Remember Robin ‘Einstein' Varghese? He was the ‘dorkish' entrant in the dog-eat-dog corporate environment in Sidin Vadukut's Dork: The Incredible Adventures of Robin ‘Einstein' Varghese. Well, he is back in Sidin's God Save the Dork (GSTD). Robin is now in London and a new company is at the mercy of his consulting antics. Excerpts from an email interview with the author.
A sequel
God Save The Dork is a direct chronological follow up to the many astounding incidents in Dork 1. But this time they take place in London, involve the finance industry and feature a slightly older but not much wiser Robin Einstein Varghese.
Living up to Dork 1
Dork 1 was well received and a lot of people were looking forward to reading the second book. Several other authors told me that following up a decent first book would be a huge challenge, so the burden of expectation was pretty daunting. Also, I had got much busier with work during the write of GSTD, so completing it involved a complete lack of sleep or free time.
A London plot
I was vaguely thinking of an idea for a book, and I suddenly realised that being in the same city as the incidents in the book gave me great comfort. I am not entirely sure why. While London is an important part of GSTD, it is not as if the story could not have taken place in New York or Mumbai. But while writing it, I had no doubt that it had to be located in London. This did make the process easier. Perhaps creating fictional versions of cities is a mental step that I have to work on.
All about Robin
Robin was designed as a character that everyone who goes to any workplace anywhere will identify with. Which is why he is a cauldron of all possible insecurities and weaknesses and paranoia. And some of those things, I identify with strongly.
Inspired by people
I was inspired by the people around me more so in Dork 1 than in GSTD. The second book is much more of a fictional creation than the first one, so most of the characters are made up, except for two. Sugandh the IT guy and Valentina the Polish secretary are hugely influenced by people I've had the great misfortune of meeting and working with in real life.
Bookmark
A full 85% of what I read is non-fiction. And most of the time I am reading books on the Second World War. When it comes to fiction I am developing an obsession with crime. I've been devouring crime novels for the last three or four years. My house is full of Sjowall and Wahloo, Jo Nesbo, Arnaldur Indridason, Martin Cruz Smith, Ian Rankin and so on. However,I live in constant dread of my favourite authors creeping into my work. Which is perhaps why the amount of fiction I read has plummeted in the last five years. Not to mention the fact that I try to not pick up a book of humorous writing by anybody.
Journalistic skill
I think being a journalist has helped me be more professional with my process. I am just better used to the idea of sitting in one place for a really long time and typing. This is much harder than it sounds. But the more I've worked for a newspaper, the better I've got at this kind of focus. Sticking to a deadline is a challenge. I usually need two deadlines. The first one is the one I think and plan to. And the second, tighter one, is the one I write to. Once I sit down to write I tend to do so quickly. But getting your butt on a seat... harrowing.
Coming up next
I am torn between thinking and planning a crime novel, Dork 3 and another idea that has recently been germinated into my head. At any given point in time I have a dozen ideas I am obsessed with. But I really do want to start on the crime novel in the next year or so. If all goes according to plan, which it won't, Dork 3 should be out middle of next year.
