Guest Author - Kris Bigalk

Suresh and Jyoti Guptara have enjoyed international attention since publishing their book Conspiracy of Calaspia, a fantasy novel. Having begun the novel at the age of eleven, they published it when they were seventeen.

The brothers have plans to write a fantasy series called Insanity, of which Conspiracy of Calaspia is the first novel.

The Guptara brothers were born on November 22, 1988, to a British mother and Indian father, and were raised in England and Switzerland. Both now write and promote their books full time. Jyoti left school, choosing to home-school himself to the European equivalent of a high school diploma; Suresh completed A-levels (the equivalent of Advanced Placement courses in the US system). At the present time, neither is enrolled in a university.

The twins are completing a tour of the United States, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy in 2007 and 2008, and toured Asia last year. They are sponsoring an essay competition related to their book, open to teenagers around the world. The prizes include a literary tour of England in 2008, and free copies of a book by the Guptaras. The contest is based in the UK, which has different laws governing contests, so those entering from other countries should read the rules carefully. Clauses reserving the right to change the contest rules and reserve winning slots for those from certain geographic areas are among the unusual rules and stipulations. Also, little information on how entries will be judged is provided in the official rules.

Conspiracy of Calspia has been picked up by major Italian and German publishers, and has been published in English by Tara Press, an imprint of India Research Press, located in India. So far, no information has been released on a US publisher picking up the book.

While some of the media materials released by the twins' website claims that the book is a "bestseller", this is true mostly in Asia and India, where the book was originally released, and where the twins have received a lot of positive press coverage. The book is also modestly popular in Europe, where the twins have also received more attention. The book is not a bestseller yet in the United States, where Conspiracy of Calspia is ranked by Amazon as #429,494 in popularity, with the book on pre-order; new copies are not available at all through Barnes and Noble.com. Undoubtedly this lack of availability in the US stems from the fact that the book has not been published by a major press in the United States. Perhaps continued success internationally will help the Guptara twins net a contract here.