INTERVIEW: Neelabh Pratap Singh author of 'The Resurrection of Evil'
Friends we have Neelabh Pratap Singh today to speak about his Mythological thriller ‘The Resurrection of Evil'. Neelabh is a mechanical engineer graduated from National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra. He has been working in automobile sector for past six years and has been associated with premium motorcycle manufacturers like Honda and Triumph motorcycles. The Resurrection of Evil is his debut book.
Who and what inspired you to write this book Neelabh?
Well, I was never a writer. I had been into other art forms like sketching, painting and even dancing, but writing was the thing which was never my cup of tea. But I was always a storyteller. There were always several stories cooking inside my head right from the childhood and I was very passionate about telling those stories to the world. I would sketch comics on the notebook paper, colour it with crayons. As I grew up, for a strange reason, I just left comic book sketching. But the passion for storytelling was still there. I became familiar with novels and then the idea of writing a book started to develop in my head.
Why mythology and why not anything else?
Initially, I wasn’t sure of what my book was going to be about. But I knew one thing for sure that my book has to be a pure entertainer. Each and every page of my book must entertain the reader and it should be so interesting that even a non-reader would find my book unputdownable. I absolutely love action-based thrillers and so it was an obvious choice for me. Right from the childhood, my parents have always kept me close to our Indian mythology. My grandfather and my mother would tell me various stories of our mythology and I was very impressed with these stories. So, when it came to create a story myself, these mythological stories were the best choice to construct the plot because these were always with me since I was a kid.
What were your fears as you finished writing this book and how did you tackle them?
The biggest fear in every artist is that whether people will like his or her work or not. That exactly was my fear. Given the storyline of this book, it was not conventional. Hence, I was skeptical as to whether people will accept it. But then, I knew that I have written a kind of book which I would have loved to read. And, I knew that there are surely going to be readers who would have similar taste as me. This belief gave me the confidence.
Who are your favourite writers in this genre?
First and foremost, Dan Brown. Then, James Patterson. In Indian authors, I like Ashwin Sanghi and Amish.
Reading your novel gives me a solid impression of a lot of research that went behind it. Could you please narrate how you went about researching or how much time did it take you to research and get the novel ready?
Research, I would say, is a thing which thickens the plot and which adds layers to the story. I primarily read books, articles, and blogs. I also watched YouTube videos to understand the scientific concepts I have used in the book. I visited Haridwar and Rishikesh, for these two places have some important sequences in my book. All these activities took almost a year. Only after finishing the research and finalizing the plot, I started writing the book.
How did you decide upon the title of the novel?
Title is something which reflects the tone and theme of the book. The theme of the book is revenge, and the antagonists trying to resurrect themselves from the darkness of past. I hadn't been able to finalize the title till the very end and was unsure between vengeance or resurrection. Finally, I felt it was the resurrection of evil which was prevailing throughout the story. Hence, this title.
There are also books with the similar or almost similar title, how do you think is your book different from them?
Every story is unique in itself. If any story or similar is same as other, the author would not write it at the first place. The Resurrection of Evil is an amalgamation of ancient stories of myths and modern-day, fast-paced thriller. The story is contemporary yet it has its roots in the past. The villains are not just any criminal but the descendants of ancient evil-The Asuras. So, it is a unique tale of Good vs Ancient Evil.
Do you want to say something to your readers?
Saying that there is a lot of hard work and passion behind this book would be a cliché. But I would like to highlight is the idea and intent behind the book. This book is written with an intention to entertain the readers, with an intention to bring the non-readers into reading, and with an intent to promote reading. Take a leap of faith into my creation, I hope it would give you one of the thrilling and entertaining experiences of your life.
