I have seen Vinod Mehta often on television programs where he holds forth on a variety of issues. I have known him to be a strong supporter of the Congress Party and a self- proclaimed “pseudo-secularist.” It was with considerable interest therefore that I read his memoirs titled, “Lucknow Boy” published by Penguin India. The book gets its name from the fact that Mehta grew up in Lucknow and stayed in touch with the city of his childhood and youth. Continue reading ““Lucknow Boy” by Vinod Mehta”
Author: Prem Rao
Author, Blogger, Book Reviewer, Coach, and Podcaster
This was the first book I read by Martina Cole, a British author of crime fiction. That I intend reading more of her work indicates my recommendation for this novel which is set in a small town in England.
In “The Ladykiller”, Detective Inspector Kate Burrows finds herself in the middle of a storm as a spate of murders takes place in her jurisdiction. There are a few common features about these murders. Without exception, all the victims are women. Without exception, the bodies are terribly mutilated. The signs point to a sick mind and a pervert roaming free in this hitherto peaceful town. Burrows has come up the hard way in the Police force and is now seen to be a successful officer. However, some men who are her subordinates still do not accept her leadership not able to stomach her rise in the police force only because she is a woman. To add to the stress caused by this case Burrows,who has been separated since long, is attracted towards Patrick Kelly, a man well known in the underworld.
Despite all that he does in the underworld, Kelly cares more for his daughter than anything else in the world. When she is found murdered, Kelly starts his own investigation to nab the murderer. He wants the murderer to suffer as much as his daughter did. He is frequently in touch with DI Burrows ( who is dealing with his daughter’s case) and finds himself falling in love with her. They both have the same goal, to catch the murderer but have opposite opinions on what to do after the man has been caught.
George Markham has had an extremely unhappy childhood but is today as nondescript as anyone else in town. He lives in a world of fantasy for most of the time. This story traces events which made Markham the man he became. A simple accountant in a firm during the day and a hungry predator capable of the worst violence at night.
The book is gripping in most part but I did feel it was too long at 625 pages. There was also some element of repetition. Several of the characters are mentioned to have had the grace to look away when accosted by the truth. This mannerism appears several times in the book in several characters, which I found rather strange.
All in all, a good read. I shall look out for more books from Martina Cole. I find she has written a dozen thrillers so there are many more to be read.
When Nethra, a friend, asked me to review “Lucifer’s Lungi” I must confess that I was at first both shocked and intrigued by the title. In my mind I associated Lucifer with the morning star and falling from heaven but the connection with the lungi, ( a wrap around kind of garment worn by men in some parts of South India) flummoxed me. With the “Lungi Dance” tune from Shahrukh Khan’s blockbuster film, “Chennai Express” reverberating in my mind, I took up this 111 page novella by Nitin Sawant, published by Fablery.
It’s amazing how much one can learn from Twitter. I often use the hashtag #writing and come across many interesting features, articles and links that open up so much that is new to me. Today, I was interested to see a blog post by writer Kelsye Nelson, “In Six Words or Fewer..” Here , we are asked to write a story on “Regret” using six or fewer words, Some of the responses were quite thought provoking. My contribution was just one word, “Sorry!” It’s difficult at times to express regret. Having to say a sincere “Sorry” often doesn’t come as easily as you think it should!
Apart from the much talked of “Writers’ Block”, there are many events that can send your writing schedule for a toss. You could face important tasks that you have put off, busy as you were with your writing. You could also lose some of the zeal for writing, if you were to get a rejection just when you were starting off on a new chapter in your work in progress. Believe me, at the end of the day, writing is all about how you feel at that point in time. Continue reading “Inspiration For Writers”
Without any shade of doubt, for me, Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse was the best writer in the English language. Evelyn Waugh called him, “The Master” and we, his fans from all over the world, rejoice in his writings nearly 40 years after he, to use a phrase he was fond of, “handed in his dinner pail.” Continue reading “Trivia About P G Wodehouse”
Let me do something new today. I’ll share a few of my favourite quotes on writing and shall try and explain why they mean so much to me. The objective is not to explain the quote itself, because you can understand them as well as I can, it is to share why it resonates with me. Continue reading “My Favourite Quotes on Writing”
Sometimes the best way to challenge yourself is to take part in a competition. You may win some, and to be honest you may not win most of them but there are advantages of merely participating in them. Writing competitions are no different. There are ever so many of them. You need to keep your eyes open and spot opportunities which may appeal to you and your tastes in writing.
Some call for only short stories, others are more broad-based in scope. Most of them charge a fee, though you do have some competitions which are totally free. Read the conditions prescribed as they vary from competition to competition, some don’t want you to submit work submitted elsewhere; most others don’t want work already published and so on. Continue reading “Gaining Through Writing Competitions”
I have been on Twitter for a while now. I took to what was then a relatively new experience in August 2007, which now seems oh so long ago! I would recommend that if you are an author, you really should be on Twitter too. If, however, you already are on Twitter, then much of what I have to say may already been known to you. If on the other hand, you haven’t yet experienced Twitter, here are a few points that may persuade you to do so:-
Today’s post, I must confess was triggered by this post on Character Lists in Marla Madison’s blog.
Do you remember books which listed the key characters in them? Here, for example, is a Character List from Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”
I liked this idea personally. I haven’t used this in any of my books but hope to do so in a work in progress project. In addition to the points made by Marla in her blog, I believe the following are worth keeping in mind, if you plan to use a List of Characters: Continue reading “Character Lists”
Prem Rao : Stories from a Story Teller 