Nihshanka Deboy is the author of Checkmate, a historical fictional thriller launched in the Indian subcontinent in June 2020. Checkmate was reviewed by several prominent Indian newspapers. Nihshanka is a former chess player who twice represented his state at the national level and competed with several opponents who are now grandmasters and international masters. Since childhood, his passion for chess has run parallel with his even older love for the written word.
Hello Nihshanka, welcome to BrandEducation! What’s your favorite word and why?
My favorite word is ‘perseverance’ because it almost always brings me closer to my objective. In writing, like in most aspects of life, we often face setbacks when the aim is high. It’s important to keep learning from the bumps so the next attempt, say, the next draft of the book is better. Hit another bump? Learn again. And again, until perseverance helps us break through.
What is your favorite thing about being a writer?
As an author, with my fiction work, I can come up with new characters, thrown together amidst conflict. In many day-to-day aspects of life, I run into constraints. Even in writing, I have to be careful while editing. But the creative part of writing allows me to imagine without boundaries and visualize what could be.
If you were a superhero, what powers would you have?
I would love to possess two powers, both about time:
- An ability to access more than twenty-four hours a day, for time is one of the most precious resources we have.
- An ability to predict the future. Where are we headed? What new ideas will make the difference? How will the world change?
If you could tell your younger self anything, what would it be?
Every experience is an opportunity to learn. Even if things do not go the way you want, setbacks often open new paths. So keep learning, keep striving, keep getting better.
As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
Almost everything under the sun – at times, I wanted to be a ping-pong player. At other times, I wanted to be an accountant or a software engineer. I am glad about where I’ve landed, with writing being such a key area of my life.
Where do you dream of traveling to and why?
I dream of traveling to Ströbeck, a village in Germany. Ströbeck has a long association with chess. There’s a legend that a military commander was imprisoned in a tower there in the 11th century. Apparently, he was so bored that he made a chess set and taught the guards how to play the game.
Anything you would say to those just starting out in the craft?
Be consistent about the time you spend on your author career. Whether with the actual art of writing or with marketing, small steps add up to large outcomes. Do something every day or two to keep the momentum going.
What’s the single most important reason for your success?
Consistency – for over a decade, I have done something related to writing every week. Whether it’s drafting a chapter, editing it, building my website or something else, I have tried to make every week count.
For me, writing is not a hobby or occupation but a way of life.
How do you generate new ideas?
I document new concepts when they occur to me. Not every such concept is directly tied to a book idea or even complete, but I note it down or record it on my phone. I pay particular attention to the ideas that surface again and again. In addition, when I am between book drafts, I look at my idea repository. The concepts that still stand out often lead to book outlines.
What’s the key lesson you want everyone to take away from your work?
There’s a story to be told or question to be asked about almost everything we come across, whether it’s the events around us, the game of chess (subject of my first novel), numbers (subject of my first non-fiction work), or something else that resonates with you.
Feel free to grab a copy of my book, ‘Twelve Short Tales’, a collection of tiny stories that spark emotions and trigger questions.
Find out more at: https://authordebroy.com/giveaway-fiction/.