serial fiction, serial novel

A Day In The Mall- Part 3

 

Shalini moved to call out to the family to join her but stopped short. They had just bought a pastry to silence the girl who was whining with tears in her eyes. The mother broke it into two equal pieces and gave them to the kids. She furtively licked off the cream that stuck to her fingers. Pulling out a bottle from her bag, she drank a few swigs of water and passed it to her husband. No words were spoken. It was implicitly understood that they would not spend anything on themselves. Continue reading “A Day In The Mall- Part 3” →

serial fiction, serial novel

A Day In The Mall – Part 2

“These folk look so different from most others here today,” thought Shalini as the family walked in, almost hesitatingly, into the mall. The man wore flip-flops popularly called “Hawaii” slippers. His frayed but clean clothes bore the tell-tale signs of having been washed innumerable times. By habit, she began to analyze them. Was he a junior employee in the Government? Perhaps a school teacher from a nearby village? She studied him more closely. He looked the strict type. What brought him here and who were the others with him? Continue reading “A Day In The Mall – Part 2” →

serial fiction, serial novel

A Day In The Mall — Part 1

Shalini gasped as she entered the mall, by far the biggest in this part of the country.

This happened whenever she came here though she had lived all her life in Bangalore. It was as good as any she had seen abroad which was a compliment as she had been to several countries. With innumerable boutiques, shops, food courts, gaming booths, theaters, kids’ play areas, and parking facilities spread over many levels, this mall had something for everybody.

Continue reading “A Day In The Mall — Part 1” →

On Writing: Resources for Writers

Serial Fiction: Can It Work?

From my reading, I believe the jury is still out on the question, “Can Serial Fiction Work?” As you know, serial fiction is a form of writing in which a novel is published in parts spread over time. Readers of early literature would know that authors like Charles Dickens were among the pioneers of this form of writing way back in Victorian Times. “Dombey and Son”, for example, appeared in serial form, hold your breath, 170 years ago!! That’s right. This story was written by Dickens in 1846. Thanks to theater historian, Kristan Tetens for her tweet which sent me racing to “Victorian Serial Novels.” 

Moving to present times, I was impressed by Lisa Manterfield’s offering of her free serial novel, “A Strange Companion.” . This set me thinking. Why don’t I try my hand at writing a serial novel, I asked myself.

Tom Farr writes in Medium about , ” 4 Reasons To Write Serial Fiction.” I was quite fascinated by the idea.

I have always loved to experiment and learn new things, even in the field of writing. My first two novels, “It Can’t Be You” and “Lucky For Some, 13” were published in the traditional way by publishers in India.

I also posted an anthology of short stories titled, “He Sees Everything & Other Stories” as an e-book  in Smashwords. Next came Wattpad where I published my third novel, “Let The Dead Stay Dead”. My learning from there: I should have serialized that novel.

I now aim to give writing serial fiction a shot. I have started by publishing Part 1 of a short story, “A Day The Mall” in Medium. Please do check it out and let me know what you think of it.

I am considering serializing the same story on this blog too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Authors, Book Reviews

“The Trapped Girl” by Robert Dugoni

I have read and reviewed, “The 7th Canon” by the New York Times bestselling author, Robert Dugoni elsewhere in this blog. Having enjoyed that, I eagerly took up another of his thrillers recently called, “The Trapped Girl.” This features Detective Tracy Crosswhite of the Seattle Police Dept’s Violent Crimes Section, who apparently appears in several of his books. A gripping start gets you hooked to the story. A young man illegally fishing for crab in Puget Sound finds early one morning that the unusually heavy crab pot he is hauling in was not because of large-sized crabs but because of a human body.  Continue reading ““The Trapped Girl” by Robert Dugoni” →

Authors, Book Reviews

“The Agent Runner” by Simon Conway

Another book read. Another author appreciated. This time the book is, “The Agent Runner” and the author is Simon Conway. The book has an intriguing current theme with the characters being from Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and Afghanistan. Conway served in the British Army, in the Black Watch and in the Queen’s Own Highlanders no less, so he knows based on his own experience all about clandestine warfare, sniping, terror attacks, bomb blasts and the works. This is the first book by Conway that I read but I hear he received a lot of acclaim including the CWA Steel Dagger Award in 2010. Continue reading ““The Agent Runner” by Simon Conway” →

In The News, My Take

Death, Be Not Proud!

