An Interview With Mainak Dhar | The Author Of – Sniper’s Eye

Hi friends,
Allow me to introduce Mainak Dhar, the author of many thrillers. He is quite popular amongst the readers who love reading thrillers. Recently we got a chance to purchase his latest thriller “Sniper’s Eye” during a fantastic promotion offer. You can read our detailed unbiased book review for the same at:

• Sniper’s Eye by Mainak Dhar | Book Review

We really like the way the book turned out to be the final product, and we thought that it would be interesting to know more about Mainak and you will find it interesting too.

So we’ve approached him for an Author Interview and fortunately, the things worked out positively. And, here is the Q/A session with him. Most of the questions are in the context of Sniper’s Eye.

First of all, thanks so much for giving me this opportunity to connect with your readers. As a writer, nothing is more gratifying than having your work reach and connect with readers, so am very happy with the appreciation Sniper’s Eye is getting.

I believe joy ultimately comes not from accomplishing anything but from being able to do full justice to all parts of who you are, and being able to truly bring that individuality to life. I’m happy that I am able to keep alive my passion for writing while having a full time corporate career.

I’m just another guy, trying to be the best I can for those who count on me. The most important people in my life are my wife, Puja, and our ten-year old son, Aaditya. I try and spend as much time with them as possible.

Author Mainak Dhar

Next come those at work who count on me. I’ve been working in the corporate sector for well over twenty years, and currently head up the Asia, Middle East & Africa region for a multinational firm. Doing the best I can to help the thousands of employees in my team succeed and creating a great place to work for them is something that’s really important to me. Beyond family and work, I do try and keep space for my health and passions. Writing is obviously one of them. I’ve also been learning Karate for many years, and recently was awarded my Black Belt. A lot of the values Karate teaches- calm, discipline and respect, are things I value a lot. My ten-year old son is also learning Karate, and should appear for his Black Belt later in 2019.

Storytelling has been a passion of mine since I was a child, when I loved making up stories, had an imaginary friend who would sit next to me in class, and wrote a diary about how the world ended and buried it in our front yard, hoping to mess with the minds of future historians. I just feel lucky that along with my career and my family, I have been able to keep my passion alive, and share those stories with so many people through my writing.

My father was a remarkable man. He was of course a legendary Intelligence Bureau officer, and being the son of such a man who dealt with terrorism at its peak in Kashmir and Punjab meant learning all kinds of interesting things while I was growing up, such as what to do when someone shoots at you and how to tell if someone has broken into your house. You’ll find some of that conditioning show up in Sniper’s Eye. He also inculcated in me a very strong sense of patriotism and sense of duty- which you’ll see in novels like Sniper’s Eye and 03:02. Finally, he was a bestselling writer himself- writing his first book at the age of 58 when he retired, and taught me that it’s never too late to follow your dreams.

My first novel, The Funda of Mix-ology was both a humbling and inspiring experience. I got more than fifty rejection slips and that experience taught me just how hard it is for a new writer to break in. However, it was then picked up and then went on to become a national bestseller. That experience taught me the importance of persevering and believing in myself.

With a demanding, full-time corporate job and the time I want to spend with family, the only way I can fit my writing in is to be disciplined and deliberate about it. I try and write a little bit every day- usually no more than 500 words, but that all adds up if you do it regularly! How I fit it into my lifestyle is that I run every morning, and typically that’s when I’m thinking of ideas. Before getting ready for work, I normally write for fifteen to twenty minutes each day. That way, my writing is “done” for the day even before my office day has begun! I travel a fair bit on work and I get a lot of writing done in planes, airport lounges and hotels when I’m on business trips.

To be honest, design is not something I consider a strong point of mine, so I leave cover design to the professionals. I may give ideas or background from the story to help the designers, but I leave them to do their magic.

Sniper’s Eye by Mainak Dhar | Book Cover

The one person who does often give great ideas about my book covers is my wife, Puja. She’s an exceptionally gifted painter and knows much more about what will look good visually than I do.

All time favourites would be J. R. R. Tolkien, Roald Dahl and Stephen King. Among contemporary authors, I really enjoy Lee Child and Bernard Cornwell.

Lord of the Rings.

Right now, editing my own book!

Other than work, I try and spend as much time as possible with family. Beyond family, work and writing, I try and stay fit- by running each day and I also practice Karate, and was recently awarded my Black Belt.

I believe that the Kindle and eBooks are a great way of helping people read more books, in more moments and in more places than they would have otherwise. I am a total bookworm, and at any given time, am often reading two or more books. Having books available in eBooks means I can carry multiple books with me, without even carrying a single physical book, and read at all times of the day. When I’m really into a book, I’ll often read it even while going up the elevator to office or home! The one downside is that reading on a phone or tablet is never distraction free, which is why I so prefer reading on a Kindle v/s the Kindle app on my phone.

I love the smell of paper books and the tactile experience they bring which an eBook cannot. However, given my schedule, habit of reading multiple books at a time, and travel, I end up doing most of my reading on the Kindle.

All the time.

I was lucky to grow up around some inspirational people who taught me a lot. I’ve written about my father. My maternal grandfather was a freedom fighter who was jailed for resisting British rule. Despite coming from a very poor background (he told me stories about studying under street lamps) and spending time in jail, he stood first in his University. After independence, he went on to become part of the first batch of Indian Police Service officers of independent India. From him, I learned the value of patriotism and that what matters is not what you start with, but what you can create with your hard work and determination. My mother was a remarkable lady, and has perhaps shaped me more than anyone else. She was the one who really stoked my love of writing, and kept telling me that no dream was too big to see, as long as one worked towards it.

I think we just need to connect with each other the way we used to- over conversations and storytelling- and less by vicariously sharing in experiences through social media.

My next book will be a sequel to Sniper’s Eye, and it should be with readers later in 2019.

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• Buy Book From Amazon US – Kindle EBook

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