J. Alchem
Book Title : Undelivered Letters
When Aron, a postman with Morioson Postal Service, is in the process of moving home, he finds a bag. In it are nine letters that he was meant to have delivered twenty years ago. Shocked by his oversight, he is faced with a choice: should he deliver them now, or abandon them forever. He chooses the former. What are these letters about? Who wrote them? Who are the recipients? Do these letters still carry a value after twenty years? In this unusual, poignant book, Alchem weaves a beautiful tale of life, love, lessons and challenges overcome.
“Sometimes, we do not get a chance to thank each one who has helped us in our Journey.” Let the readers get a chance to know about all the important people who have played a part in this Author Journey of yours.
I would like to show gratitude to my family for their relentless support, friends for their unbiased opinion, readers for their immense love, reviewers for their criticism, and people who couldn’t digest me succeed for pulling me down. I am what I am because of each one of them. I would also like to thank my literary guru, my ever-supporting PR, and the people who claimed to love me to moon and back, but couldn’t walk a few miles when I really needed them. They all have contributed in my success one way or another and I am thankful to all of them.
When and how did the idea of writing your first book come to you? Can you share a few lines from one of your books, ‘Undelivered Letters’ and maybe give a bit of background?
I did write my first book when I was in college. I was so mesmerized with the idea of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ that I ended up writing a full-fledged novel on the same. The book explores the possibility and framework for making the world a single country. There are two parallel stories in the book with multiple substories and subplots. The book had managed to win some accolades.
Undelivered Letters is a story of postman who forgets to deliver some letters and realizes his mistake after 20 years. It is the story of those recipients who waited 20 years to receive a letter that changed their life forever for either good or worse. Undelivered Letters is the winner of several awards and accolades. I also signed a web-series on this book.
Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers about?
I have recently completed an apocalypse novel that is going to hit the market in the beginning of the new year, most probably. The book draws its inspiration from The Walking Dead series on AMC. So yes, it is a zombie novel that is set up in Pakistan. But the zombies in this book are quite unusual.
According to you which are the 5 books everyone should read and also who are your top 3 Authors?
The five books that everyone should read are The Alchemist, The great Gatsby, Wuthering heights, The Kite Runner, and The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn.
The three authors I would want everyone to read are Mark Twain, Paulo Coelho, and Khaled Hosseini.
Tell us a bit about your family, likes and dislikes as a person.
We are six family members and each one of us is exploring an entirely different arena of universe. The things which are common in all of us are love and kindness.
I like it when people are loved beyond their skin and bones, and dislike it when people are judged and misunderstood. I believe, we must understand people and their plight and must not reach to conclusion without putting ourselves into their shoes. Because every one of us is fighting a battle other one has no idea about and our actions are generally affected by those battles.
Could you share few tips for Young Authors?
Never stop reading and writing. Also, don’t be dishearten if your work doesn’t go well with the readers. Embrace failure and criticism and keep moving forward.
What are common traps for aspiring writers?
There are three common traps for aspiring writers. One, getting published by paying some money. Never pay to get your work published. Two, fake success stories around. There are writers who had sold only a handful of copies and claim to be bestsellers with manipulated facts. Three, writing is a high-earning profession. The fact is about 90% of authors don’t earn enough to run livelihood and it includes some with literary gem works.
Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction? What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
Yes, there are many such books and writers that made me think differently about fiction. Gabriel García Márquez and Ayn Rand are two of those authors.
I feel, the most difficult part is getting started. If the story is in your nerves, it would flow freely afterward or you have to switch to another story. It is true, at least in my case. I have many rough drafts where I couldn’t move beyond chapter two or three. Maybe, someday.
How did publishing your first book change your process of writing? What is the most unethical practice in the publishing industry?
It did not change anything. I did write my first book for me only and never felt like to go for commercial writing. My first book was traditionally published and so was my sixth book. But yes, publishing my first book taught me a lot about publishing industry and marketing and I got better with it with time.
The most unethical practice is copying someone else’ work and publishing it with your name. I had been a victim of it during my initial days.
At Sharing Stories, we have an ongoing campaign ‘Empowering Our Kids’ where we are trying to encourage and inculcate reading habit 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).
I would not want to name books instead I would name the authors whose work you can pick and make available for your readers. Three of my most favorite authors in this category are Roald Dahl, Ruskin Bond, and Maurice Sendak.
Rapid Fire Round
Favorite Place, Person, Food, beverage-Hill Station, Tanuja, Paneer Tikka, Cold Coffee & Virgin Mojito.
Your other Talents-I don’t think I do have any other talent, but for the count I would say imagining about things that would never happen. I am pro at it.
Your First Love- Aah, this question gives me butterflies, but answer would kill me. So, I would want to avoid it.
Favorite Quote-“If you are good at something, never do it for free”
Favorite Character from a book-Amir Jan from The Kite Runner and Hannibal Lecter from Hannibal.
What if Round
What if you had to live with only three things all your life, what would the three things be?
Books, Netflix, and coffee. No social media and no limelight, please.
What if you were given the power to change one thing from this world, what would you change?
The fanatism toward religions.
What if you had all the money in this world, what would you do first?
I would buy all the books and libraries in the world and make them accessible for all readers especially to those who cannot afford. Since, nothing comes free, they would have to give back something in return; be it a review or their service to library.
