More often than not, my blog posts are not planned but come about through some trigger, usually from something I saw or read. Today’s is no exception. The inspiration comes from this interesting article in the New York Times by Edward Kelsey Moore, ” At 52, Not Too Old for a Debut Novel.” Continue reading “Too Old To Write?”
A couple of weeks ago, when I read the date on my newspaper I remembered that on June 6, 1944, the first of the Allied troops had landed on the beachhead at Normandy. This was a date no Second World War buff, like me, could ever forget.
Only today, I came across these awesome hitherto unpublished pictures taken by “Life” photographer, Frank Scherschel in an article in The Daily Mail. Memories are funny things. One thing leads to another and my mind was soon flooded by memories of that classic movie, “The Longest Day”. Continue reading “Authors I Admired: Cornelius Ryan”
Today is the death anniversary of Manohar Malgonkar, whom I consider to be one of India’s finest writers in English. Here’s my small tribute to him in my writing blog, ” Writing To Be Read.”
I am not too sure how many of today’s generation would read or would have read Manohar “Mac” Malgonkar or for that matter even heard of him. As a kid I was very fond of his writing and even today I consider him one of India’s finest writers. This is a small tribute to him as his death anniversary dawns on June 14. He passed away at the ripe old age of 97 in 2010. Continue reading “Authors I Admired: Manohar Malgonkar”
I write of the book buying experience in India, though the principles are the same the world over. In the old days, if you wanted to buy a book, you had to drive down to the shopping area to get one from a bookstore. You sort of pottered around, read a little, browsed through a few books and came away with whatever books you chose to buy. It was an enjoyable experience but it took a lot of time.
With time becoming at a premium, things changed with the advent of the online portals like Flipkart and the like. They offered many advantages. You didn’t have to go hunting for a book, not sure whether the bookstore has it in stock or not. You ordered it online and it reached you in reasonable time at reasonable cost. You can pre-order books too so that you get them much earlier than most. I have an article on this in my writing blog, Writing To Be Read.
Now comes news that the biggest online player of them all, Amazon.com has begun servicing retailers in India through Amazon.in.
I am pleased to see that ” Lucky For Some, 13″ can now also be ordered through Amazon.in.
I am delighted to find ” Writing To Be Read” listed amongst the Top Indian Blogs for 2012-13. This is a listing of 541 best blogs in English about India/by Indians. This blog has given me great pleasure as I share thoughts, experiences and links about books, authors and the craft of writing. This is just the start, there is so much more to be done.
They say it’s a good idea some times to stay away from your work in progress for a while and look at things anew. I am not sure whether I took this bit of advice a little too seriously as it has been a month or two since I picked up the threads of my third thriller, ” Let The Dead Stay Dead.” Continue reading “Picking Up The Threads”
When the door bell rang one evening and outside stood a courier chappie with a packet in hand, I wondered which book this could be. It came as a pleasant surprise to find the packet contained Kalki Krishnamurthy’s Tamil novel, “Sivakamiyin Sabadham,” translated into English in four volumes by Nandini Vijayaraghavan. Continue reading ““Sivakamiyin Sabadham”: Translated into English for you.”
How does your novel start? Is the first line memorable? Does it grab the attention of the reader? In my debut novel, a psychological thriller, “It Can’t Be You” I wanted to start by telling the reader about an important event that had taken place in as concise and impactful manner as I could. The result:” The man was dead.” Continue reading “The First Line”
No one expects terror strikes in broad day light in England. Such attacks have been a few and far between. We were shocked to hear about a recent attack in Woolwich in which a young British soldier , Drummer Lee Rigby, was beheaded. What was more shocking was that his assailants made no effort to escape. They stood there and proudly proclaimed their motive for killing the soldier. I am sure they had nothing against him personally but to them he represented something they were against. Continue reading “Radicalisation and the new face of terror.”
Prem Rao : Stories from a Story Teller 