Bharat Krishnan
My fantasy book, Oasis, is now available. It's got magic, weird animals, mythical demons, and more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JFG7BZ5
From 2006 to 2016, I was directly involved on 17 political campaigns across nine states on behalf of the Democratic Party. After ten years of working in politics, I tried to explain how the country went from Barack Obama to Donald Trump in Confessions of a Campaign Manager: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KED1OAM/
Please tweet me @bharatkrishnan9 if you're on Twitter, and please sign up for mailing list below - it's filled with free pieces of my work and reading recommendations for both fiction and non-fiction.
https://mailchi.mp/3cbb0c50571e/may-this-email-find-you-well
Interview:
1. Will you tell us about your most recent published work?
I published my first novel, Oasis, last year. It is about two brothers who find themselves on a quest for redemption in the middle of a desert war. I would say it’s a coming-of-age tale, set against the backdrop of a magical desert with an almost exclusively Asian cast and animals/magic with Eastern influences.
2. What personal challenges do you face as a writer?
Time is always a big challenge. We all have lives and, for the most part, day jobs to deal with so finding the time to actually sit down and be disciplined about your writing is one thing that sets great indie authors apart from just decent ones. I am definitely in the decent column right now, but I can see myself growing already from book one to book two (I’m currently working on book three).
3. What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
Again, probably the time factor.
4. What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?
My life is pretty awesome right now. I wouldn’t give anything up, and I think I have all the tools necessary to continually up my game in a disciplined, systemic way. It won’t be as fast as others, but I’ll get there.
5. How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
It made it so much less scary! Once I had my stuff out there and started getting feedback and started paying more attention to other indie authors, I gained the confidence necessary to sit down and decide I wanted to do a lot more of this (writing).
6. How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have? Will you tell us about them?
I’m currently working on a collection of Hindu mythology that I hope to publish this year. I’m also working on a novella about a bunch of Indian-Americans who try and pull off a heist in NYC.
7. Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
I read every single one. What I write is just for me. I obviously am flattered that people actually buy my work and enjoy reading it, but the writing is for me and no one else. So when I get a bad review, if it’s valid I appreciate it because it will inform my future writing and if I don’t think the critique was valid I let it just slide off my shoulders. This answer would be different if I wrote full-time, but that’s not the case here.
8. Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
I love doing this! In my novel, one of the secondary characters has a bow he names Ekalavya. That is an easter egg people who’ve read the Mahabharata would know.
9. What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
Shaylin Gandhi has an extraordinarily beautiful book coming out soon called By the Light of Embers that I have to plug here. We’ve developed a friendship over a few months and she’s helped me with my novella. It’s so hard to find a good beta reader, and befriending authors is essential to that process.
10. If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Start writing earlier. I didn’t get serious about my writing until I was 27 and I wish I’d started in high school.
11. What are common traps for aspiring writers?
Talking about how great their story is instead of sitting down and actually writing and editing it.
12. What’s the best way to market your books?
Social media is good. You gotta build your mailing list. I don’t have a website which a lot of people would say is a mistake, but the mailing list and finding people on Reddit is working for me.
13. What is your favorite childhood book?
Great question! The Animorphs book series was the OG YA novel series and was lightyears ahead of its time.
Social Media:
Instagram (@bharatkrishnan1213),
Twitter (@bharatkrishnan9)
