Tania James: On Inventing Historical Characters Lost to Time
Author Tania James shares what inspired her latest novel and how BookTok and Bookstagram have surprised her as an author.
Tania James is the author of the novels The Tusk That Did the Damage and Atlas of Unknowns and the short story collection Aerogrammes. Her fiction has appeared in Boston Review, Granta, Guernica, One Story, A Public Space, and The Kenyon Review.
In this post, Tania shares what inspired her latest novel and how BookTok and Bookstagram have surprised her as an author.
Name: Tania James
Literary agent: Nicole Aragi, Aragi Inc
Book title: Loot
Publisher: Knopf
Release date: June 13, 2023
Genre/category: literary fiction, historical fiction
Previous titles: Atlas of Unknowns, Aerogrammes, The Tusk That Did the Damage
Elevator pitch for the book: Set at the turn of the 18th century in India, France, and England, Loot follows a 17-year-old woodcarver named Abbas, who is tasked with creating a massive mechanical tiger for the ruler of Mysore. Later, when the Tiger is looted by the British East India Company and taken back to England, Abbas pursues it not only to lay claim to his masterpiece, but to his future as an artist.
What prompted you to write this book?
Tipu’s Tiger is an actual automaton that resides in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. When I first encountered it in a book, I was taken with the audacity and gruesome comedy of the automaton, and it had me thinking about the makers, whose identities have gone unrecorded by history. So I took the opportunity to invent them myself.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
I began researching the novel in 2017 and finished in 2021.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
To me, the biggest change in publishing has been the rise of Bookstagram and BookTok. I’m still learning how to navigate these arenas both as a writer and a reader. And it’s always surprising (and fascinating) to hear what resonates with people about the novel. What moved them about it, how it led them to reflect on something from their own lives.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
Very much so! The most mysterious surprises, for me, often happened on the sentence level, when the perspective would pivot toward what seemed to be a marginal character, and entered their mind, and showed us that these seemingly insignificant characters have lives and psychologies as rich as the so-called “main character.”
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
I love books that entertain and enchant, and yet also—almost sneakily—manage to move me deeply. And I’d be delighted if any reader were so moved to look up some of the real-life references in the book, like Tipu’s Tiger itself, or the poetry of Zeb-un-Nissa, whose verse recurs throughout the book.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Stay curious about the world around you, as well as yourself. Keep examining the question of what moves or interests you.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
