Indian writers - Say hello

arramiah1

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Hi Everyone! I am a writer in Chennai. I have been writing in Tamil, a couple of short stories in magazines, a couple online and so on. Unfortunately, the Tamil commercial market for short stories or novels disappeared with the advent of cable television. Magazines, which used to support commercial writing now provide half a page for a "story". The literary magazines publish "serious" stories, but they cater to a different market. So the entire popular fiction area in Tamil disappeared. Big publishers do not even publish fiction. It would be a miracle if a book sold 500 copies.
Last year, therefore, I decided to write one of my ideas as a screenplay. I completed it in 8 months. It was set in the 500 AD and I immediately realized that was a problem.
But there were much bigger issues. In Tamil movies, there are no agents; and directors write their own scripts. Therefore there is no "scriptwriter" separately. If you wrote a script, you have to try to become a director. The production houses like UTV won't even touch your script unless you are an assistant director.
I had no intention of directing movies.
So, the commercial story market does not exist. And no scriptwriters. Which means that my role as a Tamil writer does not even exist. I have decided to publish straight to my blog, since more people read it that way. I get about 2000 visitors per month for one of my short stories; which is a relief.
This year, I decided to try my hand at an English novel. I did not like the decision, but tried it anyway. Completed a 55,000 word novel in 4 months and sent off the synopsis and first three chapters to a big publisher here. After 5 weeks, they asked for a full manuscript, which was great! It has been 6 weeks today after that, I am praying for good news.
I have not gone completely crazy in these weeks because I started writing a small Tamil novella - even though nobody is going to publish it. That has been progressing well till now.
I really, really wish Tamil commercial writing market can get back to the glory days from 50s to 80s. It does not bode well for writers if it does not - A language needs popular fiction to maintain its relevance, I think.
 

Animad345

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I'm British Indian- my parents were born in India (Delhi and Agra respectively), but my sister and I were brought up in England. It's nice to meet you all! :)
 

Wilde_at_heart

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My spouse's parents are from India and I'm from Toronto most recently - where there is a sizable Indian population.. I have in-laws who live in Bandra and stayed there last spring when I went to Mumbai.

I'm British Indian- my parents were born in India (Delhi and Agra respectively), but my sister and I were brought up in England. It's nice to meet you all! :)

My late father-in-law was born in Agra. He was of Goan background though.
 

WriterBN

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Hi all,

I used to live in Bombay (back when it was still called Bombay). I'm working on a collection of short stories set in Bombay that will be out by the end of next month (I hope).

I've lived in the US for 20+ years now, but it's hard to get Bombay out of your blood.
 

RichardAnderson

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Hey...

Hey - Nice to see this thread. I'm someone who's just started doing what he's been threatening to do for a while - write. I'm a banker by profession and currently based in Mumbai - drop by and say hi.
 

padnar

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Hey - Nice to see this thread. I'm someone who's just started doing what he's been threatening to do for a while - write. I'm a banker by profession and currently based in Mumbai - drop by and say hi.
Hi to you by Padma Narayanaswamy
 

Ananya

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I live in the US but am have written a literary novel based in India. Have queried a few agents and am awaiting their response.
 

Ananya

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Congrats on the forthcoming publication of your book of short stories set in Bombay! Glad to see another desi soul slaving away on something like short stories! My book is literary fiction, set in Darjeeling... Trying to find an agent, but have only received kind rejections so far.
 

bookworm92

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Hi! I'm an NRI who lives in Singapore but I'm currently studying in India. I'm working on my first novel right now.
 

writingale

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Great to meet you all :)

Hello resident and NRI friends,
I am Radhika Meganathan, children's/YA author based in Chennai. I have published a few picture books and short stories in publications like Tulika, Hachette India and Chandamama, and am currently working on a series of novels. I blog at www.radhikameganathan.in

I am always looking for Indian children's writers/YA to interview. Please drop in and if you are a children's writer, do consider participating in my Chapter book challenge 12x12, where I attempt to write one chapter book every month, starting from Jan 2014 :)

R
 
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Dantai

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I recently discovered a brilliant Indian writer by the name of Shombuddha Majumdar who I'm publishing in an upcoming volume of Argosy. I'll have to let him know about this thread!
 

carey

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Neil Must Die

Hello fellow Indians!
Though I have just had to adopt another country's citizenship, my heart, mind and soul belongs to India and so I AM and Indian.
My first novel, Neil Must Die, was written in India.
It is a brave story of silent rebellion, desperate escapism, self-destruction – and thunderous passion.

The book begins on a rather unconventional note of incest, when Neil falls in love with his newly-wedded sister-in-law, Tuli, forcing seeds of suspicion and spilling blasphemy into the conservative Bengali family. Thereafter, he runs away from the chaos, drowning himself in lies and false assurances, only to discover that Tuli is pregnant with his child – and all becomes clear. His fears and doubts evaporate, and he sets out to make life wonderful for Tuli and their child, completely unaware that, even with the impending battle he has to fight, it is written in stone that he must die.

But I sat with the unpublished book for 10 years, since publishing it really never crossed my mind. Until I left the country and settled down in Canada. It was on my friend’s insistence that I approached the publishers, and Neil Must Die was published by Trafford, USA, in 2010.
However, Neil’s story was written in India and began and ended in India. So when Blackbuck Publishers from India contacted me to re-publish Neil Must Die in India, I realized Neil, the novel’s main protagonist, had come a full circle. I let go of her novel and it was re-published in India in June, 2013.

Neil Must Die has been reviewed and featured in a number of newspapers in Canada and India. But it received its “15 minutes of fame” when it got an exclusive review in Desh, the most prestigious literary magazine in the country.

Now, Neil Must Die is about to be featured at the New Delhi Literary Festival, starting Feb 7-9, 2014, at Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts and New Delhi World fair starting February 15-23, 2014, at Pragati Maidan.


I sincerely hope you guys find time to get a copy of this novel and read. See, authors don't make much money unless they are J.K. Rowlings and Jhumpa Lahiris. I just want people to read it, connect with the characters, let me know what you feel about the ending, and give me your opinions. I will really value and treasure them.

It's price is below Rs 200 and available online at Flipkart, Homeshop18 and Crossword (imported version), mostly. Also available at various book shops in New Delhi & Mumbai.
HTML:
[IMG]http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1374333434l/12220551.jpg[/IMG][http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1374333434l/12220551.jpg].
[/RIGHT]
 Cheers and best wishes!
Kaberi Chatterjee
 
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carey

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Hi Sameer, so nice to meet you. I am a blogger, copywriter and wannabe-novelist. I stay in Kolkata. You?

Hi Schttrj,

Ooops! That was some name!!:D Nevertheless, just to let you know that I am a publisher and we give special attention to first time authors. Please check out our company website, FinalDraft, and let me know if you like it.
I too am from Kolkata, btw. :)
 
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noorilhuda

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Not an Indian - but namaste! hello!

Just wanted to say hi just the same!
 

Nikhar

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Hi everyone,
I'm Nikhar Agrawal. Currently pursuing my B.Tech. from IIIT-Hyderabad. This is my last year in college. I joined this forum recently as a means of rekindling my interest in writing. Not that I'm much good. But I like to try and I love people's opinions.