AUTHOR'S CIRCLE: introducing KRISHNA SHASTRI DEVULAPALLI

On Author’s Circle today, 

with great fondness and nostalgia, I introduce author, artist, cartoonist and graphic designer, annnd a very dear childhood friend, Krishna Shastri Devulapalli, to talk about writing, life and his book, Jump Cut. 

Hi, Krishna, you don't know how excited I am to host you on my blog. While I've forgotten many things from our brief spurts of holiday mayhem in Chennai, I haven't forgotten you, your family or your incredibly offhand humor. (Also, ABBA and copious mounts of big hair come to mind when I think of those times!) 
Dear Readers, this man is funny! Trust me when I say that we're in for a huge treat today. So, clutch your stomachs and away we go:

What's Jump Cut about?
KSD: Jump Cut is a book about fathers and sons, the film world, coming home and intellectual property theft.

Hm. That sounds like a classic case of Silicon Valley. 

Ray had it all worked out. Go to India, take care of his father and return to his life in San Jose. His father would follow him in a couple of months and that would be that. But his father dies and Ray attributes it to bad luck. Things take a bizarre turn when an old friend tells him the reason behind his father’s death. Ray finds himself drawn into the seedy under-belly of Tamil films and up against a man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

Should Ray go back to his meticulously constructed life in the US? Or should he throw all plans aside and take on the man responsible for breaking into his father’s heart and stealing his mind?


Jump Cut is a genre-defying page-turner that is at once funny, moving and suspenseful, all leading to a deliciously satisfying climax with a sting in its tail.



How did you become a writer? In other words, tell us YOUR STORY.
KSD: I come from a family of artists and writers. Tried artist first, trying writer now, will try new medication shortly.

LOL. Which brings us to: Do you have any strange writing habits besides self-medicating for inspiration?
KSD: Yes, sometimes I write wearing nothing but a nun’s habit.

Haha. I told you he's funny!

What does your day look like?
KSD: My day looks like your night. I’m from the other side of the world.

Which author/s have inspired you the most?

KSD: Osho, James Hadley Chase and Falguni Kothari.

Why thank you, Krishna. And likewise, my friend.

What’s your favorite book and why?

KSD: Any client’s cheque book. For obvious reasons.

Ahem. Yes. Quite. And if your book becomes a movie whom would you want to play the hero and the heroine?

KSD: A.K. Hangal and Dakota Fanning.

Ooh. Dakota is lovely. 

What is your least favorite part about the writing/publishing profession?

KSD: The part where the accounts dept sends me a statement of my sales return signed with an ‘LOL!!’ at the bottom.

What is your best marketing tip?

KSD: Always take a carry bag.

Why write romance? (Shoot, should've changed that question for you but, oh well...)

KSD: Because foreplay is fun.

Is there a certain scene you find difficult to write? Eg: Racy or action etc.? Why?

KSD: Sex. Because it’s quite often funny in real life.

I can see that...even if I can't claim the same. 

Is your writing character-driven or plot-driven?

KSD: A bit of both. What I do like is being BMW-driven.

Which is the best character you’ve written? Is he or she your favorite? Why?

KSD: Dog Raj, the uncontrollable Labrador in Jump Cut. He’s my favourite because he’s based entirely on me.

Hmmmm. Naturally, in part you are all your characters (they come from your head) but which of your characters is the most like you? Or resonates in you the most? Why?

KSD: The character Gopi in my first book, Ice Boys in Bell-Bottoms. Like me, he’s a messed-up kid.

What do you wish to convey through your writing?

KSD: I want to make you laugh, then make you think.

What can we expect from you next?

KSD: I’m writing the sequel to my first book, Ice Boys in Bell-Bottoms. It’s called Rally Days & Disco Nights.

To end let’s try a Rapid Fire round. Your answer should be the first word/s that pops into your head when you think of:

LIFE: Sentence

PASSION: Fruit

HERO: In

LOVE: Difficult

HATE: Easy

Thank you once again, Krishna, for being here and talking to me. It was as much fun as I'd anticipated!

To connect with Krishna click on FACEBOOK.

To check out his first book click ICE BOYS IN BELL BOTTOMS