IT has been three years since Reuben Dass celebrated Deepavali with his family, with the Covid-19 pandemic hampering his return from Singapore, where he works. But his return home this year is extra special as he will also be received at home as a published author.
Reuben’s first book The Number Four, a suspense-thriller fiction, was initially written as a screenplay but was later rewritten into a book.
“I grew up in a household where my mother is an avid reader while my father is a movie buff. So, I guess I have the best of them both,” he said in an interview with The Vibes.
Reuben, who grew up in Petaling Jaya, pursued his degree in physics in London where the initial loneliness of living among strangers turned him towards the movies.
“I found it difficult initially with the climate, culture, and strangers. In my loneliness, I turned to movies, and it was during that time that I developed an interest in movies. I wanted to go into film school, but everything was so expensive, so I thought of teaching myself about filmmaking through tutorials on YouTube,” Reuban said.
He then wrote a few scripts, but found that none of his friends were interested in acting in his movies.
“I am not in the film industry, and I didn’t know how to market or sell the idea, so I then I decided to do something that I did not have to depend on anyone, and that was writing,” he said.
He returned home and soon found a job, but unfortunately he found himself retrenched in 2018. He then decided to further his studies in Singapore and during the waiting period of close to nine months, he decided to write.
“I finished writing The Number Four in five months. I treated my writing as a full-time work where I would write every day. I was jobless then so I would start writing at 9.30am until 12.30pm where I would stop for lunch break and then continue from 3pm to 6pm. Sometimes, I would even write at night, finishing one or two chapters,” he said, adding that his mother would help become his ‘editor’.
He sent his manuscript to several publishing houses and all he saw were rejection notes. Dejected, he went on to do his Masters in Singapore when a year later, he saw an e-mail from MPH publishing house, disclosing their interest in his manuscript.
“The first person I told after reading the email was my mother who was very happy for me. She was the one who always encouraged me to write. Being a first-time writer, I was very insecure and was doubtful if people would like it or if the book would even sell. My mother read a few of the chapters and gave me all the encouragement to write the manuscript,” he said.
He is now working on a sequel to the book and hopes to make a trilogy.
Rueben’s The Number Four, opens with a prominent public prosecutor who is found murdered through a vicious stabbing. Four of her fingers were severed, and a mark was soldered on her chest. Inspector Alysha from the Special Investigations Unit suspects a gang killing at first, but when more bodies appear with the same ‘signatures’, she fears something more sinister may be at play. Her investigation uncovers a dark web of lies and lust and plunges her into a race against time on the trail of a sadistic serial killer who seems obsessed with the number four.
Reuben's book was launched by MPH in August this year, when he had a small meet-the-fans session. He will be coming again this Saturday and if you are interested in meeting the author or getting an autographed copy of his book, do head to MPH Midvalley this Saturday at 2pm. – The Vibes, October 21, 2022
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