A Note About Inspiration.

Mohit Rajhan of Bollywood Blvd Show posed the question that most interviewers ask me often: "What inspired you to write this novel?" I seldom know how to accurately answer this particular question: What inspired me to write this novel the way I did? Did Garcia influence me in any way as I was in the midst of reading "One Hundred Years of Solitude" while working on completing this novel? Or was it just that one of my friend's challenged me to never start a novel by the phrase "it was a dark and stormy night..." as no one would then take me seriously as a writer -- which of course I decided to challenge in that very instant -- and began my novel with exactly that phrase. This question has always stumped me! Then I was reading "The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga and it included the topics for discussion and interview with the author himself at the end of the book. He also discussed this question -- where did the inspiration for the main character come from? After reading his answer, I finally had mine. What inspired me to write this novel, among other reasons...Well, I see "blindness" all around me. Everyone of us live in some form of denial or assert our right to be "right." This blindness is a part of all of us. This is a character flaw yet also an essential survival tool for many of us. It's good and bad at the same time. Perhaps, this is what has mostly inspired me to write "The End of the Dark and Stormy Night" the way that I did.

Interview with Bollywood Blvd.

I recently travelled to Toronto to promote my novel "The End of the Dark and Stormy Night." I was interviewed by Mohit Rajhan on Bollywood Blvd Show. This was my first live interview -- a bit terrifying. However, it turned out well in the end. I guess it helps being in the hands of a very good interviewer!

The interview aired on Channel 4 (OMNI) nationally at 3 pm and 9 pm on January 31, 2010.

An Interesting Birthday Tale -- Strangely True.

Here's a birthday tale that is strangely true.

I recently celebrated my 36th birthday on January 24. I have always treasured this day as this is also the day my father was born. Years later, my daughter was born on January 23. I always told her that she missed her grandfather's and my birthday by a day -- if only she was born a day later!

A few years back, my daughter and I went to visit Fiji Islands, my birthplace. On the way back to Canada, while on the plane, my daughter says, "Mom, I do share yours and Nana's (grandpa's) birth date. Nana (Grandpa) and you were born on January 24, in Fiji Islands, whereas I was born on January 23rd, in Canada. For me to share your birth day, I had to be born on January 23rd."

Of course, she was right. The beauty of timezones. January 23rd in Canada is in actuality January 24th in Fiji. Moral of the story -- I suppose the universe knows what it is doing every step of the way. It is just us who fail to see the several connections. Ha!

Athabasca University Students' Alumni Fall Issue/Author Profile

Here's an article profiling me as a writer published in Athabasca University Students' Alumni Fall issue. Follow link by clicking the header above.

Season's Greetings

Wishing all a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year! All the best.

FAQ: Where did you get the idea to write "The End of the Dark and Stormy Night?"

There's an interesting story behind that too. Well, one of my friends said that I should never start a novel with "It was a dark and stormy night." Not having grown up here, I wasn't completely aware of the history behind that sentence. So I asked him why. He advised that nobody will then take me seriously as a writer. Well, that was the day I sat down and wrote the first sentence of THE END OF THE DARK AND STORMY NIGHT. "It was a dark and stormy night..."

This leads me to a discussion on the title. The title was originally supposed to be "The Non-Writer." But as the story evolved and changed over the years, it became clear that Ravi was not the only central character in this story; Other characters were equally contributing and interesting. I had to search for a new title that also reflected the tongue in cheek nature of the story. I assigned my daughter, who was eight at that time, to the task. She came up with the title THE END OF THE DARK AND STORMY NIGHT. So here we have it -- how the idea to write this particular novel came about.

FAQ: Why Elkford?

Well, when I emigrated to Canada in 1988 from Fiji islands, the first place I found myself was the small town of Elkford, British Columbia. Current population 3000 people! Whew! I suppose as a teenager, growing up in Fiji, my idea of Canada was much different. I expected to be surrounded by fast cars, tall buildings, herds of people, but here I was -- in Elkford. Population, less than 3000! Surrounded by mountains and waterfalls. As I grew to visit other places in Canada, however, I realised that Elkford was one of the many faces of this country we Canadians live in. So for my first published novel, I selected the the small town of Elkford as the most perfect setting and background to tell my story. I think it's noteworthy to mention that having been in Calgary for more than a decade, parts of the story is also situated in Albertan cities and towns such as Cowley, Alberta.