• Can you tell something about yourself?
Anil Kallagunta is born and brought up in Kanigiri, a small town in Andhra Pradesh. He completed his graduation from Pondicherry University. He is currently working as a Consultant in Deloitte, Hyderabad. Although he wanted to do his MBA, destiny landed him in the entertainment Industry. He started his first novel ‘A Journey with 2 Angels’ in 2017 and took almost 3 years to complete the story. Apart from his software job and novel writing, he worked as an Assistant Director for two movies in Tollywood. He dreams to become a Director in his life.
• How is your book different from others?
Reading the book ‘A Journey with 2 Angels’ will make you go through a fresh story in recent times. Situation comedy worked out well, and the beauty of characters is that at least one character from the story will connect to the reader. Many of my friends who read it connected to Sanjana and Nitya’s character, few of them loved the friendship aspect in Ravi’scharacter, and few sensed the tension in choosing the right person in life through Anil’s character. There are comedy, love, emotion, sentiment twists in the story that everyone would love. I am sure you will keep smiling till the end of the book and it won’t disappoint you.
• Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
There are many things that can inspire me to write a story, but for me, I choose my subject first and then do research on characters and characterization. Once after understanding the plot completely, I write without keeping any boundaries in mind. In a drama, where the drama starts, logically ends. And I apply the same for my characters too to make a commercial story that everyone will like. After writing the entire book, I start working on any missing logical points. I wrote around 400 words document pages for my book initially. And finally drilled it down to 200 pages for the novel. When one keeps boundaries in mind, it doesn’t allow us to write the content with freehand. So, my ideas come up during the journey of writing.
• What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your book?
Every day when I sat to write, I used to get different ideas to write every scene. But that was not the same always. That sounds funny but true, there were days when I struggled for 3 hours to pen down even 5 lines and there were days when I completed multiple pages in half an hour. That really surprised me and taught me to keep writing, so that someday or the other I reach my target.
• What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?
Asa software employee, I don’t get time during the daytime to write anything. I start writing at 11 pm, sitting on the balcony in the fresh air, and continue till 3 am or 4 am. For me, that’s the perfect time to write anything.
• What do you think makes a good story?
Any good story needs to set empathy for the protagonist that drives him/her through the story to reach the final goal. Characterization is important along with what dialogue they speak. Analyzing the plot points which can move the story into a core part of the subject.
• What is your writing process like?
Never mind if you have any idea or not, take your notebook and write down at least a line for an hour daily. That’s how the writing process happens for everyone and it’s the same for me too. If you want to write, you can’t take breaks. It’s a daily process that shouldn’t be stopped.
• What advice do you have for writers?
The beginning is always the Toughest. Once you start it, just keep writing. Don’t count on pages and time. I started writing my book in 2017 and wrote 400 pages in a word document. It took 3 years to complete, but I never stopped writing.
• How did this story occur to you?
I have a habit of pinning down any incident that makes me feel bad and compels me to tear that paper. This relieves my stress. When I was left out without any options in life, lost money in business, lost job, and lost confidence, I remembered that I got the best article award during college days. So, I felt that writing a story will relieve my pain and started this book ‘A Journey With 2 Angels’ in 2017. Most of the situation comic scenes in the book happened in my college days, but I added a bit of fiction in the story.
• What is the book all about?
The only way you can conquer a person is love, and there, the entire world is conquered. What if your world is conquered by two women, one who means the world to you and the one for whom you mean the world?
‘A Journey with 2 angels’ is a romantic ride that will excite you, shake you, tickle you, and make you feel alive. When Anil gets admission in PEC, he can’t wait to start his new life. He falls in love at first sight with the college diva, Sanjana. Anil leaves no stone unturned to get her attention. With his sincerity, Anil is successful in winning Sanjana’s heart. Unexpected consequences change their love story and bring it to a dead-end leaving both devastated. But there is something called destiny. The strong headed Nitya comes to Anil’s life uninvited, becomes medicine for his past, and turns his world upside down. Change is inevitable. Anything that’s wrong yesterday can become right today and whatever is right now, it might be wrong the next moment. Just when Anil starts falling for Nitya, his first love comes back after 4 years.
Anil is torn between his past and present. His heart is conflicted, but he must make a choice. He is left with a choice of not choosing anything, but only situations around him start choosing everything.
What will your heart do? Between choosing the one whom you loved more than anything in your past or the one for whom you mean the world now?
• Mention your upcoming writing endeavors?
I have started working on my 2nd title ‘Vrindha.’ A story that compares a character Vrindha during Sree Maha Vishnu’s Incarnation and the present generation woman Vrindha who avenges her husband’s death. It’s a thriller.
