Hemanth Gorur's Blog, page 7

Essentials Of Genre Writing: Part I – Thrillers

This is a guest blog by Yawatta Hosby, writer and blogger. This post is the first of a 2-part series on the basics of genre writing. Over to Yawatta.

Thank you, Hemanth, for allowing me to be a guest on your blog again!

The paranormal and thriller genres seem to be really hot right now. If you’re a writer wishing to write in any of these genres, there are some hygiene factors you may need to ensure. Apart from this, make sure you do more research on the topic, and marry it with your imagination. This is Part I of this blog post series where we will look at the thriller genre.

Firstly, make sure you raise the stakes. Have the heroes and villains be intelligent enough so that neither can upstage the other easily. If readers are constantly worried about the good guys’ safety, then they will stay entertained. If something is solved, then create a new problem that needs to be fixed. A resolution shouldn’t occur until the ending.

Use logic. Use facts. Build mystery and ask questions that will get readers thinking. Readers of this genre love solving puzzles.

Also, think long and hard about your plot. What are the crucial moments in your story? Make sure every scene enhances the plot and isn’t just there as a filler. Are the events in your story realistic? Most likely, you’ll have to do a little research to ensure that your story is believable.

Don’t sugarcoat events and don’t be afraid to push the boundaries. With thrillers, readers want to feel exhilarated. If you don’t write about controversial or taboo topics because you don’t want to upset anyone, then you’ve missed the whole point of the genre. Don’t have your villains accomplishing hardly anything, whereby no one would be scared of them in real life.

Most significantly, don’t slow down the action or plot development by providing massive information dumps or excessive back-stories of your characters. Show, don’t tell. Your story will lose shock value if your readers are skimming over some of the narrative to get back to the action. Let your characters’ actions, body language, and dialogue show their personalities instead of telling the reader straight out.

Lastly, don’t write purple prose. Sex scenes can be avoided with this genre. Romance, in general, isn’t necessary for these types of stories, but it doesn’t mean it has to be avoided at all costs.

Are there any tips you’ve learned along the way that you’d like to share? Do write in.

Keep smiling,

Yawatta Hosby

Yawatta Hosby enjoys connecting with other writers through blogging. A Writer’s Blog shares book reviews, writing tips, and tidbits of her publishing journey. With a desire to escape every day life, she creates novels, novellas, and short stories. She has always had a fascination with psychology, so she likes to focus on the inner struggles within her characters. Yawatta is also an avid reader. Favorite genres: mystery, thriller, horror, and women’s fiction.

Sneak Preview :: Chapter Two (Snippet 10)

By reading this Sneak Preview, you are hereby agreeing to this blog’s Purpose and Policy.

Read the previous Sneak Preview.

Sneak Preview :: Chapter Two (Snippet 10)

Dodging late afternoon traffic on Lavelle Road, Sanya’s cab swung right into Grant Road, a tony neighborhood in the Central Business District. As she looked up, a familiar sight greeted her – the towering UB City skyscraper – on her right. Pausing to let a gray BMW sedan pass in the opposite direction, the cab cut across the road to enter the mall complex and approached the glassed entrance.

The cab driver had just begun to lean across the window to converse with the security guard when a flash of green in front of the car caught Sanya’s eye. It was Tej’s Chevrolet! The dent in the rear bumper was unmistakable. Before she could react, the fast-moving hatchback had disappeared around the rear end of the mall complex. What was Tej doing here at this time? Furrowing her brows, she barked an order to the cab driver to follow the hatchback. The cab circled the complex to reach the entry ramp of the parking lot in the cellar.

Paying the cab driver, Sanya ran down the spiraling ramp with more than the usual abandon, her mind racing. Level -2 would always be sparsely occupied at this time and that was where Tej would have parked his car. Easing into a light jog, she looked around swiftly across the expanse of Level -2. The Chevrolet was nowhere in sight. Time was of essence. Tej could wait. Sanya turned and headed towards the bank of elevators towards the north end of the parking area. She had a lot of questions for Anuj. Questions he had not answered two years back.

Coming soon: the next Sneak Preview.

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The July 2013 Giveaway

Ever had people tell you that “there are no free lunches in this world”? Well, don’t believe them. Welcome to the July 2013 Giveaway contest here at Aymaran Shadow.

