Growing up, writing was not my cup of tea and I never really expected it to be. But we all know life is full of surprises, and what started as a random rant on Facebook has now led me to publishing Cross Roads: Pick a Path, the title of my debut self-published novel.

Cross Roads: Pick a Path is a romantic crime thriller. It is the story of Arrun Durai, a 27 year old software engineer from Toronto. Arrun was born to a couple in India, but after the passing of both his parents he was adopted by a Canadian named Sarah Gellis. Raised in the West while taught to never forget his roots, Arrun had an eventful life. Like most of us, Arrun too finds love. But in his case, love is what ruptured his seemingly ideal life. How does a regular 27 year old engineer from Toronto end up in Chennai? What happened in his story of love? Which path did he choose and where did it get him? That is the story of Cross Roads: Pick a Path.

The inspiration for this novel came to me in the form of a nightmare. I happened to wake up one night and think that maybe I could develop this into something special, and turn a nightmare into a beautiful dream.

Growing up in Canada, I initially had a Western mindset towards my story. But I then realized that I should not forget my roots. I grew up with the benefit of understanding two different cultures, so why not fuse both? And while the majority characters in my novel are Tamil, they have a Western dimension to them as well.

While reading my novel, you may get the feeling that this story has the capacity of being a Kollywood film. This is what I was intending to go for – a form of South Indian entertainment with a Western feel.

As a first-time author, I faced some challenges in trying to get the word out. But when I receive a message in my inbox from someone I’ve never met saying that they loved reading my novel, it motivates me to keep pushing forward.

While I am partly doing this to make a name for myself, there is another goal. Tamil culture is still something many people fail to recognize. Fortunately, there are many youth in our generation who are paving ways to allow our culture to be recognized on a global scale. I consider this novel to be a small part towards contributing to that dream.

I hope this sparks interest towards a story that deserves to be read. With all the positive feedback I have been getting, I have also started working on a sequel. So please take some time to purchase a copy of the paperback or eBook version and enjoy the story. I am thankful to everyone who has helped spread the word.

To purchase a copy of Cross Roads: Pick a Path visit expressionwithoutboundaries.wordpress.com/purchase-my-novel-here.