A THRILLER WRITER AT HEART

Author Interview: Kanchana Banerjee

Kanchana Banerjee lives in Gurgaon. She used to write for a plethora of publications and companies, now she is a full time author. When not writing, she enjoys gardening and playing with her dogs. She has recently come out with her second book “Nobody's Child”. In a candid conversation 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 Kanchana Banerjee as a person.

I’m just a normal average person who likes to imagine extraordinary, sometimes weird plots and characters. As an only child, books were my constant companion. I’m a Bengali so books were introduced to me early. My earliest memory is of the reading time; as a family all of us would sit and read our individual books. As a child I was never stopped from reading any kind of books. My parents believed there are no bad books; just books. And you can learn something from every book you read.


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?

Yes it has. I have always wanted to be a writer. Anything else has never been even a consideration. After my class 12 exams I worked in a newspaper office to learn the ropes. During my college, I worked for an ad agency and a publishing house to understand what kind of writing job would suit me well. I decided I loved feature writing the most. I started my career with The Statesman, Kolkata and then TOI, Hyderabad. I began freelancing after my son’s birth. I used to write for numerous publications across the country and then I branched out to corporate writing. I wrote for publications and companies for almost 18 years. I gave all that up in 2014 and began writing my first book – “A Forgotten Affair” which was published by Harper Collins in 2016. Since then I’m a full time writer, doing what I love the most – live in the world of my characters, talking to them, hearing them speak and writing their stories.


Can you tell us more about your book “Nobody’s Child”?

It’s a fast paced and dark thriller about games people play in order to win at any cost. No one is to be trusted, everyone has an agenda. A young girl comes to Mumbai to participate in a music contest and meets a man – a failed film reporter. He becomes her best friend in no time. Why? Is he after something? During the contest the girl faces numerous hurdles; it seems someone wants her thrown out of the contest. Why? Who could have something against her? She wins the contest and in a month’s time she meets with an accident and dies. Three years later, she returns as a drug addict. What happened to her? Who is responsible for what happened to her? The readers will find the answers of all these questions in the book.


How did the idea of writing this book emerge?

In 2002, I’d read in an agony aunt column a letter written by a girl saying that she confessed having premarital sex to her newly wedded husband who couldn’t deal with it and left her. This stayed with me and I knew that someday I would write a story using this. It took me a long time but after my first book, I finally got down to writing it. The earlier version (wasn’t a thriller, just a normal story) was rejected by HarperCollins and then I decided to rewrite it completely but kept the skeleton of the original story intact. The opening scene of this book– a young woman found drugged and scarred on the streets of Mumbai is yet another news item I’d read about and seen on TV many years ago. A drug addict found on the road was identified as a once famous super model who had fallen to drugs. This is the story behind the story of “Nobody’s Child”.


This book is a psychological crime thriller. Your first book was a domestic drama. Which other genres would you like to include in your oeuvre?

I’ve always been fond of thrillers as a reader and I think I’m a thriller writer at heart. So I’m going to write more thrillers, at least I hope to. But if there’s a genre I’d like to write someday, it would be a saga like “Far Pavilions”, “The Thorn Birds” or “Gone with the wind”. A love story set in the backdrop of changing time!


What type of research went into writing this book?

I did a lot of research on how and why Stockholm syndrome happens. Also on what happens to victims kept in captivity and how their mind flips, as the protagonist in “Nobody’s Child” falls for her captor and develops feelings for him, as does he for her.


This book is narrated from different points of view of various protagonists. Why did you choose this approach for writing this book? Also tell us more about your writing process?

I believe all original plots have been written. So what’s left to do is to tell it differently. If you look at the basic plot of Harry Potter, It’s just Oliver Twist; an orphan hounded by an evil man and the kid is left all alone to fight. But what is amazing about the story is that Rowling has built a world of magic, witchcraft and wizards. So I try to think of different narrative styles to make the story interesting. I felt it would be interesting to tell Asavri’s story from the POV of 3 characters, talking in simple past and present; thus telling the back and current story, and to make the protagonist speak at the end.

My writing process is very detailed and structured. I plan and plot a lot. I write out chapter outlines of at least 15 chapters before starting to write. I use mind mapping techniques to plot the story, so a lot of work happens before the actual writing starts.


What are the books that are occupying your non-working hours these days?

I end up reading a lot of thrillers because I want to hone my skills. I also enjoy reading books on writing – “On writing” by Stephen King, “The Plot Whisperer” by Martha Alderson, Ann Patchett’s “This is the Story of a Happy Marriage” – I’ve read them all and often re-read them.


Can you recommend five books from any genre, for our readers to add to their reading lists, that you particularly cherish?

These include “To kill a mockingbird”, “Far Pavilion”, all of Tagore’s works, “The Kite Runner”, and “Kane and Abel”. There are so many that it’s difficult to choose just five.


There are many new writers and poets who are aspiring to get their work published. What would you say to them?

Read a lot. Write a lot, even if its total garbage that comes out. It’s only after the muck flows out that good stuck will come. Please get a professional beta reader to assess the manuscript after you’ve finished writing it. By all means give it to your friends, family, spouse, lover, but hire a professional beta reader. It’s money well spent.


Can you share with our readers a motivational quote that keeps you going?

These are “Some see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say why not!” Another one is “Destiny is not a matter of chance; it’s a matter of choice.” I just love these two. They are my guiding stars!