Like the book page on Facebook, follow this blog, post a comment, follow the author on Twitter, or tweet about this giveaway, and you stand to win $10 Amazon Gift Cards. Winners are chosen in a Rafflecopter draw.

And, that’s not all. Every entrant is gifted with a FREE ebook copy of Aymaran Shadow, so that you can join Sanya Rawat as she mounts a tense psychological war against two macabre stalkers!

You can enter the giveaway here: July 2013 Giveaway, or by visiting the contest page on this blog under ‘EVENTS’.

So, hurry! The giveaway ends on July 25th, 2013. Remember, you can increase your chances of winning those gift cards by doing more than 1 task.

The Day Sanya Came Alive

Read the previous post in the Behind The Scenes series: Is Reincarnation Even Possible?

A fellow writer recently asked me what made Sanya special (read the full interview). It was a question I had not dwelt on consciously during the writing of Aymaran Shadow. But it was a question that triggered another: How did Sanya Rawat (the protagonist of Aymaran Shadow) come into being?

As I sat back and reflected, it was evident Sanya was not born in a character file or one of those creative exercises that writers usually conduct to give birth to their characters.

No, Sanya had already been born long before I even finalized the plot for Aymaran Shadow. For me, as her creator, and in that sense, her “father”, Sanya was a “collision of personalities” I have come across in my life. She had been conceived at an indeterminate moment in the labyrinths of my mind and exploded onto the scene conveniently when it came to choosing a personality to represent my plot’s protagonist.

She was someone who was malleable enough to suit the requirements of the protagonist as required by the plot, even as she dictated the plot itself. Not unusually, I found it was more of the latter as the plot progressed, which strengthened my belief that I had chosen the right personality as the protagonist for my plot. For, if the personality of the protagonist is at odds with the requirements of the plot, it is immediately evident in the narrative’s direction and credibility.

There are certain aspects where this resonance between protagonist and plot stood out. For instance, the plot required a thinking individual that grappled with vulnerabilities in her makeup. Sanya was a Psychology student with an instinctive slant for analysis. Her outward hardiness was tempered by her inner frailties as a person who has to be on guard due to her sex.

The plot also demanded a protagonist sensitive to rapidly unfolding events and swift in response to uncertainty. Sanya responded beautifully to this call of the pen. Her penchant and ability to “out-think” adversaries went a long way in sealing the issue in favor of Sanya as the protagonist.

Perhaps, what turned the dial towards her the most was the fact that she was a girl who was a proclaimed and vocal feminist, but deep within her, she harbored all the insecurities that a normal girl her age would. Insecurities that besiege women as they grapple with the hard realities of a world that lurks, fantasizes, stalks, assaults, and attempts to brutalize a gender known to be the “gentler” sex.

So much so that, at points in the narrative, Sanya despairs over her physical attractiveness and bodily perfections.

It is this vulnerability, coupled with, oddly, her resilience, that makes Sanya real. And perfect for the plot. Perfect, because she had to battle the legacy of her past life. A legacy that was not hers to begin with, but was thrust upon her by a destiny not known to be remorseful. A legacy that was thrust upon her by my pen. A legacy which threatened to suck her very life away if only to sadistically mirror her fate in her previous life. Regardless of the outcome, destiny would morbidly laugh its way into her life every time she thought she had prevailed.

And thus it was that Sanya was born. Into a hellish world called Aymaran Shadow.

Coming soon: the next post in the Behind The Scenes series.

Social Media in the Modern Narrative

This is a guest blog by Alex Hurst, author of The Bell Tower. Over to Alex.

A strange notification on your feed. A stranger trying to add you on Facebook. Being ‘followed’ by a macabre avatar on Twitter.

In our lives, these small events happen daily, and they are usually brushed off or even encouraged by a massive online community that does little to protect privacy or the locations of its members.

In Aymaran Shadow, Hemanth Gorur uses the social media platform Facebook to drive the plot forward, building suspense through cryptic messages left by those we know next to nothing about. The protagonist uses her connection to these unknowns to try and understand the truth of a terrible reality unfolding in her life. She often pits them against each other as well, using her knowledge of human psychology.

The effect on the narrative is brilliant and timely. In a world where you can’t really know everyone you friend, follow and link-in with, how much of ourselves are we leaving vulnerable? How do we decide who we can really trust with our personal information? How do we really know who has access to what we share?

