What can I say about a year when I FINALLY managed to take my books to audiences? At lit fests in Gurugram, Vadodara, Jaipur and Pune, I shared my books, interacted with children, and did school visits once more. Almost all through 2022, I was on a high!
And yet, the true highlight of the year as a writer was the publication of a book I started writing in 2015, after I visited the beautiful forests of Nagzira.
Red Eyes
Red Eyes is an environmental thriller, and it is one of the very few books I’ve written that was never rejected. I started writing it in 2015, but I’m what they call a pantser. I muddle about, writing what I can, letting the story take the lead. So, in the beginning, I had nothing but an assortment of tales told to us by guides we met in Nagzira and Tadoba.
Guide tales? Interesting, sure, but I wanted more. So I started putting them all together in a story told from the perspective of a tigress.
And it didn’t work. What next? A story told from the point of view of a young environmental researcher called Rati … who later became the mother of my protagonist Veer.
Veer’s story took a while to come together, but by the end of 2016, I had my initial draft. In 2016, I was also shortlisted for the Scholastic Asian Book Award for Dragonflies, Jigsaws and Seashells, and this got me thinking. What if I sent my brand-new story for the next edition of SABA?
So I waited. I didn’t look at my manuscript again until the middle of 2017, when I edited, ruthlessly cut out chunks, rewrote, and sent Red Eyes for SABA 2018 … where it was selected as first runner-up.
With the pandemic, publishing schedules were thrown out of gear, but Red Eyes was finally officially launched at the AFCC 2022. It isn’t (yet) available in India, but it’s out there, and I’m proud of it.
How Big Is a Whale Shark?
Yes, I know I celebrated the publication of How Big Is a Whale Shark? last year, but it came out in print for the first time in April 2022! It’s my first nonfiction picture book, honestly, I feel like such a charlatan when I talk about this one as a book I wrote because it’s the pictures that make it the stunner that it is!
The Secret Tunnel
The Flipped books are delightful! I love the idea of the book series, and I’m thrilled to have a mystery story in the latest addition to the series. I visited the tunnel in Savitribai Phule Pune University several years ago, and I’ve been itching to write something about it. This was the perfect opportunity!
Lit Fests
Lit fests are special, and 2022 was full of them. My social media feed listed one fest after another, and it was such a joy to see books, authors and children coming together at events all over the country!
I took three of my books to lit fests in 2022 – The Best Idea of All, The Clockwala’s Clues and Sisters at New Dawn. What can I say? There’s nothing like seeing piles and piles of your book in the festival bookstore, interacting with children, sharing stories, and making your book come alive to them.
I wrote about Kukdukoo in March 2022, but posted only on social media about Bookaroo in Vadodara and Kukdukoo again in Jaipur.
After I got back from Bookaroo Vadodara, I was on a high for several weeks! The energy and enthusiasm of the children was matched only by that of the organisers and authors. Meeting people I’ve only ever met online, getting copies of books signed, working with two of my books, and then signing dozens of copies …
And then, just a few weeks later, I was off once more for another lit fest in another city – Kukdukoo, Jaipur!
Being a writer comes with its highs and lows, and like every other art, the highs are very high, and the lows, very low. Writing is slow. Publication is slower. But for me, it’s worth it. Onwards to 2023!
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