About Me

VIJAY MEDTIA, AUTHOR

Hi, I’m a British-Indian novelist and short story writer based in the UK. My new novel, Ring Twice for Mrs Naren, was published in July 2025 by Rampart Books, UK, and is available in paperback and ebook formats via bookstores and Amazon. I sincerely hope readers will enjoy the novel. I’m also a proud member of the UK’s Crime Writers’ Association.

To date, I’ve had five novels published:

  • Ring Twice for Mrs Naren (Rampart Books, UK, 2025)
  • In God’s Country, Karwar (Leadstart, India, 2023)
  • The Lost Woman of Santacruz (Leadstart, India, 2021)
    – This title has drawn interest from a film and television production house in India, with discussions underway to adapt it into either a feature film or an OTT crime drama.
  • The Missing Husband (Crocus Books, UK, 2019)
  • The House of Subadar (Arcadia Books, London, 2007)
    – Shortlisted for the Glen Dimplex New Writers Award, Dublin, in 2008

My debut, The House of Subadar, tells the story of a family displaced from Punjab who rebuild their lives in Mumbai. It was described as “evocative” by The Independent and remains close to my heart.

My short fiction has appeared in several anthologies and online magazines in the UK, India and Singapore over the years:

  • Pinto – published in a Crocus Books anthology
  • English Babu – featured in their Migration Anthology, and later set as an exam text in Denmark
  • Leaving the Reno – published in Moss Side Stories (Crocus Books, 2012), praised as the “outstanding story” of the collection by an Arts Council officer
  • Maya – selected as a winning entry from over 1,700 submissions in the Inspired by Tagore international competition, run by Sampad (2012)
  • British Guide – published in Indian Short Fiction Magazine (February 2015)
  • Master Chef – published by Kitaab.org (Singapore, July 2023)

My writing is deeply influenced by my regular travels to India and by great writers —Hemingway, Steinbeck, Elmore Leonard, Raymond Chandler (for his wit), and by R.K. Narayan, V.S. Naipaul, and Premchand.

I’m currently working on my next novel. I like John Steinbeck’s quote:

“The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like a solid business.”