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Interview for Sarath Babu’s Lifestyle Blog

I was recently interviewed by Chennai-based blogger Sarath Babu about my experience writing and having ‘The Shrine of Death’ published…

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1.What motivates you to write?
Love of the story and the characters! That, I’ve realised, is the only thing that makes you want to keep writing, that brings you back to the book again and again, amidst all the periods of self-doubt and low inspiration. That’s what happened for me with ‘The Shrine of Death’ – the story wouldn’t let me go.

 

2. How did you feel after publishing your book?
For someone like me, who has always loved books and reading, to see my own words within the covers of a novel was an incredible feeling, almost surreal. I remember holding it in my hands for the first time and feeling almost tearful. It was, quite literally, a dream come true.

 

3. What are some of your favourite novels and authors?
I love reading fiction across all genres — I enjoy Edgar Allan Poe and Anne Rice as much as I do Georgette Heyer or P. G. Wodehouse. Crime writer Dick Francis is an old favourite of mine – Ilove the way he deftly draws his characters and their emotional lives, as much as the way he sets up his fast-moving plots. I love the dark and brooding atmosphere that Daphne Du Maurier conjures up in her all novels and short stories. I recently re-discovered the thrillers of Ira Levin — what a fascinating variety of plots he came up with! And I love the gentle humour and kindness in the writing of James Herriot.
4. Is there a specific reason for naming your novel?

 

I had actually given it a different name in the beginning – ‘The Empath’. But my editor Himanjali Sankar and others at Bloomsbury India felt that wasn’t the most evocative title, especially since many people may not even know what an empath was (and I could see their point!) So, she asked me for some alternative titles, and ‘The Shrine of Death’ was the most popular of the ones I came up with. As for why it’s called that, it has to do with a special sort of Chola temple called a pallipadaithat is central to the mystery in my book. These are sepulchral shrines built to honour dead kings and queens – i.e. shrines of death! To know more about how the title came to be,you can check out this post in my blog: https://divyakumar.com/2018/04/05/why-the-shrine-of-death/.

 

5. Where do you write from? Do you go to some specific place, like beach side or the hills? 
I wish! Most of my writing for this book was done at home since I began working on it at the time when I gave up my full-time job as a reporter to become a stay-at-home mom. I still do the same… I generally write at my spot on the couch or at my desk, either after everyone is asleep at night, or after everyone has left home in the mornings! But there are also times when I just need to get away from it all to write, and then my go to is usually a coffees hop. Both in Chennai before, and in Dubai now, I have certain favourite cafes where I love to go, order a cappuccino and write.

 

6. What inspired you to write the books (in general)? Any tales to tell…
I grew up in a home filled with books, and I’ve just loved stories for as long as I can remember.I wrote my first story, about a turtle and fish who were best friends, when I was five years old, and my childhood and teens are littered with ambitious novels I began and abandoned. And that doesn’t count all the stories I’ve made up in my head and never put down on paper! Working as a journalist with The Hindu Metroplus, I covered the book beat, attending book launches and interviewing authors, and that was definitely a source of inspiration as well, meeting all these creative people and hearing their stories.

 

7. What was your biggest learning experience throughout the writing process?
The process of writing and rewriting, working and reworking, the steps that go into converting that first draft, the idea in your head, into something whole and complete, something cohesive and engaging. I’ve done that for feature articles, of course, but a 95,000-word novel is something else altogether!

 

8. Looking back, what did you do right that helped you break in as a writer?
I think there’s no better training ground for becoming an author than working as a journalist. Just the act of writing and editing everyday hones your abilities. It teaches you to cope with days when the words just aren’t coming that easily. It teaches you economy with words. It teaches you to be ruthless with your own writing. And exposes you to so many new experiences and interesting people.

 

9. Any best piece of writing advice that you would like to share with new or struggling writers? 
Just keep going! This is neither new nor original advice, but it’s the only thing that works – to keep writing. If you’re feeling blocked or burnt out, take a break, take a breather, but then come back to it.

 

10. Something personal about you people may be surprised to know?
Like my main protagonist Prabha, I have a degree in computer science! But unlike her, my shift in careers happened early on – I did a second degree in journalism, and except for a brief stint as a web developer, had moved completely away from coding by my mid-20s.

