A myth is a lie that conceals or reveals a truth. But if it reveals even a strand of history or truth, that's what gets my adrenaline going.

I don't care if my books don't sell abroad; we have a large enough market in our country. I write for Indian readers.

We don't need to dumb down our stuff. And it's important to know how far we can push readers.

Writing was my route to creative expression, and I needed to write about the things that interested me.

The reality of the writer's world is that you set yourself up for future disappointment with every success that you deliver because you end up raising your audience's expectations.

Writing is incidental to my primary objective, which is spinning a good yarn. I view myself as a storyteller more than a writer. The story - and hence the extensive research that goes into each one of my books - is much more important than the words that I use to narrate it.

Mythology works... because Indians have been bred on myths.