Authorial_04_LA_FINAL_low_with watermark

my foot on a rung on the ladder
of success.
AM: Will you be writing more books?
Tell us more about your plans
or upcoming events and the
projects that are currently in the
works for you.
MA: Absolutely. I am currently
working on a novella. I tell the
story of a cipher, an insignificant,
who is searching mid-eastern
deserts for answers, for a sense
of belonging, or his origin. With
my current publisher, I wrote the
political memoir about growing
up infused with the politics of the
McCarthy Anti-war movement,
Ten Years and Change: A Liberal
Boyhood in Minnesota, followed
by American Bus Ride. That was
to be followed by a book on
the fundamental importance of
voting in a democracy. That is half
drafted. I faced the reality that I am
burned out on politics, its constant
objectiveness, and difficult nature to
be translated into anything creative.
I longed to write fiction.
AM: Is there anything you’d like your
readers to know about you that they
won’t find anywhere else online?
MA: I like to correct alterations of
history when it’s appropriate. It
fascinates me how teachers and
scholars have molded events in
history to accentuate the positive,
how America seems to have this
imperviousness to shame, to
wrong-doing, even sometimes to
blatantly unconstitutional acts in
this current time.
AM: Is there someone you consider
as your greatest influence in your
writing? If so, please do tell us
more about him/her and why you
consider him/her as such.
MA: I am influenced by the writings
of Laura Hillenbrand (Unbroken,
Seabiscuit). I admire her attention
to detail, her accuracy in telling a
story. I look at Bukowski, Twain,
Steinbeck. I was fond of how
Dickens developed many characters
and had them all work out
plausibly in the end. So, there is no
one author I can say is my greatest
influence. Each had or has different
strengths which influence me.
Raju Ramanathan
Author of Souls from Mercury
Authorial Magazine: Tell us what’s
unique about your book. Why
should people read it?
Raju Ramanathan: By using an unusual
question and answer format for a
difficult spiritual theme, this book,
Souls from Mercury, makes learning
easier and entertaining. This book
will compel people of all ages to
look into the unseen realities of
life. Many of these questions are
in the hearts of most people in the
world today but they are unable to
voice it to the right people and seek
answers. Beginners should read this
book to get clear on many areas of
their life. For advanced seekers, it
points the way to enlightenment
as accepted by many Masters
from the East to the West. There
is something in this book for
everyone! For the thousands of
people who have heard about me
or heard me through my teaching,
I have provided something new. I
have also given a verbatim account
of people’s experiences with me
gathered through actual interviews
with many key individuals.
AM: Did you know the last line of your
book or how your story would
end from the very beginning? Did
you already know before you even
started writing it? Tell us more
about your writing process.
RR: Yes. I knew the first and last line
of the book, five years before the
material was collected and put
together by many seekers around
the world who had the eagerness
to publish my book. This book
points to a balanced outlook on
both life and spirituality. My
writing process was to come up
with a framework of seven levels
of Chakras and condense all my
essential teachings within that
framework. I have chosen Jesus’
teachings only because he was the
Epitome of Compassion. Charles
Darwin pointed out that kindness,
compassion and empathy will be
the hallmark of future evolution.
authorial magazine | 31