 

11. Any future books that you would like to discuss now?
I’m actually working on a sequel to ‘The Shrine of Death’, and I’m hoping to do a trilogy eventually. You will get to know what happened next with the characters in TSoD, and there are, of course, many strange and disturbing new developments!

 

12. What other profession excites you the most?
If I wasn’t a writer, I would love to be part of the music industry, as a singer, songwriter or composer!

 

13. Any special mention about your reader (be it with reviews/feedback or anything else)
The responses from readers are what matter to me the most, hands down. Nothing makes me happier than hearing from someone that they loved a particular aspect of the story or a were drawn to one of the characters; that they enjoyed curling up with the book while sick or during a long flight or layover; that they couldn’t put it down, and had to race to the end! To be able to share this story that was in my head for so long, and to see how people who love to read like myself respond to it… it’s just the best part.

 

14. Do you write the story at a stretch or you take your time to complete it? If you take a longer time, wouldn’t you be forgetting the story? How do you tackle it?
I tend to write in fits and bursts – I write intensely for stretches, then go through phases when I’m not writing that regularly. But I’m in no danger of forgetting the story! In fact, the periods when I’m not writing is often when I keep mulling certain plot points in my head, and come up with ideas to fix any issues in the story.

 

15. Traditional or Self-Publishing? Why?
I don’t know if I’m really equipped to comment on that, since I’m just one book old, and haven’t tried self-publishing. I do see the pros and cons of both though, and can understand why authors may choose one or the other. For now, I see myself sticking with traditional publishing, but who knows, maybe it’ll change in the future!

 

16. How is the response so far for the book? 
It’s been so encouraging! I’ve gotten good to great reviews from newspapers, bloggers, and readers alike, and I really couldn’t have asked for more as a first-time author.
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‘The Shrine of Death’ is featured in Malayala Manorama Online!

The article is in Malayalam, but the video of me talking about the book at the end is in English! 🙂

https://gulf.manoramaonline.com/indepth/sharjah-international-book-fair-2018/The-Shrine-of-Death-novel-SIBF.html?fbclid=IwAR2p7Z1vVVrI9KX89H6m93ihCt38zOKFx5zOZgUzIAJJoZ159meDakAN–0#

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Article: Divya’s debut novel is a thriller on stolen antiques

Following the launch at the SIBF 2018, this interview appeared in one of the region’s leading English dailies, the Khaleej Times

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The fiction title is a fast-paced thriller deal with the issue of idol theft and is a heady mix of crime, mystery, romance and the paranormal.

For debutant Indian novelist Divya Kumar, the protagonist in her maiden book The Shrine of Death had to be a woman. “It was a no-brainer,” she explained to Khaleej Times, after launching her book at the Sharjah International Book Fair late last week.

The Dubai-based author and former journalist’s first book was published by Bloomsbury India in April 2018. The fiction title is a fast-paced thriller deal with the issue of idol theft and is a heady mix of crime, mystery, romance and the paranormal.

“The book is a fictionalised account of actual events that occurred in Tamil Nadu in 2009 when a set of ancient Chola idols disappeared from an abandoned temple and were later discovered to have been smuggled out of the country,” said Kumar.

“This was the watershed case that eventually leads to the high-profile arrest of Manhattan-based art dealer and smuggler Subhash Kapoor.”

The book’s central character – Prabha Sinhan – is an IT professional who gets pulled into the murky world of idol theft and goes in search of her missing friend Sneha Pillai.

“Mainstream Indian media often portrays a certain stereotype of women in mass media. Like a manic pixie dream girl, or a virtuous, pious woman, or an oversexed glam doll, or even a confused, flaky millennial,” she added.

Kumar’s character had to be a relatable, regular young woman who was not epitomised in any manner. “I also wanted my character to be strong, stubborn, and fiercely loyal,” she said.

A former journalist of The Hindu newspaper in India, Kumar moved to Dubai in 2016. “I finished a big chunk of the editing and re-writing process in the UAE,” she added.

Though the book had its first release in India, Kumar said she is extremely proud of being part of the Sharjah book fair.

