Hi, Jay. I’m so glad the post struck a chord with you and you’re feeling encouraged in writing your story. Not being from India, I couldn’t say if it would succeed or not there. But keep in mind that, were you to self-publish, you’d have access to a much wider audience in other countries, so it’s possible that wouldn’t be an issue.

For me, I think the most important question is Should Your Story Be Written. If you truly believe this is a story you need to tell, you should write it. Even if it never gets published and no one else sees it, it sounds like the process would be good for you personally. And every book you write is going to improve your skills so the next one will be even better. I have limited knowledge of your situation, but I don’t see a downside to writing it.

The question about pen names has been debated for years. In the US, lots of people use them and have been successful. I don’t know if there are circumstances in India that would make it more difficult for you to write under a pen name; that’s something you would need to look into. But if there’s not, and you feel the anonymity would make the writing easier and give you a better chance at success, I say go for it. A quick Google search about writing with pen names will provide you with a lot of information on this topic and should get you going in the right direction.

Best of luck to you, Jay.

Though your article refers to a writer’s character as female, such as under the sub-topic (in the article) of Obsessive Thoughts, I am a middle-aged male, and I reside in India and I would like to explore your thoughts on the following if it is ok with you – the fact that what I want to write about carries much more stigma here than in many Western or progressive societies and whether you feel it could be a successful story or make for interesting reading, or whether it could be a failed attempt containing such a subject in a country like this.

The other thing I would greatly value your thought on is whether I could still be successful if I was to write under a different name and not my real name (and would you recommend it or discourage it?).

Thank you, and also thank you for the said article, it is a very relative article for me as it gives me a certain motivation to write in a story-form the things I want to express.
Thank you once again.