Author Quirks: Preetham Grandhi

Next up is Preetham Grandhi, author of A Circle of Souls. I asked him:

What's a quirky or little-known fact about yourself, your writing, and/or one of your novels? (For example, you can tell us about a non-standard pet you have, an unusual way you do your writing, a strange real life incident that inspired a scene in one of your novels, or so on.)


Preetham Grandhi's answer:

Writing A Circle of Souls was one of the most challenging things I have ever done, and I thought going to medical school was hard. It took me four and a half years to write. I actually wrote the first draft in 1 and half years; it took me the rest of the time to revise over 15 times. Writing the book was hard, but promoting the book is much harder.

This kind of book is what you call fictional realism. Of course, only I know what is fact and what is fiction. Here are some facts which you will be able to identify with after reading the book. I grew in Bangalore on a street that was called "Elephant rock road" that had, at one end, a large rock with an elephant painted on it. That's where the idea for elephant rock in the book came from. My sister in India became one of the characters in the book: her name is Sheetal. Many of the ER experiences in dealing with the health care system described in the book are mine that occurred during my fellowship.

I think, in the end, we are all accountable for our actions, and that was the message I wanted to pass to the reader. Our paths cross for a reason. The only thing is we don't know, where, when and how.

Thank you, Mr. Grandhi, for telling us about writing your book.