Anju Gattani's Blog, page 9
January 20, 2012
Twitter and FB
I've often wondered about FaceBook, Twitter, tweeting and all the sweet stuff that goes with social media. I've come to realize there's no end to how much you can do. Go overboard and sometimes you can't undo it either.
The key is to find balance, sustainability and a way to endure so that the manuscript you are working on doesn't suffer. I'm still looking for that balance... any ideas?
The key is to find balance, sustainability and a way to endure so that the manuscript you are working on doesn't suffer. I'm still looking for that balance... any ideas?
January 18, 2012
Hungry Girl
Yesterday was a day of food! I spent most of my afternoon looking for equivalent low calories versions of every day high-calorie junk foods.
A recommendation to try the HungryGirl website was an instant relief. I'm talking about the research aspect and the equivalents I found.
This isn't about dieting or making do with less but balancing the high calorie ingredients that make choc chip cookies, brownies and other desserts so fulfilling with alternatives that still leave you full. I don't know if they work, but trying them out is the only way I'll find out. One food at a time!
A recommendation to try the HungryGirl website was an instant relief. I'm talking about the research aspect and the equivalents I found.
This isn't about dieting or making do with less but balancing the high calorie ingredients that make choc chip cookies, brownies and other desserts so fulfilling with alternatives that still leave you full. I don't know if they work, but trying them out is the only way I'll find out. One food at a time!
January 17, 2012
Connect
My first author talk and signing last week, Saturday, taught me a lot about what it means to be a professional author.
Readers can get the story from the pages of your book. What they are interested in is the author as a person, a real human being, and why he/she wrote the book in the first place, what will follow and what they can look forward to in the read.
Sitting in a circle with the readers, was a moment to remember... it was like coming 'full circle' to the journey that had started 9+ years ago. The rewrites and rewrites... not for me... but so that the characters on the page are clear, coherent and concise to the reader. So that I deliver the best product I can and finish with a promise.
Readers can get the story from the pages of your book. What they are interested in is the author as a person, a real human being, and why he/she wrote the book in the first place, what will follow and what they can look forward to in the read.
Sitting in a circle with the readers, was a moment to remember... it was like coming 'full circle' to the journey that had started 9+ years ago. The rewrites and rewrites... not for me... but so that the characters on the page are clear, coherent and concise to the reader. So that I deliver the best product I can and finish with a promise.
January 13, 2012
Believe
It's so easy, when you've written and rewritten your work, to finally sit back and give it all up because you feel like it's going nowhere (at least that's what you think). Heck, it's happened to me so many times. I've done it sooooooooooo many times.
Every time I did, my characters would haunt me in my nightmares, as if to say... (and they did)... "If you give up on us, then who will tell our story?"
For a book... any book, the author is the voice and the pillar which holds it all up. The moment he/she stops believing in the work, it dies. Because authors create the characters (or characters come to them), because authors work on the plot and continue to engage in chain reactions of the story, it is only the author who can carry it through. The author is the voice of all the components to the story, in parts and in sum.
I write because the 'voices in my head' talk to me and tell me their stories. And when I talk back, my voice is to the readers. I am an author because of my readers. The readers give me courage to 'voice' my characters' thoughts and emotions. And I have no choice but to voice, believe and keep moving on.
Every time I did, my characters would haunt me in my nightmares, as if to say... (and they did)... "If you give up on us, then who will tell our story?"
For a book... any book, the author is the voice and the pillar which holds it all up. The moment he/she stops believing in the work, it dies. Because authors create the characters (or characters come to them), because authors work on the plot and continue to engage in chain reactions of the story, it is only the author who can carry it through. The author is the voice of all the components to the story, in parts and in sum.
I write because the 'voices in my head' talk to me and tell me their stories. And when I talk back, my voice is to the readers. I am an author because of my readers. The readers give me courage to 'voice' my characters' thoughts and emotions. And I have no choice but to voice, believe and keep moving on.
January 12, 2012
Energy
I've often wondered where writers get the energy from to continue writing the books of their heart?
Writing can be emotionally draining, tiring and sometimes the blank page stares at you waiting... waiting... waiting for something to happen. And when the words don't come, you start thinking you're losing it - the mojo to write, right?
And then you meet people who believe in your books and your writing the way you've momentarily forgotten to do so yourself. You wake up, you open your eyes and you realize....
You are a writer. And the energy to believe in this comes from those around you.
Writing can be emotionally draining, tiring and sometimes the blank page stares at you waiting... waiting... waiting for something to happen. And when the words don't come, you start thinking you're losing it - the mojo to write, right?
And then you meet people who believe in your books and your writing the way you've momentarily forgotten to do so yourself. You wake up, you open your eyes and you realize....
You are a writer. And the energy to believe in this comes from those around you.
January 11, 2012
Enthusiasm
Enthusiasm can be infectious... almost contagious. I realized this recently when readers shared their opinions of my debut novel, DUTY AND DESIRE, over social media and close friends took the time to call me on the phone and talk about how they loved the book.
I could hear it in their words, their voices, and after having been so drained myself - after a 9-year journey... to see that initial enthusiasm spark in the reader and then come full circle back to me.
What a moment, what a revelation... what a thrill to be a writer. The journey is long, lonely, hard and painful... but in the end it's worth it!
I could hear it in their words, their voices, and after having been so drained myself - after a 9-year journey... to see that initial enthusiasm spark in the reader and then come full circle back to me.
What a moment, what a revelation... what a thrill to be a writer. The journey is long, lonely, hard and painful... but in the end it's worth it!
January 10, 2012
Author Events
With 2 author events just round the corner... I've been thinking.
What would readers like for me to talk about? What do people take interest in outside the boundaries of the written word and story telling?
What is it readers look for when they turn the pages of a novel, or click their ereading devices on? And what are they hoping to escape - momentarily - from?
Why do you like to read?
What would readers like for me to talk about? What do people take interest in outside the boundaries of the written word and story telling?
What is it readers look for when they turn the pages of a novel, or click their ereading devices on? And what are they hoping to escape - momentarily - from?
Why do you like to read?
January 9, 2012
Research
Hi all!
I've often wondered how much search it takes to finally get the research done for a book. I'm working on my 3rd novel and on the last leg of research. But the more I learn the more I want to learn and I'm suddenly unsure how much is enough.
I know the goals ahead, I also know the requirements to fit and shape the characters' needs but as I'm learning and growing (inside) I'm unsure if what I had originally planeed for my character will be enough.
How much research do you think is enough? When does the search stop?
I've often wondered how much search it takes to finally get the research done for a book. I'm working on my 3rd novel and on the last leg of research. But the more I learn the more I want to learn and I'm suddenly unsure how much is enough.
I know the goals ahead, I also know the requirements to fit and shape the characters' needs but as I'm learning and growing (inside) I'm unsure if what I had originally planeed for my character will be enough.
How much research do you think is enough? When does the search stop?
