According to you what does it take to be an Author or should I add what does it take to be a Published author?
Fascination, expression and Persistence! That what we think will make you an author. Pick up the pen and just start writing, your destination will surely be waiting for you on the other side of the book you began scribbling your thoughts on. Needless to say, the more one shares, the better he becomes at connecting to people.
Sankalp it’s your Third book.. How does it feel to be a best selling Author? And Paritosh it’s your debut book how do you feel to be an author?
Sankalp – I feel as if I am living a dream. Each book is like a child to me, and each time I see it out there in the world, I experience a strange nostalgia. No matter how hard I try, I will not be able to provide words to those feelings.
And ya, being a best selling author is icing on top; I would specifically like to thank all my readers who have showered their love and support on me. I hope, with Hackster I not only do justice to their expectations, but also raise their bar of expecations a bit higher.
Paritosh – It is an amazing feeling. Something so close to your heart has now taken a real form. I cant wait to get my hands on the first copy! I will probably keep it with me wherever I go. Haha…
Hackster a very different name… Why did you choose this name as your title?
Paritosh - The word. There is something magical about this word.
Sankalp - Since the book is placed in a new space in literature, we knew the name had to be unusual. Hackster just stuck with us. Hope it strikes a chord with our readers too.
Tell us something about your book.?
Ok, we will try to answer this by holding the theme back thus not spoiling the fun by giving away the main plot.
So, like most stories there is a villain here. Though the main protagonist is Vikram, the story runs on parallel tracks with Vikram and Arjun. As Vikram (Hackster) is constantly moving towards achieving his destiny of bringing down a whole system, Arjun plays the equalizing force in Vikram’s endeavours.
Both these characters are so strong… It becomes sometimes quite a dilemma, to choose who you would back.
Sankalp your two books are from General Press why did you choose Red Ink Publication and tell us how was it working with a new Publication?
Well I thought a new genre must get a new publisher. The hunt began when we were done with first draft of Hackster, and it was around that time that Vinit Ji started Red Ink. I knew that I had got my publisher, the moment I saw the news flash on my fb page. I mean, who would not like to work with Vinit ji (Red Ink Publications), he is more of a mentor/big brother than a publisher. You get to learn so much from him, and the way the team at Red Ink takes care of you is really their USP. At least I haven’t seen such Author centred culture in any other publication house.
I wish them all the very best for their future endeavors.
Paritosh Tell us when did you start writing? How did the Idea of writing a full fledge novel come to your mind?
Haha! Its quite a story. I used to pen down a lot of my thoughts as a child, I guess I was 12 when I wrote my first poem that found its place in a kid’s newspaper. After that, I took to writing some short stories and songs. But then there was a dud in the middle. I have my friends to thank for their support. At one point I remember I had chalked a complex story in my mind. I shared it with my friends verbally, but didn’t pen down anything.. Then one day, a friend calls me up, “Bhai, someone has written exactly what you talked about!” I realized, I was just becoming a dreamer. I still had the fascination but was loosing my expression. Instinctively, I ran to blogging. Then some better songs followed. And when I met Sankalp at my first job, he said, “Why don’t you write the first chapter and we will see how it looks?”
And that’s when the the idea of writing a full fledges novel struck me.
Tell us some of your good memories associated with this book?
Sankalp - Designing the plot gave us the kick! Whiteboards and markers and lines cris-crossing, the characters, timelines running haywire; it was awesome! The whole experience was kinda legendary.
Paritosh - Also parts of the book were written on the local train that I took to work everyday. With my headphones on, I used to break away and look out of the window and realize, “Oh no! I missed my stop!”
Sankalp you had already worked with one Co-Author In your debut book. How was it working with Paritosh and Vice-Versa? How did you both handle the conflict occurred during the writing Process?
Sankalp - I think if you can get a person who has a similar frequency, the fact that you are writing a book with a co-author becomes insignificant. I enjoyed working with Paritosh, he got new perspectives to Hackster.
Paritosh - We are both very open to new ideas and very adaptable as well. I think it was possible to succeed because we both kept our egos aside and genuinely got into making the book awesomer!
Do you have any source of inspiration?
Sankalp - I think the fact that we want to make our parents proud acts as an immense source of inspiration for us and keept us going.
Sankalp and Paritosh Why a Sci-fi Political Thriller why not a love story? Which are your favorite genres?
Sankalp – Sci-fi has always been my fav genre, and its something I have always desired to get a hold on. With two books in romance genre, I thought it was a good time for me to change genre and try something new. Sci-fi was a obvious choice. (Though I must say, pennig down a sci-fi thriller is a hell of a task.)
Paritosh - I am a fantasy guy. The limitlessness of a fantasy set-up throws open spaces for something one has never thought of before. As a reader I always found it much easier to follow the author of the fantasy novel into a world of his own. I think its also a little about openness in fanatasy cases.., the ability to embrace and believe in something extraordinary.
Who is your best friend, support and pillar in the industry?
Paritosh - I think I am fortunate to have such great friends. It started with Akshat when we walked into music and therefore creation with a more solid purpose.. thereafter, Arjit, Anuraag, Himanshu, Mohit and Shikhar always shared amazing ideas and believed in me. But ofcourse, beyond all, I must say, my dad was the the instigator. He inspired me to read books and start writing at a very young age.
Oh also, if you haven’t heard anything from Switchfoot, do that. They are amazing!
Sankalp - I have so many people, from the industry, who have been consistently having faith in me and my work. It will be very difficult for me to name a few.
What is writing to you both?
Paritosh - Writing gives me a surreal feeling. It is as if I am inside my story, its like when day dreaming becomes so realistic, that everything you think of is happening; the cahracters are feeling what I feel and the world is dancing in the same tune.
Sankalp – Writing has been a blessing in disguise to me, its something I really enjoy doing. I am glad I have found the love of my life in writing. I can now say that writing is what I would like to do each day of my life till my very last breath.
What are you promising to your readers with this book?
We assure every reader to find something new in this book. You will find characters with very unique feelings and thoughts, you will find a new plot, a new scale of events.. so it will definitely leave you different person, with your mind open to so many possibilities.
How are you planning to promote your book? How will you manage negative as well as positive reviews of the readers…?
We are really looking forward to some publicity on social media, launch events, session at colleges, blogger reviews etc. There are a lot of innovative things which we will do once the time comes.
About the reviews, the positive reviews will be taken up as our strengths for our future work. The negative reviews, we look forward to more eagerly, will work on them and it will only make our future work better.
Paritosh how do you feel while holding your debut book?
Ah! I haven’t really got my first copy yet. But I am sure it will be an intense feeling.
What message would you like to tell our readers?
Sankalp - Follow your dreams, they will lead you to a land full of happiness.
Paritosh - Just go ahead and flip the pages of Hackster. Catch up with us on facebook. We have a page for ‘Hackster’.
Author can be contacted at:
You can find us on facebook, instagram and twitter. We will definitely look forward to getting connected with each and every of our reader.