Akhila Saroha: I would like to begin by congratulating you on the publication of “The Agents of the Shield.” How has the response to the book been so far?
Parth Agarwal: Thank you. I have not been able to reach out to too many people. I hope The Literature Times gives me the platform to be able to reach out to a larger group and to get the feedback.
Akhila Saroha: What led to the idea of writing “The Agents of the Shield”? Were there any events that inspired the work?
Parth Agarwal: Superheroes’ stories have always fascinated me. I like reading Marvel comics. I have seen many of the marvel movies. One fine day, it struck my mind why not create superheroes of my own. I was 8 years old then. I took a copy and started writing stories. When we were all stuck in our homes during lockdown I typed it, made some changes and completed the manuscript.
Akhila Saroha: How easy or difficult was it for you to write on subjects that held relevance for all and also remain objective about them in “The Agents of the Shield”?
Parth Agarwal: This is a genre where I get a lot of ideas. I have to cut down to some of the ideas that will be liked by a larger number of people. It was the tough part because, I was not writing the book only for children but also for adults. This is the first book of the series I am planning. Another book of the series which is basically a small incident that happens while the story of the Agents of The Shield was going on, the book is Sci-Animals.
Akhila Saroha: “The Agents of the Shield” shows the uniqueness of your style of writing. Are there any authors that you enjoy reading or any books which are your favorites?
Parth Agarwal: I have read the works of Ruskin Bond, Enid Blyton and Charles Dickens they have inspired me.
Akhila Saroha: How would you categorize “The Agents of the Shield” as its appeal seems to be to a broad audience?
Parth Agarwal: The Agents of Shield is a fiction, more precisely it would fall in the category of Superhero fiction. But people who like to read adventurous or Sci-fi books will also find this book interesting.
Akhila Saroha: “The Agents of the Shield” has given a powerful introduction to your potential as a writer. Can the readers expect more from you in the future? Please share about your future projects.
Parth Agarwal: As I said I am gonna make a series. I am already writing the sequel of the book. Apart from the superhero stories, I am also working on a book named Shootout. It is a new idea. Every character in an incident has his/her own version of a story and Shootout shows all the versions of the incident through its characters.
Akhila Saroha: What is the story behind the title of your work, “The Agents of the Shield”?
Parth Agarwal: While giving the title, I thought the Superheroes will act as a Shield for the people and I named the team of the heroes as Shield and the superheroes the Agents. It was tough because afterwards I came to know that Marvel also has a television series named Agents of SHIELD. I thought of giving it another name but I could not find a better name.
Akhila Saroha: How easy or difficult was it for you to write about places no one has ever seen without hampering the readers’ perception in “The Agents of the Shield”?
Parth Agarwal: It was difficult because I can imagine because I know it but to pen it down so that the reader understands and is also able to imagine, it was difficult.
Akhila Saroha: If you were to describe your book “The Agents of the Shield” in a few words without giving any spoilers, what would those words be?
Parth Agarwal: Its about a king who aims at maintaining peace in the Universe and creates a Superhero who finds a bunch of Superheroes and creates a team who have the same goal and that is to protect the universe from threats.
Akhila Saroha: What advice would you give to budding writers who may be planning to write in the same genre as “The Agents of the Shield”?
Parth Agarwal: I would advice to first create an outline. Books like Agents of Shield have very minute details that need to be looked into, even you can forget while writing, so I would advise the writers to note down the details that you want to give references to in the future separately.
Akhila Saroha: Thank you very much for sparing your time. I look forward to reading more books from you in the future. All the best.
Parth Agarwal: Thank you. It is my pleasure.