Dr Ram Narayan Sharma interview

AUTHOR INTERVIEW


A little introduction:

I'm a doctor. I have my own practice. I was Covid-19 frontline doctor for first two waves. I'm married and have two kids. I started to write 10CC during my internship and finished after 3 years. It is available on Amazon worldwide and free on Kindle unlimited.


When did your love of books begin?

When I was a kid my parents used to give us comics to encourage reading. I don't even remember when I graduated from comics to kid's books to novels.


When did you start to have the wish to become an author?

After I joined the internship, or residency, in 2007. I witnessed a lot of weird things that shouldn't happen in a hospital, some of them downright illegal. I wished someone should talk about them. As I found no one, I decided to write.


How have you found the process for becoming an author?

In a butterfly effect kind of scenario, a science teacher discovered a spark in my writing in 6th grade and showed my writing to a language teacher interested in extracurricular activities. She took me under her wings and within a few days I was designated school representative for essay writing competitions. I won a few for my school.
When I decided to write a novel, I just followed the old advices regarding essay writing and kept on writing. It took me 3 years to complete the first draft, doing hospital shifts in day and writing at night.
I used internet a lot to understand the process of publishing. I contacted faraway publishers by email, another benefit of our age and actually got a contract in 2011. It didn't work out as they wanted to keep rights and pay insignificant amount for my work. I ended up self publishing.


What would you say to those wanting to become an author?

Keep your day jobs and save money. The road to traditional publishing is treacherous and after Barnes and Noble trial we know no one understands publishing industry. You should keep querying but must save money for marketing in case you opt for self publishing.


Tell us about your book/books:

10CC deals with the biggest taboo in medical fraternity, addict doctors. 10CC is a 250 thousand word count epic dark comedy about chemistry between a chain-smoking intern and his sedative addict senior doctor boss, Dr Doshi. This novel is set in town of Yavatmal, India in the year 2007. Our protagonist has no work experience, just average in theory but still gets a job as resident doctor in the busiest ICU in town. He finds out his boss works under influence of sedatives and engages in weird shenanigans. His transformation from a green recruit to a doctor is a major theme of 10CC. And he doesn't have a name.
Dr Doshi, the antagonist, prescribes every patient, even outpatients, two vials of a sedative, claiming it is a wonder drug that cures everything. He then palms the vial and on the pretext of giving an intramuscular injection, injects air in patient's buttocks. How fatal is air injected in the body? Check this link.
10CC also deals with almost every medical malpractice in India. I have some documents that show how cutbacks work and doctor can get cash and/or lavish gifts from pharma. Here's the link.
In short, 10CC will tell you the depths of villany medical fraternity can descend to. Though set in 2007 India, this novel is more relevant in today's world of falsehood and shows how this rot started. 


What do you love about the writing/reading community?

Writing community, especially on Twitter, is a great place for writers to meet other writers and professionals like editors, cover makers and marketers. This community is free of politics, discrimination and other shit that gives social media a bad rep. Here writers provide genuine guidance to fellow writers in various phases of publishing journey from actual writing to query trenches and self publishing hacks. I wish I had found it sooner.


If you could say anything to your readers what would it be?

Since Covid, we have seen several misinformation drives, some of them even government sponsored. Medical fraternity around the world is corrupt and it is hurting common people. I have documents that shows how doctors and pharma companies engage in bribes and cutbacks. I'm in the position to expose these frauds and make part of the world a better place. For that I need exposure. Give me some recognition and see how many wallets I hurt. I live in India, but the world has come closer and one spark like 10CC in a corner of the world can create awareness and start a revolution.


Where can people connect with you?

I can be found loitering a lot on Twitter, though I'm also available on other platforms.
My linktree


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