This is another question I get asked very frequently. Why did you choose mystery novel as the genre for your writing?
It is exciting to write a thriller. It is tough to write a thriller. If written well, it keeps the reader hooked. In fact, if thought well, it keeps even the writer hooked, with this process of writing. I have always loved the books that have made me think what next. If I was reading a page turner, my own imagination would be running amok trying to second-guess or parallel-think the plot. Doesn’t matter if it is a work of fiction, or mythology, or a historical writing, or non-fiction. What mattered to me is the speed at which I was consuming the story.
Discovering My Love for Thrills: A Writer’s Journey
I believe it was while reading novels / books that were fast paced, suspenseful, mysterious and engaging, that the seed of becoming a mystery or a thriller author was sowed in my mind. And it must have been hidden within layers and layers of my sub-conscious, because I started writing a novel pretty late. I was forty-one, when I started.
The best part about a well written mystery thriller is never being able to guess the ‘who’ and at times even the ‘what’, the ‘when’ and the ‘why’ about the mystery. It is like peeling an onion that does not make you cry, but makes you wanna try. Try what you ask? Try to predict what will happen next. We love such onions, don’t we? And we love to be surprised, don’t we? It is when the author starts peeling off these layers, one by one, and we start getting introduced to what has been happening that the thrill starts picking up even more pace.
Here is a fun fact about mystery writings. Not all of them have to be thrillers. Some unfold slowly. And readers like that kind of tempo – slow. I have always liked stories that have speed in them in addition to the mystery. So, something is hidden (mystery) and its narrative is building up fast (the thrill!).
My Writing Passion Results in the Form of My New Mystery Thriller Novel
Today I am delighted that Love Swipe Blackmail has made its own place amongst top Indian thriller novels. It hasn’t become a bestseller just as yet. But its growing reader base and the number of readers that reach out to me after reading it, is a testament to the fact that it is winning hearts. Who knows, one day yours truly shall be counted amongst top Indian thriller writers. Only you, my readers, can make that happen. I am sure that you will. Have a happy 2024!