A Private Affair

The book features the city’s famous characteristics. How did the research and collaboration for the book work out?

Working with Ashwin (Sanghi) on the book helped give it a real Indian flavor. I look to my co-writers to offer the local authenticity and Ashwin, a lifelong Mumbaikar, really provided this. I gave him a guideline as well as an existing set of international characters that needed to be woven into his story. We discussed the outline in detail, made changes and then froze it. Ashwin is well-known for his mythological and religious references. Hence, we brought a mythological twist with references to Goddess Durga to the plot.

Since your first book in 1976, you’ve sold millions page-turning thrillers. Do you have a process for writing?

To make reading the book an “experience” is important. I write stories the way people tell them. I keep the chapters short. But I always know who I am writing for and what they want. I have a folder of ideas. When I start a new book, I look through the ideas, pick a few I’d want to write about and then narrow them down until I know what the story is going to be. I have to see the story in my head, before writing.

What did you take away from your first Indian experience?

Working on a book set in India has opened my eyes to the variety of talent in the country and I plan to read more Indian writers. Recently, I have enjoyed Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Lowland.

What kind of books do you enjoy as a reader and a writer?

I read very widely — my favourite book is One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and I am also a huge fan of The Book Thief. But I also like other thriller writers — Nelson DeMille, Michael Connelly and James Lee Burke, among others.

What are you working on?

My next book in the Private series will be Private LA in paperback in September and then Private Vegas in January 2015. My new Alex Cross book, Hope to Die, will be out in November.
amruta.lakhe@expressindia.com