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Varsha Seshan

Dragonflies, Jigsaws and Seashells

September 9, 2022 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

For the first time ever, we’re going to read one of my books at my book club! I am in equal parts nervous and excited. Yes, Dragonflies, Jigsaws and Seashells was shortlisted for the Scholastic Asian Book Award. Yes, it’s been published both by Scholastic Asia  and Scholastic India. Yes, it was shortlisted for the Singapore […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Dragonflies Jigsaws and Seashells, online reading programme, reading, Short Stories, varsha seshan

Book Spotting!

August 29, 2021 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

When my first book, The Story-Catcher, was published, we started playing a game. We would go to every bookstore in every city we visited and try to find a copy of the book. It was impossible. And yet, it was exciting. I even got a spreadsheet from my publishers, listing the stores in which my book […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Writing Tagged With: Dragonflies Jigsaws and Seashells, The Clockwalas Clues, The Story-Catcher, Today I Am

My Year in Writing – 2020

January 9, 2021 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I’m beginning to write this post on a day when I received a miserable royalty report for one of my books for the year 2019-20. Yet, the year 2020 has been all kinds of wonderful in terms of publishing for me. So many of my projects have seen light of day, though they have suffered […]

Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: Chapter Book, Dragonflies Jigsaws and Seashells, Duckbill, How I Feel, Middle-Grade Fiction, Oxford University Press, Penguin Random House, poetry, Pratham Books, Scholastic, Sisters at New Dawn, The Clockwalas Clues, Young Zubaan

A Week of Reviews

October 12, 2020 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

As a writer, receiving (nice) reader reviews is always delightful. This week has been special! One child read How I Feel as part of his weekly library activity and enjoyed it thoroughly. When he found out that I was the author, he was thrilled because he’s read Dragonflies, Jigsaws and Seashells too! And that was just […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: Bholu and the Smart Card, Dragonflies Jigsaws and Seashells, How I Feel, reading, review, What Will Happen

Dragonflies, Jigsaws and Seashells – The Story Behind the Story

May 25, 2020 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Dragonflies, Jigsaws, and Seashells - The Story

Stories of rejection can be empowering if they have happy endings. I realised that when I shared the story behind the story of Sisters at New Dawn. I think, since writing is such a solitary affair anyway, knowing that you aren’t amassing those rejections alone makes you feel warm, and a little less alone. So, here’s the story […]

Filed Under: Books, Writing Tagged With: Dragonflies Jigsaws and Seashells, SABA 2016, Scholastic, Scholastic Asian Book Award

My Year in Writing

January 7, 2020 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Being a writer is never easy. Things take too long, and there’s little to show for it. Long silences, endless waiting and wondering, a general feeling of isolation … Yet, the highs are so high that they make everything worth it. In 2019, among the biggest highs for me was the discovery of warm, supportive […]

Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: Dragonflies Jigsaws and Seashells, Making a Clone, poem, The Charm of Children's Literature, The Curious Reader, The Problem with Monster Stereotypes in Literature, The Prophecy of Rasphora, Today I Am, Using Pratham Books and StoryWeaver in School Libraries

Catching Up: Writing

October 1, 2019 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

On the writing front, things are moving slowly, as usual. I have lots of things in the air, waiting to become either concrete or virtual. In their own time. Older books continue to bring me joy, though, in their own ways. The Prophecy of Rasphora – A New Review Very few things make me happier […]

Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: Dragonflies Jigsaws and Seashells, review, The Prophecy of Rasphora, The Story-Catcher, Today I Am

Back from AFCC 2018

September 18, 2018 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Four years ago, I had not heard of the Asian Festival of Children’s Content. I did not know that Singapore’s National Library had 16 floors of books. And then, I was shortlisted for the Scholastic Asian Book Award 2016, which was momentous enough for me to buy a festival pass and attend my first AFCC. […]

Filed Under: Books, Lit Fests Tagged With: AFCC, AFCC 2018, Dragonflies Jigsaws and Seashells, Red Eyes, SABA, SABA 2018, Scholastic Asian Book Award, shortlist