Vikas Sinha Talks About His Book “Evil begets Evil ”

About the Author:

Vikas Sinha is an ardent reader of detective fiction and he is a fan of horror and supernatural genre. His earlier books, “The Case Of The Missing Brother” and “The Case Of The Stolen Tiara”, were liked by the readers. His attempt at writing the third installment of Andy’s adventures has finally fructified after a struggle of more than 18 months. He hopes that the readers will enjoy the book as much as he enjoyed writing it.

Exclusive interview with the author

Q: What Inspired You To Write This Book?

A: Honestly, the idea came to me in a dream. I saw myself in a basement and from where I stood, I could see a skull on the floor. The idea intrigued me. What sort of a story would come out of that picture? Initially, I toyed with the idea of writing a short horror story and I even wrote an outline for it. During that time, I was thinking a lot about a new story where a detective gets challenged by a psycho. I was thinking about a hit list and a race against time sort of story but then one day I took the half-developed idea of a skull in a basement and used that to develop the back story of the psycho. I wrote the first draft of the novel in about seven months but I was not very happy with it. I kept tinkering with the plot and thrice I managed to hit a dead end where the story stopped making sense and no effort on my part could salvage it. Whenever that happened, I would stop working on the novel and start writing short stories. Then after a week or a month or three months, I would get the breakthrough and then I would go back to the novel. It took me about 18 months to finally finish the story and I love the way the book has shaped up.

Q: Can You Tell Us About The Book?

A: I had written two adventures of Andy earlier. For the third book, I wanted to pit him against a master manipulator, a puppeteer who pulls the strings from the background, and a master planner who spends a lot of time perfecting his plan. A child went missing some years ago. That tragic incident provided a springboard for the formulation of a clever plan to make Andy run in circles. All the evidence seems to point towards Santosh, the father of the missing child, who has the biggest axe to grind. But, before the police could interrogate him, he goes missing. The police inspector is not a fan of Andy and refuses to cooperate with him. Andy soon learns that the police inspector no longer suspects Santosh. Andy’s own investigations of the murky disappearance of Santosh’s firstborn tell him all about the murder of the hapless child. He is able to foil two murder attempts and soon realizes that the mastermind has worked out multiple variations of his plan. The only way to stop the mastermind is to expose his identity. To do that, Andy has to find his hideout and descend into the basement to face his fears.

Q:Where Do You Get Your Information Or Ideas For Your Books?

A: For the first case of Andy, I wanted him to solve the mystery of a man who had disappeared from his house. The entire case builds around the mystery of where the man went and what happened to him. For the second case, I wanted Andy to solve an old case whose details are paltry and he had to interview people and sift through their memories. Then he stumbles upon the plan to kill the heiress of the estate and does everything in his power to save her. For the third case, I wanted him to face off against an intelligent criminal who had worked out a perfect plan to hoodwink the young detective. From there, I go about building the world. Characters are added and sometimes dropped. Their interactions change quite a bit over time. Sometimes the ideas keep coming in droves but mostly the progress is slow.

Q: How Many Books Have You Written? Which Is Your Favourite?

A:I have written three books now. All of them are precious to me. They have taught me a lot and helped me in becoming a better writer. The first book, “The Case Of The Missing Brother” and the second book, “The Case Of The Stolen Tiara” are very special to me. Having said that, the latest book, “Evil Begets Evil”, is my favourite book. I spent about 18 months finishing it. Many times I despaired that the book may not see the light of the day. At long last, the book is ready for publication and it makes me really happy.

Q: What Is The Most Difficult Part About Writing For You?

A: Once I have set the tone and the general idea of the plot outline, I start thinking of the various characters who are needed for the story. This stage always takes a lot of time for me. The only way I know how to do it is to start writing and see where it takes me. Quite frequently, I run into dead ends. Then I have to either backtrack or wait for inspiration to break out of writer’s block. I don’t mind getting stuck. It is part and parcel of writing stories. What I don’t like is that sometimes I have to backtrack and lose the work that I did for the past month or two months.

Q:Do You Believe A Book Cover Plays An Important Role In The Selling Process?

A: Yes, absolutely. For a writer who is relatively unknown, the only way he/she could make a prospective book buyer look at their product is to make it look really appealling. A good book cover will make a reader pick the book up. That is half the battle won. For this reason, a lot of time should be spent in choosing the right cover.

This book is published by OrangeBooks Publication. All rights are reserved with the author & the publisher.