Only a decade or so ago, fear of the stranger could only be accomplished through mysterious phone calls or back alley stalkers. Men sitting in the corner of a bar. Threatening letters made out of cut up magazine type. Most of what we were given to fear was attached entirely to gender stereotypes. Aymaran Shadow doesn’t give us even that most basic grounding, as the gender of the assailant is not a given. Faceless people without origin connect with the protagonist and we must constantly re-evaluate who or what ought to be feared, believed or accepted as fact. With little to no reassurance of what is truth, the story forces the reader to grapple with the same uncertainty the heroine faces, thus intensifying and prolonging the tension until its thrilling climax.

Social media in the modern narrative is a new fountain of possibility for contemporary authors. Imagining all of the different ways we can be taken advantage of online, through individuals, ex-lovers, stalkers, our jobs, the government and even hacker groups taps into a new potential level of stakes to be gained or lost in the fictional narrative. Scandals, stolen identities and blackouts are just a few of thousands that come to mind.

I’d like to end this post by thanking Mr. Hemanth Gorur for inviting me to guest blog over here. If you’re interested in getting to know more about me, feel free to drop by my blog at Memoirs of Here-After: Musings from the East. I’d be happy to have you. -Alex

Aymaran Shadow can be purchased on Amazon or Smashwords. You can also like it on Facebook.

Book Review – by Wendy Jones

Tense Supernatural Thriller

. . . The tension and terror in this book is almost palpable. The author uses words well to ramp up the tension. I felt that I could picture evil itself. At every stage I found myself reading and wondering what would happen next. I did not expect the ending, especially the final twist. I found myself rooting for Sanya and hoping she would win over the evil surrounding her. I would highly recommend this book. Even if this is not the type of book you usually read then give it a go. You could be pleasantly surprised . . .

Wendy Jones

Kindle Book Reviewer

Read the full review here: on Wendy’s blog, on Amazon.

Weekend Offer for July 6th and 7th

The launch copy of Aymaran Shadow is available FREE for a limited period for all book lovers. Aymaran Shadow is a paranormal fiction novel that dishes out horror, violation, retribution and lust.

The Smashwords Edition (e-book) and Kindle Edition are up for grabs at a “100% OFF” offer running till Sunday, 7th July.

For Smashwords: use Coupon Code VH32T to redeem your free copy

For Amazon: write to hemanthg1975@gmail.com to get your Gift Card to be redeemed against a free copy of the book

Hurry! The limited period offer expires on Sunday, 7th July. Just 2 days left!!

Sneak Preview :: Chapter Two (Snippet 9)

By reading this Sneak Preview, you are hereby agreeing to this blog’s Purpose and Policy.

Read the previous Sneak Preview.

Sneak Preview :: Chapter Two (Snippet 9)

Bangalore , India

Present day

Her sleek blue Nokia Lumia almost fell off the table, vibrating with an urgency that Sanya Rawat had seldom seen. The university cafeteria was sparsely populated, with the odd yuppie group milling about with no express purpose. The late afternoon sun made the vintage glass windows sparkle like vertical walls of shimmering water.

As she uncrossed her legs and bent over to read the incoming number, Sanya’s heart jumped a beat. The number was unknown, yet oddly familiar. She was sure she had known the number, but just could not put a face to it. Sliding the touch-screen interface, she pressed the phone to her ear as she reached for her mug of coffee on the triangular table in front of her.

“Sanya, Anuj.”

Sanya froze.

“Sorry, who again?”

“Anuj. Anuj Chaddha.”

The coffee mug almost slipped from Sanya’s hands. It could not be him. “Oh, hi Anuj. I couldn’t recognize your voice,” she stammered, her mind racing, searching for things to say. It was her senior from college who had graduated two years earlier.

“That’s okay. How have you been?”

“Oh, I’m pretty good. I’m really surprised. Imagine getting your call after all these years.”

“Can we meet at UB Mall in half an hour?”

Sanya was bewildered. “Sure. Didn’t know you were in town. How’s everything?”

“Tell you when we meet. See you there.”

As she replaced her phone on the table, Sanya frowned. Anuj had been uncharacteristically brief. His voice had acquired a slight nasal twang. She didn’t like the developments. For a fleeting moment, she was transported to their days of unconsummated romance – a love that had not really blossomed. At least, Anuj had shown no interest, save the occasional indulgent glance.

