Did you know that publishing a book is the second highest goal in the United States? I am still in the category of being one among many who has this goal. Which makes me proud that shortly, I shall become a published author. My debut novel “It Can’t Be You” is being published by Cedar Books, imprint of Pustak Mahal, one of India’s largest publishers in a couple of months.
Author: Prem Rao
Author, Blogger, Book Reviewer, Coach, and Podcaster
This post appeared in the Facebook Page for “It Can’t Be You” but not everyone who reaches here necessarily follows that Page, right? This is about an interesting conversation I had with an old friend recently. I was asked ” How come you chose a military kind of background for your book? You weren’t in the Army were you?”. No, I wasn’t- though many seeing me and my mugshot often conclude I was!
You probably know this. Facebook has over 500 million active users. But this was in July 2010. God knows how many more have been added on since then. It is a very active social network which helps you stay connected with your friends – irrespective of where they are or what they are doing:). I have created a Facebook Page for It Can’t Be You ( or ICBY for short).
A story like this needs to come from deep within the characters. This was the premise on which I started writing “It Can’t Be You”. To give you, the reader, a sense of their thoughts and feelings, I chose to use the first person narrative for the most part of the book.
Over 2000 people from 44 countries participated in the recent 2010 Commonwealth Foundation’s Short Story competition. I am delighted to share that Anuradha Kumar won the prize in the category of Science, Technology & Society. Her short story titled ” The First Hello” is worth a read.
Thanks to a tweet by Jon Winokur’s Writers Digest, I got directed to Janet Fitch’s 10 Rules for Writing. I loved the point about sentences. I have found myself guilty of writing in almost the same way- most of the time. The need to vary sentence length has made an impact. I hope to improve. From now! Continue reading “Janet Fitch’s Rules for Writing”
“The note looked up almost accusingly at the group staring at it in shock. The Colonel’s first few words appeared to have been written in haste. Not in his clinically clean stylized handwriting. The last few words fell into an almost undecipherable scrawl which they could barely make out. It was almost illegible but it did look like the Colonel had written: “It can’t be you…”
Here’s some great advice from someone who has been there and done all that- long ago. Seth Godin. The author of many best sellers, Seth gives his advice to authors in a 2006 blog post which is worth reading/re-reading, as the case may be.
Many a saying has inspired people over generations. In the Indian Army, one of the most inspirational has been The Chetwode Motto. “The safety, honour and welfare of your country come first, always and every time. The honour, comfort and welfare of the men you command comes next. Your own ease, comfort and safety, come last always and every time”.
It’s unfortunate but many of us civilians do not have much idea of ranks in the Defence Services. This leads to awkward – and often amusing – situations. Many years ago, someone from our organisation wrote to a retired Major General of the Indian Army who was the Chief Executive of a large industrial undertaking. Unfortunately, the letter was addressed to ” Major B…” Continue reading “” Call me General, dammit!””
Prem Rao : Stories from a Story Teller 