“I wanted to write fiction for pretty much my whole life. From childhood, I’ve had a set of unfinished books and manuscripts. I worked at The Hindu from 2006 – 2011, but I stopped working full-time after my daughter was born,” she said.

She began seriously working on the novel, and it took shape after details of the Chola idols case unearthed.

“I was still with The Hindu when the bust of the idol smuggling ring was in the news. From a local case in Tamil Nadu, the case went international as it was linked to an international crime ring. It was covered extensively in the India media and I followed it with a lot of interest.”

For Kumar, the theme was a perfect fit for her book as she got increasingly fascinated with the subject. “The plot evolved out the details of the case,” she added.

As she began writing the book, Kumar imagined it to be part of a trilogy. “I am definitely working on a sequel,” she added.

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com

The original article appeared here in the Khaleej Times.

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‘The Shrine of Death’ launched at the Sharjah International Book Fair 2018!

My debut novel, ‘The Shrine of Death’ was recently launched at the prestigious Sharjah International Book Fair 2018 — the third largest book fair in the world, and the largest in the region!

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Look what’s on the shelf at the SIBF 2018!

Here’s a glowing report of the launch in the Gulf Today

SHARJAH: Debutant Indian novelist Divya Kumar received overwhelming response as she introduced “The Shrine of Death” to booklovers at the ongoing Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF).

Published by Bloomsbury India, the novel was released in India in April 2018 to glowing reviews by the press and readers alike. Since then its arrival was awaited by the UAE book aficionados.

It is a fast-paced thriller dealing with the hot-button issue of idol theft, and has a heady mix of crime, mystery, romance and the paranormal.

During a conversation at the SIBF with the acclaimed poet and author Anuradha Vijayakrishnan, Kumar said that the book is a heavily fictionalised account of actual events that occurred in Tamil Nadu, India, in 2009, when a set of ancient Chola idols disappeared from an abandoned temple, and were later discovered to have been smuggled out of the country. This was the watershed case that eventually led to the high-profile arrest of Manhattan-based art dealer and smuggler Subhash Kapoor.

“The Shrine of Death” tells the story of Prabha Sinha, an IT professional in the south Indian city of Chennai, who is plunged into a murky world of idol theft, murder, and betrayal after she gets a mysterious phone call one night from her old friend Sneha Pillai. As she races to find answers before the people she loves get hurt, she seeks the help of Jai Vadehra, a troubled young man with a tragic past, and police officer Gerard Ratnaraj of the Idol Wing, CID, whom she can’t help but be drawn to. Their search takes them from Chennai’s newsrooms and universities to the abandoned sepulchral shrine of a Chola queen in the heartland of Tamil Nadu. And here there is a twist in the tale.

Divya Kumar is a journalist, writer and blogger, currently based in Dubai. She spent her early 20s studying and working in the US, dabbling in web-design and media studies, before settling down to a career in journalism. After returning to India, she joined The Hindu newspaper in Chennai, writing for The Hindu Metroplus, covering mainly the book and art beat.

“I started writing this book when I took a break for the birth of my first child. Naturally, it took me three years to complete the book. Fortunately, I didn’t have to run after dozens of publishers. The only difficulty I faced was to convince famous literary agent Kanishka Gupta to have a look at my work. Once he agreed to, it was quite smooth as the editor, Himanjali Sankar, also had confidence in my work,” she added. Encouraged by the tremendous response, she has already started working on its sequel.

Currently available at Jashanmal Books stand at the SIBF, the title will shortly be available at leading bookstores in the UAE.

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Also featured in the SIBF 2018 newsletter! 🙂

 

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Interview for the Bookaholicanonymous Blog

Loved doing this interview with Smita Singh for the amazing Bookaholicanonymous Blog!

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“I was quite clear that this was not a historical novel. It was to be a fast-paced contemporary thriller with elements of Chola history woven in” Divya Kumar

Bookaholicanonymous is extremely happy to present Divya Kumar, author of the novel ‘The Shrine of Death’. The book is a chilling crime thriller in which a beautiful young historian who discovered two priceless bronzes from the 10th century disappears without a trace. Her friend sets out to find her and is drawn into a world of fraud, murder and betrayal where no rules apply. Get hold of this racy thriller, we gurantee its unputdownable! 

