Parvathi Ramkumar says that she has wanted to be a writer as long as she can remember. “Writing has always been, for me, an expression of the imagination. To be drawn into realms of magic and mystery, to bring to life characters and dreams of beauty and joy... add to that a sprinkling of the wondrous, a dash of the supernatural...the imagination is a powerful tool indeed, that can turn the mundane into the radiant,” she explains
And her debut novel, Grove of the Sun certainly comes from the realm of magic and mystery. The book, a fantasy novel that explores esoteric themes, is set in the mythical land of Chimera and follows the life of Ildanis, a young boy who chooses to battle the blight that has set into the land, “It is a product of a dream I had when I was 19 years old. I have always loved fantasy as a genre,” she says, adding that she especially likes the work of authors such as J.R. Tolkein’s and Brandon Sanderson.
She admits however, that writing and getting fantasy novels published in India is not easy. “Publishers prefer mythological-based fantasy here,” she says. “Readers however are very open to it. My book (self published, Rs. 299) is available on Amazon in an e-book format and I have got some good reviews so far.”
In addition to the novel, Parvathi is also a book critic, columnist, poet and children’s writer, “Yes, all my dreams and aspirations are related to writing,” she says. “It is part of my blood, my grandfather (V. Madhavan Nair) was a prolific children’s writer.”
And writing more books is certainly something she plans on doing, “I’d like to get more of my work out there. Telling a story is something I truly enjoy doing and if more people read my stories, I will be very happy.”
