I read “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe in her early teens and discovered for the first time that the written words stirred up emotions within you as much as the actual events you witnessed occurring around you.  That book was followed by “The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexandre Dumas.  Those two books of entirely different genres had a profound impact on me and set my journey as an avid book lover.  At the same time, they did ignite an urge within me to emulate their authors.  But then family responsibilities were thrust upon me and the author faded into the background.

More than six decades later, leading a quiet retired life, the passion for writing came to the fore.  My first attempt at writing was historical fiction, inspired by the Indian classics Ramayan and Mahabharat.  It was an epic comprising over 100,000 words.  During the writing process, I went through every conceivable phase the author undergoes; writer’s block, frustration, despair, and uncertainty.  I even reached the stage where I thought about abandoning the project altogether.  But the thought of the slog over those countless hours wouldn’t let me accept defeat and I persisted through tenacity and sheer willpower.  I read it over and over, and again; chopped out entire sections, and re-wrote until the outcome was to my satisfaction.  It took me over six years to complete that book, titled “Bheem – The Saga of Madhavpur” and finally, it was published in February this year on KDP Select. 

In between, I published a fast-paced adventure sci-fi story titled “This Nightmare is for Real”. 

I had been toying with the idea of a fairy tale for the last few years on account of it being the favorite topic of my granddaughter during her younger days.  The result is the current book, “The Missing Fairy Princess”. 

I have made a foray into a totally different genre altogether for my next one – the cross-border terrorism faced by India – titled “The Carnivore has a Heart”.  It will be published through KDP Select within the next few days.