About Divya Kumar: Divya is a journalist, writer and blogger, earlier based in Dubai now Chennai. She spent her early 20s studying and working in the U.S., dabbling in web-design and media studies, before settling down to a career in journalism. She returned to India in 2006, and joined ‘The Hindu’ in Chennai, working as a senior reporter and feature writer with ‘The Hindu’ Metroplus for five years, covering mainly the book and art beat, before taking a break for the birth of her first child in 2011.

This is your first book right, what made you finally dive into the world of letters/books and become an author?
I’ve wanted to write a book for as long as I can remember. I’ve always been an avid reader – a bookaholic, in fact! – especially of fiction across all genres. And my childhood and adolescence are littered with novels I began and never got around to completing. As a features journalist in The Hindu in Chennai, I got to cover the book beat extensively, attending book launches and interviewing authors, and of course, reading all the books that came my way with relish. Through it all, the dream of writing my own book remained a constant. But it wasn’t until I took a break from full-time reporting for the birth of my daughter that I finally got started. And this book idea was different – it took root in my head and didn’t let me go, and unlike all those other times, I actually finished writing it!

How did the idea of the book come to you? 
Quite literally in a dream! I woke up one morning with the character and tragic backstory of Jai, the empath, lingering in my mind. At that time, The Hindu was doing in-depth coverage of the bust of the idol smuggling ring allegedly headed by the Manhattan-based Subhash Kapoor, and the two parts – the character of the empath, and the idol theft plot came together in my mind almost as a complete whole.

Did you deliberately choose to not go in to the detailed history of the time (Chola kingdom) you have chosen to write about?
Yes, it was a conscious choice made as I wrote the book. I was quite clear that this was not a historical novel. It was to be a fast-paced contemporary thriller with elements of Chola history woven in, and I didn’t want to bog down the narrative with long paragraphs of historical detail. The reader learns the pertinent facts along with my main character Prabha as she uncovers them, through her conversations with the professor, or through books she or Jai read, so that the history I reveal – about the great Queen Sembiyan Mahadevi, and about ancient sepulchral shrines or pallipadais – feel like an integral part of the scene, rather than a heavy info-dump that becomes a speed bump in the plot.

How much research did you have to do on idol thefts? Did being a journalist help you? 
The research was primarily trawling through all the newspaper coverage of high-profile idol thefts stretching back a couple of decades, especially in The Hindu, and also going through the Tamil Nadu Idol Wing website, which had considerable detail on thefts they had uncovered. Being a journalist certainly helped me in sifting through the various sources of information and using them optimally.

How long did it take to finish writing the book?
About three and a half years. But the writing was not continuous. I began, as I mentioned, when my daughter was a baby, so initially I wrote only late into the nights or on weekends. I was also, during that period, doing a weekly column for The Hindu Metroplus and doing freelance reporting as well, so my work on the book often happened in fits and starts. I’d write intensely for periods and not at all for stretches in between. It wasn’t until the final six months that I was focused entirely on the book and its completion.

You know Chennai more than any other city in India, is that why you based your novel on the city?
Yes, Chennai is the city of my birth, and although I grew up for most part in Muscat, Oman, I returned to Chennai every summer to my grandparents’ house. It was the place I came to for college, and then again returned to after studying for a while in the U.S. Most of the important milestones of my life are linked to Chennai – it’s the place where I began my career as a journalist and writer, where I met my husband and got married, where my daughter was born… So when I began to write my first book, it was only natural that Chennai would have a starring role in it!

Which of your characters did you develop first?
Jai, the empath. As I mentioned, his character arrived almost fully-formed in my head, and I knew from the start that I wanted to explore his past traumas and his struggles with his abilities alongside the idol theft mystery.

Did you weave a little bit of yourself in the character of Prabha as you were a Computer Science student?
I guess I did! Prabha is definitely not me – she’s very much her own distinct person. But I suppose I did use certain aspects of my experiences and my life in shaping hers. One, as you mentioned, is the transition from computer science to journalism – though mine happened under very much more mundane circumstances than hers! And the other, maybe, is her search for roots and finding them in Chennai, something I went through after drifting between Muscat, India and the U.S. for the better part of a decade in my late teens and 20s.

