'Releasing my debut book is quite a dream come true'

Meet the budding storyteller, Mahesh Rajan, launches his first book in the extraordinary genre of Speculative Fiction 'Illusions of Control'. The tagline of the book, 'Stories of beings with a hero complex' aptly describes the book. This anthology comprising of 7 stories -Talent, Luxury, Extermination, Savior, Catharsis, and Whisperers has been published by Notion Press. The book has also been launched internationally and will be available in the US, UK, Singapore, and Malaysia along with the Indian market.

While the Speculative Fiction genre is already flooded with stories and books, 'Illusions of Control' will provide a unique flavor to it as the stories depict the dark futuristic trends while never losing sight of the present and the tenacious human spirit. The characters are not necessarily heroes but how they try to take control of the situation and whether they can sail through the troubles, is something that will make this an interesting read for the avid book reader.

Sharing his motivation about writing the book, Mahesh Rajan said, ''The lockdown was a stressful period for all of us. While everyone was trying to adjust to the multitude of changes, I was seeking for getaways to channel my negative thoughts towards something productive. Considering writing has been therapeutic for me, I decided to initiate my writing journey with a short story. I shared it with a few people I was close to and received a great response.

This boosted my confidence further and I solely dedicated my attention towards my debut book. I always had many stories in my head that I wanted to share, however, I had lacked the confidence and felt my writing was never good enough. But then during the quarantine, losing myself in various thoughts, I pushed myself to pursue my passion. All I thought was I won't know if I'll be able to excel or fail in something if I don't attempt it. I immersed myself in writing the first story, just one story. That story's completion led to another, which led to another, thereby bringing about a compilation of 'Illusions of Control'.''

"Releasing my debut book is quite a dream come true. I grew up reading other people's works and wondering what those authors felt when their first books were published, and now, I think I can relate to that feeling a little bit.

I never thought I would ever write and release a book, but having successfully done so feels like achieving a milestone in my life. It indeed is a blissful feeling. All I am doing now is crossing my fingers in the anticipation that the audience will appreciate my work and that the book will receive a good response." says Mahesh

Mahesh Rajan is an aspiring author who commenced his writing journey by writing a short story as an escape route to the mundane lockdown routine. He loves to immerse himself in his books. He wishes to focus on writing especially on procuring extraordinary stories from ordinary circumstances and people.