Bijay Kishore Sundar Ray was born in 1949 and belongs to Bhubaneswar. He joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1972 and retired in the rank of Chief Secretary to the government of Chhattisgarh. His collection of short stories "Sailors of Solitude" is a portrayal of human existence in terms of love, loneliness, relationship and a struggle against injustice. Influenced by the writings of D.H. Lawrence, Aldous Huxley, Franz Kafka and Albert Camus, Ray talks to his characters in terms of existence and fascinates his readers with his inimitable narrative skills. Ray is a novelist, poet, essayist and short story writer and his search for creativity, in his own words, "is simply unstoppable". A prolific writer, Ray has so far written seventeen books and continues to write passionately. Ray lives in Raipur (Chhattisgarh) where he intends to pursue his scholastic and literary activities.

My short story collection "Sailors of Solitude" is a narration of stories relating to love, solitude, despair, human relationships and predicaments. Writing a story is a unique experience with me. Characters, situations and events revolve around me as though I'm inextricably linked to them. I don't deny the influence of D.H. Lawrence, Aldous Huxley, Franz Kafka and Albert Camus over my story-writing process. A friend of mine once told me, "you're obsessed with your characters!" "of course, I'm intensely fond of them", I instantly responded. I express my gratitude to my friends and well- wishers for their constant encouragement to my creative efforts. I'm thankful to all my readers whose views I respect a lot.

**Contents and Sample Pages**