Did you have someone in mind while developing the character of Gerard Ratnaraj? 
Not really. He’s a composite of the cops I read about while researching the idol thefts, with a liberal dose of my imagination thrown in!

When and what can we expect from your next book? 
The ‘when’ is uncertain… all I can say is that I’m working on it and am about half way through currently. As for the ‘what’… It picks up a few years after ‘The Shrine of Death’ and takes us back into the lives of the three main characters, Prabha, Jai and Gerard. Jai is struggling to deal with new aspects of his evolving abilities, even as more of his murky past is unveiled; Prabha is growing into her new career as an investigative journalist but that brings fresh conflict into her relationship with Gerard; and the three of them find themselves fighting against a powerful and dangerous enemy…

Bookaholicanonymous wishes Divya…all the best…and yes we are waiting for your next novel eagerly!

The original interview can be found here

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Interview for the Rayaan Writer blog

Really enjoyed doing this thorough, in-depth interview with the talented Mohammed Rayaan over at http://www.rayaanwriter.com
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Photo credit: Shuchi Kapoor

Divya Kumar is the author of ‘The Shrine of Death’, a thriller novel released in April 2018 by Bloomsbury India. She is also a freelance journalist. Her column, ‘Toddler Talk’ in the Metro plus has garnered many fans.

In her website, she describes herself as “Singer-songwriter and sometimes pianist. Movie geek. Netflix addict. Tennis nut. Mom of one little diva. Former physics student, computer scientist, web developer and media studies grad student among other things. Card-carrying member of the Happy to Have Been a Gulfie club.”


 
The Interview
 

 
How did you get the idea to write ‘The Shrine of Death’?

Divya: It literally came to me in a dream! I woke up one morning with one of the main characters of the story, Jai, fully formed in my head – his tragic backstory, his struggles. At that time, The Hindu was doing a lot of coverage on idol theft in Tamil Nadu, and the bust of the international smuggling ring headed by Manhattan-based art dealer Subhash Kapoor, and I was following it closely. So, the two – Jai’s story, and the idol theft plot – sort of just came together in my head, almost as a complete whole.

What kind of research did you have to do when writing your novel?

Divya: I did as much reading as possible on the idol theft cases in the news, as well as from the TamilNadu Idol Wing’s website, which had considerable detail on the busts, and I ensured that my information on the Chola dynasty was historically accurate. Especially helpful was a talk I attended on Chola temples by historian Pradeep Chakravarthy, from where I got the final piece
of the plot puzzle – pallipadais, shrines built to honour dead Chola kings and queens. But all of that was just a jumping off point for the story – the bulk of it comes from my imagination.

Can you tell us about your writing regime and your approach of writing a novel?

Divya: When I started writing this novel, my daughter was just about a year old, so there was no regime to speak off! I wrote whenever I could, late into the nights after she slept, or on the weekends, when I left her with my husband for a few hours and sat at a cafe with my laptop. The result was that I wrote intensely in bursts, but then there would be long stretches in between when I barely wrote at all. It got easier as my daughter got older – now I set aside three to four hours every morning while she’s in school to focus on writing or editing.

But I still like to write late into the night on occasion – though I pay for it in the morning! I always have a basic plot outline, an overall idea of where the story must go, and basic character
arcs mapped out before I begin my novel. But, of course, as I get deeper into writing each part, the plot evolves and changes, and the character arcs get tweaked to so that it all works, and fits together as a cohesive whole.

Can you tell us about your life as a journalist?

Divya: I began writing for The Hindu’s Metroplus supplement in Chennai after I returned from the U.S., where I was studying. It was, in all ways, a wonderful experience – we had a young, lively group of reporters and our editors were experienced and dynamic.

Books and art became my beat, so I had a chance to interview visiting authors – everyone from Amitav Ghosh to Jeffrey Archer – and leading artists in the city, and cover book launches and contemporary art shows.

I also got to explore Chennai, the city of my birth, and came to know it in a way I might never had been able to do otherwise. I think a lot that I learnt and experienced in the years I worked for The Hindu reflects in the setting and the themes of ‘The Shrine of Death’.

