Book Title: Grandest Revelation : The Exordium
ISBN: 9789354461729
Akhila Saroha: Before we begin with the interview, I would like to extend a warm congratulations from our team for “Grandest Revelation.” It seems to have become quite a sensation soon after its publication. How do you feel about it?
Anubhav Anand: First, hello Akhila, and thank you so much for taking this interview into account. This book is very dear to me, not because it’s my first book, but because of all the background work and effort that was extracted from me to complete it. But more to that later, of course. Talking about the sensation and vibe, well, it’s really captivating in terms of the publicity it’s having.
Conquering some parts of media and newspaper will have its mark. Then again, I still feel that there is some part of the audience that should get this book. Given the content and storyline, the book must be acquired by a precise target audience, and we all are working on it. Let’s hope it gets to that as time goes by.
Akhila Saroha: As mentioned, you watched content which opened your mind to create a work like your debut novel. Tell us the story behind the creation of “Grandest Revelation.” What were the events that led to its creation?
Anubhav Anand: It’s true really. I guess reading and watching various content indeed helps to open your mind that create several versions of ideas. And the major part to all of it is that one must appreciate it—appreciate the storyline created by the fellow writers, because that’s the only way to capture the incredibility of it.
Coming to the creation of “Grandest Revelation”, the thought process began in the year 2015, if I remember correctly, while I was travelling on a train, by the window, past midnight, watching the stars peacefully. I guess I watched it from a very different angle that ignited the top view plot of this book. At that time, I even thought of discarding it, basing it on the fact that it all sounded rubbish. But, maybe deep down I wanted to pursue this plot, work on it, and create something, which might become mindboggling if progressed correctly. That was it! That’s how I created “Grandest Revelation”. The rest of the detailing was processed at the time of writing, which I started in 2018.
Akhila Saroha: As a debut author of “Grandest Revelation,” how would you describe your writing experience? Was it easy, or was it difficult or what went through when you wrote?
Anubhav Anand: Hah! Well, now when I think of it, and since I’ve done it, I’m assuming it to be easy…but, I still remember the sleepless days and nights to finish some chapters, which needed a lot of hard work—hard work in terms of research, thought process and alignment. There were many times when I wasn’t convinced with whatever I’d been writing, and sometimes with the plot lines too.
So, overall, I wouldn’t say that it was all easy, or all difficult. I guess some part comes out easy for you, while for some you’ll have to give more time to mold it in an effective way.
I also remember the times where I required a push to write ahead. This was because of the blockage in me, which is known as “writer’s block”, and I struggled a lot to get back to the schedule and overcome this blockage.
Akhila Saroha: You seem to be using your skills and observations when you design the characters and plot in the novel. Did you have any other ideas for plot and character construction or chose this in the first place in “Grandest Revelation”?
Anubhav Anand: Well, at the time of creating the plot, I devised some characters instantly, who were the major characters and backbone of the plot. Some characteristics that those characters resembled were taken from my observations, of course, but further molding was done based on the progression of the story.
There were also some characters, which I created and dumped; they weren’t even introduced in the book. I believe that the demand of the plot is very crucial in order to decide what to put in your story.
Lastly, the rest of the characters were introduced as the story proceeded.
Akhila Saroha: You are known to be a poet too. Please share a little about your poetry and the subjects on which you write.
Anubhav Anand: The first poem that I wrote was titled “The Pleasant Air”, in the sixth standard. The poem was very basic and I wrote it because it was asked in the school. Relatively, other students as well participated in it. Unfortunately, I don’t have the poem with me. The second poem that I wrote was seven years later in 2013, which was more inclined towards anger and death titled “The Eulogy”. And thus became my pattern where I started writing it more frequently. The subjects of my poems were very vague, mostly it was objectified towards life, attitude, and philosophy. Some of it was basic as well.
Currently, I’ve not written any poems for a very long time, maybe, because I started working on the plot.
Akhila Saroha: As an author of “Grandest Revelation,” would you describe yourself being influenced by other authors? Which author(s) would they be?
Anubhav Anand: Ah, of course! I mean the spark that generated in me to write a novel was because of these writers that I’m about to name. The first and the foremost, Joanne Rowling, the creator of the Harry Potter series—the greatest sensation at the time when we were in school. Even the books of Enid Blyton and Carolyn Keene inspired me a lot. Down the line, Dan Brown, Jon Grisham, Jeffery Archer, Sidney Sheldon among others strengthen my core to write something. The books of Chetan Bhagat, Ravinder Singh, and Durjoy Dutta were a sensation too. Stieg Larsson’s books were mindboggling in a murder mystery thriller. I believe I’m even forgetting some authors currently since I’ve followed many.
