PVLF 2025

Interview with Kochery C Shibu, author of ‘Faith and the Beloved’

Interview with Kochery C Shibu, author of ‘Faith and the Beloved’
on Nov 26, 2021

Frontlist : How was writing a crime thriller different from writing some other genre books such as romance, adventure, and so on?

Author Shibu: Crime thriller is about the interlinking of time, space and people with a particular event, in this case a crime. The perception of the event as seen by various people based on the amount of information that is available to each one of them. Piecing together the puzzle as the story unfolds and keeping the reader's appetite vetted.

Frontlist : How did the idea for this novel come to you? How did it evolve as you were writing?

Author Shibu: The novel is a work of over two years. A lot of research has gone into the same. The development of the novel was an iterative process as the writing progressed.

Frontlist : In your opinion, what makes a great Crime Thriller? What are some of your favorites?

Author Shibu: Credible characters and realistic events interspersed over time, space and people.

Frontlist : Your novel uses alternating chapters in several points of view to reveal the truth about a twisted character. Do you tend to envision the story from one perspective first, or do all of these perspectives come to you along the way?

Author Shibu: The story is seen from the characters perspective. Getting into the skin of the character is a key to seeing how the events are seen by each character. A lot of detailing and iteration takes place along with the development of the writing.

Frontlist : When did you start your writing career?

Author Shibu: The writing bug has been there since the school days. It was within my mind that I did an MA in English Literature from Pune University in 1989. Having a soldier career, time was at a premium whilst in uniform. Many novels have died in infancy during my service tenure. Though i have written many professional articles on warfare and tactics and most of which are classified. It was only after taking VRS that I was able to devote time to writing a fiction novel. The first one is Men and Dreams in the Dhauladhar was written whilst working on a hydroelectric project in the himalayas.

Frontlist : What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Author Shibu: Write about things and events around you to start. The rest will follow.

Source: Keveinbookreviews, Book Charming