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 Tarang Sinha, an acclaimed author as today’s esteemed guest. Recently, her story ‘One Night’ 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 Tarang! 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.

TS: Thank you, Swarnali! And thank you for having me on your lovely blog.

I’m so glad you liked my story. My inspiration behind writing ‘One Night’ was this wonderful opportunity to submit for Blogchatter Anthology.

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?

TS: Writing a thriller is not really my forte. So, I was quite unsure whether I’d be able to pull it off. I submitted at the last moment.

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?

TS: Actually, this story is my translation of my own Hindi (unpublished) story. I am an intuitive writer. So, it was a simple dialogue line that I used as a prompt and then I went with the flow. I had finished writing the original Hindi story in one sitting. It took me 2-3 days to translate it into English.

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

TS: As a reader/viewer, I’m very fond of thrillers. I watched two shows recently. ‘The Freelancer’ and ‘Jaane Jaan’. Really liked them. I loved Asur (Season 1) last year. That was brilliant! Just finished watching ‘Delhi Crime’. That’s also very good.

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

TS: As I said, it was an intuitive writing session. There are just two characters in my story, and I knew nothing about my characters when I began writing. The (original Hindi) story started with a dialogue (The beginning is a little different in the Blogchatter Anthology version) and then the characters, eventually, came alive.

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

TS: No. 🙂

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

TS: Oh, many! To name a few ―’The Girl on the Train’ by Paula Hawkins was probably the first thriller that I actually enjoyed. I developed a keen interest in this genre after reading that book. ‘Salvation of a Saint’ by Keigo Higashino is brilliant. I loved ‘Missing Presumed Dead’ by Kiran Manral. ‘The Woman in the Library’ by Sulari Gentill was wonderful.

Read ‘The Boy from the Sea’ by HL MacFarlane just a few weeks ago. It was very very intriguing!

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?

TS: Mmm…not really. I mean, I have no desire to meet a ghost or to have any paranormal experience, but I don’t really feel scared thinking about it. I’m totally fine when it’s dark and silent or living (or reading/watching a horror story) alone at night. As a teenager, I could walk alone in the courtyard of our house at wee hours.

No, I haven’t experienced anything like that. Many years ago, I saw something in the courtyard of my house at 3 am, but after a careful look, it turned out to be a play of light and shadow. It’s good that I didn’t get scared and run away at first sight of it, or else my answer to this question might have been yes.

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Thank you, Tarang, for accepting my request to share your journey of the story ‘One Night’ 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.