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Author Interview - Saumya Chaki

Saumya Chaki works as a Solutioning Leader in a global technology consulting firm by day, and an author by night. He holds a Masters in Technology from IIT (ISM) Dhanbad. He has authored two non-fiction books “Enterprise Information Management in Practice” and “A Journey through 100 Years of Indian Cinema”. He has forayed into fiction with his book “Baptism by Fire”. He is also a frequent speaker at technology conferences on Digital Transformation. In a candid chat with Chirdeep Malhotra, he talks about his latest book, his writing journey, his writing style, and his blog.


Please tell us more about Saumya Chaki as a person.
I like to describe myself as a Geologist by education, an Analytics and Information Management leader by profession, a dreamer by habit, and a writer by chance. I believe that unless you dream and explore, you cannot be a writer.

Having authored two non-fiction books, this is your first foray into writing fiction.When did you start writing? Can you tell us more about your writing journey?
I started writing in college for the college magazine and occasionally contributing letters to the editor for newspapers like Telegraph and Times of India. While I always dreamt of writing a book at some stage, I started on my first book in early 2014. My debut book was titled ‘A Journey Through 100 Years of Indian Cinema’- a cine quiz book on the centenary journey of Indian Cinema. This book was a result of my deep interest in Indian Cinema and my love for quizzing. My second book ‘Enterprise Information Management in Practice’ was related to the state of Information Management in enterprises globally and was published by Springer Apress and is available in leading university libraries like Stanford, MIT, etc. ‘Baptism by Fire’ is my debut in fiction and is published by Srishti Publishers and Distributors. I believe that writing is a journey where one learns constantly, as long as I have interesting subjects to write about I will continue on this path.

Can you give us a brief overview of your book “Baptism by Fire”?
‘Baptism by Fire’ is a collection of five investigative stories of an enterprising new age detective duo – Samrat Sanyal and Aveek Gupta. Samrat is an ex-government sleuth turned private eye, while Aveek is a cyber-security professional turned detective. Set in different locales, our new age detective duo cracks some complex and nerve-wracking cases - from being called upon to solve the disappearance of a labour leader in the tea gardens near Darjeeling to the mysterious death of a regular hiker in the Table Mountains of Cape Town, or searching for a missing island in the exotic Andaman and Nicobar to investigating the murder of a management school student.
The final case finds them searching for culprits behind the attempted murder of a film director during a film shoot near Indore. Samrat and Aveek are repeatedly tested with diverse cases from kidnapping, betting, narcotics, murder to cyber-crime and this is truly their ‘Baptism by Fire’.

How has the reader’s response been to your book?
The book has been released recently across leading Amazon Kindle channels like India, US and UK. I see it picking up as more and more readers become aware of new age detective stories. There are some good reviews on Goodreads and Amazon.

What do you think is the perfect recipe for a riveting detective mystery novel?
While my genre is mystery/detective, I would like to mention that I have endeavored to bring in an element of wanderlust in the books as the duo Samrat and Aveek are avid travelers. They love the outdoors and their stories have an element of exploration. There is no perfect recipe I believe, it’s about how you build your story and the central characters, and an element of surprise and intrigue. I am still learning the ropes of it.

What kind of research went into writing this book?
A fair bit of research was needed around the places I wrote about, the methods of detection, the chemistry of poisons, data security and cyber crime investigation methods. These days readers like getting into details; hence authors need to be well versed about what they write.

Which book are you reading currently? Which are your favourite genres, books and authors?
I am reading two books currently– the first one is ‘Shoot, Dive, Fly’ by Rachna Bisht Rawat, a fascinating book about rigours and challenges and diverse careers in the Indian Army; and the second one is ‘The Raj at War’, an interesting account into the socio-economic and military impact of the World War 2 on the Indian subcontinent, written by Oxford historian Yasmin Khan. My favourite genres currently are military history, travelogues, geography and town planning in non-fiction, and mystery in fiction. My favourite authors include Sanjeev Sanyal, Ben Macintyre, Bill Bryson and Fredrick Forsyth. Favourite books would include Day of the Jackal, and Down Under to name a few.

You are also an occasional blogger. Can you tell us more about your blog and the themes that you blog about?
My blog, a Consultant’s Diary (http://saumyachaki.blogspot.com/) reflects my thoughts on issues that impact me or are reflections of my travel experiences. The topics vary widely from India at the Olympics, Sunil Gavaskar, to the state of democracy in India, to my travels to the Imphal area in search of World War 2 battlefields and lost history a theme for one of my upcoming book projects.

What are your other interests apart from writing?
I am an avid reader of both non-fiction and fiction. I have a deep interest in Indian Cinema having penned my first book on the centenary journey of Indian Cinema https://www.amazon.in/Journey-Through-Years-Indian-Cinema-ebook/dp/B00UWR60VO. I love to travel to remote places and explore the history and culture of these regions. Some of these journeys I have written about in my blog. I have an interest in education and hope to explore it as a give back to society a few years down the line.

Are there any other literary projects that you’re currently working on?
I have started work on my next project which is a historical fiction set in the background of World War 2 in the jungles of North East India. It’s an ambitious project and I hope to complete writing the book in the spring of 2019.

There are many new writers and poets there who are aspiring to get their work published. What would you say to them?
If your dream is to be an author, then work hard at it. Writing is not just a passion but a way of life and requires a lot of preparation and hard work. There will be set backs in the journey but if you are truly passionate, you will keep at it till you have your book published. Do remember writing is probably the easier part; in this day and age marketing your book is a very intense and crucial activity.

Can you share with our readers a motivational quote that keeps you going?
I am deeply inspired by the SAS (British special forces) motto ‘Who Dares Wins’. Isn’t it a true assertion of what life demands? Unless you live out of your comfort zone, you will never know your true potential. So go dream and work hard to realize your dreams.