[VIDEO] The Indian Occult: Shweta Taneja (Anantya Tantrist Mysteries)
“In her world, being a woman and a tantric is illegal.”
The Indian author shares some background on her Delhi-based supernatural detective series.
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Shweta Taneja is a bestselling speculative and urban fantasy fiction author from India. A leading voice in feminist science fiction and fantasy, she has published several novels and graphic novels, including her supernatural detective series Anantya Tantrist Mysteries. “I wrote Cult of Chaos because I was itching to write a work of detective fiction that mixes Indian folklore and supernatural creatures into a mystery,” the author says of the first book in the series.
As for her protagonist: “Anantya Tantrist happened because I was so bored of all the action taken up by male superheroes and superstars while women sat on the side, as pretty eye-candy. I wanted a story in which a woman gets her hands dirty, has all the adventures, kicks the villains and goes to a bar later to celebrate.”
In this first video, author Shweta Taneja shares some background and reads aloud from The Matsya Curse (Anantya Tantrist Mystery #2). She also talks about the main character, Anantya Tantrist: “In her world, being a woman and a tantric is illegal. So she is in an illegal profession. She is an independent, gutsy person. She solves supernatural crimes based in Delhi.”
Tantric Thrills: Quiz and Discussion on the Indian occult with author, Shweta Taneja | Valgan TV
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In this second video, the author answers a variety of interview questions for an Indian audience (in English), including the many sub-categories that live under “speculative fiction,” how writers in her country are still learning some of the newer literary forms, and her plans to try other sub-genres herself.
She also shares one problem she had with labeling the book in her home country: “I had to explain to the distributors what urban fantasy is. They weren’t aware of the sub-genre.”
Looking at speculative fiction beyond mythology with Shweta Taneja | LitFestX
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