In a conversation with Tomson Robert, author of the book Stories Of Work, Life & The Balance In Between. The book is a collection of 10 short stories that revolve around the protagonists work, his life and the balance that he tries to create between them, day in and day out. Please visit Book Review : Stories Of Work, Life & The Balance In Between - Tomson Robert to read the complete review of the book.
Q: “Stories Of Work, Life & The Balance In Between” made you a published author, how does it feel holding the book?
A: I work in the Service Industry where you hardly produce any physical output. Given that, it’s been a very fulfilling experience to hold the book and to see all my hard work and passion take a physical shape.
Q: Did you actually plan the book ”Stories Of Work, Life & The Balance In Between”, or it just happened?
A: Stories Of Work, Life & The Balance In Between is a collection of 10 short stories that I had written in 2015. The short stories are close to my heart and in every story I tried to convey lessons learned during my corporate career with a pinch of humor. It was never mean to be published, however my friends and family who read the stories encouraged me to collate and publish the same.
Q: What was your reaction, when you first came to know that “Stories Of Work, Life & The Balance In Between” is actually going to be a published book?
A: It was too good to be true. I could not believe it and kept calling my publisher multiple times just to confirm that it was actually getting published. Thank God my publisher (Anup Jerajani), is a very patient man.
Q: Tell us about the support you received from your family and friends while you were writing the book?
A: My brother is one of my biggest supporter and My wife is my biggest critique. Both have been a constant support and have provided constructive feedback. I have also been supported a lot by my boss - Akhilesh Khera and my colleague Sourabh Mallaya. Both of them have help me in editing and providing feedback on the book.
Q: Can you tell us something about your experience of getting the book published? How easy or difficult it is?
A: Publishing this book has been a great learning experience. I would say that writing a book and getting the same published have fifty percent weightage each. You need to have a quality content - that is given. However to ensure that this quality content reaches the right audience requires the right publisher. For my book, Crossword books and TheWritePlace have done a great job in getting the book published. I was also supported by Writers Melon. As an Author, you need to be the CEO of your book and be actively involved in all stages of publishing (editing, cover selection, proof read and finally marketing). This is not difficult, but requires a lot of patience and focus.
Q: Apart from “Stories Of Work, Life & The Balance In Between”, have you written anything else that we should know?
A: This is my first book. The response from the people who have read the book has been very encouraging and I plan to continue writing.
Q: You took up writing as an intentional move or multiple sequence of events led to writing? Or you think you were destined to be a writer?
A: I have always been a ‘Speaker’ and less of a ‘Writer’. I use to be a VJ for a local TV channel in Kerala and also, used to MC for an event management company. I started writing late, to be precise I wrote my first short story during my MBA days. Writing helps me relax and de-stress. It helps me express my inner most thoughts. Everyone has stories to tell, I just try and pen mine, so that I can leave something behind and share knowledge.
-- Interview with author Tomson Robert --
Q: “Stories Of Work, Life & The Balance In Between” made you a published author, how does it feel holding the book?
A: I work in the Service Industry where you hardly produce any physical output. Given that, it’s been a very fulfilling experience to hold the book and to see all my hard work and passion take a physical shape.
Q: Did you actually plan the book ”Stories Of Work, Life & The Balance In Between”, or it just happened?
A: Stories Of Work, Life & The Balance In Between is a collection of 10 short stories that I had written in 2015. The short stories are close to my heart and in every story I tried to convey lessons learned during my corporate career with a pinch of humor. It was never mean to be published, however my friends and family who read the stories encouraged me to collate and publish the same.
Q: What was your reaction, when you first came to know that “Stories Of Work, Life & The Balance In Between” is actually going to be a published book?
A: It was too good to be true. I could not believe it and kept calling my publisher multiple times just to confirm that it was actually getting published. Thank God my publisher (Anup Jerajani), is a very patient man.
Q: Tell us about the support you received from your family and friends while you were writing the book?
A: My brother is one of my biggest supporter and My wife is my biggest critique. Both have been a constant support and have provided constructive feedback. I have also been supported a lot by my boss - Akhilesh Khera and my colleague Sourabh Mallaya. Both of them have help me in editing and providing feedback on the book.
Q: Can you tell us something about your experience of getting the book published? How easy or difficult it is?
A: Publishing this book has been a great learning experience. I would say that writing a book and getting the same published have fifty percent weightage each. You need to have a quality content - that is given. However to ensure that this quality content reaches the right audience requires the right publisher. For my book, Crossword books and TheWritePlace have done a great job in getting the book published. I was also supported by Writers Melon. As an Author, you need to be the CEO of your book and be actively involved in all stages of publishing (editing, cover selection, proof read and finally marketing). This is not difficult, but requires a lot of patience and focus.
Q: Apart from “Stories Of Work, Life & The Balance In Between”, have you written anything else that we should know?
A: This is my first book. The response from the people who have read the book has been very encouraging and I plan to continue writing.
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| Interview with author Tomson Robert |
Q: What can we expect from you in the near future? Any other book lined up?
A: I have always been fascinated by ‘Life’. I keep constantly asking myself questions such as where was I before my birth, where will I be after I die, what is the purpose of creation?. My next book will be focusing on answering these. Although the topic sounds complicated, I plan to keep the book simple and humorous. I plan to complete this book by mid 2017.Q: You took up writing as an intentional move or multiple sequence of events led to writing? Or you think you were destined to be a writer?
A: I have always been a ‘Speaker’ and less of a ‘Writer’. I use to be a VJ for a local TV channel in Kerala and also, used to MC for an event management company. I started writing late, to be precise I wrote my first short story during my MBA days. Writing helps me relax and de-stress. It helps me express my inner most thoughts. Everyone has stories to tell, I just try and pen mine, so that I can leave something behind and share knowledge.