Who is your favourite author and your favourite books?

Divya: I love reading fiction across all genres — I enjoy Edgar Allan Poe and Anne Rice as much as I do Georgette Heyer and P. G. Wodehouse. I don’t have a single favourite author, but there are elements of different authors’ writing I love. For instance, crime writer Dick Francis is an old favourite of mine — I’ve always loved the way he foregrounds his characters and their emotional lives, even in the midst of a fast-moving plot.

I love the dark and brooding atmosphere that Daphne Du Maurier conjures up at will on her novels and short stories. I recently re-discovered Ira Levin — what a genius for plot the man had! And I love the gentle humanity and kindness in James Herriot’s writing.

Can you suggest tips for aspiring writers on how to get their novel published by reputed firms?

Divya: Being just one book old, I don’t know how much gyan I can give, but I can try! I guess the main thing is to make sure your manuscript is ready before you send it out – clean it up, edit, and revise until you feel sure it’s good enough to be out there. You want to make sure the agent or editor is seeing the best possible version of your work.

Also, it’s worth putting some effort into how you package your submission – your query letter/email, your synopsis etc. Make sure you stick to the guidelines the agent or editor lists on their website. These are small things that can make a difference. A lot of writers in India approach publishing houses directly;

I chose to approach Delhi-based Kanishka Gupta, one of the country’s top literary agents. He believed in the book enough to take me on, and he made things happen at record speed thereafter. Based on my experience, I can safely say that there’s nothing like having a dedicated, hardworking agent in your corner to make your publishing dream come true!

It must be quite difficult being a journalist. How do you manage to get new ideas for your articles?

Divya: As a features journalist, I never found it difficult to find story ideas! People are an endless source of inspiration, their stories, their accomplishments. Not just the people you meet when you go out to cover an event or a story, but the people you meet in daily life as well. And when that fails, you can always look within your own experiences for the germ of an idea.

 
How do you manage your life as a journalist and a fiction writer?

Divya: Journalism has taken a bit of a backseat for me in the last two years. It was partly that I came away from Chennai to Dubai, where I’m currently based, and partly that I’ve been pretty focused on completing the book and getting it published, and starting work on my next book. But in the preceding years, I was juggling a weekly column, doing freelance writing, and working on the book as well, and that happened pretty organically – I worked on the book when I didn’t have looming deadlines, and put it on the backburner when I did!
 
Do you get writer’s block? If yes, how do you handle it?

Divya: In my experience, if I’m feeling blocked and unable to write, it’s due to one of two things – fatigue or plot problems. Sometimes, if I’ve been writing intensely for a stretch, I hit a point of burnout, and start hating everything I’ve written. When that happens, I’ve found that just taking a step back and giving myself a break from the book helps a lot. Then I come back to it with fresh eyes, and find that hey, it’s not too bad after all, and the words start flowing again.
 
But sometimes, that doesn’t do it. And those times, I’ve realized that there’s often an issue with the story itself. Maybe I’ve written myself into an uninspiring corner, or some aspect of the characterisation is just not working. Then it’s worth reassessing/tweaking the original outline to try and fix the problem.
 
What principles do you live by?

Divya: I believe in kindness, in the old-fashioned concept of being nice. I always try to see the other person’s point of view, to be empathetic. But I also have very clear boundaries; I don’t stand for anyone disrespecting me or hurting the people I care for. I am extremely straightforward — I don’t have the inclination or the patience to play games – and excessively honest, to the point where I put sometimes myself in a spot by being unable to lie. But this is who I am, and I take pride in the ethical code I live by. I’m a friendly person but also intensely inward-looking. I need my own space, and I think that can sometimes be off-putting to people. But those who are close to me know that I will be there for them, no matter what.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? 

Divya: I was born in Chennai, but I actually grew up for most part in Muscat, Oman, and finished my schooling there. Then began what I think of as my wandering years – I was in Chennai studying physics for a couple of years before transferring to the U.S. to complete my undergraduate studies – a dual degree in Computer Science and in Journalism at Rutgers University. I worked there as a web-developer and coder briefly, before deciding conclusively that programming was not for me! I then did my masters coursework in Media Studies before once more returning to Chennai. It was then that I interviewed at The Hindu. A position had just opened up at the Metroplus and was offered to me – the rest, as they say, is history. I knew after just a few days on the job that there was nothing else I’d rather be doing.  
 
