The Speaking Stone by Ratnadip Acharya
About the Book:
Mumbai, December 2016:
A young man found an ancient-looking piece of stone with strange images and Sanskrit inscriptions. A quest to know the origin of the stone brought him to the distant part of the country.
Chandannagar, December 2016:
A young vivacious historian woman read an old book on a century-old secret story about a little known part of the country. Her curiosity got the better of her as the book disappeared mysteriously before she could complete it. She reached a sleepy quaint state of the country to satiate her curiosity.
Eventually they both met and their search began from the city museum to a far-flung rock mountain which revealed a century-old story of a seductive danseuse, her enigmatic lover, a string of her admirers, a painter with a photographic memory, a bird that could speak in many voices, a benevolent king and a gruesome conspiracy. And the most important clue to decode the final secret was with the missing part of The Speaking Stone. But in the process of unearthing old secrets their lives were also in danger…
Book Links:
1. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
Answer: In my early twenties I started feeling that I could express myself, my innermost thoughts and those of others in an articulate way. In the beginning, I used to spin a tale and narrate it to my friends, claiming that it was a short story by Guy De Maupassent, O Henry, and the likes. I was afraid that if I told them that I devised the story they might not have listened to it. If they loved the story, secretly I felt wonderful within. It strengthened my understanding that I could create an interesting plot. And thus this long dateless journey started.
2. How long does it take you to write a book?
Answer: I am assuming here that by a book you mean a full-fledged novel of say, 70 to 80 thousand words. The first draft takes around six months, and then second and third drafts much lesser time, say one month each. If you are into a process of writing a long novel, please don’t forget to rework on it several times. Believe me, every time it will be a better product and the last draft will be so different from the first one.
3. What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
Answer: Once the first work, the chapters lay-out is done and I have to start writing the book word by word, I prefer writing early in the morning. Usually I write from 4.30 in the morning to 7.30 at a stretch. In these three hours I used to write between 600 and 700 words (sometime 100 words more or less) and I think it is fairly enough. This practice I started from my last novel Before that I was a night person and preferred working post ten at night.
4. What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Answer: I pray before I start to write every time. I am not sure if it a quirk or not, but yes, it gives a sense of peace within that I will write well.
5. How do books get published?
Answer: It’s a long, very long process as you know. One needs to keep patience to see his or her work published. Right from agents, designing book cover, different layers of editing, typesetting… it is a very longish process. One must not give up half-way.
6. Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
Answer: This is an interesting question. When wind blows it carries several seeds from different trees to a far off land. The seeds settle on a new ground and if any of them find the earth at the new place fertile and conducive to grow, it stars growing fearlessly. The fertile ground in this narration is our mind. So many beautiful ideas that can be a great story are floating around. A fertile mind can easily grab a few of them and help them grow with its loving touch, knowledge and candour.
7. When did you write your first book and how old were you?
Answer: The first book I wrote when I was barely 26-year old. It was a collection of 12 short stories, close to 60 thousand words book. I named it Random Thoughts. Most of the stories in the collection were of surprise-ending, a genre of short story that I love the most yet now. Unfortunately, in India short story collections are not published for their discouraging marketability.
8. What do you like to do when you're not writing?
Answer: I have many other hobbies like I constantly learn and perform new street magic, solve Rubik cubes and Rubiks of different shapes, meditate, and if time permits jog for an hour four to five times a week. Apart from that I read lots of books. Earlier it was mostly fiction but now nonfiction elbowed away fiction works.
9. What does your family think of your writing?
Answer: I stay with my wife and son and both are extremely supportive towards my writing. Chiefly my wife, Sophia, who is an accomplished book editor as well, is my most exacting critique. If she gives an affirmative nod to my story or novel, well, I heave a sigh of relief.
10. What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
Answer: Again this is a beautiful question. Scientists say those who are genius use barely 10% of the entire prowess of their brain and we ordinary mortal beings? May be not more than 2 % of our actual ability. Isn’t it? Whenever you get into a creative work, whether it is composing a poem, writing a large novel, creating a painting, through your artwork you reinvent yourself, you get an opportunity to look into yourself and come across many beautiful dimensions within you that you were not aware of until now. It is such a rewarding experience. Probably in this process we use a little larger section of our actual potential and fresh life juice rejuvenates our beings.
About the Author:
Ratnadip Acharya is the author of two successful novels, Life is Always Aimless... Unless you love it and Paradise Lost & Regained. He is a columnist for the Speaking Tree in The Times of India. He contributed many write-ups in different collections of Chicken Soup for the Soul. He lives in Mumbai with his wife, Sophia and son, Akash.
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