Hello, everyone! Today we have another mythical and amazing author, GauravkumarAK, sharing his story and discussing his work with us which has been featured on several Wattpad genre profiles.

About the Author: His name is Gauravkumar Kashyap, going by the pen name of Gaurav Kumar ('cause that's shorter). He's a 23 year old Indian guy who is professionally in the field of accounting and finance (he knows it's not that exciting but enjoys that too). He could say something corny about how he writes to let his demons out or experience new worlds but it's a lot simpler in his case. He writes because... he likes it. That's pretty much the only reason he needs. He loves to bring story ideas that's just in his head outside his... well, head.

About 'Grimoire - Vol 1. Revelation of Rakshas': A young man riddled with a curse of seeing dead souls, who is forced into a world of demons and grim reapers and magic against his will.

In terms of myths and legends, the way his story works, it enables him to pull myths and folktales from every part of the world and religion and culture. Like the very first Rakshas we encounter is from an Inuit folktale of a tentacled monster living within the seas. Not to mention, Indian myths and legends play a heavy influence in his story with terms like Ruh, Rakshas, Dev, Asur, Sur, etc.

1. What made you start writing on Wattpad? What has been your favorite moment so far on the orange app?

I thought this would be a great way for me to get my story out and receive some level of feedback. Basically, a way for me to further improve the story without it being permanently published! My favourite moment would be when I won a short story contest. It was the first short story I had written back then and I was really happy to hear that it won me a contest!

2. Which mythology and/or legends influenced your story? Why did you choose those?

Mythology from various religion and cultures have inspired parts of my story but I suppose the primary inspiration would be the one tied to my roots—Indian! I love our mythologies and folktales and I had always wanted to incorporate them in my stories. So felt like this was a perfect opportunity.

3. Tell us about the main character of one of your stories. What inspired their creation?

So the main character of my Grimoire series, Aarav Vyas, is an Indian teen living in a small Indian town. He's average in academics, bad at sports and not really a very helpful guy. If you were drowning and asking for help, he wouldn't jump in instantly. And oh, he can see dead spirits too! I'm not sure what inspired him for me. There are so many various inspirations for him—Ichigo from bleach, Stiles from teen wolf, Krishna from our mythos, Deadpool, even a bit of me and many, many more!

4. What were some challenges you experienced while writing the story?

Various things. My plans for this series are very... ambitious. The world is big and deep, filled with various different sides and intricacies and groups. So tieing everything in a cohesive manner was a huge challenge, it still is. Next was to create good characters, not necessarily relatable or good-natured, just characters that...made sense. Third would be the myth aspect of the story. I wanted to use various myths but I also didn't want to copy-paste them nor did I want to do injustice by them or disrespect those cultures. It's a very fine line to walk.

5. Do you have a song playlist for writing? Can you share one with us?

I usually listen to instrumental music while writing because lyrical music kinda distracts my thoughts. Artists like max ritcher and bolmorhea are my go-to while writing!

6. What is your favorite myth or legend? Why?

Oh man, that's difficult! There's the one about 4 eras of life cycle that's on constant repeat flowing from the beginning to the end. There's the one above hell and how everyone goes to hell and heaven but the time spent there is dependent on your good and bad deeds.

7. What is your favorite mythical creature? Why?

Does vampire count? I find them extremely fascinating because of all the possible themes we get to explore through them!! But if not them then I HAVE to go with dragons because...well, they're just too cool!

8. If you could have the same powers as a creature and/or deity from mythology or legends, what would it be? Why?

I guess being omniscient would be pretty sweet. To know everything about everyone anytime. I could ace every test, know what to say and when to say everything. Yeah, I think I would love that!

9. What is your advice other writers who want to use mythology in their story?

My major advice would be to study that myth extremely well. Look deeply into it, the story surrounding it. If it was used before, how did people react to it. That kind of stuff. Try to not misrepresent the myth too much. There are obviously going to be differences and there should be differences. Twist the myth in such a way that it suits your story but not at the expense of them feeling slighted by it. It's a very fine line to walk but don't be afraid to walk it!

That's it for this month, it was fun knowing about Gauravkumar Kashyap. You can read his story featured in our reading list as well as his other works.

Until Next Time!