An Interview with Niladri Shekhar Mitra on his book "Letters of Nine"

Niladri Shekhar Mitra is an editor of thirty-six books and an author of six. He is also the founder and chief editor of The Creative Circle, a group of various authors from different walks of life. Following is an interview regarding his latest thriller book, Letters of Nine:

It was a gripping book, and after a few pages, I freaked out. How do you build the tension in your novel?

By keeping it real. I believe to build up tension it is essential to keep it relatable. The more readers relate with your characters, the more they’re likely to feel the tension. It then almost feels personal. You fear for them because you care for them or you see yourself in the situation of the characters and wonder what you’ll do if met with the circumstances the characters are in.

Now that I’ve asked about the part of tension, tell me how do you approach twists and turns in your book? Is it premeditated or do you build an intricate world of ‘what-ifs’ before executing your novel?

I don’t plot, at all. When conceptualizing a story, I know how it’ll begin and have a vague idea of the end. The rest I make up as I go along. So all the twists and turns, subplots, deviations, and even characters are dictated by the story and where it’s taking me as I’m writing it.

Tell me something about how you conceived the idea of Letters of Nine? Was any of it inspired by real-life circumstances?

Thankfully nothing from real life! I wanted to write a story about a serial killer but did not want the narrative to be from the perspective of a cop or someone investigating the murders, as is the norm in these kind of stories. I wanted to write from the perspective of the killer, or at least have a portion from their perspective. That idea fascinated me.

You’ve portrayed the life of a struggling author in modern times. Do you think the times of today aren’t suited for the introspecting and thinking lot?

Not really. Yes, it’s tough to earn a living just by being an author and most of us have other avenues through which we get our bread. But as far as the thinking lot goes, as you put it, I think the world will always intellectuals and those who put a lot of emphasis on their thoughts.

Among the voices or characters in Letters of Nine, is there a character that resonates with you? 

Ayan. He is the author who starts receiving these letters from a serial killer. I wrote him almost in my own image, so yeah it’s him.

What do you think about the semi-epistolary form in which you approached the novel? Did you have any apprehensions given that letters are a dated concept today?

Never really thought like that, to be honest. Letters are, I think, the only mode of communication that can be totally anonymous, and that worked wonderfully for the story. Also, the narrative structure sort of developed on its own and it felt very organic to me to keep the communication between Ayan and Nine happen through letters.

Who are your influences?

Oh many. Sydney Sheldon, Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Rabindranath Tagore… the list goes on. I have grown up reading their works and have learnt all that I have about writing by reading them. Among my contemporaries, I have been hugely inspired and impacted by the works of L.A. Nolan and Chandrayan Gupta. I wish I can write like them, or have an output like them. But I guess I have been following my own map.