Can you tell how your normal day goes by?
 
Divya: Like any mom, my day starts early, packing lunches, making breakfast, and sending the family off to school/office. I wrap up my chores by 10 a.m. and begin my day’s work. During my intense writing phases, I’ll jump directly into reading through/reworking the previous day’s writing, and then continuing where I left off. At other times, I might spend an hour or two responding to emails, messages, etc. before getting into editing/writing. At still other times, I might take a break from writing altogether and work on my music. Then my daughter comes home from school in the afternoon, and it’s time to make the evening meal, take her down for playtime, and then back home for the dinner, and the bedtime rush…
 
Can you talk about your experience as singer/song writer?

Divya: Music is an essential part of me. I almost always have a song running through my head, that I’m humming under my breath. I am a classically trained singer, having learnt Hindustani vocal music since childhood. I enjoy singing Indian semi-classical and light music, but my heart really lies in Western music, specifically classic rock/folk/pop music. I’m an alto and have performed in choirs through school, college and beyond. I also play a little piano (not as much as I’d like!) and have been writing my own songs for as long as I can remember. In the last couple of years, I’ve begun to record my covers of some old favorite Western songs, and hope to share more of my own original songs soon too! You can check out my covers at my Sound cloud account: (https://soundcloud.com/user-396816675.)
 
How did your column “Toddler Talk” came about? 

Divya: The idea for the column really grew out of the writing I was doing on my blog, divyakumar.com, at that time. After the birth of my daughter, I took some time off from full-time reporting, and was freelancing for The Hindu. I began to write humorous posts on my daughter’s escapades on the blog, and found that people enjoyed them. When I was asked to do a column for the revamped Metroplus, I suggested ‘Toddler Talk’, a light-hearted look at raising this generation of high-maintenance, tech-savvy toddlers. My editor liked the idea, and the column was born. I loved writing it – it was such fun way of recording the memories of my daughter’s Terrible Twos and Threenager years, and also proved to be a wonderful way to bond with other moms going through the same experiences. 

The original interview can be found here
 

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‘The Shrine of Death’ – An excerpt

A brief reading from ‘The Shrine of Death’ at the launch:

An April 2018 release from Bloomsbury India, ‘The Shrine of Death’ is a fast-paced thriller with a heady mix of crime, mystery, romance and the paranormal. Set in the murky of world of idol-theft, it takes you from Chennai’s newsrooms and universities to the sepulchral shrine of a Chola queen in the heartland of Tamil Nadu, and nothing and no one is what they seem…

 

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Article: Tamil Nadu idol thefts give author creative spark

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Photo credit: Deccan Chronicle

The journalist and author Divya Kumar has come out with a thriller ‘The Shrine of Death’. The book had a vibrant launch on Friday in the city.

The protagonist is a young woman, Prabha Sinha who is an IT professional in Chennai who is plunged into the netherworld of idol theft, murder and betrayal. Things start happening after she receives a mysterious phone call one night from her old friend Sneha Pillai. She seeks the help of Jai Vadehra, a troubled young man with a tragic past. She also seeks the help of the gorgeous DSP Gerard Ratnaraj of the Idol Wing, CID to whom she is irretrievably drawn towards. As the story unravels, she keeps on finding answers. Their search takes them from Chennai’s newsrooms and universities to the abandoned sepulchral shrine of a Chola queen in the heartland of Tamil Nadu.

The author took almost three and half years to finish the story. And since idol thefts had become common, especially after the robbery of 2008 by an international ring of idol thieves, she finds a cool focus point for the book.

“The story is purely an out and out entertainer with some romance, some paranormal elements”, said the author while explaining the subject matter of the book on the occasion of its launch. She hopes that people would enjoy the book picking it up on the airport or reading on a journey or while curling up by the poolside in the summer. A sequel to ‘The Shrine of Death’ is already in the process, according to the debut author.

The original article appeared here in the Deccan Chronicle.