I guess I was influenced by all of them and the books they’ve written in distinct genres. It’s overwhelming and amazing! I still believe I’ve not gone through much and a lot is required of me.
Akhila Saroha: “Grandest Revelation” has introduced you as a promising writer. Can the readers expect more work from you in the future? Would you please share your plans?
Anubhav Anand: My personality is based on the word “escapism”, therefore I consider myself an escapist, and I would do anything to be in it! Writing a plot creates a level where I can be distracted for a very long time. So yes, I’ll be writing more in the future, given that everything will work out fine :P. First, there’s the possibility of more books in the “Grandest Revelation” title itself. I’ll try to comply with my timeline and schedule to complete it in the next couple of years. Once these are done, I’ve got a few other plots that would be needing some thoughts. If it all gets out fine, I’ll work on them.
The love and affection of the readers would always be the touching point of my work. I hope and wish that it’ll all be liked and appreciated by them. After all, every review matters!
Akhila Saroha: How easy or difficult was it for you to pick situations and build characters that would hit the sensitive nerves of the readers and also open their eyes at the same time in “Grandest Revelation”?
Anubhav Anand: Sometimes, some characters are relatable while sometimes they aren’t. It’s all about the perception and the expectation at the time when someone is reading the book.
Coming to me, I like to play with the characters. In one instance, I might show them all-powerful, and later I might ruin their identity. For me, the characters are self-evolving species who work out on their own issues as the storyline goes by. Now, that’s the essence of it, isn’t it? I believe this worked-out detailing can touch the nerves of the readers since they might be presuming something from any certain character, but it might not proceed as it should. In other instances, some characters are very plain and will work out based on the expectations as the story proceeds.
Akhila Saroha: As a title, “Grandest Revelation” carries associations with different associations in multiple genres. What is the story behind its creation?
Anubhav Anand: I’ve always appreciated the ideas and stories of all the writers, be it authors or editors, or scriptwriters. I’ve read various novels across multiple genres and watched content in terms of TV shows and movies to evaluate my brain and capture the mesmerizing stories. My book might have some instances where one might relate it to some shows or movies, and it was all necessary when I was writing my book. Nevertheless, the essence of it is all based on observance. The observance of nature, the world, and the universe! Because that’s how I came with this plot.
Akhila Saroha: How would you categorize “Grandest Revelation” as its appeal seems to be to a broad audience?
Anubhav Anand: Well, some of the concepts that are used in this book are beyond the eight standard children, so firstly, I would categorize this book as 15 or 15+ in terms of age.
Secondly, this book could be categorized to a broad audience only because it has a combination of multiple genres in it. Well, the base genre is science fiction fantasy, of course, but you’ll find a glimpse of historical fiction, mystery, suspense, thriller, and romance as well. The reason being is that I couldn’t discard the ignition of these genres when I was writing the plot. It automatically adjusted itself, and I had to give in!
Lastly, I really believe that this book offers a unique concept—the uniqueness lies in the fact that I’ve looked from a very different angle to some of nature’s gifted objects. I just hope it would work out and make sense if relied upon.
Akhila Saroha: How would you describe your literary endeavours and all that went into your making as a writer before “Grandest Revelation” materialized?
Anubhav Anand: I’ll keep this short. My endeavours collaborated with my desire to escape from that moment and bring out something that might satiate it. Now, I began with the poems and some short stories, where I could say that I was just testing the waters. But I became more engrossed in it. I started actualizing ideas. I began evolving on them. I guess these are the scenarios, which I went through before I actually objectified “Grandest Revelation”.
Akhila Saroha: There are so many unique perspectives in your “Grandest Revelation.” What is the most challenging thing about writing such complexity in a simpler version?
Anubhav Anand: This is a very interesting question. The strange thing about writing fiction is that you need to explain it as explicitly as you can so that the readers wouldn’t get confused. If your explanation is not up to the mark, your theory might be taken otherwise or could be called as complicated, which won’t look good in the long run.
In my book, I’ve developed some theories that really needed a detailed explanation and I guess this was my major challenge to do it. You see, I didn’t want to write it so simple because that’ll lose the essence of the story, then again, it required a holistic explanation that would mark the storyline an epic flow—the flow that might be unpredictable yet in line with the story, the flow where the readers shouldn’t lose the interest. Taking into account all these and navigating the storyline in a definite flow was indeed the challenge and I guess you’ll find this in the last five chapters of the book.
Akhila Saroha: I wish you luck with your future ventures and hope to read more powerful and exciting books from your pen. Thank you for sparing your time.
Anubhav Anand: Likewise, Akhila. Thank you for bringing all these out from me. I guess I needed it. Thank you so much for putting out all the questions that really were connected with something in my life. And thank you for your kind words and wishes. I’m honoured to have talked about my book in such a congenial way. Thank you for making this all in the grandest way!