I’m more into novels than poems. Besides, at your age, I barely knew enough about body, relationships, soceital positioning etc.
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