Soul Cosmic by Himani

Q1. Tell us something about yourself.

Ans) I am a professional data analyst and an enthusiastic writer. Being a fan of crime thrillers and mysteries, I had many times thought about how the stories could have been different and during my college days, had decided to put down my thoughts into writing. Many of my stories have been selected in competitions organized by various publishers and are published as a part of different anthologies. My debut book, “The Fire of Retribution”, is traditionally published by one of the fastest-growing publishers. I am staying in Kolkata with my family.

Q2. How many novels have you written? What is the Genre of your book?

Ans) The Fire of Retribution is my debut book. It’s a mystery thriller. Apart from this novel, a few of my short stories are also published in various anthologies. I am currently working on my next set of books, one of which is with Suhail Mathur, my literary agent.

Q3. How did you feel about being a Debut Writer?

Ans) It feels great. The book has received much appreciation and good reviews. To be honest, I haven’t got a single genuine bad review. Readers are happy. And most importantly, people have started referring to me as an author. Every time someone calls me an author, I feel ecstatic.

Q4. What inspired you to write books?

Ans) It was not something that inspired me to write books. I am an avid reader and during my college days I started delving into Indian contemporary English books. I found that the plot and narratives are simple, and this made me feel as if I can also write something like those. Hence, one day I sat down and started typing.

Q5. Are you a full-time writer as a profession or you are into something else?

Ans) Being a full-time writer in India is a bit challenging. By profession, I am a Data Analyst and Power BI reporting SME working at Wipro Technologies in Kolkata. But yes, one day I surely dream of taking my passion for writing to such an extent that I can become a full-time writer.

Q6. Generally, most people write novels, some way or the other they are associated with the story. Is it your story in some way?

Ans) I am not associated with the story but to be honest, the idea of the book came to me when I was in college. So, the book revolves around college students only. A few college scenarios are from my real experiences.

Q7 What challenges did you face while publishing your debut book.

Ans) The major challenge in getting traditionally published is getting the publisher on board with the book. During the initial phases, I sent the proposal to so many publishers and spoke to so many people attached to the industry, but all went in vain. I faced one rejection after another. Few even asked for huge sums of money to get my book published. Then one fine evening, I got a response from Suhail Mathur from the Book Bakers, India’s one of the best literary agents. He agreed to take up my book and from then on, the journey went smoothly.

Q8. Which character in your books you are most connected with and why?

Ans) There is not one character but three of them. The main protagonists of the book, Siddharth, Subham, and Puja, all of them share different attributes of mine. Like my asthma made Subham asthmatic, my hemophobia made Puja homophobic, and so on. If you combine these three characters, then you’ll get someone that resembles me a lot.

Q9. Tell us something about your professional journey other than writing. How did you balance both writing and profession?

Ans) I am a professional data analyst. The balance between Data Storytelling and actual Storytelling is obviously a little difficult. During lockdowns, it was easy to do both as we all were working from home but now, with the hybrid model in play, it is difficult to manage both. But again, we all need to find some time for our hobbies and passion and that is how I manage to find gaps of time from my work schedule and use it for my writing.

Q10. How long it took you to complete your book?

Ans) I started writing this book during my 3rd college year, back in 2017. Then I got a corporate job and the pressure made me forget about it. I resumed again during the lockdowns and completed the book in early 2022. So, it took me around 5 years to write The Fire of Retribution with a long gap in the middle.

Q11. Are there any authors or books that inspired your writing Journey?

Ans) Absolutely. I am a big fan of Sherlock Holmes and Poirot apart from our Bengali Detectives such as Feluda and Byomkesh. These surely inspired me. Talking about contemporary ones, I can see the series heading towards something that happens in the Cormoran Strike series by J.K. Rowling (Robert Galbraith).

Q12. What sparked your passion for storytelling?

Ans) This is an interesting one. Basically, I started writing during my 3rd college year just to show my girlfriend that I can also write similar stories. I have grown up reading detective stories and have woven my own plots many times. Hence, suddenly the passion for writing emerged and I kept on doing it.

Q13. What is your favorite genre in writing or Reading both ?

Ans) I mostly prefer thrillers. Be it mystery or psychological, I am a sucker for thrillers. Also, I like horror and classics as well.

Q14. What was the most surprising review you got from your readers which made you smile?

Ans) The Book garnered a lot of good reviews and all of them were surprising to me as I hadn’t expected readers to love the book so much. One thing that surprised me the most was that I had mentioned a lot of scenarios that even today are seen as a taboo in our society. I had expected readers to dislike it and backlash but nothing of that sort happened. As I have heard from a few readers that all those stayed with the plot and made the story.

Q15. “The fire of retribution” … Retribution means a criminal act. A unique title. How did you find such a unique title? Give a small blurb about your book?

Ans) The book dwells on a murder, and what can be a better motive to kill someone other than revenge? That is where the idea came to me. For the title, I am very bad with names and have struggled a lot but in the end got fixated on The Fire of Retribution.

Blurb –

They say, ‘Revenge is a dish best served cold’. But what if someone serves it hot, so hot that it burns a man alive?

        Siddharth Bose, an amateur detective from Kolkata, befriends Subham and Puja on his first day at college. With the discovery of the charred body of a professor known for his kindness and charity, Siddharth soon becomes entangled with the murder. Tagging his friends along, he starts digging into the case, and the deeper they go, the more they get entwined in the dark world of prostitution, drugs, and sadism.

        With a notorious police officer on their tail, will the trio be able to find the killer? or will they end up in jail for hampering the official investigation?

        The answers lie in the pages of this fast-paced page-turning crime thriller.

Q16. Why did you choose a Crime thriller as a debut novel? Generally, people go with Romantic novels.

Ans) Since childhood, I have been an avid fan of crime thrillers. I grew up reading Bengali detective stories and imagining my own stories. Hence, the genre is very close to me. I am also trying some other genres but I wish to be mentioned as a Thriller Author.

Q17. How confident you were while writing this book that it will be appreciated by Audience?

Ans) I was not at all confident, I was suffering from the fear of rejection and failure and when the time came for me to send out the proposals, I only got rejections in the beginning. Confidence came to me by the name of Suhail Mathur, who after going through my proposal, conveyed to me that he doesn’t only feel the story to be good but also sees a lot of potential in it. That was probably the time when I started feeling good about what I wrote.

Q18. How do you connect with your readers?

Ans) I am a part of a great community of readers called the Kolkata Bookworms Club. I have met many readers there and got valuable feedback.

I am also available on Facebook and Instagram (SouvikC535). Readers can also reach me at author.souvik@gmail.com

Q19. Give some advice to new writers and message your readers.?

Ans) Advice to new writers – If you are planning to write a thriller then I would suggest you plan out the ending first. How the crime is committed, who is doing it, and how he gets caught, that’s it. Maintain these three points in the story. It will help you to plot the twists better and the ending will be justified better.

Message to the readers – My book, The Fire of Retribution, not only gives you some unique ideas about committing crimes but also has a little violence in it. Being the author, I have plotted those thinking about the story only. The whole package is only for your entertainment and relaxation purposes. I would request my readers not to get inspired by the story and commit a crime. If this happens then I would feel that I have failed as an author.

Book Link: https://amzn.in/d/hUUzk2w