City based author Dr Razi Ahmed (34) of the highly acclaimed modern day murder mystery ‘The Secret of the Palamu Fort’ has won the Best Budding Author 2019 award for his debut novel.
The author was nominated for the category by his Mumbai based publisher StoryMirror. The event India Icon Awards 2019 was held on November 10 in Bangalore with Indian model and actress Dia Mirza as the chief guest.
“I got to know about the final selection in October and it was a very pleasant surprise first to be in the top six and then to win the prize. I had not really expected to win this award for my first book,” said the ecstatic author.
Including Razi the category had a total of six contenders. The top six books were selected on the basis of sales, reviews and online rankings. “Receiving this award has been quite over whelming.
It has immensely boosted my confidence and also motivated me to work on my next two books as well,” added the novelist. The author is already working on his next book and is hoping to release it sometime in the coming year.
The story teller has planned to keep the protagonist of the story Detective Robin Horo and the other main characters like Inspector Pactrick Minj, Naseem bhai and Babulalji as part of his next books to continue the series.
“For my upcoming books I have selected some other historical places of Jharkhand. Based on different cases each novel will be a standalone fictional story with just the main characters being the same. I want to get the folklores of Jharkhand in the main stream fiction of India,” Razi said.
The budding author intends to feature Detective Horo in the ranks of Sherlock Holmes and Byomkesh Bakshi and known as Ranchi’s very own detective.
In his first book the author has managed to create an illusion of paranormal activities. The simple English and short chapters make the book an easy read. The multiple time line aspect has also worked well and does not clash with the readers’ perception.
“My friends and colleagues often call me ‘Dr Who’ referring to the BBC character who is a time lord and travels back and forth in time on his time machine TARDIS,” remarked the author.
A critical care specialist associated with the Bhagwan Mahavir Medica Suprespecialty Hospital Ranchi, the author feels it is a struggle to juggle between his profession and his passion. “It’s difficult to balance all three-family, profession and passion for writing and sometimes 24 hours are just not enough.
The time it takes for me to travel to and from work every day is the only time I get to myself and think about what I want Detective Horo to do next to solve the mystery,” added the doctor who wants to be known as a well known author in times to come.
Razi is also working on a non fictional book based on his ICU experiences. Adapting the novel titled The Secret of the Palamu Fort in a movie or a web series is also in the pipeline.
