About The Author
Avnish Burman Choudhury is a financial services professional who thoroughly enjoys writing works of fiction. Born in Kolkata, raised in New Delhi, with a year spent in Hyderabad and another in the United Kingdom – he has had varied, enriching experiences in his life: experiences that he sometimes combines with his imagination to weave his tales.
His love of writing has seen him write two books, and also saw him take a near three-year break from financial services to work as a professional ghostwriter.
Avnish currently resides in New Delhi, where he has struck a happy balance between the world of financial services, and his life as an author.
Interview
Q) Tell us about the idea behind the book.
– Dreamtamer and Other Short Stories is a collection of six short stories across various genres. I’ve always enjoyed writing works of fiction that explore different themes, genres and topics – and when it came to this book, I took six of what I felt were my best stories and put them together in a collection.
Q) How much time did it take in the process of writing?
– That’s a hard question to answer! I finished some of these stories within a month, while others took two-to-three months. Then, there was the time taken to edit them as well – and that’s just as important a part of the writing process. A conservative estimate for the whole collection would be a year, but it’s important to note that these stories were not written in continuation. As they’re all short stories that aren’t connected to each other, they were all written at different times. Some stories, for instance, I wrote in 2017; some others, I wrote in 2018 or 2019.
Q) What did the process of writing this book teach you?
– Patience and discipline. It takes a lot of both of these attributes to write a story that you’re satisfied with. Be patient with yourself, and allow ideas to come to you rather than try and force them out of your mind; and be disciplined when they eventually do come to you, and it’s time to write them down.
Q) What inspired you to write this book?
– Nothing really inspired me, to be honest. I love writing, and had thought of these stories and wanted to write them – that was all.
Q) Five books one must read in a lifetime.
– I have no answer to offer here. Just keep reading, and you’ll discover the five books that mean the most to you. And that combination of books will be unique to you – because a significant chunk of the entire reading experience is the personality of the reader themselves. For the record, some books I’ve enjoyed would be For Whom the Bell Tolls, A Farewell to Arms and The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway); To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee); The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald); The Grapes of Wrath (Steinbeck); and, of course, The Lord of the Rings (Tolkien).
Q) A book that had an impact on you, which helped you in writing this one
– To be honest, I have no answer to offer here either. All the books I’ve read have had an impact on me – some taught me what I like in literature, and some taught me what I do not. Either way, they’ve all been educational. As far as my book is concerned, it wasn’t inspired by any work of literature I’ve come across in the past.
Q) Tell us about your publishing journey in five words.
– Excitement, Anxiousness, Patience, Impatience, Euphoria
Q) Your favourite part from the book is?
– My favourite part would be a story – the lead story, Dreamtamer. It’s a story about growth in adversity, and of finding a way to fulfil your dreams. The setting is also beautiful, and a lot of the character conversations revolve around life lessons that I’m sure most people have experienced in their lifetimes.
Q) Tell us about your plans? Planning a new book?
– Oh yes, absolutely! My love for writing is here to stay. I’m considering writing some longer-format stories (maybe novellas or even a novel) in the future.
Q) How has your life changed after the book was published?
– Well, given how my book was published in August this year, and it’s been only two months since then, my life hasn’t had much opportunity to change yet. Maybe we ought to revisit this question in a year’s time. I will say one thing, though – nowadays, I wake up with a smile a little bit broader than what I used to manage before.
Q) What is a literary success for you?
– To be walking down the street one day and to hear people walking by discussing my book (and saying nice things about it, of course!)
Q) A message for all the readers
– Find a viable way to do the things that make you happy. Viability is important because we live in the world that we live in. And happiness is important because we need to live with ourselves.
