By EuAsiaNews
Brussels : “Conspiracy of Calaspia”, Book 1 of a trilogy, the Insanity Saga, by the Guptara twins, Suresh and Jyoti, has been chosen by German publisher Rowholt to be released in March this year.
This will take place at the Leipzig Book Fair. “Calaspia”, along with an audio book, will feature in Rowohlt’s Young Adult category.
Italian publisher Mondadori has also bought rights to publish the trilogy.
“Calaspia”, which was published in India in 2007 rose quickly to number 2 on the best-seller list there preceded only by Booker prize winner, Kiran Desai’s “The Inheritance of Loss”.
Responding to EuAsiaNews’ question of whether some elements of the books may be lost in translation, the twins said in an interview from Switzerland that “there is always a danger, but we trust our foreign language publishers. Although we speak just a little Italian, we know fluent German and what we’ve read of the German version so far is absolutely delightful”.
The “Insanity Saga” is fantasy fiction, which the twins believe mirrors reality. “If a work of literature has nothing to teach, however entertaining, it is worthless”.
The twins who are among the youngest bestselling and full-time novelists in the world have just finished their second novel and have begun writing their third, which they will complete by autumn this year to fulfill a contract they have with their publishers.
Talking about the interesting combination of energies that sparks this unique project of writing books together and responding to the question of whether there is a ‘dominant’ twin, Jyoti says: ” I tend to be the dominant one but without Suresh I would find it hard to concentrate my energies. The process of bouncing ideas off one another is highly productive – especially the misunderstandings!”
In early 2008 the twins were in India on a promotional tour. When asked whether “Calaspia” had captured the imagination of young Indians they responded: “Some youngsters were certainly inspired. There was one young lad in Goa who has written Calaspia limericks!”
The twins who are British citizens as well as Overseas Citizens of India and now live in Switzerland are not resting on their laurels, not yet. They are waiting to clinch deals with UK and US publishing houses.
In response to the question of what they find most flattering about all the attention they’ve received so early in life they say: “As writers, there is nothing more flattering than readers enjoying your work. We’re chuffed that people actually read what we write!”