So, is this an original story or just a retelling of another story?
It’s both, I’d say. While the bones are that of the Mahabharata, it’s been reimagined completely.
Last updated: September 22, 2025 10:12
If it’s a retelling, would it be plagiarism or copyright infringement?
The Mahabharata is a public domain work and therefore, any derivative works are perfectly legal.
Last updated: September 22, 2025 10:13
What’s so special about this retelling that makes it different from all the others or the original?
For one, being low fantasy, this is sans all the gods and magic that permeates the original. Once you take away divinity and its trappings, what’s left is humanity, in all its naked and visceral reality. Most retellings want to lean on the shine of gods to carry the tale, but this one focusses on the characters and their very real, human, motivations.
Last updated: September 22, 2025 10:17
Where can I read the original Mahabharata?
The best version would be the Penguin edition of Debroy’s translation of the Critical Edition. For those who can’t afford it, there’s the K.M. Ganguly translation that’s freely available at Sacred Texts at https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/maha/
Last updated: September 22, 2025 10:14
Who is Space Wizard Science Fantasy? Are they helping you?
Space Wizard Science Fantasy is a queer science fiction and fantasy indie publishing company started in 2016 to publish William C. Tracy’s books. Ten books, six years, a pandemic, and quitting a day job later, the publishing company opened its doors to more authors. Their intent has always been to showcase quality science fiction and fantasy stories with queer characters, because they don’t get enough exposure in the publishing world. As a creator from India, avenues like Backerkit and Kickstarter are closed to me, and hence, I reached out to William, who is a friend and an awesome writer himself, who agreed to imprint this edition of Jaya! for the campaign. While I’m in charge of the campaign and fulfilment, William via Space Wizard will be collecting the pledges and do the heavy lifting.
Last updated: September 22, 2025 10:15
Do you ship worldwide?
That’s the plan. As an Indian, I definitely want to see these books shipped out here to readers in India, and therefore I do plan to ship worldwide.
Last updated: September 22, 2025 10:16
Is the story complete? When is the release date?
The story is already written, edited, and formatted for ebook. Paperback and hardback formatting is remaining but that shouldn’t take more than a week.
Last updated: September 22, 2025 10:16
Why do you have a different pen name for this?
Geetha Krishnan is my legal name, and I started writing books under this name. But later on, I noticed that everything I write was based on Hindu Mythology, and when I started writing fantasy and sci fi that has nothing to do with India, I decided to have a different pen name for that.
Last updated: September 22, 2025 10:17
What is drop shipping?
Drop shipping is shipping directly from the manufacturer to the addressee. In this case, I will be using Ingram Spark to ship directly to the backers instead of having them send everything to me and then me shipping it out. It’s a big save on shipping costs to utilise drop shipping.
Last updated: September 22, 2025 10:17
How do you calculate shipping costs?
Shipping costs are calculated by Ingram at the time of shipping. While I can guesstimate, I would rather wait for the actual time of shipping because tariffs and rates can change making any current calculations obsolete. Ingram does have a calculation sheet on their site that you can refer to at a pinch.
https://help.ingramspark.com/hc/en-us/articles/5337658946445-How-Are-Shipping-Charges-Calculated
Last updated: September 22, 2025 10:18
When can we expect our goodies?
As a creator from India, shipping books directly is an impossibility and hence I’m opting for drop shipping directly from Ingramspark. Since Ingram has printing at most places, I hope to use them to get your goodies to you asap once all the pledges are collected and orders placed. I would expect that process to take at least a month after the campaign is done, so June 2026 would be a reasonable estimate!
The audiobook would need slightly longer since the production cannot start till the stretch goals are met and the project fully funded! For that, an estimate of December 2026 would be reasonable since it’s a long book!
Last updated: September 27, 2025 23:44
Does the Author have a pet?
Oh yes, I have a cat named Pluto and she’s the sweetest girl ever but also very sly. She’s an indoor cat but she always looks for ways to escape the house and bullies all the other cats in the locality.
Last updated: November 10, 2025 01:33
Do you allow refunds?
Since the fulfilment of the campaign depends on the funds collected, refunds would not be possible. In exceptional circumstances refunds may be considered on a case to case basis. In any case no refund requests will be entertained after January 15th 2026 since I plan to ship out items from that date.
Last updated: November 29, 2025 08:39
What is BackerKit?
BackerKit is a service that crowdfunded project creators use to keep track of hundreds to tens of thousands of backers—from shipping details, pledge levels, preferences and quantities, whether they have paid or had their card declined, special notes, and everything in between!
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