Not going to attempt a trilogy any more: Novoneel Chakraborty

The book was launched at the popular lifestyle chain Starmark's South City Mall store.

Interacting with his fans, Novoneel said, "The story picks up from where it ended in book two."

While asked whether the ending would be heartbreaking, he said, "Yes,it is going to be heartbreaking. Someone's going to die. Someone has to die in the end."

The author admitted that it would be difficult for him to move away from the characters of his recently concluded 'Stranger' trilogy. "It will prove to be a difficult task  to move away from Rivanah and the other characters. I'll try not to attach myself too much with them," he said.

The author also had a friendly warning for his readers..."Don't open the last page! Don't be a smart-ass."

He spoke about the challenges of dealing with a trilogy, vowing to never embark on the same again. "It's a tough job. You have to excite people, satisfy them in every page. And it's difficult to satisfy Indians," he added.

When asked how did he start writing the trilogy, Novoneel said that he only had the title in mind and went about it...
"I just had the title in mind, that's it, and nothing else."

He did admit that a couple of personal losses  helped him develop his storyline.

When a reader commented about the name of one of his characters, Rivanah, stating it's a rather unique Bengali name, Novoneel said, "That is what I wanted."

"I cannot write a story, until and unless I fall in love with my character's name," he added.

When asked for advise, he said, "Be honest with yourself. Don't think too much about what others are saying."

The author also said that he would love to see a change of stance in the Indian television serials, as far as the story lines are concerned.

"I would love to see them ditch this old saas bahu get up and go for something bold, try something new," he said.

Speaking about his kind of stories, Novoneel said, "My kind of love stories aren't babu and shona and ku chee ku, they are a lot mature. It is a very different  for me."

He said that though the readers are getting matured and are open to reading different types of stories, ideally the number is a lot smaller than desired.

The college dropout turned author also said that he is looking to improve upon his marketing skills..."I really think I used to suck at this job, but things are getting better. I'm looking forward to an improved marketing skills."

Published by Random House India, the novel is priced at INR 175.  

(Reporting by Sudipto Maity, Image by Subhodeep Sardar/IBNS)