You have been named as one of the Top 7 Indian horror writers to be read by UK’s DESIblitz magazine. Why did you choose this particular genre and weave paranormal stories?

Horror has been an influence on me since my earliest reading days (I read Dracula and Frankenstein when I was thirteen) and now it is my staple writing and reading genre. No other genre moves me as much as horror does. Having said that, I must confess that when I wrote my first book, Maya’s New Husband, I did not know much about the Indian literary scene or about genres. I just had a smashing good story and I wrote it. It was only when I was publishing the story on Amazon KDP that I realized we have to mark the books according to genres. ‘Horror’ was the closest to my story, and so it went there. Soon, the book skyrocketed in sales and garnered critical appreciation, and I was tagged as a horror author.

I am not complaining, though. I love writing stories with dark elements. Paranormal is a small part of what I write; it is only a small subgenre of horror. I also write a lot of supernatural horror, mythological horror, psychological horror, and am now writing a horror comedy as well. At the end of the day, we must remember that we are just authors telling stories. Genres are just a marketing strategy.

From Maya’s New Husband to Yakshini, along with so many short stories collection in the horror genre, please tell us about your author journey. When and how did you decide to write your first book?

Soon after my postgraduation, I established a coaching class. That was my life for eighteen years — running to the class, teaching, managing the staff and institution. I loved teaching, but after many years of doing the same thing, I was burned out. My Dad was a freelance subtitlist for Hindi movies (Hindi to English) and I learnt a lot about the art of story-writing by just seeing him at work. I myself wrote freelance content for many years. In 2014, I decided to write my first novel. Once this idea germinated, I wrote the initial draft over the November month at the NaNoWriMo, and that book was Maya’s New Husband (released Jan 2015).

Maya’s New Husband changed my life. The book became a bestseller and attracted a traditional publishing offer and a screen adaptation deal. That was when I decided to wrap up the coaching institute and enter into full-time writing. With the support of my wife, Anita, I could manage to write more books. In 2017, I signed up with The Book Bakers literary agency for my book Yakshini, which soon got an offer from Rupa Publications. With The Book Bakers, I went on to get more deals with big-name publishers, such as Haunted (coauthored with Jay Alani, Penguin Random House India), The Spirits Talk to Me (coauthored with SarbajeetMohanty, Hachette India), and Ghost Whispers (coauthored with SarbajeetMohanty, Rupa Publications). Independently and with the agency of The Story Ink, four of my books were picked up for screen adaptation deals, one of them being among the biggest book-to-screen deals for a horror book in India. Now, as of December 2020, I have several projects lined up with big-name publishers. My author journey is looking up like never before.

Tell us a bit about the kind of research you put into writing your stories related to the paranormal world.

I have written two paranormal nonfiction books — Haunted (Penguin Random House India) and The Spirits Talk to Me (Hachette India). Both of these books were co-authored with noted paranormal investigators of India and narrated the stories of their adventures. I had the pleasure of working with Jay Alani for the former and SarbajeetMohanty for the latter. The process of creating these books entailed detailed discussions with my coauthors and understanding their life’s journey and their theories on ghosts and the paranormal in general. Despite both of them being paranormal investigators, their ideologies and methods are vastly different, which I needed to understand.

It was also educational for me to know about the equipment used by paranormal investigators and how to understand them correctly, because a lot of them are fake and meant to be no more than toys.

These narrative nonfiction books were written after several interviews, researching online available documentaries and videos, and reading a lot of published material. I am glad that both books were received with much acclaim by our readers.

Because you are mostly writing in ‘horror’ genre, how do you balance making demands on the reader with taking care of the reader?

The good name of the horror genre has been needlessly sullied! On a serious note, reading and writing horror has been of great benefit to me, personally speaking. I was quite a scaredy-cat as a kid, jumping at every shadow that moved in the night. But once I dared myself to read horror, I became braver and my phobias soon began to peel away one after the other.

Knowing this therapeutic nature that horror can have on those of us who are squeamish, I write stories of triumph. An example is my recently released book, RingaRinga Roses. These are horror stories with children as protagonists, but the kids in these stories are heroes. They fight the monsters they are terrified of and finally come out as victors.

I would like to tell my horror readers that though I write dark stories where there will be gargantuan challenges, I will also probably make my protagonist kick some @ss at the end. My stories will challenge you to face your fears, and once you do that, you will come out braver!

With a vast experience in the industry, what do you feel is the most unethical practice in the publishing industry?

I have been fortunate to work with some of the best publishers in the industry, both indie and the big names. If I make a headcount, I guess I have worked with over 12 publishers, and, touch wood, my experience with every publisher has been amazing. Though I have heard stories of things other authors have had to go through, I personally have no complaints with any of my publishers.

Is there any new project you are working on and would like to share with our readers? Where do you see yourself five years from now?

I am working on several projects at once, just like I have been doing for the past five years of my writing journey. I usually have one novel in edits, one in writing, and one in my head at any given point of time. It’s the same right now. In 2021, I hope to release at least three fiction titles. I have deals with publishers on these, but we don’t know if the books will release in 2021. But one thing I am sure of — the much-awaited sequel of Maya’s New Husband will see the light of day this year.

Five years from now, even fifty years from now, I see myself still writing. My journey has seen a lot of adventures, and I am sure now that writing is the only thing I’d like to do. This is where the dust has settled for me, and I am happy where I am.

Are your stories inspired from real life incidences or people or pure work of fiction? What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

My nonfiction titles, of course, are taken from real-life. I have two of them as mentioned earlier: Haunted and The Spirits Talk to Me.

