Rati Mehrotra's Blog, page 8

Camping in the not-so-wild

Remind me again why I go camping. Yes, I know it’s a very Canadian thing to do, back-to-nature and all that. But really, from my point of view, nature is best enjoyed from the civilized shelter of a train, trundling sedately through the forest, giving the occasional glimpse of blue lake and black bear. For example, take the Budd car between Sudbury and White River. Just gorgeous and highly recommended! Seriously. Go travel on it before they shut it down like they’re shutting down all the trai...

April Blues (Def. not greens…)

April, and it’s been snowing. I know, I know – a long cold winter is only to be expected at these latitudes. Jet streams abound, polar air hangs around the city, and even  in April, when one perks up and starts expecting tulips and daffodils, one gets freezing temperatures instead. And snow. I was in the park the other day, because it was ‘partly sunny’, which meant that it clouded up as soon as I got there. Not a trace of tulips. Just cold gray everything. And freezing wind. Whine.

Anyway, t...

Markswoman Fan Art by Ava

Fan art is the greatest compliment a writer can get. I am so pleased and honored to share these lovely sketches by the talented young artist Ava. All are characters from my book Markswoman– the main character Kyra Veer, the Marksmen Rustan and Shurik, and – my favorite – the deadly Tamsyn, Mistress of Mental Arts of the Order of Kali. Thank you, Ava – you’ve really made my day! I enjoyed these very much.

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Kyra, Shurik and Rustan

 

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February Reads and News

I have things to share! And I’d better share them right now before drowning in taxes. Yes, it’s that time of the year, which I hate most. Why do I have to waste my time doing these horrible, boring things? Oh, miserable me! But first, some good stuff that I’ve read lately.

My favorite read so far this year is actually a children’s book written in 1986 – Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, best known for the popular Chrestomanci series. It was made into an animated film in 2004 by Studi...

Markswoman Book Release Day!

Happy Book Release Day to me! You can imagine me singing that to the tune of ‘Happy Birthday’. It’s a dark and foggy Tuesday here in Toronto, and I have all kinds of tedious errands to run, but I’m doing them with a grin on my face. Fly, my pretty, fly!

I have an interview up at The Qwillery today in which I talk about my book, the characters, and my inspirations, in case you’re interested.

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This is my box of lovely author copies. They look, smell and feel delicious! I’m doing a little launc...

Looking back, and looking ahead

Okay, this is my last post of the year, I promise. I like to do a writerly round-up of all that I have written and published, but this has been the year of the NOVEL, and I can talk of very little else. Markswoman, the book I started writing eight years ago, will be out next month (gulp). I spent much of the year revising and editing Markswoman, and madly writing the 120k sequel. No doubt, much of next year will be spent revising said sequel.

Markswoman is in Barnes & Nobles most anticipated...

A White Christmas in my Hometown

We have a white Christmas in Lucknow, by which I mean fog blankets the city. Lucknow might be only 0.58% Christian, but the malls are filled with Santas and tall, tottering Christmas trees. Christchurch is beautifully lit up, and just about every store has tacky little Santa decorations and balloons.

My hometown – and indeed the entire country – is a melting pot that cheerfully celebrates every holiday without undue regard for religion. There are 21 holidays a year in India, or more, dependi...

Goodbye December

Today it struck me that I have a book coming out next month (yay!) and I haven’t revamped my website since 2013. Published writers tend to have more professional-looking websites, no? The landing page is usually a static page with nice pictures of their novels and the links to buy them. I was convinced for around two hours that I simply had to change the look of my website.

And then I read this piece by Sofia Samatar and changed my mind. I mean, I might change it again, but I think my websit...

Join me at SFContario, Toronto

A (hopefully) exciting weekend coming up! I will be SFContario, Toronto’s annual SF/F convention. The full schedule is here. I will be reading from my upcoming book Markswoman on Saturday afternoon, and I will have (yay!) bookmarks to give away. I’ve never traveled for conventions (though that may change next year) so this is my annual opportunity to geek out with like-minded folk about aliens, magic, books, and science-y stuff.

This is my schedule, and it looks like a busy and fun Saturday....

November Reads and Reviews

November. That time of year when the days get short, the evenings long and dark. Perfect for cuddling up with a good book! Or several good books. So here is a small selection of my recent reads to tickle your fancy.

For kids, big and small:

[image error]The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo
This 2004 Newbery Medal award winner is a story about a mouse, a rat, a maid, and a princess. It is a beautifully told story which brought tea...