Sanya had always mooned over her college hero whose wavy hair and dimpled smile somehow made up for all that snootiness. She had loved that the object of her desire was athletic, not beefy like most other guys in her peer group. And she had reconciled herself to the fact that her knees invariably went weak whenever she heard his deep Germanic voice. Her idea of heaven then had been to allow herself to be cradled by his muscular arms and nestle into his broad manly chest, her fingers tracing every sinewy ripple on his back.

With a start, Sanya broke out of her reverie, unable to bear the scalding heat. She had tipped the coffee mug in her hand and the steaming hot liquid had spilt over, causing red welts on her casually manicured fingers. Sucking on them to ease the burning pain, she got up and opened the list of received calls on her phone to see the calling number again. What did he want to talk to her about after all these years?

Coming soon: the next Sneak Preview.

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Author interview – by Yawatta Hosby

June 26th, 2013

Aymaran Shadow, a paranormal thriller that essays the chilling story of a woman destined to be violated in every lifetime, has opened to enthusiastic reviews by critics and readers alike. Yawatta Hosby, a writer and blogger, interviews Hemanth Gorur, author of Aymaran Shadow. Yawatta resides in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. She teaches creative writing through the Adult Education Program, and enjoys connecting with other writers through blogging. With a desire to escape every day life, she creates short stories, novellas, and novels. She has always had a fascination with psychology, so she likes to focus on the inner-struggles within her characters. She’s also an avid reader, her favorite genres being mystery, thriller, horror, and women’s fiction.

Yawatta Hosby: I would like to welcome my special guest Hemanth Gorur, author of Aymaran Shadow. Please enjoy his insightful interview.

Do you have any advice for other writers trying to get published?

For aspiring writers, I’d say, do not write with the market in mind. Of course you need to do your basic research in terms of which genres are crowded and where are the white spaces. But you don’t want to be a me-too. Your work will soon get commoditized. If you want to set yourself up for the long-term, don’t be risk-averse but steel yourself for the hard grind ahead.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

I love my readers and they’re what keep any author going. It’s no longer a publisher’s world. Readers carry immense power in saying what a good story should be like. They’re far more aware of and have strong preferences for writing styles that resonate with how they think, than used to be the case even five years back. Readers should come out in far more numbers and voice their support for their favorite authors, so that we can keep giving back what they love most – a good lip-smacking story to devour.

What are your thoughts on the fact that both trade and self-published authors have to promote their own work?

It’s as much a question of ‘want to’ as it is of ‘have to’. With the unprecedented success of e-books and e-publishing, it is far easier today for self-published authors (most of whom prefer e-publishing) to devote more time and effort towards making readers aware of their work. You have more control over how you want to converse with your readers and what you want to be seen as. Traditionally published authors do not seem to have that kind of imperative bearing down on them. But if I’m really pushed on this question, I’d much rather just write.

What genre do you write for? Your favorite aspect? Your least favorite aspect?

Paranormal/horror, psychological thrillers, historical fiction (for now). Trepidation and fearful excitement to my mind are the least explored of all emotions expected in readers when they read a book. I love bringing those to the fore. I love dabbling in human psychology. There’s nothing I dislike about the genre, except perhaps that it might get a little gory or twisted at times and may not be suitable for all ages/inclinations.

What are your current/next projects?

I’m excited about my next. It’s probably going to be a historical fiction with paranormal elements and will be the second book in my Eternal Visitation Series. It’ll have a completely different plot-line as compared to Aymaran Shadow, which was the first of the series and was recently published.

Do you prefer to work alone or with critique partners/beta-readers?

I love critique partners, but I consciously do not have too many. Ditto with beta-readers. I’m choosy about who I work with, and it’s for a reason – I need to trust that individual to identify with my entire vision for the book. End of day, writing is a very private affair – much like making love – you don’t want to be too promiscuous! That said, I love being part of anthologies, and in general shooting the breeze with fellow authors. There’s a lot you can learn by just talking to a fellow writer or genuine critic.

How do you find time to write?

I’d ask myself what I’d do if I didn’t write. I’ll have a hard time answering that. So, for me, it’ s never a question of “finding time to write”. I’ll go so far as to say, I write because if I personally did whatever my characters do, I’d be incarcerated on an island in the Pacific! So you don’t want me not writing. Seriously speaking, I do it for a living so it’s not too hard to make time.

Did you always want to become an author?

Not in my wildest dreams. But I’m glad I did!

