About The Author: Shival Gupta is an engineering leader based out of Bangalore who works in Artificial Intelligence, Software and Technology. He has been writing fiction since his childhood. He hails from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. The Violins That Play At Kiff House is his first entry in the gothic horror genre.
Summary Of The Book: An ambitious IAS officer, Mahira Yadav, finds the village of Meeran near Bangalore to be ripe for urban integration. When she reaches there, she finds that no one has lived there for 50 years. The eponymous Kiff House stands over a black hill in Meeran. No one has lived there for decades, but violins still play there every night with no player. Follow Mahira and her family, as she pursues her quest in the face of both human and supernatural challenges, in this journey of greatness and madness.
1. Can you tell us a little about your book?
The Violins That Play At Kiff House is a gothic horror novel set near a village in Bangalore. It draws from the rich gothic tradition of literary horror, focusing more on character driven narrative and psychological terror.
2. Is there a specific event that inspired this story or was this an out of the blue idea?
I have always been fond of Western Classical music. One fine evening last year I was taking one of my evening walks, and Spotify suddenly recommended Beethoven’s Sonata No. 9 (Also called the Violin Sonata). I had this very vivid image in my mind of that piece of music coming from a haunted house. The idea took root and I started working around this concept and the story that I wanted to tell. Thus, The Violins That Play At Kiff House was born.
3. What got you writing in the first place?
I have been writing since I have been 12 years old. I published two novels when I was still in school, but then I could not return back to writing for over a decade. Writing has always been a therapeutic process for me, an art form that I practice. It is a creative process that I deeply enjoy doing. More than writing, I enjoy telling stories, plotting and world building. It is amazing to see all the effort come together an interesting way in a finished novel.
4. What was your impression of your first draft when you read it?
When I finally finished the first draft of The Violins That Play At Kiff House, I was emotionally moved to tears. It was an endeavour of a few months that had finally finished and it gave me a lot of perspective on what kind of literature I wanted to write. The first draft went through may reads and iteration cycles, enhancing the nuance and subjective reading experience. It turned out to be better than I had hoped.
5.Which part of your story connects the most with you? Why?
One of the key themes of the book is the dichotomy of greatness and madness. The path to greatness is always walked with madness as a treacherous companion. Madness, by definition, is the suspension of rationality and logic. The pursuit of great ambitions often leads people to suspend their reason, and it is something that connects the most with me.
6. What makes your book the one to read?
The Violins That Play At Kiff House is a ghost story in its essence. It’s a cautionary tale. It’s dark, gothic and rich. It is the kind of book you want to spend your weekend with, sipping over some great iced tea on a lazy afternoon. Everyone who’s read the book is raving about it. It’s something that will not disappoint you.
7. What was the best advice you got while writing?
Show, don’t tell. Writing is not telling. It’s executing a scene. Good writing has more in common with theatre and dramatics than with narration and storytelling. The characters are actors and your imagination should describe and translate the same emotions that you feel in writing to your words.
8. Who’s your all-time favourite author? Which book of his/hers made you fall in love with them?
The first book that inspired me write a real story myself was Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling. It has been many years since I’ve read this book, and I loved that book to no extent. Many writers are my favourite writers in different genres, be it Shirley Jackson, Henry James and Daphne Du Maurrier in the gothic horror scene, or modern novelists like Ronald Malfi and Laura Purcell who are taking the torch forward. I have always enjoyed reading and good prose will always have a soft spot and admiration in my heart.
9. What is your evergreen tip to the writers out there?
Write the stories you want to read. Practise the artform and craftsmanship to impress yourself, not others. Writing and art is a deeply personal process, so go to places that move you emotionally. Don’t be scared of writing poorly. First drafts are usually terrible. Exercise discipline. As Denzel Washington likes to say – without motivation you’ll never start, but without consistency you’ll never finish.
10. What was your hardest scene to write?
There is a certain scene by the end of the book that made me shut my laptop and I cried for a whole ten minutes inconsolably. It is a scene in the third act. I cannot describe what the scene is, as it will spoil the book, but it is one of the pieces of writing that I consider personally my best work of my life.
11. Do you have another plot brewing?
Yes, I have. Many many plots brewing. Kiff House unleashed my love for the gothic horror genre and I plan to tell more stories in the same vein.
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.in/dp/9357765832?ref=myi_title_dp
