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Author Highlight: Khayaal Patel Discusses his New Book ‘Tarikshir’ and Stories from his Life

We are back with another author interview. Today, with us, we have Khayaal Patel – the author of ‘Tarikshir’. In this interview, Khayaal talks about his writing aspirations, the route to getting his book published, and his inclination towards fantasy novels. Stay on...while we chat with him. 

What motivates you to write and how long have you been writing?

The readers motivate me to write, I’ll keep writing as long as there’s someone reading the stuff I write. The first draft for Tarikshir was written way back in 2010. Between then and long, I’ve managed to write four other books in the interim. All of them varying genres, and hopefully they should be published soon.

How did you feel when your book got published?

Relieved. It was a long time coming. Now it’s just hoping that the readers love reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Are you a prolific storyteller or story listener? What are some of your favourite novels and authors?

Rene Goscinny and Herge were and always will be my favorites. It was because of them that I got into reading and by extension, writing.

What inspired you to write this book? Any tales to tell…

I was disappointed by a lot of books I had read during that period and I wanted to finally write something that I would enjoy reading and that’s how the idea of writing a book was born. It was initially a historical mystery but then as time and drafts passed, the elements of mythology and horror were added and it eventually led to Tarikshir.

Where do you write from? Do you go to some specific place, like beachside or into the hills?

I wish I was in that position where I could just write from the pleasure of my private yacht, but there’s still time to reach that spot. I tend to write wherever I can. I’ve learnt from experience that chocolate milkshakes heavily help my creative juices flow.

What was your biggest learning experience throughout the writing process?

To never give up. Writing like any other creative form is very subjective. Just because somebody doesn’t like or understand it, doesn’t make it bad.

Looking back, what did you do right that helped you break in as a writer?

I owe a lot to my first editor at Red Ink, Sharvani Pandit, who never gave up on the book irrespective of the number of edits and re-writes that needed to be done.

Any best piece of writing advice from your side that we haven’t discussed?

Never stop writing. The first draft of any book doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be written.

Something personal about you people may be surprised to know?

I prefer cartoons to watching movies or TV series. There’s probably not a single mainstream tv series that I follow. A lot of reviewers say TARIKSHIR is like Game of thrones but I haven’t read nor watched it to be even unconsciously influenced by it.

Any future books that you would like to discuss now?

There’s the sequel to Tarikshir, which is a priority right now. Also there’s a contemporary noir story based in present day Mumbai with elements of the supernatural and another murder mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie.

Connect with Khayaal:
Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/kyakhayaalhaiaapka/
Instagram: @kyakhayaalhaiaapka

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