I met her a long time ago. Let’s call her W. In her 50s inching towards her 60th birthday she had a head full of silver streaks in her poker straight hair. A warm smile with lots of laugh lines around her eyes; a reminder of a life well lived; full of laughs and sunshine. The lines couldn’tContinue reading “Time to run…time to slow down”
Author Archives: Kanchana
Love what your write
‘Do you think I will be able to write like Murakami?” My friend Z said this to me. I’ve known her for a while; both of us with the shared love for words and books. She’s writing her debut book and rued, “I don’t write like the authors I like to read. I’m not aContinue reading “Love what your write”
How to pitch your novel
So you have finished writing the story that haunted you and kept you awake. Brilliant. That’s really a great feat accomplished. Take a break. Celebrate. You owe it. For the successful completion of phase 1 you must celebrate but do it more to gather strength for the next phase that awaits. Yes. This may sound discouragingContinue reading “How to pitch your novel”
Happy Ending
Some readers asked me, “Why didn’t you end #AFA (A Forgotten Affair) on a happy note? Why didn’t Sagarika go away with Akash – the man who clearly loves her a lot?” I truly believe when I tell them that AFA has a very happy ending. The memory-less, confused scared Sagarika emerges stronger. She confrontsContinue reading “Happy Ending”
How to start writing?
Let’s call her R. We met at Bangalore Lit fest, 2014. We were among the chosen 15 who pitched our stories to the panel of editors. She made a brilliant pitch but is yet to finish her manuscript. There’s a story in each of us. We are all born story tellers. But getting the firstContinue reading “How to start writing?”
Developing characters
Think of some characters from books you enjoyed reading. Characters that linger in your thoughts long after you closed the book. Some of mine are – Sherlock Holmes, Heathcliff, Miss Havisham (Great Expectations) and many others. Why certain characters stand out clearly in our minds is because of the minute detail authors have paid attentionContinue reading “Developing characters”
Mom! I’m coming home…
It was only when Rohan started class 11 that I began thinking about empty nest. He would leave for college in 2 years and being the only child, my husband and I would be empty nesters. I had an arranged marriage. Our parents picked the significant other from Statesman matrimonial column. We married quite early;Continue reading “Mom! I’m coming home…”
How yrs of freelance writing helped me
Why did I waste so many precious years penning newsletters, brand promo articles and stuff for publications when I should have been writing novels. Hell, if I had, I would today have nothing less than 6-7 titles to my name. This is a question I’ve often asked myself. Not so much today but when IContinue reading “How yrs of freelance writing helped me”
Find your dream. Make it happen!
Most of you who know me personally will scoff on reading this. But it’s true. I’m not a confident person. I’m just blessed with a confident countenance and that helps me get by. I used to stammer as a teen and even today sometimes I do. I feel nervous if I have to address aContinue reading “Find your dream. Make it happen!”
I’m a single tasker. And that’s fine!
I learnt a new word recently. Single tasker. A person who can do one job at a time. The word very succinctly describes me. Yes, in a world of multi-taskers, I’m odd. I am a single tasker. The multi-taskers run businesses, train for the marathon at the crack of dawn, are on the PTA committeeContinue reading “I’m a single tasker. And that’s fine!”