Interview and Giveaway with Preetham Grandhi, author of A Circle of Souls

About a week ago, I reviewed Dr. Grandhi's debut novel, A Circle of Souls. You can read the review here. Today I have the honor of hosting an interview with Dr. Grandhi and a giveaway of a signed copy of his book to one lucky winner.

First, tell my readers a little about yourself.
I come from the South Indian City of Bangalore. After finishing medical school I came to the USA to complete my education and became a Child & Adolescent psychiatrist. I have always been a huge fan of Hollywood and I love watching movies. I like telling stories and one day decided I had a story to tell. That's when I started writing "A
Circle of Souls." I also like to travel, am a photographer, play the guitar, do web design, and play the wii.


When did you first start writing and did you always want to be an author?
I have always had an imagination for story telling, but hadn't written anything until I started this book around 2003, it took about 4 & 1/2 years to write. Now I hope to make a new career out of it if possible.

What is the most challenging aspect of writing? Most rewarding?
Being able to juggle all the other aspects of one's life and finding the creative time to write is very hard. The most rewarding moments are when readers say they enjoyed the story that I had set out to tell.

What inspired you to write A Circle of Souls?
It was a few months post 9/11, and I was looking at the biographies of the people who had lost their lives. I began to wonder if there was a larger meaning to their lives. All of a sudden, a story flashed into my mind, and I quickly wrote it on a piece of paper. I knew then that I needed to write a story that was larger than life. It needed to communicate the essence that there is a bigger purpose and meaning to
our passage on earth.

I knew that in order to capture and convey such a message, the book needed to be captivating, interesting, and thrilling. I realized that a story based on the work I do would be the right place to begin. I am a child psychiatrist and had just started a new job. During my fellowship, I worked with children with numerous psychosocial issues and had many life stories to tell. It was at that moment that I decided I could write a book that would capture all these thoughts. That was how A Circle of Souls was born.

How much research did you do for your book and how much ended up in the finished product?
This kind of work is known as fictional realism, in other words a lot of the book is based on real life experience which is in a way easier to write. I had to do some research but not a whole lot. Whatever I had done I put it in the book.

How long did it take you to write A Circle of Souls?
I wrote the first version in a year and a half. It took 3 more years to revise it over 16 to 17 times. Then finding a publisher was a whole another story.

How much are you like Dr. Peter Gram?
I guess I am similar to Peter in some characteristics. I think the people who have known me the longest will be able to point those out.

Your characters are so realistic, were any of them influenced by people you know?
Yes, many of them are. For example the character Dr. Sheetal was based off my sister who lives in India. I though she would be mad at me if I didn't somehow put her in the book.

Do you have other books in the works? If so, will we see more of the Peter, Leia and /or Naya?
I do plan to write my next one once I have this one off the ground. I can't tell you who's going to be in that book as I am still playing around with ideas.

With your work at House 5 and your private practice, how do you find time to write?
I write when I drive, I don't mean literally. I usually get my ideas then and jot them down later when I get a chance.

Having friends and co-workers of many different nationalities, I love that this story incorporates cultural diversity. While I am familiar with the concept of reincarnation, I was intrigued by the storyline of Naya's psychic ability and the concept of it be inherent in family lineage. Is this a prominent belief in Indian culture and is there a source our readers can go to to learn more?
I am glad you asked me this. I am open to many different ideas about life as there is so much we don't know. Some of the experiences I wrote with Naya is fiction but the concept fortune telling and some of the other things described in the book is based on my own experiences. There are many interesting cultural beliefs that are prevalent in the Indian subcontinent as it is a very ancient culture. I don't know of
any one source to enlighten readers about such phenomenon.

Who and/or what has had the most influence on your life?
I think the friends I grew up with since kindergarten have had the most influence on my life. I am in close touch with many of them even today.

You may ask any three people from history (living or dead) one question each and they must answer truthfully and completely. Whom do you choose and what is your question for each person?
I would ask Hitler what his inner core beliefs were, Neil Armstrong how it felt at the moment he put his foot on the moon and Christian Bale if he actually becomes the character he plays in his movies.

You can influence any one thing in the entire history, the present or the future of the world (what has occurred, how something works,etc.). What would you choose to change and why?
I would like to keep politics out of religion & spirituality because it has given human beings a way to do things free of guilt (in the name of religion) and to pursue their own interests at the cost of others lives and beliefs.

If you could spend the day as another person (someone in history, a favorite author, a public figure, a character in a book, etc.), who would you choose and why?
I would like to be Tintin from the comic series. So that I can have an adventurous life.

Thanks for having me on your blog.

Preetham

Now it's your turn to post your comments and questions. One lucky commenter will win a signed copy of A Circle of Souls from Preetham. Contest will run through Sept. 30th at 11:59pm and is open to US residents only. Rules are simple: post a comment or question along with your email address and either become a follower or subscriber of this blog.