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Article: Of Chennai, idol theft and a crime-thriller

A journalist becomes a debutante author with the launch of the novel The Shrine of Death

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My book and I… at the launch 🙂 Photo credit: Shuchi Kapoor @girlinthegalli

A few years ago, reportage of the Chennai police department exposing a series of idol thefts planted an idea in the mind of journalist Divya Kumar. That transformed her into a debutante author with The Shrine of Death, a racy crime-thriller novel on the idol theft theme, set in Chennai.

At the launch of her book on Friday, Ms. Kumar, spoke of how much she enjoyed writing about places like Kamarajar Salai and T. Nagar.

“I grew up in the Middle East and went on to study in the U.S. But during my stint as a journalist with The Hindu for six years, I got to know the city well. Chennai is not getting featured enough [in mainstream popular fiction]. There is too much of Mumbai and Delhi; we need more of Chennai,” she said.

Best laboratory

In conversation with novelist and playwright Shreekumar Varma, she reminisced about her time with The Hindu and said the job was a fascinating one indeed, giving her opportunities to meet different people and taking her several places.

“It was like learning from the best laboratory. It helped me go from I-want-to-be-a-writer to being a writer,” she added.

Mukund Padmanabhan, Editor, The Hindu, who launched the book, said, Ms. Kumar lent a certain positivity when she had worked in the paper.

The original article appeared here in The Hindu.

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Article: The curse of empathy

Debutante author Divya Kumar discusses The Shrine of Death on the eve of the book’s launch

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Picture credit: R. Ravindran, The Hindu

Divya Kumar wrote her first story at the age of five, about a fish and a tortoise who were friends. “I think my mother still has it saved somewhere,” she smiles in reminiscence, before moving on to discuss her first published crime thriller, soon to be turned into a trilogy.

The process of writing The Shrine of Death, she says, began in 2012. “I woke up one morning, and the character of Jai, the empath, was just fully formed in my head,” she says, “I didn’t even connect it to the term ‘empath’ back them: I just knew that this was a character who could feel what other people felt.”

“I started reading up online, and found that there are other such cases, and such stories, and it’s clearly something difficult and traumatising. Of course, it’s a bit in the realm of clairvoyance and telepathy – more pseudo-science, really — but it gave the character an interesting psychological profile.” It intrigued her, she says, how such a person would respond in everyday life and how they would be misunderstood by others.

As important as her characters were for this author, the plot went hand in hand, sometimes jostling for equal space along the way. “It started with this character, but was also equally driven by my interest in idol thefts and smuggling rings. Around that time, The Hindu was covering a lot of these idol thefts extensively,” she recalls, “I came across this case of two 800-year-old Nataraja idols that were stolen around 2008: the theft was discovered, and that triggered a series of events which led to the busting of an international smuggling ring. My whole story became a sort of prequel to that. Of course, it’s highly fictionalised.”

The balancing act between the plot and the interplay of characters’ relationships kept her on her toes, she says. It wasn’t even remotely a seamless process when she first sat to write, “There are three key characters: at points, I would be intensely driven by them and I’d write and rewrite their interactions. At other points, I would work very intensely on the plot. That was very different, because the plot was like writing code. You know, when you hit a bug, and you have to rework that…,”the former Computer Science students breaks off with a frustrated shrug.

The first novel has barely been released — and is still going through the initial hiccoughs of logistics and online supply — but Kumar has already moved on to the second book in the series. She’s halfway through, in fact. “The story won’t let me be, I need to finish the trajectory of the characters. I’ve been working on that for the last year.”

The trilogy was not something she had intended, or even seen coming. Kumar had originally begun writing The Shrine of Death purely for pleasure, as a much-needed “me time” exercise in the midst of a busy life. She didn’t even consider getting it published till rave reviews came pouring in from friends and family.

“The process of writing took three and a half years, because it wasn’t something I was doing continuously. When I started, my daughter was just a little over a year old, and I was a full-time mom. I was still writing freelance fairly regularly. So, this was something I would do for myself. The story was in my head, so I would often write late in the night after my daughter fell asleep. On weekends, I would leave her with my husband and go write in a coffee shop. It was just something to enjoy creatively,” she smiles.

The original article appeared here in The Hindu Metroplus.

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