A Dark and Shiny Place - Author Pragati Deshmukh in Conversation.
Hello, Swell ! Joining me on the Ask An Author series today is Pragati Deshmukh, the author of A Dark and Shiny Place, a novel that chronicles the intensely thrilling and deeply emotional journey of a woman who begins to lose track of reality. Pragati has been a content creator in film and TV for over 20 years. She also heads original web series for a leading OTT platform
So there's something attractive about it, making it shiny for us, right? And we don't want to get out of it. Sometimes denial is better than anything else because it's so comfortable. It's making us not want to face the reality, not wanting to face the hardship. And so we just like to stay in the dark and shiny place. It could be a positive as well, but I think it's important to look at it as reality
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You know, we've all had our share of good and bad experiences during the pandemic. I wrote the book through the pandemic by being inspired by the events around me. It all started with the thought and fear that if I was alone, what could happen? And conversations with loved ones. Stories of strangers that I read on the Internet, I heard on the news in general, gave an insight into what people in various spaces were dealing with. It was very, very scary and disheartening
And once I would finish a chapter, I would give it to a friend or my husband or my sister to read it, to vet it, to get a perspective, to get a point of view, to know that I was not leaning on one over the other. The balance, to keep a fiction tale going, to keep the thriller, to keep the engagement
I also think the strength of your book is that throughout the story readers root for someone to hold Maya's hand and truly listen to her unfiltered truth. And I think that speaks volumes about how well crafted the whole narrative is. As an author, what would you like readers to take away about the power of genuine human connection, both in fiction and in real life? And how has writing a dark and shiny place impacted you personally?
Every few months, every few years, every big incident, small things that lead to minor changes, big changes in us. The only thing constant is really our need to be loved and understood. Our fears and insecurities may change, but today there is a different fear. Tomorrow there will be another one, right? It is important to understand oneself and accept what we need to take and or gain from who. There is really no shame in asking for love, asking for help or compassion and respect