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 Huma Masood, an acclaimed author as today’s esteemed guest. Recently, her story ‘Fragments of Yesterday’ 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 Huma! 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. 

HM. Thank you for the warm welcome, Swarnali. I’m absolutely thrilled to be a part of The Blogchatter Book of Thrillers where I got a chance to share the stage with fabulous writers, and I sincerely appreciate your kind words about Fragments of Yesterday. It’s a wonderful feeling to know that it resonated with you and will be remembered.

I’ve always been fascinated by human psychology and behaviour, especially when people are under pressure. As a day trader, I’ve personally experienced how easily we can make mistakes when forced to make decisions in high-stress situations. 

The core theme of my narrative revolves around the idea that when under pressure we find ourselves doing things that usually we would neither do nor recommend to others. I believe this tendency is common and many readers can relate to that moment when you acted differently under pressure.

My protagonist’s journey started with a tragic cliff fall, resulting in memory loss and an identity crisis. She was still in the process of recovering from a coma, and on top of that, she began having nightmares about her fall. She was desperate to piece together the fragments of her past that appeared in her nightmares. She was driven by an intense need to uncover the cause behind her fall.

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? 

HM. When Blogchatter first announced the anthology in the thriller genre, my first thought was pure excitement because thriller is my favourite genre. 

I’ve participated in several writing tracks with Blogchatter over the past few years. My poetry collection, She and Other Poems, made its debut through the Blogchatter ebook carnival and is now available on the Blogrolls library. Even though I couldn’t give it my all in post-release promotions, due to a family matter, my book still received great exposure and many good reviews. 

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? 

HM. When the team’s reminder to submit came, I realised the deadline was quite tight. I’ve had experience writing for tight deadlines before, having completed Tale-a-thon by Penmancy in 2021. This gave me the confidence that I could rise to the challenge once again.

I revisited a character and premise I’d crafted during the Blogchatter Write a Page a Day track in February. My protagonist’s story began with a tragic cliff fall, leading to memory loss and identity issues. To ensure accuracy, I researched people who survived falls, their recovery stories, various amnesia types, and treatments that work. As Dan Brown advises, we have to do extensive research, even if we use only a small part of it for our narrative. My research was geared toward understanding what was a viable approach and what wasn’t.

In addition to research, my understanding of how people react to pressure further helped in shaping the narrative. After a few rewrites and refinements, the draft reached its final form.

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

HM. I love watching thrillers, particularly, psychological thrillers and survival thrillers. I tend to watch more movies than read books because of the convenience of an OTT subscription, which makes it easy to access movies.

Popular thriller novels, on the other hand, are not always available on Kindle Unlimited. 

I recently read: Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney and Until I Find You by Kanchana Banerjee 

Movies Hindi: Khufiya is good. Kala Pani is a binge-worthy series.

Movies English: Recommended for killer suspense: God’s Crooked Lines. Nowhere: not only provides killer suspense but also offers valuable lessons in resourcefulness. This one’s a gem for those who love a good thriller with a twist.

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

HM. I wasn’t inspired by anyone in particular. Fragments of Yesterday was entirely plot-based, and I created the character profiles from scratch.

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

HM. None while writing this one. It wasn’t related to the paranormal.

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

HM. It’s hard to pick a single all-time favourite thriller, as there are so many great ones out there. But if I had to choose from my recent reads, two titles really stand out: Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney and Until I Find You by Kanchana Banerjee. Both books take you on a thrilling roller coaster ride filled with surprises, all while exploring the intricacies of relationships, which is why I liked these over the others.

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? 

HM. My philosophy is: If you don’t bother the ghosts, they won’t bother you. 

One night, during my college days, one of my roommates suggested a little game with a DIY Ouija board that she made on paper. She said she had tried it with her school friends before, and curiosity got the best of us. Little did we know that this seemingly innocent act would kickstart a series of uncanny events in our room that ended with us scrambling out of our room in sheer terror, screaming at the top of our lungs. The warden rushed in, fearing someone was injured. She was very upset.

So, to answer your question, I do believe that the other world has a way of making itself known, whether we’re afraid of it or not.

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Thank you, Huma, for accepting my request to share your journey of the story ‘Fragments of Yesterday’ 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.