*** Special Feature - January 2019 ***
Quick Recap:
8th January - Read an Excerpt from The Sane Psychopath
15th January - Book Review of The Sane Psychopath by Salil Desai
22nd January - Read an Excerpt from The Sane Psychopath
About the Book:
Are some crimes unpardonable?
A young lawyer is about to find out.
It was just another day in Pune. Just another morning.
Until a man decided otherwise.
And left an entire city horrified . . . scared . . . angry . . . baying for blood.
This is the story of Shanker Lande, driver of a state transport bus, who goes on a bone-chilling hour-long rampage on the streets of Pune—killing 10, maiming 70, and damaging over 100 vehicles, before he is captured.
In this case of Shanker Lande vs the city of Pune, the difference between the criminal and the victims is clear as night and day. But a young idealistic lawyer, Varun Gupte, a Punekar, still decides to defend Lande. And in the process seeks help from a psychiatrist, a man who lost his son to the same incident.
Caught in the pincer grip of their dilemmas, do the two men crumble? Do they unearth the truth? And does the truth absolve Lande?
Inspired by a real incident, The Sane Psychopath is a fictional exploration of a frightening murderous phenomenon of our times.
Book Links:
An Interview:
Murder on a
Side street was your debut novel. What do you remember the most from your first
publishing experience?
Murder on a
Side Street was my second novel. My debut novel was ‘The Body in the Back Seat’
(2011), which was later republished by Fingerprint as Killing Ashish Karve
(2014), the first Inspector Saralkar Mystery Series novel.
What have
you done differently since then?
Well, when I
wrote my first novel, I was just eager to be published and read. I hadn’t even
thought that the book would be successful enough to lead on to a series. I had
already started work on my second novel, which was a light-hearted murder
mystery aimed at the young crowd. It was completely different from my first
novel which was very dark and intense. Also I was working on a book of short
stories ‘Lost Libido and Other Gulp Fiction’. So I was experimenting a lot.
Then encouraged by the response to the first Saralkar mystery, Killing Ashish Karve,
I embarked on two back to back Inspector Saralkar novels – The Murder of Sonia
Raikkonen (2015) and 3 and a Half Murders (2017). It involved a lot of hard
work, but I was in my element, because I loved my characters and knew exactly
what to do with them and with my plot. It was like being a batsman in form. However,
it also exhausted me and I then decided to write a different kind of thriller,
‘The Sane Psychopath’, based on a true incident that happened in Pune in 2012.
Again, given my urge to always experiment, I am happy that my sixth novel ‘The
Sane Psychopath’ (2018) breaks the mould in terms of narration, story-telling,
subject and tone. I think the only way a writer can hope to surprise readers is
by experimenting.
Lost Libido
and other Gulp Fiction is a collection of short stories that is vastly
different from your famed mystery series. What was your aim with it?
My aim was
to simply test myself by writing stories from different genres. I like to read
short stories myself and realized it’s the best vehicle to capture the chaotic,
cultural flux of urban India today and people’s reactions to the myriad problems,
temptations and tricky choices that life throws at them.
What is your
writing process like? Do you out every detail first or just go with the flow
after the outline?
Generally
speaking, I etch out the plot and story outline and then begin writing. But
it’s not as simple as that, because writing is both a creative and tedious process
at the same time – you have to work to a broad plan, yet leave a lot of room
for spontaneity and change.
What is the
trickiest part of your artistic process? And which aspects do you enjoy the
most?
Actually the
trickiest part is to convert a story idea into a narrative that has something
meaningful to say in a way that is exciting, interesting and insightful. An
author and his writing share a love-hate relationship. Sometimes I enjoy every
bit of it, sometimes I hate it, especially when I am unable to make headway.
How many
drafts do you usually write?
It would be
great to say several drafts, but I must confess, I generally am able to crack
it in one draft, with a lot of re-writing along the way. That’s because I have
this habit of writing, reading the next morning, scratching out the parts I
don’t like and re-writing. And then of course, there are always some changes
and re-writing when my editor starts editing the manuscript.
What are
your personal reading preferences? Does what you read influence how you write?
I love reading a lot
of non-fiction on varied topics, plenty of history and all fiction that can
take me beyond the first 20 pages. Yes, what I read certainly influences what I
write, but not in terms of my style or content, but in terms of deepening my
understanding of human beings, human life and the world.
What does
literary success look like to you?
Literary
success to me is either popular or critical acclaim or if possible both. It
means writing books that won’t be forgotten. It means leaving readers with at
least one thought or even one sentence that lingers on in their minds long
after they have finished reading my book. Literary success also means being
able to earn a living by writing fiction.
Do you read
your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
Good
question. Yes, I read each and every review of my books whether in newspapers,
blogs or even those on Amazon and Goodreads and so on. I also read feedback
sent directly to me by readers. Mercifully most reviews of all my books have
been good, even great. It would be dishonest to say I don’t wince when I read a
bad review, but it does not bother me unduly.
One advice
for every aspiring author out there.
All I can say is that being an author
is a heart-breaking ordeal and only if you can weather multiple rejections and
disappointments, should you attempt to be a writer.
Salil Desai is an author, columnist, and film-maker based in Pune. He is best known for his much-acclaimed Inspector Saralkar Mystery Series which includes 3 and a Half Murders (2017), The Murder of Sonia Raikkonen (2015), and Killing Ashish Karve (2014). His other popular books are Murder on a Side Street (2011) as well as a collection of short stories, Lost Libido and
Other Gulp Fiction (2012). The Sane Psychopath (2018) is his sixth book.
An alumnus of Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), Salil’s dramatized management training videos (www.relivingindia.
com) are much appreciated in the corporate world. He also conducts intensive workshops in creative fiction writing, story
and scenario design, screenplay writing and film-making.
Salil was also one of the four international authors worldwide selected for the HALD International Writers’ Residency in
Denmark, hosted by the Danish Centre for Writers & Translators in June 2016.
Stalk the Author:
Website * Inspector Saralkar Mystery Series * Goodreads
Giveaway:
Two lucky Indian Residents can win a paperback copy each of The Sane Psychopath.
Wondering if this has international appeal of if it's more tailored for India
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