Author Interview: Dinesh Veera
Today, I am featuring Dinesh Veera, author of The author of the upcoming book: Shiva Origins: The Son of Ganga for our Author Interview feature.
About The Author
Dinesh Veera is a Malaysian Indian who was born and raised in Malaysia. Both his maternal and paternal grandparents are Indian citizens who were brought to Malaysia long ago by the British government who ruled India. His maternal grandfather was the most important character who instilled the love towards Indian mythology, Yoga, and Hinduism deep inside his mind.
The Interview
Did you always plan to become an author since your childhood? If not childhood then when did you first realize you wanted to become an author?
Never. The idea to become a professional writer came all of a sudden when I wanted to share my knowledge of Indian mythology and Yoga with others in an engaging way.
As I see most of your books are based on mythology, I would like to know how did you get interested in this genre?
It is because of my late maternal grandfather Kunjamboo Kavindravil from Kerala. He played a big part in developing the interest in Indian mythology and Yoga inside my mind. Since I have learned and gained a good amount of knowledge in Indian mythology and Yoga, it made sense to write a story based on mythology.
Do you believe in a creative block?
Yes. Creativity is a quality that is related to the freedom of the mind. You need to have a free mind to be creative. As for me, I observed a reduction in my creativity whenever I am stressed.
What does your writing schedule look like?
It’s very unpredictable, to be honest. But I wrote mostly during the night.
How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
I feel I am a more experienced author now in terms of writing and book publishing. I learned a lot from writing and publishing my first author.
How do you visualize your characters? If you are writing about a negative character does it affect your daily life?
Yes. When you write the characters, somehow you need to imagine yourself in their shoes to be effective in the scene creation. Thus, writing about a negative character does affect my mood slightly, but It's just a transient change.
What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
I didn’t do specific research to just write a book. My research had started long before writing Shiva Origins. My maternal grandfather had instilled a great level of curiosity inside me when I was small on our Indian mythology and Yogic teachings. As I grew, my interest grew further and I did a lot of research on these two topics. So, we are looking at about 10 years of research on Indian mythology and Yoga which includes some of the ancient teachings from Patanjali, Thirumoolar, Sivavaakiyar, valluvar, Swami Vivekananda, Lahiri Mahasyaha and etc. All these researches created a strong foundation for me to write Shiva Origins.
Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?
Yes. Da Vinci Code and Ponniyin Selvan are the 2 novels that changed my entire perspective on fictional books. I realized the power that fictional books possessed.
As I have noticed you mostly write historical fiction and mythology, has any specific character been the hardest for you to write?
The characters of the legendary Indian Gods are the hardest to write. As for now, the character of Lord Shiva is the hardest. Probably writing about Lord Shiva is the hardest feat I have ever tried to accomplish.
What advice would you give to someone who is aspiring to be a writer?
To be honest, the writing field is getting very competitive especially in India. If you want to be a successful author and make a living out of writing then you must be having a good strategy to break into the bestseller categories. I write mainly mythology books; thus, my advice will be more helpful for any newbie authors planning to explore the mythology genre. I have 3 suggestions for them. Firstly, think of a fresh and impactful storyline for the book. Then write the story in an engaging way as possible with multiple rounds of editing. Lastly, create an excellent book cover and focus on marketing.
If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?
I should have read more books from different genres as well.
Do you often get ideas about your next character from the people near you? How do you observe them, and mold them into your next character?
Yes. I do get ideas. But about molding them into my characters, it’s a technique I would like to keep as a secret.
Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
I am humbled by the good ones and try to ensure that subsequent works can sustain the reader's expectations. As for the bad ones, I appreciate the criticism and try to improve myself further.
Thank you, Dinesh, for all your insightful and fun answers!
