George Amon Soy, the author of Khokhan: The Kid Who Could Be!, has seven years of work experience in the domain of Human Resources, with companies like Eureka Forbes, Pranami Builder and Essel Group.
TBE: Firstly, for those who haven’t yet read the incredible ‘KHOKHAN: The Kid Who Could Be!’, can you briefly sum up what it’s about?
George Soy: This is the story of an eight-year old kid KHOKHAN, who after a shipwreck incident into the ocean landed into a mysterious and magical island, which gives him many unimaginable experiences. He finds, here the people of the island possess a magical baton to summon anything they need, a very well developed advanced technological living standards, they keep wild and dangerous animals as their partner, even someone can talk to any living thing. Not only the islanders but the island itself behaves in many mysterious ways.
However, the other side of the coin for the island is not the same. Although anything is possible for the islanders to achieve, there is life threatening danger associated with them and they believe; now Khokhan could be that kid through whom they can achieve their desired wish.
So, if you are a true lover of magic, mystery, and suspense, then this book will take you into such a world where you will feel all of these at one place.
TBE: What is the significance of subtitle “The Kid Who Could Be!”?
George Soy: The whole story is about the island and the people of the island. The islanders believe they are facing some chastisement and they can be absolved by someone who comes from the outside of the island. When Khokhan lands into the island they start believing that this kid can be that one who can help them to get free from their chastisement. Hence, this subtitle is associated with the book’s main title.
TBE: The storyline of “Khokhan” is definitely intriguing, filled with fantasy, adventure, and mystery. What made you want to write this particular story in the first place?
George Soy: Though this is a fiction story with many fantasy things and creatures, the main idea to write this story came by looking and experiencing different incidents all around our present world. Our behavior, beliefs, priorities, and the most important our understanding about the differences among us even after reaching into this well-developed societal phase.
TBE: When writing a story, where do you generally start? Do you pick the characters first, the overall plot, or the story’s moral/theme, etc?
George Soy: Like many other storytellers, I too believe that whenever a story comes to anyone’s mind, they know the beginning and end of it. This helps you in choosing your protagonist and the other characters of the story and then sets the moral or theme which justified the story very well.
TBE: Do you have to plan out every detail of your story in advance, or do you just have a good idea of where it’s going?
George Soy: Here in this case I go with the mix idea i.e. the main storyline is outlined in advance while the many other ideas in between the chapters comes with the story proceedings are just good things which helps your story to move ahead in more interesting ways.
TBE: What kind of research did you undergo during the writing process?
George Soy: In the Fantasy genre anything is possible but still I had to do some research, especially about the animals’ habitat behavior to give some realistic effect as the story has included many land and water animals.
TBE: How do you select the names of your characters?
George Soy: You will find the uncommon name of the characters in the story, which I think is the demand of the story. Generally, I have chosen the character’s name by randomly arranging the letters.
TBE: When you develop characters do you already know who they are before you begin writing or do you let them develop as you go?
George Soy: There are few characters and their roles in the story are well known before the story begins while many other supporting characters have been developed with the story.
TBE: How was your publishing experience with Leadstart?
George Soy: In one word, Great! Being a debut book and new to this literacy world, I was totally blank about anything about publication but from the beginning the whole team of the Leadstart advised, supported, and guided me to understand the process at each and every step clearly.
Throughout the process from submission my work to them, editing, cover designing, page layout to the final step of publishing the whole team of Leadstart helped me with their open hearts to make the book more effective and attractive for the final readers. Above all of these, what I liked the most about Leadstart is their work ethics of transparency.
At last, I consider myself lucky enough to get published under them and I think I could not have gotten a better option than them as a debut author.
TBE: Is there anything you are currently working on that may intrigue the interest of your readers?
George Soy: Yes, I am working on the next volume of the book and trying to come out with the best of it to give the same interesting feeling to the lover of the reading world.
