Just completed Susmita Bagchi’s “Children of A Better God” published by Penguin. I had the pleasure of attending the book launch for which the distinguished author and actor, Girish Karnad was the Chief Guest. A few extracts of the book were read by eminent theatre personality, Arundathi Nag, which made us all the more eager to get home and read the novel. The book is a very good read. It touches your heart and has moments of great poignancy.
Author: Prem Rao
Author, Blogger, Book Reviewer, Coach, and Podcaster
Who hasn’t come across the pressures of parental expectations? The expectations of their parents weigh heavily on their children. Some parents want them to become what they were, others want them to become what they were not! Yet others want them to become what they think the child should become. In all this, what is often forgotten or worst still ignored, is what the child wants to become!
This news was not new! It confirmed what the people of India- and many others in the world- had known for long. The Pakistan Government had over the years aided and abetted terrorists and militants, pushing them to create chaos in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir.
I like Victoria Mixon’s phrase of ” full contact addiction” to describe how you would like your reader to hang on to your book relishing every page! We describe some books as being “simply unputdownable”, don’t we? An experienced editor, Victoria
Sharing with you some reflections from the Facebook Page for It Can’t Be You:
- The night brings out the worst in us. Fact or fiction?
- “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass” wrote Anton Chekhov
- Hare and Neumann estimated that one percent of the population are psychopaths
If you are a well-known author of best sellers, this may not apply to you. People will flock to bookstores and actively look for your books. But what if you aren’t one? Or not yet, at any rate! Most people who browse around in a bookstore are first attracted to a book by its cover, aren’t they? This really drives interest for the book.
I have an ace up my sleeve. Now that I am back in the saddle, I want to go back to the drawing board and work on the case of mistaken identity. I am willing to spend countless hours to give a down to earth description of what’s going on in the area with an ear to the ground! You get the idea, I am sure. I have used a long list of clichés!
Most introductions to authors on their website are, let’s face it, quite drab! They are conventional and say the usual things in the usual way. Recently, I came across one that grabbed my attention. I am sure it would grab yours too. It remains one of the best introductions to an author’s website that I have seen in recent times.
Is “It Can’t Be You” a whodunit? In which you keep wondering who the killer is. Is it a mystery? With a plot that makes you follow several leads. Is it historical fiction? In that the story spans historic events covering a fair amount of time. Is it a suspense story? In which you don’t know what’s coming next. Is it an action-packed thriller? That keeps you spell-bound and on the edge of your seat.
There’s an old story – origins unknown- about a traveler whose car broke down late one afternoon at the outskirts of the town. To make things worse, it was raining heavily. He got down in disgust to find that he had a flat tyre. He was in a hurry as he had to reach town for an important meeting. He saw he was in a desolate place. An old signboard told him that the adjoining grounds belonged to the local mental asylum.
Prem Rao : Stories from a Story Teller 