{"id":30940,"date":"2023-01-03T06:30:16","date_gmt":"2023-01-03T11:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/?p=30940"},"modified":"2022-12-30T07:52:01","modified_gmt":"2022-12-30T12:52:01","slug":"interview-with-ujwal-vujjini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/interview-with-ujwal-vujjini\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Ujwal Vujjini"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greetings travelers.\u00a0 We here at Tellest had the wonderful opportunity to run a write-up on a phenomenal fantasy adventure recently.\u00a0 Ujwal Vujjini\u2019s The Mystery of the High Maiden<\/em> is a modern take on traditional fantasy, built out of a new setting that leaves the story feeling fresh and lively.\u00a0 We also had a great time speaking to the author about his world and the process of bringing it to life, and you can read more about it here.<\/p>\n

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Tellest:<\/strong> Hello Ujwal!\u00a0 I wanted to tell you that I appreciate you spending your time revealing a bit more about your books and your process, as I know you must be busy on the creative side of working on your stories.\u00a0 I always feel lucky to talk to a talented storyteller and worldbuilder, and I\u2019m sure that readers are going to have a great time learning some of the secrets behind your series and your backstory.<\/p>\n

Ujwal Vujjini: <\/strong>Thank you Tellest! And yes, I spend quite a bit of time world-building\/stealing from mythology or history haha.<\/p>\n

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T:<\/strong> I always like to start things off by learning more about how an author became interested in writing, and in fantasy in general.\u00a0 What inspired you to tell stories like the ones you\u2019re telling now?\u00a0 Were there any storytellers that stick out in your mind as being the ones that roped you in and never let go?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>So, writing was always a bit of a nuisance to me. Until I started writing seriously with this world I developed, I was mainly stuck on the academic side, whether it be English papers or general research papers. Interestingly enough, a lot of my teachers said my writing was very good for where I was but trying to write a story was a bit out of my league, or at least I felt that at the time. I actually spent more time drawing comics, but one thing I found lacking was the writing aspect, where after say maybe the first chapter or first arc I would just drop it, because I didn\u2019t know where else to go. So, after reading a lot of mythological, religious, and historical works (especially the Silmarillion) I decided I wanted to make a story similar in style to these works. That\u2019s where my first story, The Vaiatnemarhahn<\/em> (good luck pronouncing this), came in, which is as mythological and epic in scope as it gets with my work. I took it to a writing group one day, and while they were impressed by the scope and writing, they had no understanding or context to make sense of what was going on. So that\u2019s when I decided to write the Marhanyam to be the bridge to that work, almost sort of like how the Hobbit is to the Lord of the Rings is to the Silmarillion.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

T:<\/strong> You mentioned that you used to spend time drawing comics earlier on.\u00a0 Now that some of your Marhanyam stories are completed, have you ever thought about going back and giving them new life in comic form?\u00a0 And have you ever imagined your work in other formats, like television or cinema?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>I have, but I also haven\u2019t drawn seriously in a long while. Perhaps if I have time, I can get back into it and see where it takes me. As for other formats, I have imagined them as either TV shows, or cinema, or even video games, but I would hope if they were translated to any of those mediums that they keep a more animated look rather than live-action. I can\u2019t help but laugh when I think about real people portraying my characters, when they perform super-human feats.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

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T:<\/strong> When you think of any adaptations of books or even video games, do you think any of them have been done right, given the material?\u00a0 Do you think perhaps another format, like animation as you had recommended, might have saved the ones that people did not enjoy as much?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>It really depends. If you take the Witcher series for example, I think it was adapted almost perfectly from book to video game. But that was also because of the fact that the games themselves took place after the books and were sort of a \u201cwhat-if\u201d scenario, which allowed a lot of creative freedom for the developers and resulted in few plot holes. If they tried to do it in the same timespan as the books then it might be more iffy, depending on how much of the narrative elements would translate well into gameplay. For the adaptations that failed, I think animation could\u2019ve indeed helped them, but it\u2019s all dependent on execution from the directors themselves. Whether their vision really falls in line with the spirit of the work.<\/p>\n

