I woke up this morning to an email outlining how many unsold copies (approx 1700) of my book Why is my Hair Curly? is languishing in a warehouse somewhere. The notion of time ticking while Westland wraps up its accounting and brings its life as an entity to a close, lit a fire in me.…
I was logged in to work, early for a Friday morning that is, when Laddu, also logged into her school iPad in the same room, walked up to me. Her face was serious. I removed my ear phones and gave her my full attention preparing myself to send a note to her teacher whatever the…
An article I wrote for Parent Connect appeared online today. It is about the need for diversity in literature.
Join me at 9:00 pm IST/10:30 am EST December 24th. This was a fun, lively and engaging discussion. You can watch on The New Indian Express webpage and their social media channels.
I was online middle of the night November 28, 2020 to participate in this online literary festival. Below is a link to the recording.
Mira Jacob’s book Good Talk kept popping on my social media feed since it came out in March 2019. The term graphic memoir was strange enough for me to put away looking for it. Then, this week, while searching for something unrelated, this book popped up again. On impulse I bought it. I finished the…
Miracles happen. They do! In July this year, a publisher from Red Panda, a children’s imprint of Westland Publishing (an Amazon company) in India reached out through my blog. She asked if I was interested in writing children’s fiction. I hemmed and hawed and eventually jumped at the opportunity. For someone who primarily writes creative…
I stumbled onto Shabnam Samuel by chance. A common FB group, a random conversation and then an intentional phone call had me ordering her debut novel on Amazon. I thought of it as good karma. Something I did for a fellow writer. Admittedly, the blurb of her book intrigued me and I would have looked…
I met Lorraine exactly two years ago today at a Writer’s Conference in Philadelphia. We met on the train to Philadelphia and have been friends since. I have rooted along the sidelines as she wrote and wrote some more. I have cheered her decision to publish her book and shared her gorgeous cover art when…
Please take 10 minutes of your time to listen to Samira Ahmed, author of an upcoming young adult novel Internment. Not only is this book needed, but it is also essential for our children to walk with their eyes open.
A week after I got back from the Yale Writers’ Workshop, I meticulously went through notes I had made and feedback from my peers. I decided to focus on a piece I had written on motherhood called Motherhood, Cleaved. This essay was born out of the realization that the kind of love I feel toward…
I kept running into people on twitter raving about this book. They described it as cute and gushed over it. I am sucker for rom-coms especially the cutesy ones so I looked for it in my library and placed a hold. I finished the book in a couple of hours. It is an easy read,…
Read more Book Review: When Dimple Met Rishi By Sandhya Menon
I picked The Mothers by Brit Bennett when it scrolled past me in my library’s newly added digital titles collection. Late one night, I started the book after the kids were in bed and stayed up until past 1:00 AM to finish it. I sat back in my chair letting the feelings wash over me…
Read more The Mothers By Brit Bennett – Stunning Prose, Nuanced Storytelling
At the beginning of the year I told myself I would try and read at least two books a month and signed up for the Goodreads Book Challenge for 25 books. I am currently close to 80 books and we have a month left in the year. The other thing I told myself was that…
The book has been on my desk for a few weeks now. I follow the author and her agent on Twitter and won an autographed copy in a giveaway. Waiting for my laptop to finish updating, I picked it up and started reading. Getting to bed well past midnight, the thing that struck me…
Read more The Golden Son by Shilpi Gowda – A well crafted story
A book club I am part of picked this book for our next meeting. I was thrilled as it was on my TBR pile. Also, I follow @CelesteNg and love her take on most things related to race and diversity. I read the blurbs, the front and back cover synopsis and settled myself comfortably with…
I stumbled on Avasthi’s book by chance. Browsing my library’s YA literature, this came up as available. I checked it out and read it over two days. The story starts well enough but by the time I was mid way, my heart was racing and I was as jumpy as Jace and Christian. The pace…
I grabbed Nikita Lalwani’s Gifted from my local library’s fall sale. The cover appealed to me and I checked the blurb at the back and it resonated. I added it to my list of books to read as I research setting my story partly in India and partly in the US. I read the book…
I started What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman after dinner. I settled in, a throw over my lap, the baby monitor humming by my side. The story hooked me, reeled me in and kept the pace up. When the monitor awoke with angry cries, I pleaded with my spouse to pick her up.…
Read more What She Left Behind – Cross generational tale well told
My review of Luckiest Girl Alive is up here.
Read more Luckiest Girl Alive – Stellar writing and a taut story line
I pick my books the way I browse the grocery aisle. I scan, double back and pick things that call my name. I also scan the ingredient list carefully looking for markers that signal ‘that’s not for you’. I also hate to go shopping so I make sure I load my cart up when I…
Read more Luckiest Girl Alive – Stellar writing and a taut story line
Lakshmi Iyer 