From the first glance, Eshwar Sundaresan, smartly dressed in a Sambalpuri kurta, came off as the opposite of what his first novel ‘Behind The Silicon Mask’ signifies - thrills, suspense, complications and excitement. The author was in the city recently to launch his first thriller novel at the Oxford Store in the city.
‘’My focus has always been to write engaging stories that the reader would like to read. Be it thriller or any other genre, I try to make the books a page turner,’’ said Sundaresan addressing book lovers. The thriller is set in the backdrop of Milwaukee, USA, where the characters are embroiled in a series of murders, whose occurrence cannot be explained.
The first draft of the book was conceptualised in 2003 and he has been working on the it since the past 10 years. Though the final draft was ready in 2009, it took Sundaresan four years to find a publisher for the book.
On characters and plot, Sundaresan explained that in the first draft of the book, 10 years back, the plot came to him first. ‘’But the characters evolved so much in the 10 years span that they gained precedence over the plot. Every character plays a crucial role throughout the book,’’ he said.
An IT engineer by profession, he quit his job to pursue his passion, writing. ‘’I began freelancing for a magazine in Mangalore, while I still had my day job. I have dabbled in investigative journalism as well, which I did for free as my day job did not allow me to work anywhere else,’’ he said. He refers to his experience in journalism as his alter ego that drove him to continue writing despite not getting paid for it.