A story is a journey; when a thought is shaped into a story, it takes time to process the imagination and vision to turn into a beautiful tale. In this interview series, I ask authors about their stories Behind the Story.

I am very happy to have Chinmayee Sahu, an acclaimed author as today’s esteemed guest. Recently, her story ‘The Encounter’ has found a home in The Blogchatter Book of Thrillers, along with other fourteen stories. Read her inspiration and experience with this thriller story.

TBS: Hello Chinmayee! Welcome to the Author Highlight interview. Before we begin, I want to congratulate you once again for being one of the contributing authors of The Blogchatter Book of Thrillers. 

I loved reading your story, and it will stay with me forever. I want to know what was the inspiration behind you writing this story. 

C: First of all, I want to thank you Swarnali for liking my piece of writing and inviting me for this interview. I am really honoured for the spotlight. It makes me feel no less than a celebrity!

This story has been probably inspired by my Mom’s fascination towards reading all crime news in the newspaper! Somehow that prompted me to write this suspense thriller.

TBS: When you came across the notification by Blogchatter about the submission of a short story in the suspense/thriller genre, what was the first thing that came to your mind? 

C: First of all I was very happy because I knew this was a great opportunity but I was also very stressed out because thriller as a genre is not my forte.

TBS: How did you bring your thoughts and imagination to paper and shape your story? How long did it take to reach the final draft? 

C: Till the last days of the deadline, I was struggling with framing the story. I started, wrote halfway and then stopped because it did not satisfy me. I had almost given up but one night this story kind of appeared in a blurry manner in my dreams. I wrote it the next day.

TBS: Have you read or watched something in the suspense/thriller genre recently? How fond are you of this genre? 

C: I am generally not at all fond of horror or thriller movie or webseries and prefer a very safe distance from them

TBS: What was the inspiration behind the characters of your story? 

C: The characters popped in my mind and I had seen faint imaginations of them in my dream…err ..rather a nightmare.. whatever you can say!

TBS: Have you experienced any eerie feelings while writing the story? 

C: To be honest, I was so engrossed in sketching the characters that, ironically I enjoyed the whole process rather than getting spooked.

TBS: What is your favourite story/novel in the Thriller genre? 

C: I had read Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier long time back and it is something that will stay with me for long!

TBS: My last question is, are you afraid of Ghosts? Do you believe in the presence of the other world? Have you experienced any paranormal activities in your life? 

C: I am petrified by the thought of ghosts. I believe in the unseen forces and hence I firmly believe that there is presence of equivalent opposite forces or the other world. I haven’t experienced any such incidents myself and I certainly pray that I remain blessed to stay away from any such bizzare experiences in future.

Though like many of us I have faced spooky situations and got scared many a times but nothing such major mishappening has occurred.

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Thank you, Chinmayee, for accepting my request to share your journey of the story ‘The Encounter’ and your experience with the Thriller genre here. Looking forward to read your future literary endeavour. Wishing you the best in your author journey ahead.

Dear readers, if you are intrigued to know more about this wonderful collection of fifteen thriller stories, grab The Blogchatter Book of Thrillers and spend your bookish holiday with these brilliant stories.

If you want to know more about the anthology, you can read my detailed review of the book here.