Antar Atreya
Book Title : Chronicles of the Mortal Vishnu
About the bookwinner of best mytholoty fiction 2019 in the new world after civilization was established and political and economic structures emerged with time and necessity; mankind finally welcomed injustice. The earth’s first born who had mentored mankind's progress turned into the tyrannical bhuswami; creating the daitya clan. Bestowed with power from the gods he became invincible and ruthless. With their own stories, two prodigal warriors turn into maharathis with journeys of discovering their potential, gaining unparalleled might and realizing the power of love. Supported by his 'destined one', one of the maharathis manifested himself as a mortal divine. The two-gather liberated a river from the locks of lord shiva, resurrected kingdoms and slayed a pack of violent wolves. Their rise as one challenged the realm of tyranny. With long lasting political turmoil across the seven landmasses, the world was on the brink of the first global war. The daityas gathered a colossal force and facing them was a coalition of ten kings, brought together on various reasons by the two maharathis under the insignia of garuda. Also aiding them were the mystic tribes of narklokis and yakshas; for they had made promises in the past. With the global war knocking; a sudden surprising event creates a question- will god turn corrupt, too? About the author antar atreya, a economics graduate wrote his first book at the age of 14. He was a co-author with durjoy datta in the book, 'pocketful o' stories'. He has featured on leading national media like the asian age, deccan chronicle, new indian express, business world, the sentinel, daily hunt, telly buzz and others.
Your first book was published at the age of 14. How the journey to become an author began? Who played a major supportive role in this journey of yours?
Since a kid, I always was certain that I’d be writing books but never thought of being a full-time author. The reason was fairly simple. My dad and mom had a love marriage and they used to write love letters and poems for each other. I went through them at an early age and found my love for words and realized how it can melt hearts. Also, my parents inculcated the idea of reading as they got me more and more books. And all these, along with my love for TV shows made me write my first book at 14.
Tell us a bit about your book, “Chronicles of the Mortal Vishnu”. Who is the favorite character from your book and why? Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers about?
Well, it is mixture of mythological philosophies, fantasy elements, political and economic events and an action and battle packed saga. Basically a saga of good versus evil but it is fresh tale, not a re-imagination of sorts and is backed with larger than life scenes, characters and infusion of rationality in mythology and cosmic things.
You were an atheist for a larger part of your life. How did you turn towards writing in the mythological genre?
Well, it was a butterfly effect, honestly. After my grad years, I was in a dilemma over joining a job or doing something entrepreneurial and during that phase, I suffered from certain illnesses, my dad’s health deteriorated gravely and there were also certain family issues. All these, pushed me into depression and I was on medication. But as only medication and counselling did not help completely, I started training in yoga. Then, the interest in yoga evolved my interests for the ancient school of thoughts of India. Consequently, I read the BhagawadGeeta, Mahabharata and episodes from Hinduism and realized many things about life and living well. Thus, I felt this is what I must do; write tales inspired from Hinduism’s episodes and principles.
How much research part and how much fantasy part works when writing a book in the mythological genre?
Well, research and imagination, both are equally important in writing a mythological saga. Research is paramount for especially curating war and battle scenes, so that they look and feel real. Also, for the depiction of various religious philosophies and wisdom enhancing scenes or conversations, research and understanding religious or spiritual words is vital. And everything else I believe is your imagination and creativity.
As a creative person, it is difficult to focus both on writing and marketing your work. How can a writer balance both of these without hampering the craft and creativity in the process?
Personally, I have had experiences with marketing and sales as I read myriad internships during my grad years. So, it was not a very difficult or overwhelming thing to create promotional strategies for my book. However I would say, bifurcate both the tasks. When you are writing, make it a beautiful love story between you and your manuscript. And once done with it, read and research about marketing trends, previous campaigns and frame your own. When and if help is needed, go for the experts.
According to you which are the 5 books, everyone should read and also who are your top 3 Authors and what impact they had in your journey as a writer?
I would settle for these 5 books – Becoming, Ben Hur, Pride and Prejudice, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Mahabharata (not in any particular order).
And personally, authors who had an impact on me are – Amish Tripathi, Harper Lee and Jeffrey Archer. For me there will never be a book better than To Kill …. And hence, I have always admired its author’s ability to write something that could emotionally connect with readers across continents.
Tell us a bit about your family, likes and dislikes as a person.
My mom and dad both are bureaucrats and I also have a younger brother. They have always been my constant support and I have learnt to love and spread happiness from each one of them.
As for my likes, I love watching shows and series and learn a lot of life lessons from fictions. I am a romantic person at heart, an extrovert and believe in expressing whatever you feel. And about dislikes, I do not have any such pre-meditated issues but yes, I cannot stand when people close to us are not in their real selves. I cannot fake things and so I hate people faking emotions or words or anything.
Could you share a few tips for Young Authors? As an author, where do you see yourself in this writing industry five years from now?
I would say every author should write in a narration and tone that suits him. I mean, if someone is a jovial person, it is best to write in a humorous tone. That adds to the strength and makes it more real. Secondly, research about the book market in a profound manner and be prepared to sell your own books. Finally, every author must have a unique style. Eg. My books will always be more descriptive, detailed and exponential with the story overlapping across genres.
Well, five years down the line, I believe I would be writing books for some major publishers and may be also work on scripts and screenplays. I would also try to be a versatile author and after mythology I may venture into thrillers.
At Sharing Stories, we have an on-going campaign ‘World Harmony through Writing’ where we encourage writers to pen down their deepest internal thoughts, daily for at least fifteen minutes. Their new ideas and profound thinking shall help to bring out some positive changes in the world we live in. We would love to hear your thoughts about this initiative. Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice?
That is wonderful! Big hug to Sharing Stories! Writing down one’s thoughts helps in many ways. It will help in self-introspection, it will also aid in shedding away negative or disturbing thoughts and also one would grow by understanding oneself better.
Rapid Fire Round
Favorite Place- Home and anywhere I am in a date with my lover.
Person-Any one is impossible to pick.
Food-Indian desi-styled food.
Beverage- Soft drinks of any sorts and lassi.
Your other Talents-
I believe I have had some good experiences with marketing, negotiating and striking bargains, which are auxiliary skills mandatory today for an author.
I try to never be rigid. I consider it a talent because it helps your grow and evolve.
Your First Love- Driving. It is therapeutic for me.
Favorite Quote-
If you are the smartest person in a room, you are in the wrong room.
Favorite Character from a book- Scout Finch.
What if Round
What if you had to live with only three things all your life, what would the three things be?
An unlimited storage of on-screen contents, a diary and anything that symbolizes Lord Krishna.
What if you were given the power to change one thing from this world, what would you change?
That at least on a public platform nobody can bash or further victimize someone who has suffered from sexual violence of any sorts. Blaming the victims is what encourages rapes and molestations.
What if you had all the money in this world, what would you do first?
Invest them to create more wealth and would definitely get involved in movie making.
