Category: Kids books
-
Whirlwind India Trip Recap
It’s been three days since I got back from a two week trip to India that was simultaneously awesome and incredibly exhausting. I reached Chennai one Monday morning and spent the day with Amma. The next morning, I set out bright and early to Hiranandani Upscale School in the outskirts of the city for two…
-
New Home. New Keys.
Nope. I am not moving. My book baby is. Why is my Hair Curly? is officially now part of the Pratilipi family under the Westland/Red Panda banner. What has changed? On the surface, not much. The book will soon be available in paperback, ebook and, audio. However, being part of the Pratilipi family makes it…
-
A Tribe To See Me Through
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.…
-
The End Of An Era
“Please can we talk today” The message launched a flare of hope in my heart that had me leaping out of bed and brushing my teeth. As I caught up on the day’s news while I waited for her to respond, a cold chill wrapped itself around me. My Twitter timeline told the story. Our…
-
Defining Success: Yet
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…
-
We Need Our Own Heroines
An article I wrote for Parent Connect appeared online today. It is about the need for diversity in literature.
-
Dakshin Literature Festival 2020
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.
-
Orange City Literature Festival Webinar
I was online middle of the night November 28, 2020 to participate in this online literary festival. Below is a link to the recording.
-
First Review Is Here!
So, Women’s Web published their review of my book “Why is my Hair Curly?” on their website. Hop on over to read and let me know what you thought.
-
Meet The Narrator: Shruti Bhola
A few months before the book release date was fixed, I woke up around 2:30 am in the morning to a message that Audible had agreed to create the Audio version of the book. I remember feeling excited, like someone had found worth in the story to give it voice. I say this as someone…
-
Meet The Illustrator: Niloufer Wadia
Early on during the book writing process, I was told the book would have illustrations. Me, being me, assumed that it would be picture book like with glossy pictures and text that flowed around the pictures. Clearly, I had no idea about the MG book market. I found later that that the illustrations would be…
-
My Cup Floweth Over
I end the day, my heart full, my eyes teary, and overcome with emotion. All through the day, I watched as friends and family shared posts on their social media. They accompanied links to my books with lengthy write-ups, an ode to the time we have known each other. Each of these posts were heartfelt,…
-
COVID-19 Diaries: Emotional
I have broken down every alternate day this week. Some days it’s been a full meltdown replete with ugly crying. Other days, it has been that heavy feeling in the head, with the tears hovering right inside my eyelids, threatening to fall. Today, the emotions are of a different kind. I received the final versions…
-
Book Update: Why is my hair curly?
So, I have news. “Why is my hair curly?” will be available on Amazon in a few weeks in Kindle format. The physical book will take a couple of months to be available given the lockdown in India. While I wait for the book to be available and permission to share the cover for the…
-
Announcement: Book Deal!
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…
-
Book Review: When Dimple Met Rishi By Sandhya Menon
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,…
-
Book Review – The Diwali Gift
The book came in a yellow envelope with a hand written address. Ammu and Pattu have taken to associating anything not a standard size mail as gifts for them. For once, I did not have to disappoint them. The book slid out of the cover in its rich chocolate-brown cover and the girls were hooked.…