Sharp,intelligent and engaging are the best words to describe Christopher C. Doyle’s debut novel, the hugely successful ‘The Mahbharata Secret’ . His blending of facts and imagination for the book is marvellous .You can catch my review of it here.
And to know the author just add the terms Classy and Polite to the above three words, and you’ll have the man himself !
Here, in his signature elegant style the author has gracefully and patiently answered the questions of ‘Sunshine n blue clouds’ regarding himself and his new book ‘The Mahabharata Quest‘.
Here is a sneak peek into this e-mailed interview :
Tell us something about yourself Christopher, the person .
Chris: what can I say? I’m a Gemini – a typical one I guess. Loyal to friends, stubborn, very curious and always in search of novelty.
What are the other alternate titles (if any) you thought about your book/s ?
Chris: Both titles somehow fell into place quite well.
Which kind of research ( we heard you went off-shore too for this book) you have to do for it ?
Chris: well, it started with the Mahabharata: I read three different versions including KM Ganguli’s translation which is almost 6000 pages. Then, I read lots of books on history – about Asoka the Great for The Mahabharata Secret and about Alexander the Great for The Mahabharata Quest: The Alexander Secret. And, there was a lot of research into the science that went into both the books.
Which is your favourite character, not necessarily good, from the book?
Chris: From the Mahabharata Secret, it is Bheem Singh.
Of whom did you thought about while modelling the character? There must be a working model like some movie star/person you know in real life/book character … may be only some traits..
Chris: Not really. There are bits of lots of people I met in all my characters. I didn’t base any character on a single person.
Who are the some of the authors you liked and if they had then in what way they have inspired you ?
Chris:The ones I grew up with: Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy, Walter Scott, Charles Dickens and George Bernard Shaw among the literary authors; Arthur Conan Doyle in suspense; Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Jules Verne, H G Wells and Philip Dick in science fiction; JRR Tolkein and Robert Jordan in fantasy; PG Wodehouse in comedy and Gerald Durrell in nature. They all inspired me in different ways.
When did you realized you want to become an author ?
Chris: when I was 10 years old.
What is some advice you will like to give to people trying to write ?
Chris: read a lot. It will help you write better.
What is your favourite genre as a reader ?
Chris: I don’t really have a favourite genre. I read all kinds of books, including non fiction.
What is the one book which is in your ‘evergreen’ list and why?
Chris: books by all the authors I mentioned above are in my evergreen list. Why? Because their writing is just amazing and I can never get tired of reading their books over and over again.
What is your favourite character from Mythology(Indian and world) and why ? Favourite as in sense of, with whom you can relate or look up to ?
Chris: I don’t have a single favourite character from either Indian or world mythology. There are lots of very interesting characters whom I can relate to or look up to.
Hm.. thats some information about the author,his works and a glimpse of his real self – his tastes and thoughts. Hope you enjoyed the QnA session as much as I did.
Thanks Mr. Doyle 🙂
About Christopher
Brought up as a boy on a steady diet of books ranging from classical literature to science fiction and fantasy to poetry and plays,Christopher dreamed of becoming a writer from an early age and before embarking his journey into the literary world he graduated from St. Stephens College, Delhi in Economics and studied Business Management at IIM Calcutta.
He worked with leading multinational organizations before setting up his own strategic consultancy company in partnership with a US-based firm.He is a regular invited speaker at international conferences and conventions and is a musician with a classic rock band called MidLife Crisis and lives in Gurgaon with his family enjoying reading, writing, tennis, swimming, travelling and meeting people.
