The blog and Hide-out of a humour writer, mom, IT professional, not necessarily in that order.
I’m pleased to share an essay of mine after quite a long gap. The HerStry blog had put out a call for submissions matching the May theme of motherhood. I sent in my submission and in ten days I got the happy news that it was accepted for publication.
You can read An Even Keel on the HerStry blog here.
Let me know what you think! If you have any work of your own to share, please drop a link in the comments below!
A few years ago, a sudden health scare drove me to the hospital for a couple of medical tests like an MRI and another to detect for TB. All came back negative and nothing worrying, but it did spark a story idea for me.
If a man suspected his wife of cheating on man, who could he approach to help solve his troubles? In my story he consults a godman, who suggests a slightly unconventional approach to detecting the wife’s infidelity.
The story I wrote called ‘The Mantoux Test’ was accepted for publication last year in the Transmundane Press’ Transcendent anthology.
Click here to read an excerpt!
This post tells the ‘story behind the story’.
And here’s my interview with The Transmundane Press.
Do let me know what you think of the excerpt! If you’ve published anything recently, feel free to drop a link in the comments below!
I have a piece of flash published in Zizzle Lit’s second issue. Just got my contributor copy yesterday and it’s beautiful!!
I would encourage everyone to submit here. They offer professional payment, and
ask for a childhood photo as well as notes on your story.
Check out their submissions guidelines here!
If you’re wondering why everything’s looking different, it’s because I changed the theme again! I hope it’s not too jarring a change but the theme really caught my eye and I changed it without even really meaning to. The last such transformation happened more than a year back so it was long overdue.
Do drop me a line with your thoughts on the new theme!
Don’t get me wrong – I love writing, especially now, despite all the gazillion rejections streaming in on a daily basis. I am finally enjoying the process, rather than indulging in the thrills of “having written.”
However there are quite a few things I don’t like about being a writer:
This is not the fault of writing of course, but it does demand intense concentration and time. The creative gene inspires ideas but the world doesn’t grant us the time to write all of them. It also takes away time from socializing in the real word – I’ve skipped many a weekend party in favour of writing.
After stealing all that time, when I sit down to write, the words that bombard my brain at all the wrong times retreat into a shell and need immense coaxing to draw them out.
The first draft of everything is crap. It may improve with practice but sometimes it’s so bad it’s better to scrap it all and start again.
In more than five years of writing and submitting, I can count only a handful of times that a piece I sent out was accepted by the first place I sent it to. My story that won 2nd place in the On The Premises contest last year is a good example of this.
The fear of rejection and submitting makes us hold on to our creative efforts, but without sending it out we’re not really taking ourselves to the next level
Writers need supreme confidence in themselves and their work so they can pitch agents and publishers and plough through despite all the rejections
Writers also need to turn a critical eye on themselves so they can humbly accept feedback and revise their work to near-perfection
The final draft is never final and even after time and distance away from it when I see it next I feel its way below par.
The struggle to find the word that exactly matches what you’re thinking of is perpetual. A thesaurus makes it easier but not always.
This is the biggest problem with writing – the easiest writing that looks the most effortless is actually the hardest to do.
How do you feel about writing these days? Anything you can add to the above list? W
This happened a month ago, which equates to probably a decade in Internet terms, but better late than never so I thought I’d share it anyway!
My humor piece An Open Letter to the Stranger Who Sent Me a Friend Request appeared in The Offing’s humor section Wit Tea. I’m so happy this piece found such an excellent home!
Do have a read and let me know what you think!
A few weeks back WordPress alerted me to my ten-year anniversary with them. It jolted me from what seemed like a decade-long slumber.
When I made the decision all those years ago to create a blog/portfolio website, I had the choice between BlogSpot and WordPress. WordPress always seemed like the easier option to me. I found it simple to navigate and set up. It had the bonus advantage of not being blocked by my office network! (In case you don’t get this bit – most Indian firms deploy site-blocking software to prevent their worker ants from goofing off at their desk)
I always intended for the site to showcase my portfolio of published work, though at the time I set it up I had very little to show for my years of (sporadic) work!
I recently upgraded to a ‘.com’ domain and regret not having done it earlier, but as they say, better late than never.
Now my plan is to build it up and make it even better. Though blogging has been sporadic due to work pressures, I still hope to post at least once per month. I generally blog about my writing – successes, failures and everything in between. Since my writing and submitting has stalled somewhat, I don’t have much to report on this front. However my reading has picked up instead, and I have posts lined up for a few books and writers that have played on my mind.
What’s happening in your life lately? Any books or articles you would like to recommend to add to my ever-growing TBR pile?
