About the Author

Girish Dutt Shukla is an author of book Maroon in a Sky of Blue. He is a computer engineer by education and a freelance digital marketer by profession. Before pursuing his passion for writing, he worked as a software engineer at Mahindra Comviva in Gurgaon for two years. In June 2015, he left the job and started working as a copywriter and a social media strategist in a digital marketing agency in Delhi.

He has written articles for a few websites and some of them have garnered over a thousand shares. He has a proclivity for perceiving psyche and behaviour and hopes to study the subject professionally in the future. Maroon in a Sky of Blue is his debut novel.

Interview:

Tell us about the idea behind the book?

When I started writing the book, I had the characters of Onir, Lavin, and Palchinn and I knew how I wanted the book to end. I didn’t know how the characters would develop and interact with each other and neither did I know the incidents that would take place in their lives to propel the story forward. The story came into existence because I made a commitment with myself that I had to write and with writing, the story developed itself. 

 How much time did it take in the process of writing?

Well, I began the book in May 2013 and finished the first draft in December 2016. After that, several rounds of editing and revisions and I was ready with the final draft in August 2017.

 What did the process of writing this book teach you?

There’d be days when you’ll feel good and excited to write. The creative energy would be high and writing would feel like a breeze. However, there would be days when you are low and writing a single sentence would seem terribly hard. The trick is to push yourself and write on those gloomy days. 

 What inspired you to write this book?

The years 2008 and 2009 were the most challenging of my life. During that period, I had plenty of time to introspect and that made me discover this creative side of mine who wanted to write and share stories. This experience of surviving difficult times inspired me to write Maroon In A Sky Of Blue.

 5 books one must read in a lifetime

 It’s super hard for me to pin just 5 books one must read in a lifetime. I’m going to name some of those reads that stayed for a long time after I had finished them.

• A Man Called Ove for its simple story that is packed with a delightful narration
• The Richest Man in Babylon and Rich Dad, Poor Dad to know how you should manage money
• Why We Sleep to know why should you take sleep seriously. I started clocking in those 7-8 hours of sleep every night after I was done reading it
• In Cold Blood is a fantastic true crime story. The narration is so detailed and keeps you hooked until the end
• The Kite Runner is one of those books I can go back to every time I want to a story to move me

Other books are To Kill a Mocking Bird, Gone Girl, 1984, Man’s Search for Meaning and many others.

A book that had an impact on you, which helped you in writing this one?

The concept of the suffering in a labyrinth from the book Looking For Alaska had a significant impact on me. I can’t say it helped me in writing the book but that entire notion stayed with me long after I had read the book so much so that I wrote an entire blog piece on it.

 Tell us about your publishing journey in 5 words.

It’s 8 words but describes my journey accurately.

“As difficult as nailing jelly to a tree”

Your favourite part/chapter from the book? 

It’s like asking a mother which habit of her newborn puts a smile to her face. For me, the entire book is that infant.

Tell us about your plans? Planning a new book?

I have already written the first draft of my second book. It’s a psychological murder mystery and the editing for the same will get concluded in a few months. The third book would be based on a true crime. The research for the same will begin next year.

What is literary success for you? 

To write books that I’m proud of. A healthy readership doesn’t hurt either ;)

A message for all the readers.

I want to thank each and every person who has picked up my book and read it. It means the world to me and your outpouring of love in my Instagram messages makes my day. Keep them coming. For those who haven’t been able to read the book yet, every day gives us the opportunity to make the right decisions ;).