Interview with Author Desh Subba

Posted on 8 Oct 20171 Jan 2018 by Vinay Garg

Interview with Author Desh Subba

How can readers know Philosophy of Fearism?

I have made an attempt to interpret the fear along with various definitions. It can have infinite definitions. Sublimity, conductor of lives, power to indicate civilization, fear universe, inventor, perspective, light, great power, indicator of awareness, god, brevity etc are under definitions of fear. I have interpreted all sources, determining factors, scopes, conditions, mediums, types, ages, paths, fear circles, fear problems, periphery, relativity, fear struggle, fear weapons and fear related institutions. There are a number of ways to lead people towards fearlessness. I have also recommended primary and secondary aids as well as sub-aids for various fear diseases. Now, it’s time to use them for the treatment. It is yet to be interpreted in terms of psychology, sociology, medical science, human temperament, theory of criticism and philosophy. The philosophy of fearism incorporates partial shares from psychology, mental illness, sociology, political science, literary criticism and many other philosophies.

It has been formulated as life-consciousness-knowledge-fear-cognition. More or less all living creatures have the sense of consciousness. The consciousness generates knowledge. The knowledge we get through fear begins to create fear in the mind. To look at the object with suspicion and erroneous thoughts slowly leads us to the fear. The knowledge we get about life, death, past, present and future produces fear. If people did not know about the death, they would have no reason to have fear in their minds. The same condition applies to the various diseases. Place, fearable things and time bring differences in the feeling of fear. Sense organs, conditional reflex, events and meanings work together to construct fear. Understanding meaning is the most important among them. People look at the same thing differently. Similarly, they hear and understand the same thing differently. They all work to produce the fear. Again the fear does not come from outside. It originates within us. How we take and utilize the fear depends on us. Now the world has plunged into violence, wars and terrors and reasons behind it is the struggle for existence. May be, they are different in terms of interpretations. Many people suffer from the fear of extinction of their castes/tribes, languages, scripts, religions and cultures. They love them all very much. People get so angry when they feel threat to their possessions mentioned above. They can appear aggressive which can lead them to be ready to wage war as well. Sometimes, minor problem becomes a major one. Favorable condition can appear unfavorable one just a minute later. There are too many causes for the fear.

What made you get into writing in the first place?

My personal interest in expressing my thinking got me into writing. I continued it because I got some good feedback and eventually entered journalism and got paid for writing. Yet, there was no special reason and circumstance that I got into writing. I had written a few books before, yet themost important book of my life so far is Philosophy of Fearism in 2014. This book was motivated the moment when I coined the word “fearism” in a manuscript of novel in 1999. It struck my mind as significant and I started to think a good deal about it.I concluded that it could be new concept in the world. But I was not sure,so I consulted professors and various authors for reference and they were interested, but I was still unable to get a proper framework for it. It took 15 years to develop the concept and publish this book.

What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?

With me there are many authors supportive. First is Dr. Fisher, we co-wrote a book Philosophy of Fearism- First East-West Dialogue in 2016. This book is a witness of our contribution in the world. RanaKafle from Assam, India wrote many literary books based on Fearism. Author Naju Hatikakoty Baruah is translating in Assamis language and I learn from their translations of how to be a better writer but also how different people understand things differently at times. Author Dong Za Mung from Myanmar, is translating in Burmese. Dr. Aruna k. Upadhya is translating in Hindi. Just some days back I found a friend from Nigeria, his name is Osinakachi Akuma Kalu, a young man writing a bookentitled Conquering the Beast Fear. We share and learn from each other and I learn to write and communicate better because of these exchanges.

Do you want each book to stand on its own or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?

Both.I mean Philosophy of Fearism stands its own in a sense. Meantime, I am trying to build a body of different titles to apply “fearism” concept to many fields like my work on what I call dephilosophy to bring into philosophy, psychology, and medical sciences etc. Each book builds a connected series for developing the concept and applications of “fearism” and yet, each is quite creative and unique too. I am working on all of them as different pillarsfor a Philosophy of Fearism House.

How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?

It has hard to find publisher for new writers. Classical publications needs a lot of time to get the work finally published and there is no guarantee of publication as well. So I chose self-publishing. My understanding is that whether it is self-published or traditionally published it does not matter. Readers have right to choose books they want. I am not a popular writer at this time. In my country (Nepal), there is no good future for writers. One thing is clear, nobody can stop the desire of a person to write or read who they want to. I am doing only that. After publishing Philosophy of Fearism all my writing changed towards a philosophical turn.

How do you balance making demands on the reader with taking care of the reader?

I work to balance my own and reader demands, even sometimes social demands too.I am a philosophical writer so I have to show the world and society what I see, even if it is unpleasant for them to see it.

How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

I have two unpublished book:De-defined Marxism by Philosophy of Fearism. It is being translated now into English; and Dream, Image and Flower is ready to be published, as an epic project, for 2018; a half finished book is Fearo Logical Bible,in which I apply a Philosophy of Fearism perspective.

What does literary success look like to you?

Literary success means to reach many readers. Philosophical books must reach many critics, intellectual readers. My success would look like seeing people understanding my teaching and arguments as I introduce what is fearin real sense. I have been lecturing at many universities and literary programs around the world in the last few years. That is my literary success. I am finding multiple readers. It is not only for today, this philosophy is for forever. I also have won ten international awards for my books. Some universities are going to put Philosophy of Fearism in their course readings. That is success for me.

