Christmas is only two months away, and what better way to get in the mood than with a collection of Christmas-themed stories? Scholastic India’s Christmas Stories volume comprises just that. It has eight stories, including one by me, called “The Santa Question”, and is about an unusual Santa who’s a little rude, lactose intolerant and […]
Writing
My Top 10 Books
The Scribble and Edit Top 10 Novels Blogfest is over, but there is no bad time to make a list, especially if it’s one about favourite books. These are 10 of my favourite books — or have been at one point. Definitely not a comprehensive listing and not limited to novels. So, approximately in the […]
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The Timeless Land: The Page-99 Test
“Read page 99 of a new book,” advises the Guardian, “and you’ll know whether you want to read the whole thing.” So, of course, I had to try it out on my books. Here’s p.99 of The Timeless Land: “And you’re miserable here. Perhaps we should build a house on the Portal Road.” Jan smiled […]
The crossover genre: Myth, reality, or does it matter?
“Crossover Fiction: Myth or Reality” was the subject of discussion at one of the panels at the Jumpstart conference organized by the German Book Office in Delhi on 20 and 21 August 2010. Moderated by Nilanjana Roy, the panelists were Dipa Chaudhuri, Samit Basu, Paro Anand and myself. A number of interesting questions arose about […]
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Breaking rules
Earlier this year I wrote about my rules for writing fiction. Little did I know that a few months down the line I would be breaking Rule #4: Characters without the right name have no life. That’s right, I was convinced to change the names of major characters in The Secret of Fezar. Thus, “Kinnel” […]
The Secret of Fezar
Yes, that’s the new name of my forthcoming book. We decided to change the name because… well, there was a possibility of it being mispronounced. (Figure it out yourself.) The Secret of Fezar is the first book in the series called Satin. I’m undecided which one sounds better, though I’m inclined to go with the […]
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10 rules for writing fiction
The Guardian asked a line-up of eminent authors for their personal dos and don’ts for efficient fiction writing. The results, to say the least, ranged from entertaining to outrageous to hilarious: “Get an accountant, abstain from sex and similes, cut, rewrite, then cut and rewrite again – if all else fails, pray.” So anyhow, to […]
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Will there be a book 4
…of the Shadow in Eternity series? Well, as things are going right now, there will probably be a sort of mini-book, a novella, if you like. It will basically be an attempt to catch up with the present. The events unfolding in The Timeless Land (book 3) happened in 2006, when Maya was 14. It […]
20 things to do in ’10
More than half of January has already gone by, but Writer’s Log still lags in last year. It hasn’t been for want of trying, but that is a lame excuse. Anyway, here’s a to-do list for 2010 (in no special order): Don’t make lame excuses about not updaing my blog Redesign my site (eeeep!) Put […]
Spooky season
‘Tis the season to be spooky, and in keeping with the flavour, two leading children’s publishing houses have come out with an anthology each of stories that will make you want to cower behind your sofa. Scholastic’s Spooky Stories has my contribution called “Mirror-Self”, which is about a young girl who discovers her grandmother’s creepy […]