Is there any writing rituals you complete before creating your manuscripts/drafts?

Rituals . . . I think!  Not something I’m fond of doing if I’m not writing! Seriously speaking, I draw up excel graphs. I like to look at where I am and where I’m headed.

Do you write the beginning/opening first or do you tend to write out of order (with whatever scenes interest you the most)?

Neither. I outline first and then throw my hair down for the individual chapters and scenes. A fellow-author once described me as outliner-meets-discoverer! Sort of an airline navigator doing the rapids!

Have you ever hated something you wrote?

Never.

Which is the easiest for you–novel, novella, or short story? Why?

Naturally, short stories. But they don’t give me the creative kick that writing a full-length novel does.

While you were writing, did you ever feel like you were one of your characters?

Great question. Characters are always the illegitimate children of your persona as the creator of the character and the personas of those on whom you’ve modeled the character (if you have). There’s always a little bit of ‘you’ in your characters. Something really peculiar happened while writing Aymaran Shadow (and this is the subject of one of my future blog posts on the book’s official blog). At one point in the story, when my protagonist starts realizing who the real antagonist is among the two suspects, I was personally frustrated with her slow pace of realization. I remember almost chiding my protagonist: “you cannot be such a dope”. And that’s because I felt myself to be part of her, and I kept thinking I wouldn’t take such a long time if I were in her place. The other time it happened was in the climax, which is a bit gory, when I actually felt my protagonist’s intense fear and loathing towards the antagonist. So much so that I keep thinking I went overboard in my depiction of how the climax plays out. But thankfully, the reviews don’t say that!

How did you come up with the title?

For Aymaran Shadow, this was the third title I “froze” after sifting through at least five more. The title, for me, had to denote the beginnings of the protagonist’s troubles, convey a sense of displaced time, and had to be subtly sinister without being too in-your-face.

What inspired you to write your latest book? What is the book about?

Aymaran Shadow is about a woman who is destined to be violated and brutally murdered in every lifetime (based on the concept of reincarnation or rebirth). As for the inspiration, this is precisely the subject of series of posts on the book’s official blog. Hop over to my blog for that!

Any blogs, websites, social media you’d like to share?

Author website
Author Page on Facebook
Official blog of the book
Official Facebook page
Official Google+ page

Read the full transcript of the interview on Yawatta Hosby’s blog here: Interview with Hemanth Gorur, author of Aymaran Shadow

Is Reincarnation Even Possible?

Read the previous post in the Behind The Scenes series: The Seduction Of History.

“Is reincarnation even possible?” This was the question that gripped me as soon as the concept became a possible choice among history-related themes for my plot. Strangely, it was also the reason I finally chose reincarnation as one of the dominant themes for my novel.

Reincarnation, in a nutshell, is being re-born in a different physical body after the biological death of an organism. It literally means “entering the flesh again”. The concept is prevalent in many Indian religions, and to a limited extent in Abrahamic religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Hindu mythology is replete with instances of reincarnation and its correlation with karma.

I normally attempt to lend a degree of credibility and realism to my fiction writing, so I was naturally bent upon ensuring that choosing the concept of reincarnation did in no way rob my story of realism to the extent that it would read more like fantasy fiction. A bit of research and my own residual beliefs in the concept (try living in Indian society without being exposed ad nauseum to such concepts!) did enough to assure me that the concept was plausible, if not verifiable.

Now, the very fact that the concept of reincarnation tread the fine line between unverifiable history and fiction bordering on realism was in itself a strong reason for me to use it as a theme. It afforded the cushion of empirical information in the form of historical stories, yet had immense scope for stretching the limits of credibility and imagination, and tease the reader with did-you-think-this-was-possible scenes in the plot.

From a paranormal author’s viewpoint, what was particularly lip-smacking was the whole range of possibilities when you think of a human soul lying dormant for centuries after the death of its current physical body, drifting across space and time agelessly and entering a human body again at a time and location of its choice.

Add to this a powerful motive to be re-born, to the extent that it’s inevitable, and the plot becomes a delightful tease between the realistic and the incredible, the mundane and the horrifying, the mortal and the ageless.

So, do you believe in reincarnation? Do you love to read reincarnation fiction? Does it give you the butterflies? Or, is it one more unsubstantiated concept masked in history as mythology? Write in.

Coming soon: the next post in the Behind The Scenes series.