Q1. What part of The Scent of Redemption was the most personal or meaningful to you, and why?
A1. All the times Ashani answered Ronit’s philosophical queries and even guided him in this direction. Ashani belongs to a group of creatures who are significantly advanced – as advanced as humans are when compared to ants! You have to know, Ronit as a character, has a very warped ideology.
Q2. Did the story or structure of the book change significantly from your original plan?
A2. Many times. On the positive side, it’s more interesting when ideas are pouring in abundance and you can’t help but to write. Always better than a writer’s block!
Q3. Can you walk us through your writing journey — from the initial idea to the final draft?
A3. It’s a boring process involving tonnes of research. The novel has extraterrestrial plant creatures, who have the capability to contact with humans. Now, this trope is rare in science fiction. Imagine you’ve to build a planet which rotates around two suns. How would their skies look like? Also, the planet has an axial tilt of 89 degrees as opposed to 23 and a half. You have to look at everything from YouTube videos to scientific journals to come to a conclusion and then describe the world. Now, the lifestyle and day and night cycle would have impacts on the creatures of Flarelix. What would they be? They receive more sunlight, so plant-life would be abundant. That draws back to the very reason why the life-forms on this planet are plants. With so much energy to spend, plants would be aided in their evolutionary process. Maybe they end up as intellectuals and philosophers… and so on. And then comes the MS Excel where I keep a tab on the dates and character progression. Then, there are chapter outlines, synopsis and finally submission!
Q4. Were there any major challenges or obstacles you faced while writing this book? How did you overcome them?
A4. Yes, indeed. I lost my father and my mother got hospitalised repeatedly. Publishing The Scent of Redemption while taking care of my mother feels like a personal badge of honour.
Q5. How involved were you in the design of the book cover, and what was the vision behind it?
A5. I was searching for cover designers across Instagram and that’s when few books caught my attention. They were designed by Tanisha Singh and while I considered it an option amongst all, the first outcome was so good that I only had to add one minor change and that was it. The vision behind it was a monk in a new land with yellow grasslands and two suns. The monk signifies Ronit’s journey of renunciation and a new beginning, the yellow grasslands and the two suns gives you an insight into the world of Flarelix that I tried to build.
Q6. What inspired the title The Scent of Redemption? Did it come to you early or evolve during the writing process?
A6. Sure. I love collecting perfumes and perfumes have this wonderful way of making us remember about the faint memories associated with the time when we last smelled that particular scent. Also, it’s not just perfumes but any scent – but here’s the thing. There’s no concrete philosophy around the sensation of smell. There are philosophies on what we see, what we think, what we feel but not on what we smell. That was the building block for my book. Added a bit of worldbuilding and tried to add a nativist appeal. This is something which I will continue to work on, in books to come.
Q7. How do you hope readers will feel after finishing your book?
A7. I hope people are filled with a sense of tranquillity, spirituality and knowledge.
Q8. Was there a specific moment when you knew the book was “done”?
A8. No, actually. I have written novels but I did not have an idea of how to make sure the readers have a reasonable ending when my novel happens to be a part of a trilogy! Should I do a cliffhanger? Should I end it like normal novels? I did read other book series but they were authored by big shots. They have dedicated readers in thousands while mine is a dozen! I had to get the formula right.
Q9. What advice would you give to aspiring authors who are just starting their own journey?
A9. Read, read and read. That’s the These days, there are even courses for fictional writing. Take up a course and it will surely give you insights which other people are missing out on! Back in my day, I learnt writing science-fiction through trial and errors but reading helped me a lot: especially the different writing styles of various authors.
Q10. What’s next for you — any upcoming projects or ideas already in the works?
A10. The sequel for ‘The Scent of Redemption’
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