What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

Since 1999, I researched in philosophy, psychology, religion. I spent almost 15 years to complete my project. When I am working on some book projects, I choose a subject that must be universal and long lasting.Thus, I have to be prepared to do long research before writing and finishing a book.

Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice?

I did not view it as spiritual, rather as philosophical practice.Yet, philosophical practice can be a kind of spiritualpractice too.

What did you edit out of this book? What little detail are you leaving for future books?

Philosophy of Fearismis my master book. I tried my best not to have any mistakes. For this, I did some editing myself, and purchased a best editing package from a publisher. There are always things for the next book that I leave out but it depends.

Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?

Yes, when I was reading philosophical, psychological, religious and spiritual books, I found them absolutely different than fiction.They give me more depth to put into my fiction and poetry work.

Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

I always read reviews of my own books; comments are either positive or negative. As a writer particularly, philosophical, one has to accept all kinds of comments. Readers are free to express their opinion.

Do you Google yourself?

Yes. I search information and do some Philosophy of Fearismposts. Mostly I search fearism-related information. Fearism related news, articles, papers, anything I can see on Google. I met Dr. R. Michael Fisher my co-author of Philosophy of Fearism East-West Dialogue on Google. I am meeting many other authors too.

What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?

If we are thinking about money, family problems, position,we cannot be a better writer. So I used to give up these harmful luxuries and distractions. One has to focus.

Does your family support your career as a writer?

My family is my success. Without family support I could not concentrate my mind. Without concentrated mind, a good project is impossible. Can we do any work with disturbed mind? I can get all support from family, specially my wife. She has a generous virtue to encourage me to go ahead.

How long on average does it take you to write a book?

It depends on the subject matter. Fiction does not take a long time. It can be finished within a month. Philosophy of Fearism took 15 years. I am working on an epic book for the lastten years, still not completedyet. We cannot measure a work’s satisfaction by time.

Do you exclusively publish on Kindle and Createpace or do you have books on other platforms and if so where?

Philosophy of Fearism has three versions, hard, soft and Kindle. It is available in all major online book shopslike Amazon, eBay, Barnesand Noble etc.

What was your best writing experience and why?

According to my experience, writing is what I must do for myself, as much as Ican. I use to look to somebody to guide, assist, and for reference. When I was working on Philosophy of Fearism in the beginning, I was looking for somebody who is academically writing and lecturing as a profession. I printed many copies and distributed to them. None of them either suggested anythingor guidedme. I knew this philosophy is new and strong. To go to world debates, and marketing the product must be logically, literary and language strong. It was my effort. Sometimes self-motivation is the most important. Many friends laughed at me.Now they are silent. If I didn’t take a right decision at the right time, well it is over, I might have been somewhere in the dark. But I learn from everything, even mistakes.

How do you come up with the inspiration for your book covers?

My publisher sent me some sample of book covers. I selected this water pot and jumping fish. The imageitself isn’t the inspiration.

When creating your book covers do you just go with a stock image or do you go a step further and create an original work of art and why?

I did not go to a stock image. Sometimes a publisher sends samples of stock images. With Philosophy of Fearism- A first-East West Dialoguethe cover is art by Dr. R. Michael Fisher, because he is a good artist too.

Where is the best place you have found to promote your books and why?

I have found social media is the best place. Among social media,Face Book is the best to promote self-published books. I used many social media like Twitter, Linked-in, YouTube, Fan page. Face book group is my first choice.

In the next five years where do you find yourself as an author?

In the next five years, I will find myself as a philosopher. My book will be in some universities. Somebody will do PhD. thesis on my work. Many translations will be publish and many followers will be attracted from all over the world.

What format of your books sell the best? Kindle, Print or Audio and why?

Soft cover and kindle version are selling almost in same ratio.

Do you network with others and if so who are they and why do you network with them?

We are working on the roots of Philosophy of Fearism all over the world. My main co-author of Philosophy of Fearism-East-West Dialogue is with Dr. R Michael Fisher. He has been working on fear and fearlessness and the Fearlessness movement since 1989. Some authors from Nepal, India, Myanmar, USA and Nigeria are joining. We are all within the same ideology of basic understandings. We have to share, discuss and grow as thinkers and writers. I mostly do network with all of them. Under one Ideology, writing may differs, we can see some more Marxism, psychology, modernism,post- modernism, feminism, and subaltern; there are many writers in one brand. Under Philosophy of Fearism we can embrace more diverse writers and perspectives. Everyone can make their own separate ideological emphasis.

What do you do once you finish writing your book and why?

Once I finished book; I read 2 or 3 times. I try to delete mistakes and ugly words.

Final piece of advice. What would be the final piece of advice or comment you would want to give to the reader of this article? It can be anything that you want.

We have many writers and philosophers. Everyone is claiming their writing is the best. Sometimes it makes for a big confusion. I am a philosophical author on fear. Fear has vast implications and areas to pursue. Many diverse authors can work on it. Readers recognize their fear and can gain from utilizing Philosophy of Fearism. Patients of depression, anxiety and mental disorder compare their problems with fear. If they find a root in the problem it is likely fear, then they can manage it better once they recognize it. Medical science has to consider the fear patient better than they do now. Once they diagnose it properly, then they can propose for better treatment, and promote Fear Centres, Fear doctors and a new speciality in Medicine. Critics have to start bring Fear criticism into all things of cultures.