- Being a doctor by profession, what inspired you to pursue writing as well? How do you balance both careers?
Writing has been a passion since early childhood, and it’s always been a secret desire of mine to be an author. I tend to say that my work as a doctor in the medical field is my Day job while writing is kind of like my Night job, kind of like a Bruce Wayne/Batman thing, although not as dramatic. The opposing duality of both worlds is something that is a part of what describes me as an individual. About balancing both, I’m not a consistent writer, mainly because my day job is tiring and stressful at times but whenever I do get some free time to write I spend it fruitfully.
2. You describe yourself as a writer at heart—when did you first discover your love for storytelling?
As mentioned before, I have always been passionate about writing since early childhood. I love reading, I’m an avid reader who began reading as early as age four and read anything interesting, genre no bar. In fact, in school, I was the weirdo with her nose buried in a storybook in all free periods, including class picnics! I used to cajole anyone uninterested in reading to loan their library cards to me to borrow extra books from the school library. So stories were a huge part of my life growing up and somewhere along the way, I realised that I enjoyed telling stories as well as reading them. This usually manifested in me writing limericks and funny verses behind school notebooks, and the blank sections of examination question papers after submitting my answer sheets.
3. Scribbler’s Medley is a collection of diverse stories and verses. What inspired you to create such an eclectic mix?
As mentioned in the author’s note, Scribbler’s Medley was initially conceived in 2022 as project number two (which I had tentatively titled Myriad Musings). I had written a large number of short verses throughout late 2021 to mid-2022, and a couple of the stories featured in the book between 2020 to 2022 (Except Sons of Stars). Initially, I had conceived the collection to be only of short verses, but later as I began compiling them, I felt that it would work better as a mixed collection, especially as I wrote more short stories between 2023 to 2024. I realised that some of the stories and verses shared a commonality, either a theme, genre, topic or a spiritual essence of sorts. It was then I decided to compile everything as a set of triads, one story and two verses. I’d initially thought of ten to twelve such triads but finally settled for nine.
4. The book spans multiple genres and themes. Was it challenging to bring such different pieces together into a cohesive collection?
I wouldn’t say it was challenging, but it wasn’t easy either. The most difficult part was sifting through the verses and choosing which ones I wished to feature, as there were many with similarities to the ones I finally selected. I was absolutely certain about which stories to us,e though it was more about pairing them with the appropriate verses. The arrangement of the triads also was a bit tough, but with each subsequent draft I felt that the final set-up was satisfactory.
5. Do you have a personal favorite story or poem from the book? If so, what makes it special to you?
Oh, I have quite a few, but if I have to choose only one, I would say it’s (Inter)Galactic Quest. It was the most fun to write and the tone of the writing language is the closest reflection of how I speak in daily life. It pays homage to all the geeky things I enjoy, and I’ve tried to infuse it with as much humour, pop culture references and craziness as possible. Even the title is a homage to the quirky and hilarious movie, Galaxy Quest.
6. Since you enjoy traveling, do any of your experiences from different places find their way into your writing?
Yes, it does. Travelling acts as both an escape and a study experience for me; an escape because it allows me a change from the drudgery of the daily grind, and a study experience because it allows me to see and experience life through different eyes as well as observe humanity in the form of my fellow travellers and the locals of whichever place I visit. This helps me in the creation of my fictional characters and their stories.
7. How does your medical background influence your storytelling? Do you ever draw inspiration from your profession?
My medical background rarely influences my storytelling. I tend to segregate my profession from my passion. However, it does help when some stories involve any medical-related plot points. For example, the stories Used Goods and Going Under, feature either a medical-related plot or sub-plot, where my professional knowledge helped me immensely.
8. Do you see yourself writing a novel in the future, or do you prefer short-form storytelling?
Yes, I most certainly do. I have another short story collection on the cards, but I wish to release at least a couple of full-length novels before resuming work on that collection, especially since I have rough outlines of two to three novels in mind. I even would love to rework some of my stories written as a teenager and release them as a collection of children’s books. Hopefully, with blessings from all quarters, I’ll be able to do it all.
9. You’ve already published Flights of Fancy and now Scribbler’s Medley. How has your writing evolved between these two books?
Flights of Fancy was a collection featuring only poetry while Scribbler’s Medley is a mixed collection of short stories and verses. The former was much easier to write while the latter was tougher, mostly due to the stories. Scribbler’s Medley features the lengthiest short story I’ve written to date: The Maiden and the Hunter. So that way I would say that I have built up confidence over the years to attempt longer-format storytelling, something I hope will help me while attempting a novel.
10. You mention being fascinated by magic and mythology. How does that influence your storytelling?
I love mythology and fantasy. I enjoy reading about myths and mythological stories from various cultures around the world and a large number of fantasy books. Tolkien is one of my favourite fantasy authors. I have tried to incorporate this love in the final triad of Scribbler’s Medley, and I hope to use more of this influence in my future work.