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T:<\/strong> One of the things that I\u2019m most impressed with in the Marhanyam Children of All series is the constructed language that you\u2019ve built for your world.\u00a0 It definitely helps to give \u0100rhmanha\u1e25 a personality all its own.\u00a0 How early on in your process did you determine you were going to do that, and how much of a challenge was it to ensure you were doing it well?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>I decided it pretty early when I first developed the world. I wanted to follow a similar process to what Tolkien did and create a world first with languages in mind. Now at the beginning I was just making up words by mixing various words and syllables from several different languages like Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, Avestan, Hebrew etc. But later on, as I started coming down to writing names, locales, and provinces, I needed greater consistency. Seeing as how Sanskrit and Avestan hasn\u2019t been used too often to develop conlangs, and that I wanted this world to primarily have its culture, history, and religion based on the users of those languages, I decided to develop the bulk of root words through those while interspersing phonetical changes to differentiate it. In that way my conlang is a sort of a pseudo-Indo-Iranian cousin. With this said, I haven\u2019t developed formal grammar, as its primary use is mainly in hymns and poems where the grammatical rules are often broken. By the time of the Marhanyam it has solely become a liturgical language with only greater than life beings speaking it on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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T:<\/strong> I don\u2019t know that I would expect this of anyone in most cases, but then, you\u2019ve spent a considerable amount of time ensuring that everything fits in its place\u2014or at least you make it look like you do!\u00a0 How fluent are you in the language you\u2019ve created?\u00a0 Are you able to go back and read the \u0100rhmanha\u1e25n words you\u2019ve written without any context and remember what it meant?\u00a0 How easy is it for someone who would be new to your world to acclimate to everything?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>Not very fluent. I have an understanding of what certain words mean based on their association to the Sanskrit and Avestan roots I\u2019ve used but that\u2019s about the extent of it. I\u2019m actually pretty bad with learning languages haha.<\/p>\n

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T:<\/strong> You make it look easy and effortless.\u00a0 It feels very much like a strong homage to Tolkien but with more eastern influences.<\/p>\n

What are other ways that you were able to integrate cultures that most people who read more traditional western fantasy will enjoy here?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>I put varieties of descriptions of food, religions, hand gestures, certain actions, and even ideas that are reminiscent of cultures of our world. By the time the Marhanyam takes place, while there\u2019s a very strong religious culture that is almost universal throughout the world, the more social aspects and even languages differ in some ways greatly. It becomes more apparent in the third book once the group actually meets folk who are descendants of displaced peoples from thousands of years ago.<\/p>\n

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T:<\/strong> Your world is so vast and complex; it must be a journey unto itself to make sure that you\u2019re keeping up with all the information.\u00a0 Do you have a specific tool that you use to sort of compile all the details?\u00a0 Do you have a sort of world bible that you\u2019ve created that you reach back to?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>I have several long text documents for both general notes and whole outlines. I also made dictionaries for the conlangs, as well as appendices for the books themselves. I actually find it more difficult to keep dates and distances covered by the group in order, given that their journey is going to be a much longer one. I often have to refer to it every time they move locations just to keep the seasons and months in order as well as them, particularly Tumbmar, growing older.<\/p>\n

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T:<\/strong> I know that you were really into video games and the like, and that they likely played a big part in forming your love for the genre.\u00a0 Have you worked the world of \u0100rhmanha\u1e25 into any would-be game projects, or even things like tabletop adventures?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>I had an idea for an RPG adventure game that would utilize this world, but I have yet to get around to actually developing it. Tabletop is something I haven\u2019t explored, might be worthwhile to consider it.<\/p>\n

