A sailor by profession and a writer by passion’ reads the bio of author Vikrant Khanna, who is also a captain in the merchant navy on his social networking profiles. Since he had a lot of time during transits, he started writing to “kill time”.
And in 2011, came out with his first novel, ‘When Life Tricked Me’ and, much to his amazement, he says, “it turned out to be a national bestseller”. Since then, there has been no looking back for the 32-year-old. “I always wanted to be a captain in the navy, but never thought I will become an author as such,” he says.
Calling himself a fan of commercial fiction, where a story appeals to a wide audience, has a distinct plot, and its characters actively overcome a challenge, he tells Metrolife, “I feel, it’s important to tell stories to entertain and in a simple way. Storytelling is about expression through relatable characters and probably that’s where I find my inspiration from,” says the Delhi-based author, who has spent over 15 years in the Indian Navy.
While his first book traced the story of six friends who align their life to their dreams, and the ups and downs during it, his last book Love Lasts Forever..... Only If You Don’t Marry Your Love told the story of love before and after marriage. Growing up reading authors like Agatha Christie and Stephen King, it was but natural for Khanna to try his hand at paranormal fiction. In a departure from his previous writing, for his new book Secretly Yours published by Penguin, he tried narrating a supernatural love story. It traces the story of Sahil and Anya and how in a freak accident, Sahil begins to read minds. “I have been reading plain romances from Indian authors over the years. I wanted to try something different and in the supernatural space, which has a wide scope,” mentions Khanna.
Does he plan to stick to fantasy? “I have always been intrigued by what one’s imagination can give rise to. One can come up with numerous possibilities and go beyond the conventions, which is fascinating. So, I would love to stick to this genre,” says Khanna. Though he admits that competition in the publishing industry has grown, he believes, “each kind of storytelling has its own niche audience” and adds that it is a “big push to keep writing”.
