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| Ajay Chowdhury |
Read
up, the Interview with Ajay Chowdhury, author of 'Ayesha and the Firefish'.
In
this Interview, he describes his journey of writing the
book, how he came up with the core idea and developed it, what he thought was different about the book, how the main characters came about, what the most challenging part of the book was and much more, Folks...
How did ‘Ayesha and the Firefish’ begin?
Could you describe the journey?
It started around 8 years ago as a bedtime story; I made
up for my daughters Layla and Eva, who were 11 and 8, at the time. I would make
up a chapter every night and after a week or so I thought ‘Hey this is not
bad!’
How did you come up with the core idea and develop
it?
My daughters loved the beach and the sea, so when I started making up the
story it seemed an ideal location. At first, I had no idea of what the plot was
going to be, but as I have daughters I made the protagonist a girl and thought
about what characteristics they would find interesting.
I just started putting more and more fantastical
creatures, in as well as people, who would have been familiar to my daughters – so their friends,
teachers (even their dog Lulu!) all made cameo appearances in the story.
Once, I started writing it properly I liked the idea of this brave and funny girl
travelling over the world and meeting famous people from history and solving a
mystery, based on clues, she picked up from them. Then, before I knew it, it
became about the future of the planet and rather unexpectedly took off into
outer space…
How did the
characters, Ayesha, Caro, Xander and Tashi’s come about?
Ayesha
was based on my daughter Eva who was around 8, when I started telling her the
story and was headstrong and talkative and funny. And of course, any good
heroine needs a sidekick; the idea of a sarcastic, surfboarding snail came to
me, out of nowhere.
I just fell
in love with Caro and really enjoyed writing her. Xander sort of emerged out of necessity, because I realised it
was a little unrealistic to have a ten year old gallivanting around the world
on her own.
She needed
an older person to go with her, so a cousin she squabbled with seemed like a
good idea (and it was fun to write the scene where he sees Caro for the first
time!).
Tashi was
just a fun cameo character based on some happy, moustachioed Tibetans I saw
when I visited Dharamshala.
What
according to you is different about your book?
I think the
main difference is that there are very few children’s adventure
books, where the main character is a girl. As the dad of two daughters, I was
keen to write a book about a girl, but with an adventure that both boys and
girls (and adults I hope) could enjoy.
In almost
all the children’s books, I loved reading, from
‘The Famous Five’ to the ‘Just William’ books to ‘Harry Potter’, girls always
seemed to have just a supporting role and I wanted to try and change that. I
guess the one exception was Philip Pullman’s ‘Lyra and I’ had always loved her
as a character.
How did the story, especially Ayesha's and the
snail, Caro’s come about?
I think the characters are very much of today.
I wanted the characters and the story to challenge traditional
stereotypes and therefore I incorporated the fact Ayesha’s mum has a
high-powered job in the city and her dad is a house husband.
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| Nemo... taken from movies.disney.com |
When will your next book be out?
Oh, I have a notebook full of jottings about what Ayesha could do next. I
will let you know as soon as I know…
Who was it that told you that you could
become the author you are today?
Wow, I think this is the first time anyone
has called me an author but I guess I am now! This is my first book and I am really
proud of it. No one really told me I could be an author. I loved English in
school and have always been a big reader. It just happened!
What was the most challenging part about writing
the book?
Oh, definitely the editing. I had the most amazing editors from Puffin books. I
wrote the whole thing over a few weeks but the editing took much longer! Nimmy
and Purnima from Penguin were very patient with me and kept pushing me to make
the book better and better.
Which book are you
currently reading?
I’ve just started a
book called Dark Matter about a guy who wakes up in an alternate Universe. I love good science fiction and have high hopes for this one. I hope I’m
not disappointed.
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| JK Rowling |
Who are your favourite
authors and why?
I have a number of
authors I love. From Philip Pullman and his 'His Dark Materials' series, which I read and
re-read to P G Wodehouse and J K Rowling and Geoff Dyer and my friend, Amit Chaudhuri. Hard to say why really…they all write beautifully, make me laugh and
take me to different places…
What else do you do on
a daily basis?
Well, in real life I am a technology entrepreneur and have started and run various
technology companies – including Shazam that you might know and use. So, I help
create new technologies, travel a lot, spend time with my family… all the usual
things.
Oh, and I’m also preparing a couple of sessions at Bookaroo in Delhi in
November, where I will be reading from the book and doing activities with a
hundred kids! I can’t wait to meet all those young readers. For information and
to book a place visit www.bookaroo.in
You can Read the Review and Buy the Book, right here.
You can Read the Review and Buy the Book, right here.
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