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T:<\/strong> It feels like most fantasy has some sort of overlap on the Venn diagram with potential RPG experiences, especially when they expose players to new creatures and places.\u00a0 What sort of things would you be eager to show off of your world that you would want people to play with?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>Possibly different races that I\u2019ve made. Now some of them share attributes with already existing races with just their names changed, but some are wholly unique but haven\u2019t been introduced in the story as of yet. Another thing could be the use of elemental signs and producing new elements to use based on combinations and such. Maybe another thing to add on to that would be the use of the language itself, in the form of mantras, for producing attacks and spells which is something I\u2019ve directly incorporated as part of the LitRPG system in Past Death Itself<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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T:<\/strong> You released your book in the midst of the pandemic.\u00a0 Did that have any bearing on the why and when of putting your world together?\u00a0 Or was this in motion long before COVID hit?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>The idea was there before COVID, but given that I was working remotely, it gave me the time to finally put pen to paper and get these ideas out of my head.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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T:<\/strong> Speaking of time, that is one thing that people don\u2019t realize takes so much out of an author!\u00a0 While writing the story takes a considerable amount of time and creativity, that\u2019s not even half the story, so to speak.\u00a0 What have your experiences been since releasing your stories?\u00a0 Have there been challenges in getting them out in front of people?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>There\u2019s been a fair bit of challenge mainly by exposure. Due to the saturation of the book and writing market as a whole you can\u2019t just have a solid and well-executed idea, but one that\u2019s very much marketable. I sank nearly $16,000 in the marketing, editing, audio production effort only to end up with very few leads. I did learn a lot from doing it, but I think I need to think more on how I can reach a wider audience on a tighter budget.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

T:<\/strong> Have you explored things like BookTok, or reaching out to influencers to see if they could help to push word about your books?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>I haven\u2019t heard of BookTok, but influencers, at least the ones I\u2019ve purchased promotional gigs from, haven\u2019t really produced much results. I don\u2019t want to sound hopeless, but this story might just not be one that\u2019s really marketable. Maybe it\u2019s the cover, or perhaps the blurb, or just the way the story even starts or is written. Perhaps I would have better luck at traditional publishing but it\u2019s a matter of whether I would be willing to part with full creative control assuming one would pick this up.<\/p>\n

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T:<\/strong> The Marhanyam Children of All series is not the only project that you\u2019ve been working on.\u00a0 You also have a LitRPG story that you\u2019re telling on Royal Road.\u00a0 Did your traditional fantasy series begin the same way, or was that always a more personal story that you wrote without insight from others?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>It was more of a personal story that I only put online due to my friend suggesting it. Originally, I was planning on finishing the entire thing, which may have taken years, but something told me that I should release it sooner and start getting feedback and perhaps sales now.<\/p>\n

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T:<\/strong> These days, it\u2019s quicker and easier than ever to see how readers and fans respond to stories.\u00a0 Have you received a lot of great feedback?\u00a0 And in turn, has that helped to encourage you to continue along with your literary universe?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>Yes I\u2019ve received a lot of feedback, specifically on sites like Royal Road. The reception has been glowing for my work and it has spurned me into continuing writing in this universe. I hope with my new series I can gain greater traction, which looking at the follower rate gives me some hope that I can possibly convert some of these people into reading this one.<\/p>\n

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T:<\/strong> With what you mentioned in mind, do you think that the bigger challenge is just getting the word out there?\u00a0 Sometimes it seems like great authors have wonderful books that just go unread for one reason or another.<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>That seems to be the case. I don\u2019t have enough data to see how many people are visiting the page versus how many are actually reading, but it\u2019s something I noticed on Amazon as well where it just seems like an uphill battle to try and get some exposure. There\u2019s a pretty high chance that this story might not even meet the success that I want it to until after I pass away. That seems to be the case for a lot of now notable authors out there.<\/p>\n

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T:<\/strong> Your book was originally formatted in an entirely different way.\u00a0 How did it make sense to be condensed into two separate books, and how has that changed the way you interpret the rest of the series as you work on bringing your world and your stories to life?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>Right, so I originally had the now two separate books combined into one called \u201cThe<\/em> Marhahnyahm of Tumbmar: Book I \u2013 Of Revealing Contentions<\/em>\u201d but I quickly realized that this kind of a title wasn\u2019t marketable in the current landscape. So, I separated the books in half at a junction that looked reasonable and then made two different titles for them. I don\u2019t think this influences the way I\u2019m writing too much, because I still see this entire series as being one body of work that just has arbitrary cutoffs for the purpose of structuring volumes\/books for marketing.<\/p>\n

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T:<\/strong> If your work is somehow reflective of Tolkien\u2019s in some ways, that adjustment to the book compositions bears a striking resemblance to what he had to do as well.<\/p>\n

Do you think that the length of your books are in a sweet spot at this point, and do you think the later volumes are going to be around that same page count?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>I think they reach that sweet spot, and yes, the other volumes I think will cleanly hit the current range I\u2019m expecting. Since the entire story has already been outlined, segmenting them into the various books\/volumes is fairly trivial.<\/p>\n

