Author Interview + Giveaway(IN Only)- A Pluperfect Gift by Shalabh Bansal

Hey guys! 

Are y'all tired of the giveaway yet? :D Today we have with us Shalabh Bansal. He is the author of A Pluperfect Gift. Keep on reading ahead to read his interview and a chance to win 1 of 5 copies of the book. :)

Summary-

 All was going well for Samar. He had a promising career in the merchant navy ahead of him, and he was looking forward to his next sailing assignment. Then came along Arisha, and he discovered the love of this life. What could possibly go wrong? This is the story of Samar and Arisha and their battle with the ultimate master?Time itself. And how sometimes, the most extraordinary things happen to ordinary people. In the ultimate clash between Love, Life and Time, who could possibly win?

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 AUTHOR INTERVIEW-

      Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Born in Meerut district, Uttar Pradesh, Shalabh Bansal is a trained Marine Engineer. After graduating in Marine Engineering from BITS Pilani (Tolani Maritime Institute Pune campus), he kicked off his sea career in 2007 when he first joined a vessel as a Cadet. At present, he is sailing as First Engineering Officer with Seaarland Management Services, Mumbai. Having sailed across almost all seas and continents, he continues to feel the urge to explore more and more every day and ride the high waves unbounded.

Shalabh believes that water gives him strength. He likes to watch the sun rise over the ocean, which gives him a feeling of a fireball emerging from the waters. Though, despite years of sailing experience behind him, he is still scared of water.

Extremely caring, Shalabh loves making friends and exploring new horizons with them. Despite being one of the nominees of the 2020 Mars-1 Program, he withdrew his application and decided to continue sailing, which he loves more than anything else.

     Tell us about your book, A Pluperfect Gift.

Samar and Arisha didn’t meet by providence or by fate. They were destined to be together by the Ultimate identity itself- the Time. They were hankering for each other, till the time the same identity rose against them.

 A Pluperfect gift is a tale of love which describes their tussle with the ultimate identity and the eventual win of their love over time.   As it’s said, only the worthy are blessed with supernatural abilities. But at times few of the people who are sanctified with them, become worthy automatically.

 A tale of sacrifice, love and supernaturalism, it also brings forth the human emotions depicting care, hope and rage simultaneously. A clear communiqué that Life and Love prevail over Time - is evident from A Pluperfect Gift.

      What inspired you to write your book?

The high seas, the wild sunsets and the spirit awakening sunrises; these clubbed with my girlfriends wish to see my handbook in a printed format are all that inspired me and I took a step forward towards A Pluperfect Gift.

    Are any of the characters in your book inspired by someone you know or are they complete results of your imagination?

To be true, Samar is a semi portrayal of myself, whereas Arisha`s character was somewhat inspired by my X-gf. Various other characters like Radhika, and Tushar etc have been adopted with their real names. They’re my real life friends. Though the story is a pure fiction, few incidents have been taken from my real life.

       What kind of research went into writing your book?

Not much actually. I am a sailing officer, so most of the details about the sea and the ship were readily available with myself. Ya I did went through few UPANISHADS and the  BHAGWAD GEETA to understand the mystery of our Chakra cycles and its refurbishment. Had to consult few learned Pandits also for the same.

    Tell us about the whole publishing process and how it went.

I had heard about a new book on the stands, Gas wars. I was impressed by the books publisher somehow, and I approached him with my new manuscript. He was quick enough to go through the script and approved it. Though the book had been approved by few other publishers as well, but the time frame that the leading ones were offering was huge; some even asked to for a time shelf on 3 years before they could publish it. So I decided to go ahead with AuthorsUpfront, i.e. my current publisher. And to my goodness, I had the book in my hand in just 4 months, that too free with any editorial error (courtesy Kamya Sharma who happens to be a close buddy) and a brilliant typeset. The cover too was designed by my very old friend, Miss Radhika Jain, who is a Nift Mumbai pass-out and a brilliant designer. 

     Who are some of your favourite authors and what are some of your favourite books?

Very frankly I haven’t read any book till today, except Shakespeare during my school days. But I do enjoy reading guest posts by Stephen Hawking on his theories of space and time ( ex Does Go plays dice).

    If you could read only one book for the rest of your life, what book would you pick and why?

I am actually longing for A Brief history of Time. It explains the theory of our evolution and solves many more mysteries related to our universe. Normal novels, bore me up very easily. Unfortunately, I am not a very vivid reader.

  Tell us why readers should pick up your book.

I would like to quote few words from few reviews

1. Capt. Samarth Singh (Brand Developer, Hybrid Content)

 http://www.samarthsingh.com/a-pluperfect-gift-book-review-no-spoilers

2. Mrs. Sakshi Nanda (works as a reviewer ad book critic for Penguin India and Rupa publications.)

http://www.sakshinanda.com/2014/12/book-review-pluperfect-gift-by-shalabh.html

GIVEAWAY-

Shalabh has generously offered to give away FIVE copies of A Pluperfect Gift to five lucky INDIAN readers. 

Enter by filling the rafflecopter or go here.

May the odds be ever in your favor!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks everyone!
Happy reading :)