When we were in school, I remember studying the famous sonnet, “Death Be Not Proud” by the English poet, John Donne (1572-1631) . I must have been around 13 or 14 then and this poem made a big impact at an impressionable age. The first lines remain etched in my mind though over 50 years have flown by since I first came across them. “Death, be not proud though some have called you Mighty and Dreadful, for thou art not so…” Donne mocks death and says it is not something to be feared as it happens to everyone. He concludes by personifying Death, predicting that one day Death too shall die! ” Death shall be no more. Death, thou shall die.” Continue reading “Death, Be Not Proud!” →

Authors, Book Reviews

“India After Gandhi” by Ramachandra Guha

Although this book was published in 2007 by ECCO, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, I must confess rather sheepishly that I just read, “India After Gandhi” by Ramachandra Guha-in October 2016. The by line is an apt description of the book, “The History Of The World’s Largest Democracy.”

The hard bound edition ( which my friend Divakar Kaza said would improve my biceps before I was done with this tome) runs into 759 pages, followed by nearly 100 pages of well-researched notes.  The cover flap says, “massively researched and elegantly written, India After Gandhi is at once a magisterial account of India’s rebirth and the work of a scholar at the height of his powers.” I would agree. It certainly is extensively researched and most elegantly written though I would have said, “height of his prowess” speaking of the author’s talents rather than his “powers.”  Continue reading ““India After Gandhi” by Ramachandra Guha” →

Authors, Book Reviews

“The 7th Canon” by Robert Dugoni

Peter Donley, a San Francisco lawyer, is the main protagonist of  “The 7th Canon” by the best-selling author, Robert Dugoni.  He worked for a law firm run by his uncle, Lou Giantelli in the Tenderloin District. A heart attack sends Giantelli to a hospital bed and Donley is swamped with more cases than he had bargained for. This story begins with the arrest of Father Thomas Martin whom once the San Francisco Examiner had called, “The Priest of Polk Street.” Father Tom was the antithesis of your conventional priest. He wore blue jeans with holes in the knees, had a shaved head, tattoos and a diamond-stud ear-ring. He now ran a shelter for boys which was approved by the Church.  One stormy night, as he is shutting the shelter Father Tom finds the body of Andrew Bennett, a boy who had signed in the shelter and seemed to have checked out.  He has been viciously stabbed to death. Father Tom who was the first to see the body is soon arrested as his killer by Detective Dixon Connor.  Continue reading ““The 7th Canon” by Robert Dugoni” →

Authors, Book Reviews

“The Woman in Cabin 10” by Ruth Ware

I had heard of the author Ruth Ware and her debut novel, “The Dark, Dark Wood” but hadn’t got down to reading it. I was therefore delighted to get this opportunity to read and review another thriller by her called, ” The Woman in Cabin 10.”

Laura “Lo” Blacklock is a journalist with Velocity a travel magazine. She is thrilled when she is assigned a task she seldom gets, to cover a luxury cruise on Lord Bullmer’s private cruise ship, “Aurora.” Ordinarily, her boss Rowan Lonsdale would have made the trip. However, her pregnancy came in the way of this cruise and the opportunity fell, as it were,  into Laura’s lap.  It couldn’t have been better timed because she was under tremendous stress following an argument with her long-standing boyfriend, Judah Lewis. She had also undergone a traumatic experience when a burglar had crashed into her apartment when she was having a shower. The cruise along the Scandinavian coast promised to be a most welcome change for Laura.

Everyone knew that Bullmer had the blue blood and the title but the money came from his wife Anne, the Lynstad heiress. The others on the cruise were largely his personal friends, moneyed and sophisticated, making Laurar feel a bit diffident on how she could hold her own in their midst. Fortunately for her, another passenger happens to be Ben Howard who had earlier worked with her in Velocity. Welcomed warmly aboard, Lo is assigned Cabin 9, the Linnaeus Suite, which is as charming and luxurious as the rest of the ship. The trip promised to be incredibly exciting.

The trip turns out to a terrible experience for Laura when one night she sees the body of the woman being thrown overboard from the balcony of the adjoining Cabin 10. What makes it worse is her seeing so much blood on the deck which suggests the woman must have been killed and thrown into the sea. The nightmare becomes progressively worse when no one believes her story least of all Nilsson the Security Chief of the Aurora. He and the others take pains to impress upon her that neither the passenger list or the staff roster has a woman matching the description of the one in Cabin 10 Laura gave to anyone who would listen to her.

Ware deftly carries you through the twists and turns in the fast paced story. The plot is interesting and the characters believable but one I feel that Lo Blacklock was too bitter towards everyone in the world, even when there was no need for her to be so. The story reaches an unexpected climax and leaves you totally satisfied with the read.