When I write fiction, though, I seek inspiration from a vast number of sources. Like Yakshini was sparked off by the brutal case of Nirbhaya. The story I developed was my own. The truth is that nothing is ever absolutely fiction. An author cannot keep his or her life experiences out of it. They will invariably seep in, in the form of a character or a scene or a location or even a thought. My stories are fiction, but I do pepper my stories with certain real-life situations I have been through.

The most difficult part of writing, for me, is to keep levelling up. Some of the books I have written have been very well received, which leads to a fair deal of expectation from your subsequent works. I do write for myself first, but I cannot let down my readers who will invest their time and money in reading my books. Staying true to those expectations and still providing something spectacular is something I lay great emphasis on. It is a tough thing to do, but at the same time, it is highly rewarding and fun.

Where do Indian writers stand when it comes to writing horror/ supernatural/ paranormal books and stories in the international market? Do we have the wide global reach in this genre?

Internationally, we still have to cover a lot of ground. It disheartens me a bit to see that even today the Amazon India horror charts are filled with international horror authors rather than Indians. In 2015 when I published my first novel, there was practically no other author writing horror in India. But now in 2020, there are several people who have put good books out. I ardently hope these new horror authors get their due.

In 2020, I was appointed as the President of the Indian Chapter of the Horror Writers Association. This is a global body of horror authors comprising of the most acclaimed worldwide names in horror. I am quite upbeat about having a branch of this in India now, and we are going to plan events and activities to boost the genre. This is also a platform that can serve as a bridge for more of our authors to be read internationally. I only hope I get adequate support from the Indian horror writers’ community, which is essential to make this effort worthwhile.

Neil D’Silva as an author who can scare the wits out of his readers and Neil D’Silva as a person — is there any line of difference in both of these? Tell us a bit about your family, likes and dislikes.

Ha ha! I can totally understand this question. People have an impression of horror authors that they must be shady and demented in their real lives too. However, at least in my case, I cannot be more different in real life than the stories I write in my books. People who have met me after reading my books, especially Maya’s New Husband, cannot believe that I am the same dude who wrote that sick freak of a novel! In fact, even my mother’s first question after I gifted her a copy of Maya’s New Husband was, “How did my innocent son get such horrible ideas?”

In real life, I am quite the family guy. My wife teaches in a school while I am at home most of the time, taking care of the kids. I don’t like going out much, unless it is some real travelling (which I love). I don’t mingle too much and find it to be a bit of a chore, unless those people are also writers or readers (which is when I have a blast). I love gymming and going for walks, that kind of thing. I would rather spend the evenings at home chilling with a drink and a book or something to watch. And I absolutely love cooking. My YouTube feed is full of recipes!

Please share some words of wisdom, tips or advices to budding writers. If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?

I’d tell new authors to just be honest in their writing. Stay true to your craft. Do not get swayed by the books that have currently become bestsellers or the kinds of things your other author friends are writing. Everyone has a unique style of writing and tells unique kinds of stories, and the sooner you find out what your strength is, the better. There’s a space for everyone on the shelf, but just blindly imitating someone doesn’t work. History has shown us that the most successful writers were those who have broken existing molds and found their own path.

About my childhood, I’d not change a thing. I had the most fabulous childhood. I was surrounded by books and parents who encouraged me to study and read all kinds of books and write whatever I wanted. They never censored stuff for me in any way; they respected me enough to make my own choices. Everyone’s childhood is special to them; mine was special to me because it made me who I am.

At Sharing Stories, we have an ongoing campaign ‘Empowering Our Kids’ where we are trying to encourage and inculcate reading habits  from a young age. We are trying to pick up 20 to 30 must-read books for children and try and make them available at our library in Jaipur, also take this initiative across the globe. Please suggest some books which you think every child should read before the age of 15 (mostly the character-defining age).  

Here are some of my recommendations:

1. All works of Roald Dahl
2. All works of P G Wodehouse
3. The Harry Potter series. No work written for children is as meticulous as the HP universe is.
4. Goosebumps by R L Stine for those who love horror
5. More horror — Scary Tales to Tell in the Dark (a series of short horror stories with pathbreaking art by Alvin Schwartz)

Rapid Fire Round

Favourite Place, Person, Food, Beverage, and Book

Goa (always!)

Not choosing a favourite person, because it would be unfair to everyone else I know 

Nothing like a steaming hot seafood sizzler!

Masala chai

My own novels Maya’s New Husband and Yakshini; they made me.

Your Other Talents- I can cook a fabulous meal. Come over!

Your First Love- I am married to her.

Favourite Quote- My motivations and inspirations change often, so no one particular quote.

Favourite Character from a book – Way too many to list. But in the horror legion, it would probably be Frankenstein’s monster. His pain is so great that it overshadows any joy he had in his creation. Such a romantic premise to write on!

What-if Round

What if you had to live with only three things all your life, what would the three things be?

Assuming that the basic survival necessities are in place, the other three things I’d need would be my MacBook Air (with an Internet connection), a set of utility tools, and my travelling hygiene kit.

What if you were given the power to change one thing from this world, what would you change?

The hate that has become such a normal thing these days. It’s distressing to see how hate has filled people’s minds and how people have turned against those who are not like them. We are destroying ourselves and not even realizing it.

What if you had all the money in this world, what would you do first?

Buy a nice cottage house either by the beach or near the hills, with a view to die for, and set up a huge but cozy writing room just the way I want it.