The Devourers (34 page)

To my parents, who've waited patiently to hold their son's first book in their hands

Acknowledgments

I'd like to thank a few people personally for their help in bringing this book to fruition. My family; especially my parents, Amajit and Sarmistha, for encouraging my interest in the arts since I was a toddler, and for supporting me when I picked a career that's known for (often) rewarding patience and dedication with penury and obscurity. My brother Abhimanyu, for telling me when I was seventeen to stop talking about writing books in my head and actually try writing one—I did, and unexpectedly found a calling.

My agent, Sally Harding, and her colleagues at the Cooke Agency, all of whom have tirelessly championed this novel, and continue to do so. My editor and publisher in India, Chiki Sarkar, for being open-minded, and agreeing to help turn my bedraggled manuscript into a real-life book. My editor in the United States, Mike Braff, for embracing this uncategorizable novel with such enthusiasm and confidence, for understanding what I was trying to do with it, and for helping me bring it to readers outside India. The many inspiring teachers I've had from school to university, and especially my very first creative writing professor, Nicholas Montemarano, who taught me the most vital aspect of writing—self-criticism. Every workshop classmate I've ever had, for helping me improve my writing.

Every friend I'm lucky enough to have, from school, from college, from university, from life in general—I can't thank all of you in person, but I hope you know who you are. You all give me a reason to get sentimental. I couldn't ask for better people to care about, and to have care about me.

The Brown-Evans family, who without a second thought treated me like a part of their family when I first moved to Canada for university. Thanks to you, I have two families, one for each side of the planet. Your endless generosity and love never fail to move me.

To Les and Neile, and everyone involved with the Clarion West Writers Workshop; to the Carl Brandon Society; to my seven Clarion West instructors; to my seventeen beautiful Clarion West classmates—you all changed my life as a writer and a person. I can ask for no finer community to come home to (and I do, every day, no matter where I am in the world, because you're all
always
there for me and each other). You make being a writer that much easier, and better.

To you, the reader, for making it all the way to this page (perhaps not if you skipped the rest). Thank you. I depend on you.

And finally, a disclaimer. This novel is a work of fiction, and though it's set partly during the Mughal era, it shouldn't be read as history. I've tried to be as thorough as possible in my research, and to show the era as it might have been. But mine is a limited viewpoint. Any inaccuracies are my fault entirely, and should be read as signs that the stories within are set in a world that is somewhat alternate to our own. Similarly, if I've made mistakes in portraying the viewpoints of people who belong to groups I'm not a part of, such as those who've experienced sexual abuse, I'm willing to listen and learn so I can do better next time.

About the Author

I
NDRA
D
AS
grew up in Kolkata, India, where he wrote his first novel during his late teens before venturing to the United States. There undergraduate creative-writing classes convinced him to keep chasing that writing career. Das is an Octavia E. Butler scholar and a grateful graduate of the 2012 Clarion West Writers Workshop, where he wrote under the tutelage of Kelly Link, George R. R. Martin, and Chuck Palahniuk, among others. He completed his MFA at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, where he wore many hats, including TV background performer, freelance editor, writing mentor, tutor, minor film critic, occasional illustrator, environmental news writer, pretend patient for med school students, videogame tester, and dog-hotel night-shift attendant.
The Devourers
is his first published novel, though Das has written about books, comics, TV, and film for various publications and has seen his short fiction published in a number of fiction magazines and anthologies. He now divides his time between India and North America and is hard at work on his next novel.

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