Interviews

An Interview with Author Abhipsa Mohanty

  • When did you discover your love for writing?
    The thing is I used to write inane poetry and prose from a very young age, approximately since I was nine or ten. Writing was always my mode of expression. There was never a time, an epiphany, when I suddenly found that I love writing. I just did love it, simply always, because I knew no better way to express myself.
  • What drives you to write or who inspires you?
    Everything around me inspires me. It might be the peculiar human nature, or just the spider in the corner of the room, spinning its web silently.
  • Do you like reading? If yes, please tell us about your favourite authors and books?
    Yes, reading is a highly favoured hobby with me. I am a huge fan of detectives and adventure books. Additionally I’m a Potterhead. So, of course JK Rowling is one of my favourites. Then there is Agatha Christie’s works that I enjoy. I also love classics like those written by Jane Austen, Dickens, Oscar Wilde, Thomas Hardy and many more.
  • Which genre do you prefer to write about?
    There is no particular genre that I prefer to write. I generally write about the complicated human psyche and people’s behaviour. Just like I mentioned, I’m inspired by a lot of things around me, so I write on whatever thing has struck my brain with a good idea. So, you can say that I explore a lot of genres.
  • What are your thoughts on ‘Storytelling is an art’?
    The statement is true to the last syllable. However, in the present time, storytelling has shifted from being an art to being a commercialized commodity.
  • Every month there are so many calls for an anthology, how you choose the anthology?
    Well, I choose on the basis of themes of the anthologies. If I feel the theme is good and I can make a meaningful contribution on that particular theme, I go for it.
  • How you come across Album of Hearts Anthology?
    I saw the poster of it posted somewhere on social media, the platform I forget. I liked the theme and just submitted.
  • What according to you is a serious social problem and how you try to highlight it in your story?
    There are many serious social problems rampant throughout the world. So, I really can’t put my finger on a certain problem as a serious one. However, narrowing it down to the context of my story, I have tried to bring out the evils of prostitution in Indian cities. I have focused on the life of a prostitute and her ordeals to emphasize the problem.
  • Do you have any near plans for writing your full length novel? Or tell us about your upcoming novel? (In case, you have previously published your novels)
    I have written a full length novel, but that is only published chapter by chapter on my blog. This was written some seven years ago and the story is a murder mystery. I have received some “likes” on my blog for it, however, as an author seven years older, I personally feel the story to be quite amateurishly written. At present, there are no plans for the next novel, because I don’t have any good ideas that can be made into a novel now. But I hope I shall be struck with one soon.
  • Apart from writing, what other things you prefer doing?
    Reading novels, I have already mentioned. Then I love listening to music, especially the old-school rock type. Then, I am also fond of painting and sketching. And yes, I enjoy playing badminton.
  • Do you have any message for your readers?
    Just don’t read for the sake of enjoyment. Enjoyment or pleasure is the first and foremost thing to be kept in mind, no doubts about that, but the stories reveal a lot of things that people can work on in their own lives, and if possible, in others’ lives too. So I would request all the readers to keep this in mind, and help make a change.
  • What’s your message to budding/ aspiring writers?
    I would ask all the budding writers to keep writing. Even if you face rejection, DO NOT STOP. Because as the saying goes, Failure is the stepping stone to success.
  • Lastly, how was your experience working with us?
    I will answer this in one word – AWESOME.

So that was Abhipsa. Thank you for sharing your gracias views. Lovely knowing you.
Wishing her good luck in all her future endeavors
.

You can read more about her here.

— Interviewed by Aditi Srivastava.