WRITING BOOKS WITH AVANT-GARDE NARRATIVES

Chirdeep Malhotra . Updated: 5/1/2019 11:10:49 AM Books and Authors

Author Interview : Nupur Luthra

Nupur Luthra has been in the writing industry for 12 years now and is currently working in a company called Nimbus Adcom as a senior content writer. She is living in Delhi for 4 years now and has spent 27 years of her life in Pune. She has recently come out with the book 'Disturbed Death', which is her 3rd book. This is a suspense thriller, with characters named as Donald Hump and Bama. In a candid chat with Chirdeep Malhotra, she talks about her latest book, her writing journey, her favourite books and authors, and much more.

Please tell us more about Nupur Luthra as a person.
I am a dynamic figure. In my head, I have climbed mountains and crushed huge icebergs under my pirate ship. I have a great dressing sense and love to follow fashion closely. I am a writer at heart, who loves to study people’s behaviour and secretly write about them in my journal. Having spent 12 years in the industry, I love to study and am planning to study journalism.

Has writing always been a part of your life? Or did you chance upon it later on and then instantly fell in love with it?
Well, when I was in the 10th grade, I did write extensively for the school magazine. Did I know that I’d become a writer today, no. I felt maybe I’d become a doctor or become a soldier in the army. Writing came as a stroke of luck during my 1st job interview. I was told I would be perfect as a writer and as I began writing as a profession, I was in love with how I could tell stories through simple words written on white paper.

Can you tell us more about your book “Disturbed Death”?
Disturbed Death is a thriller, where two perfect families are destroyed as several secrets are unravelled along the way. We don’t have a hero, but a murderer who sends someone else to jail in his or her place.

How has the response of readers been to your book?
The readers have loved the book and wish I’d write a part two, where I reveal the killer. They say that they couldn’t let go off the book as it was absolutely gripping.

What type of research went into writing this book?
I had to do a detailed background check on my characters, to understand what sort of people they are, before I could write about them. I had to be careful in making sure that I don’t really reveal their names, even though it was obvious to my readers as to whom I was talking about. I had to make my characters sound sly, evil, crazy and mysterious.

In terms of the complexity of the character and the nuances of the dialogues, the character development of whom was the most difficult in this book?
It was difficult to develop the murderer’s character along with Donald Trump’s character. At first, I wanted to simply kill Donald Trump’s character in the initial chapters, but as I went along, I felt the need to bring him back from the dead. The murderer’s character had to be secretive throughout the book, which of course is tough because I couldn’t reveal who he or she was.

What do you think is the literary scenario in contemporary Indian English fiction?
Indian English fiction has always been responsive to the changes in material reality and theoretical perspectives that have impacted and governed its study since the time of its inception. Indian English literature no longer remains limited to the writings necessarily of the sons of the soil. It has broadened the scope of fictional concerns of writers from purely Indian to the global and transnational.

What are your favourite books? Can you share with our esteemed readers about the genres that you like and your favourite authors?
One of my most favourite books has always been “The sins of the father” and “Best kept secret” by Jeffery Archer. I love fiction. There’s something about it that gives me goose bumps.

What are your other interests apart from writing?
I love to exercise, love to cook, travel the world and watch scary, and historical war movies.

There are many new writers and poets who are aspiring to get their work published. What would you say to them?
I think that many novelists at the beginning of their careers spend far too much time writing and then tinkering with their first book. My advice is to write a book and then immediately go on to the next one and to the one after that. In other words, the more you write, the better you will become.

Can you share with our readers a motivational quote that keeps you going?
It is this quote by Maya Angelou- “I don’t know about lying for novelists. I look at some of the great novelists, and I think the reason they are great is that they’re telling the truth. The fact is they’re using made-up names, made-up people, made-up places, and made-up times, but they’re telling the truth about the human being—what we are capable of, what makes us lose, laugh, weep, fall down, and gnash our teeth and wring our hands and kill each other and love each other.”


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