Q: Being a published author, is a different feeling altogether. How do you make sure that this feeling stays alive forever?
A: I am happy that my book is out there. I love when I hear feedback on the book. This is the feeling I cherish. I hope to continue writing and entertaining.
Q: “Stories Of Work, Life & The Balance In Between” revolves around the life of a corporate employee, how much is it inspired from your personal life?
A: A lot. The stories are based on what I have seen and experienced. The stories relate to my early years in the corporate world. Although some of the experiences where tough (Including losing a job), I consider myself lucky to have gone through it early in my career.
A: I am happy that my book is out there. I love when I hear feedback on the book. This is the feeling I cherish. I hope to continue writing and entertaining.
Q: “Stories Of Work, Life & The Balance In Between” revolves around the life of a corporate employee, how much is it inspired from your personal life?
A: A lot. The stories are based on what I have seen and experienced. The stories relate to my early years in the corporate world. Although some of the experiences where tough (Including losing a job), I consider myself lucky to have gone through it early in my career.
Q: Out of the 10 short stories in your book, “Stories Of Work, Life & The Balance In Between”, how many of them are real, inspired, and fictional and to what extent?
A: As mentioned before, these stories are based on what I have seen and experienced. However I have changed the circumstances and the characters to make in fictional and humorous.
Q: Tell us about, how writing is a part of your daily life?
A: I only write 2 to 3 hours a week normally. I am a slow and a lazy writer. I have starting trouble and I am not very patient. However for me writing is a hobby, I don’t want to over discipline myself on the above aspects and lose interest. I try and keep it real and fun.
A: As mentioned before, these stories are based on what I have seen and experienced. However I have changed the circumstances and the characters to make in fictional and humorous.
Q: Tell us about, how writing is a part of your daily life?
A: I only write 2 to 3 hours a week normally. I am a slow and a lazy writer. I have starting trouble and I am not very patient. However for me writing is a hobby, I don’t want to over discipline myself on the above aspects and lose interest. I try and keep it real and fun.
Q: How did you finalize the cover of the book? Did you have more options?
A: Finding a cover was a crazy experience. We went through lot of options. Finally my wife found the current cover on the Internet. I have received good feedback on the cover, so hats off to her.
Q: Other than being a published author, what else do you do professionally?
A: I am a Management Consultant and work for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dubai. I specialize in developing strategy and streamlining operations for financial services companies. I love what I do, and consider myself lucky to be in this field. This is what I always wanted to do.
A: Finding a cover was a crazy experience. We went through lot of options. Finally my wife found the current cover on the Internet. I have received good feedback on the cover, so hats off to her.
Q: Other than being a published author, what else do you do professionally?
A: I am a Management Consultant and work for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dubai. I specialize in developing strategy and streamlining operations for financial services companies. I love what I do, and consider myself lucky to be in this field. This is what I always wanted to do.
Q: Do you read as much as you write? Which are your favorite books and authors?
A: I have heard that writers are poor readers. Not sure how true this is, but alteast for me this is applicable. On an average I read one book every two months. My favorite author is John Grisham. He is the one who helped me get into the habit of reading. Among Indian authors I love Amish Tripathi and I am a big fan of the Shiva Trilogy.
Q: You prefer reading e-books or the traditional paper/hard back book?
A: Although I have published primarily an ebook, I must confess that I love Paper/hard back book. The smell of a new book, the pleasure of bending a page and creating a book mark and the chance that starting a conversation with a stranger based on the book cover, is simply not there in an ebook. But I do admit that the future of books is ebook and we all should start embracing it.
A: I have heard that writers are poor readers. Not sure how true this is, but alteast for me this is applicable. On an average I read one book every two months. My favorite author is John Grisham. He is the one who helped me get into the habit of reading. Among Indian authors I love Amish Tripathi and I am a big fan of the Shiva Trilogy.
Q: You prefer reading e-books or the traditional paper/hard back book?
A: Although I have published primarily an ebook, I must confess that I love Paper/hard back book. The smell of a new book, the pleasure of bending a page and creating a book mark and the chance that starting a conversation with a stranger based on the book cover, is simply not there in an ebook. But I do admit that the future of books is ebook and we all should start embracing it.
Q: Two things that you like and dislike about “Work Life”?
A: I love what I do. If there is anything I could improve, it would be to spend more time with my wife and my 2 year old daughter. Frankly, work life balance is a matter of achieving fine balance between your priorities. Family is the most important aspect, however success at work is required to provide a quality living for your family.
Q: If you have to give one reason to our readers to get hold of your book, “Stories Of Work, Life & The Balance In Between”, what would the reason be?
A: The book has been written with a lot of passion, firsthand experience and humor. I am sure you will enjoy reading the book.
A: I love what I do. If there is anything I could improve, it would be to spend more time with my wife and my 2 year old daughter. Frankly, work life balance is a matter of achieving fine balance between your priorities. Family is the most important aspect, however success at work is required to provide a quality living for your family.
Q: If you have to give one reason to our readers to get hold of your book, “Stories Of Work, Life & The Balance In Between”, what would the reason be?
A: The book has been written with a lot of passion, firsthand experience and humor. I am sure you will enjoy reading the book.
Q: Any message you would want to share with our readers?
A: Two actually. 1. Love what you do even if you are not doing what you love. 2. It doesn’t matter what you have learned, what matters is your willingness to learn new things.
Q: How can our readers connect with you?
A: I can be reached at : authortomson@gmail.com
A: Two actually. 1. Love what you do even if you are not doing what you love. 2. It doesn’t matter what you have learned, what matters is your willingness to learn new things.
Q: How can our readers connect with you?
A: I can be reached at : authortomson@gmail.com
-- End of Interview with author Tomson Robert --
You can order a copy of the book from Amazon.
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