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T:<\/strong> Tolkien also was no stranger to spinoff books.\u00a0 While you likely have the main series to look forward to, do you ever find yourself tantalized by a character\u2019s backstory and wonder about writing content for them that gives them greater context?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>Oh, many times! I have ideas and entire plotlines either going about my head or already written down. Part of those back stories might be elaborated in Past Death Itself<\/em>, given the time frame it takes place. But I don\u2019t want to tackle them just yet, until I have more of a base for the world-building. While I already have quite a bit, it\u2019s still not nearly enough, when you consider that the entire extent of the \u201ccurrent\u201d cycle of this world spans some four million years. That\u2019s a lot of time for things and customs and practices to change substantially.<\/p>\n

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T:<\/strong> You\u2019ve released three books so far in your main series, but your world is so vast, I get a sense that you have no plans on leaving it behind just yet.\u00a0 Do you have other books set in \u0100rhmanha\u1e25 that you are currently working on?\u00a0 And if so, is there anything you can share about them?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>Yes, the very first work that\u2019s currently unpublished that started this entire process called The Vaiatnemarhahn<\/em>. That would essentially be the equivalent of the Silmarillion and reads almost like a mix of a religious, mythological, and historical work. And the second would be Past Death Itself<\/em>, which as you mentioned before is a LitRPG set in the same world. Now I need to put the disclaimer that \u0100rhmanha\u1e25 is not a game world, but I thought that putting such elements common in the genre would make a more appealing reading experience. The world is still its own, and I\u2019ve gone about putting those elements in a way that doesn\u2019t destroy the overall logic of its rules.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

T:<\/strong> Is that at a point where you feel comfortable with it, or is it undergoing constant updates in order to keep it in line with the lore that you unveil in the rest of the Marhanyam series?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>I feel so. The system of Past Death Itself is one that\u2019s more skill based rather than stat based. And activation mechanisms vary from either using mantras or just using the skill in question. I visually represent it using the conlang, giving me good reason to keep developing the language which is a plus for me!<\/p>\n

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T:<\/strong> If someone wanted to learn more about you or \u0100rhmanha\u1e25, where could they go?\u00a0 Do you prefer people to go to your website, or are you more active on a specific social media channel?<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>Yes I have a website https:\/\/www.ujwalvujjini.com\/<\/a> as well as two sites where I\u2019ve uploaded my work for free: https:\/\/www.scribblehub.com\/series\/307264\/the-mystery-of-the-high-maiden-marhahnyahm\/<\/a> and https:\/\/www.royalroad.com\/fiction\/44291\/the-mystery-of-the-high-maiden-marhahnyahm<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

T:<\/strong> Ujwal, I wanted to thank you for sharing your journey with us so far, and for giving us a few sneak peeks into what the future of \u0100rhmanha\u1e25 will be.\u00a0 It was a real joy, and I am very excited for people to see your passion and dedication to this world!<\/p>\n

UV: <\/strong>Thank you Tellest! This was a great conversation and I enjoyed answering all your questions! Hope anyone who comes across my works enjoys reading them as much as I do writing them!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Once again, I\u2019d like to offer my sincere thanks to Ujwal Vujjini for spending time with us and sharing parts of his world and his journey.\u00a0 He\u2019s certainly crafted an amazing universe that I hope people will be excited to explore.\u00a0 You can begin your adventure into \u0100rhmanha\u1e25 by checking out his first book, The Mystery of the High Maiden: An Epic Fantasy Adventure Saga (Marhanyam Children of All Book 1)<\/em>\u00a0on Amazon<\/a>\u00a0today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greetings travelers.\u00a0 We here at Tellest had the wonderful opportunity to run a write-up on a phenomenal fantasy adventure recently.\u00a0 Ujwal Vujjini\u2019s The Mystery of the High Maiden is a modern take on traditional fantasy, built out of a new setting that leaves the story feeling fresh and lively.\u00a0 We also had a great time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[463,350,462],"tags":[303,3247,3248,3234,379,3233,3235],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Featured-Interview-with-Ujwal-Vujjini.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1UVey-832","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30940"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30940"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30949,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30940\/revisions\/30949"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}