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 would be available, and we went to those stores in the city, hunting.I never found my book. Not even when it was on display like this:This was at Crossword, Mulund. Look at the number of copies on the shelf. You guessed right. I didn't see them.This was in the shop window of Chapter and Verse (now shut down), and I didn't see it. When I went for the Asian Festival of Children's Content in 2018, I knew my book Dragonflies, Jigsaws and Seashells would be in print. I had not yet received my sample copies, and I didn't even know how the book looked. I hunted … [Read more...]
Dear Fictional Character
Yesterday, to round off our letter-writing activity, we wrote two more letters.One began with 'Dear Reader', and this is an activity I've done more times than I can count. I tweaked it slightly this time because of the idea of posting their letters to them. Instead of telling them that what they wrote would go into books in the library, I told them their letters would go in the mail to someone else in the room. They enjoyed it tremendously!(Here is an explanation of the activity, plus a link to a video you could use.)The second was a letter to a fictional character. I asked the children to choose any fictional character they love, and write a letter, sharing whatever they liked with that character. Among all the letters to Hermione Granger, Tom Gates, Silky (Faraway Tree) et al, here's one letter I found:I couldn't stop chuckling at this! Of course, I'm thrilled … [Read more...]
Catching Up: Writing
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 ReviewVery few things make me happier than a review of one of my books. At the Writers' Club yesterday, one of the students from my previous batch handed me this - my first child-review of The Prophecy of Rasphora.WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERSTranscriptionTitle:- The Prophecy of RasphoraAuthor:- Varsha SeshanPublisher:- Mango DC BooksIllustrator:- Lavanya KarthikThe Main Characters:- Afreen, Tara, Vandana, Miss (a dog), Avamel, Efferin, Safir, Terrine, Coutim, Anita, AnandThe Story is Set in:- Monkey Hill and RasphoraSynopsis of the Story:- This story is about 3 girls named Afreen, Tara and Vandana and … [Read more...]
Words and Worlds at the Vidya Valley Lit Fest 2019
I was unwell and could not stop coughing. Yet, armed with my enthusiasm (and a pill), I went for the Vidya Valley Lit Fest--and came back energised. The excitement pulsing through the school kept me going - and of course, the thoughtfulness of the team of parent volunteers in organising a mic helped!Every time I speak to groups of children at lit fests, I realise how different one group is from another. During my three sessions with Class VI at Vidya Valley, I was struck by this yet again. One group was noisy and enthusiastic; the second was almost unbelievably good; the third was full of questions. And each session was wonderful.'Words and Worlds' - that's what my sessions were called. Working with the beautiful land of Rasphora was delightful, but we did so much more. We spoke of language itself and how we use our words to create worlds in literature.Describing my journey … [Read more...]
Making Creative Writing Engaging
Sometimes, I wonder whether secretly, I conduct creative writing workshops more to inspire myself than to inspire the children I work with. Whatever it is, I do know that I enjoy myself tremendously whenever I teach creative writing. I feed off the enthusiasm of the children and I come home ready to write, which is invigorating.Children and WritingMany children love to write. I was one of them, and I wrote all kinds of things, mainly inspired by what I read. I wrote about magic and school, and things that I thought would be moving - like earnest poetry about war and poverty. Writing is fun; it may even be good. But when publishing is so easy, I find that many parents and teachers think everything that children write is perfect. I don't always agree. Here are my pet peeves:Forced rhymeI … [Read more...]
The Lit Bug Fest
How many of us are familiar with Bholu the guard-elephant, mascot of the Indian Railways? Join me on an exploration of a series of railway adventures that will take us on thrilling train journeys all over India. Every story is accompanied by a unique activity – ranging from jigsaw puzzles and colouring books for young children, to building your own steam locomotive for older children. Listen to a story at the Lit Bug Fest, and discover the wonder of the railways!" slug="The-Lit-Bug-Fest-29-Apr-2017" order_by="sortorder" order_direction="ASC" returns="included" maximum_entity_count="500"]The Lit Bug Fest is just around the corner, and I'm delighted to be part of it. With my series of railway adventures, I hope to have and exciting session with children of all ages. … [Read more...]
Book Launch at Atta Galatta
Launching my railway adventures for children in a city in which I know very few children was bound to be a challenge, but it was such fun!The event began with a college friend who came to show her support - and she made my day. I hadn't met her for a decade, making her presence even more special.As children started trickling in, we began to explore the series of railway advenures through the audio books and activity kits. The joy of each of the railway books is that it is sold both as a book and as part of a kit, making for wonderful activities with children at events like this!And of course, for any writer, people who want to buy your book and get it signed just warm your heart! … [Read more...]