Author Interview : Abhih Singh

Author Interview : Abhih Singh

Hello everyone,
Today I am going to introduce you to the author of 'The Leeway Towers'.

About the author -

Abhih Singh was born in 1984, at a Naval base in Cochin. He spent his early childhood in Port Blair wandering beaches and woods, went to a boys’ school in South Bombay, and attended university in Australia, attaining degrees in Liberal Arts and International Relations. His work experiences have been varied, ranging from office types to disc jockeying and handling produce. Over recent years he has lived in Bangalore in a building teeming with environmentalists and politically charged artist sorts, and in an old Portuguese house in Goa in the midst of snakes, dogs, and disappearing cats. He is currently based in Pune, where he continues to write and produce music. The Leeway Towers is his second novel.

Let's start!
1. First of all introduce yourself
I’m Abhih Singh, an author and music artist currently living in Pune. My education is in Liberal Arts, and International Relations. I’ve written two books so far, Roving in the Shine (2015), and The Leeway Towers (2018). I produce music using the alias Hill of Non.

2. Did you always want to become a writer?
I’ve been interested in storytelling from a young age. My mother used to sing and read to us brothers, and my father used to tell us unique, creative stories about elephants. However it was only during my late teens, upon advice from my uncle, that I began a formal writing practice.

3. How would you introduce your book ‘The Leeway Towers’?
The Leeway Towers is a political story set in the near future, on an island in the Indian Ocean named the Isle of Flora (IF), a place where corruption, environmental degradation, and unemployment create civil war conditions. Kal’s (the protagonist) home city Lear goes through radical changes, and he returns years later from refuge to find a place transformed from chaos to a beacon of order. But this control is maintained by technological means, and he finds himself aligned with an underground group intent on opposing the system.

4. What inspired you to write this book?
I’m interested in public behaviour and it’s influences, be it media, faith, myth, advertising, culture, ideology, or force. The book is an exploration of dire projections, considering the quest for endless growth; and radically coercive, totalitarian solutions. A significant aspect may be described as design fiction, imagining contexts that technological advancement may bring about. The near future seems volatile and full of strange possibilities – that’s what inspired me to write this book.

5. Describe ‘The Leeway Towers’ in one line.
The Leeway Towers is a science/design fiction political drama.

6. Are you planning other books? How soon can your readers expect your next book?
I’m currently working on another book that I expect to finish by early 2020. But considering how slowly developments occur in publishing, I think readers should expect it only by 2021.

7. How has your journey as an author been so far?
A good session of writing leaves me feeling meditatively satisfied - for me it’s the best sort of feeling. But the process is also energy demanding, and at times stressful when breakthroughs are required. It all culminates in an act of hope, when I send off my manuscript to publishing houses for consideration. So hopeful is the most summative term I can use.

8. Who is your favourite Indian and foreign author?
It’s hard to pick so few. A list would include many. But for the sake of answering, I’d say Ruskin Bond and Philip Roth.

9. What do you like to do when you are not writing?
I like lifting weights and running, practicing electric guitar with delay effects, and eating home-cooked food at my folks’.

10. Any message for your readers?
Form your own opinions.

Thanks for reading.