Shankar S Padmanaban

Virgo

1.I have a Black belt in Karate 2. I’ve a very serious OCD for orderliness 3. I’ve a secret journal where I pen down things that touch me. My diary is a place where I talk to myself. It also contains a secret To-Do/Wish list that I strike of as and when I complete.

For years now, my greatest fear and love, both have been the same thing. Dogs. I really love dogs for their loyalty and companionship, but only at a distance. I would either gallop to outer space or cling on to the adjacent person’s hips if dogs are nearby. I’m yet to figure out why I’ve this oxymoronic nature.

I never believe in achievements. Achievements are always a perspective of people. What appears a great achievement to me can be perceived as nothing by everyone else. For me, it’s always about the journey. I find happiness in most trivial things of life and I ensure that I enjoy whatever I do. If you are happy doing what you do every day, trust me, you are one greater achiever irrespective of your monetary or social status.

The lowest point in my life was when a best friend of mine passed away. I’ve not got any siblings and I treat him as one. My entire perspective of life changed after that. Our lives are so volatile and none of us can know when our end is. This life we have is just once. So, if you wish to do something, don’t simply wish, JUST DO IT!

My Dad. How can I not admire the person who finances me from my birth and has been putting up with all the nonsense I’ve been doing since then? :P

Iron Man. Not for his sarcasms, dark humors or charm with girls. When he was held as a captive in an Afghan cave, he engineered his way out. That taught me, no matter how bad the situation is, there’s always a solution.

1.Paulo Coelho 2.Ravi Subramaniam 3.Sidney Sheldon 4.John Grisham

1.The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho 2.If tomorrow comes by Sidney Sheldon 3.F?@k knows by Shailendra Singh 4.The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini 5.The Broker by John Grisham

I wish I could read the minds of people. For within every person, there’s a story and I look for stories in life.

My Game is over, so will yours. Score as much as you can while you breathe.

For every author, their book is like their child. Good or bad, a book is out there because that person has put in effort and penned down his thoughts. No two people can have the same thought process. I don’t wish I had written others’ books. It’s best the way that particular person has written it.

I don’t have any fixed pattern as such. Whenever a nice thought strikes my mind, I pen it down. I’m more of a night person. Mostly my writing sessions start late in the night and last till early morning. I prefer writing outdoor. A large part of my debut novel, The DEViant, was written in my car. When something good came up, I stopped middle of nowhere and started to write.

I love both. I always enjoy listening to music that synchronizes with my mood, but silence has been the saviour a lot of times. There are times when I walk to beach all alone, sit for hours doing nothing, staring at the dark blue sea and introspect.

Patience and Perseverance are the key. Writing a book is a prolonged process. You might feel given up a lot of times. All you got to do is to keep going. Just keep penning down!