The Odd One ..being a first-time author – Sohini Maitra
Ramdas Shenoy has a quick conversation with Sohini Maitra on the challenges of being an author and some practical tips.
Tell us something about your book?
A collection of short stories; the title being “The Odd One & Other Short Stories”. Available as e-book and hard copy over Amazon, Flipkart Google books, etc.
What motivated you to embark on this project?
My Grandpa has said once just in passing that I should publish a book and I promised him I would. He has been a great influence in my life and his words haunted me as an unkept promise. Hence this book.
What were the challenges you have to encounter while completing this project?
Time is the primary challenge, then editing. Even though my book was edited 3 times by me, once by my friend who is also a budding author and once by a professional from the publication house, I believe it could have been better.
How does one balance between professional pressures and pursuits of passion?
Not sure how others do it, but once I made up my mind that 2019 before Dussehra is the time I want my book to be published, I took a week’s off, secluded myself from all distractions, and completed the work.
Your favourite authors?
So many…it’s more like favourite books Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, Roots by Alex Haley, few books by James Hadley Chase, Sidney Sheldon, almost all of Jeffrey Archer, J K Rowling, Rick Riordan. In Indian contemporary writes, I love Manav Kaul’s works, Anand Sivakumaran, Amish, and lately everything by Mainak Dhar.
Any literary competitions you participated in school/college and won prizes – Share your experience?
A few, but that was so long ago that I don’t remember now, unfortunately.
Your advice to aspiring first-time authors?
I know it sounds cliched, but write every day, even if it is a paragraph or a page. It may be bad, and you would not use it in the final piece, but still write every day. Also, get used to dejection, because publishers are not kind souls, or maybe self-publish, as I did.
What are your plans for the future (More books – which topics
I am working on my second book, and this time it is a novella. I am not even halfway done, but I am writing every day. It is a romance novella with generous sprinkles of other emotions