This And That And Some NaNo

I haven't purposely neglected my dream journal...just that life is a tad more interesting at this point. My fingers in so many different pies....a big mess of time and vacation if you ask me.


I  am having an awesome time with my nephews, yep, April and November are two months of the year my life gets topsy turvy....real life pulling me with  two pairs of tiny hands in one direction and my writing pulling me in the other. Tough....for this hermit to come out of her shell bi-annually and find herself in the fast lane. (my darling brother insists that I book my tickets to Bangalore else he will have me kidnapped from the dark comforts of my room) 


 For those few friends wondering about my NaNo...well, good news and bad news...I am writing everyday but realise that am a slow writer and the deadline kills my world and character building not to mention leaving me uninspired to continue.  It has rekindled my love for writing short stories and saved our relationship (mine with < 2500 words).
So 30000-35000 words is what I am aiming for. A far cry from 2009 when I couldn't write more than 8000 words before I finally quit. Of course that was the year of the 'great event' that has left me legally single though not blonde, I don't hate my black hair (I know black is an optical illusion provided by our eyes, that makes us wizards right?)  but would love brown, glossy hair ( is it even real?)...


How I wish, that scientist  in the news would discover a laser procedure for permanent hair colour and texture change....why the hell would I want to turn my very dark brown eyes to blue only to have it contrast funnily with my light brown tanned skin. ;D Could make for a good fantasy story though....
 But the news today that our solar system was most likely, the aftermath of a supernova makes my sci-fi planet creation plausible. Can you see me jumping around...you say, you cannot?....well then, leave you with a picture of the current me....yes...because the weight loss program I have enrolled in, will hopefully leave a better looking me next time around. 


I will catch up with your blogs and rants starting today evening...don't mind!!!

 The real, hassled me without make up  (don't use much anyway)
.. taken by my 4 yr old nephew Sid last week.

The Art Of Dialogue Writing For Stubborn Mules - IWSG

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day for participating blog owners who may be professional or amateur writers. (All you need is the passion and output, published or not). Started by Alex Cavanaugh the author of the Amazon top ten sci-fi space opera CassaStar, it is a means for writers to talk about their fears big and small. It is also an opportunity to connect to other writers who may have conquered these or are sailing in the same insecure boat as you.

By songsnwords | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

Dialogues how much is too much or too little?

I write short stories and poetry (making a living on them will take another post, hell, seven lifetimes - seven being an auspicious number for Hindus, forget Voldemort's seven horcruxes please!!)

Short stories generally can be written with fewer dialogues, mine has just the bare minimum...poetry is a dialogue with myself and the rare listeners, so I can get away with almost anything even dark or erotic.
My insecurity stems from lengthy dialogues needed for my NaNoWriMo (International November novel  month)  in progress ( I say, two days is progress). Given that I am attempting space opera style, soft sci-fi makes it a doubly daunting task.
 I am bad at dialogues, I openly admit. Does it have something to do with the fact that I can't converse just for the sake of it?...it has to be meaningful/useful interaction even if it's about which mascara doesn't run or whether it's going to rain in the evening, know what I mean? And as one of the commenters on a recent blogfest pointed out, when I do use them they turn out to be full of unnecessary details....

 Is there a magical recipe for perfect dialogues? How does one avoid too much or too little of it?

Eventful Halloween

Halloween elsewhere

has witches and vampires 

coming out of their lair.

Our halloween 

had the metal kings* 

burn up the green city.

The racing cars* added their 

zoom to brighten up 

 a lazy sunday afternoon.

No tricks but treats,

not candy to taste

but for the eyes to feast

the snow in New York 

dampened not the protesters'*

heart or soul

The holiday this year  

marks the birth of

the seven billionth heir* 

to the chaos and order 

that goes by the name 

Planet Earth.

* India's  first F1 Grand Prix was held on Sunday in one city while Metallica rocked us in Bangalore.

Today the Wall Street protests continue in New York while the seven billionth Earthling is born elsewhere.

Gooseberry Goes Poetic

I Paint Words

For Saturday Centus at Jenny Matlock's blog.. any genre, p.g as far as possible, not to exceed 25 words excluding the prompt in bold. A story on a picture again....
Criticize the other black words there.

A Story Grows

For Saturday Centus at Jenny Matlock's blog.. any genre, p.g as far as possible, not to exceed 100 words using the prompt in bold to create a story on the picture this time around....
Water the other saplings there.

I saw him there, busy with his axe slicing through the branch he was seated at the edge of. I screamed almost,  ‘you will fall down, you dolt!!’ The watch could only let me stay not change. 

Countless retelling didn’t prepare me for gravity’s working. He fell; branch, the weapon and all.

Could he be the Master, history proclaimed him to be? The language he choose, as classical as his imaginative works.

Were they even his? Didn’t the skeptics say The Bard too was a fake?

I would prove them wrong. I planted a little story seed and out sprouted "Of Shakuntala recognised by a token"*.

* It was among the first Sanskrit works to be translated into English . Written by Kalidasa,  believed to have lived around 4th century CE and sometimes referred to as the "Shakespeare of India".