I have written this blog post in my mind so many times that I’ve lost count over the past months, so I finally dictated the post on my smartphone – anything to get the creative flow going. It’s been in the drafts with several rounds of edits and multiple reads this whole month of September as I grappled with exams.
Here’s one that was in another draft: We just got reminders that this week was the last week two years ago when we had a normal life, pre-covid. A time when we were just hearing of an illness that was sweeping through countries and never thought that we in India would be affected. We are a resilient lot! Of course, now we know better.
Slowly, over the months that passed through the days that seemed to merge, I realised that years have passed. Along with the harassed, scary days, I felt the helplessness of a being at the mercy of a mysterious aliment and an equally mysterious lethargy that slowed the writing, blogging and reading, except for the doom scrolling.
I have been missing my blog, the rush of penning the words, the freshness of reading a new book, and sharing about it. I missed just sharing the blog. Slowly, I try to get it back up to speed; especially as I realised that it’s been two nine months into the new year and I haven’t done a single post for the blog. Add to it the many books I read and I must share about them. 10 months since I posted on the blog!
So here’s to 2022 and books, lots of books. Reading, writing, editing and blogging about books.
As this month of August went by, realised that it was going to be a year in a couple of months without a post on the blog which had never happened ever! Add to that the fact that September is my birthday month, I shed my slumber and wrote this post as a birthday present to myself!!
Posting was another thing altogether!
Yay!! It’s my birthday today. It was my birthday on the 5th of September and Teacher’s Day as well. Here’s wishing a Happy Teacher’s Day to all my teachers (except the nasty Maths teacher in class III) and all of you, readers! Double Celebrations!!
Over the past months, I haven’t been writing and I haven’t been nurturing my creative spirit so much so that I thought writing had just gone away from me and I would probably not write but now when I see the year is, almost ending and next month is my birthday and I am appalled at my tardiness.
It was a wake-up call that I can’t let the days slide by; to just disappear into the wind. This blog is an outlet; is a creative place for me, a place to showcase my words, and a place to share my thoughts, writings, in my views.
It’s not that over the past few months I haven’t been reading or I haven’t been writing. I have. I’ve read good books, edited excellent, unique books and have written sporadically. My Google Keep Notes have been a saviour for my tiny creative spurts. However, I have just not been able, or maybe I never wanted to upload it on the blog. I realise it was the coward’s way out.
We write to share our thoughts with the world.
Even though the year started on a very unsteady note with my family members going down with Covid in January and then in February, my kid and I got it and the next two-three months went into recovery. And you know managing it is tough!
The fatigue alone is like a vice threatening to envelop everything. Then we had the final exams over the uncertainty of offline and online exams that drove me nuts! I sure had a short fuse over the next few weeks.
One after the other, events kept me away from the laptop. Next was a shift to Delhi. We had to shift houses, so it has been a hectic few months. Things have been going on. In fact, maybe it has been too active, so I have been neglecting my writing.
Yeah, I know another shift since I had last shifted houses through different states a year ago, but that’s how it is and I’m feeling quite comfortable now. The weather turning has, of course, put me in a better mood than the hot, sweltering heat that was driving me crazy and I think it sort of negates the creative process.
Not anymore! I’m trying to balance my editing work, supervising my son for his studies and ensuring that I at least do a block post a week if not more maybe I’ll not get back to the prolific writing years of a couple of years ago but then I should ensure that I don’t stop. It’s not for anybody else then, at least for my readers who look forward and who always appreciate the post that I put out; the reviews that I do my thoughts on the books.
I’m also trying to be more diligent and more particular about writing daily and working on my novels so that I actually share some new books with my readers. I’m also attempting to read daily if not daily at least definitely as much as I can and I have made sure that I don’t count the articles and blog posts and reading on the web as a part of my daily reading quota. It has to be a book.
Now, coming to the books that I have been reading over the past months, there has been an eclectic collection of reading done. You can check my thoughts on the books I read on Instagram. I posted snippets of my reads, but proper reviews will be here, on the blog soon.
The backlog TBR pile has books that are as varied as possible, but it’s a long way to go. The books I read this year are here on my Goodreads Reading Challenge.
Most of the books that I’m currently reading are romance, some Indian Authors and a couple of foreign authors. I needed something light after the Transcendent Kingdom: Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021 by Yaa Gyasi. The last book I read which really left an impact was the Transcendent Kingdom, and it was an unsettling book but interesting about relationships between family, but also how we, even in an effort to be close, we, sometimes manage to tear each other apart or fall apart. It was a deeply insightful book about a relationship between brother siblings and the sister who is writing the story; narrating the story in hindsight. An interesting read but not a very light read definitely.
Our talented romance authors have come out with their new books and I want to read all of them but of course, I can’t do that at the same time, but nevertheless, they are on my kindle loaded and ready for me to read. I’m reading two together right now and have started the paperback of Book Lovers as well.
Another book that I’m reading I’m taking it slow page by page cause it’s a fun read and not a difficult read. It’s a fascinating read but I want to savour it and take it slow. It’s The Night Circus. Let me know if you’re reading and then we can discuss the book; I think just the cover itself is so pretty and definitely, we all are attracted to pretty covers. It was just for the cover that I wanted to read the book so that each and every aspect; each and every image on the cover can be unravelled to me and how it’s linked into the story and I see the connection as I’ve been reading and I’m a few chapters in and I’m enjoying it thoroughly.
Supporting fellow authors is my favourite thing to do, as this is what Eloquent Articulation was originally for. So if you have a book out or are a budding author, let’s get you on the blog for author interviews.
Please let me know if you’re a copyeditor and would like to be featured in my Writing Resources By Indy/ Editor Interviews kindly drop me a DM. You could also join the Indian Copyeditors Forum, where all like-minded editors get together.
I have collaborated with excellent copyeditors and have done the amazing editing interview series that I had started which I intend to take forward, so if you’re an editor for fiction or nonfiction please send me a message, send me an e-mail and connect to me on social media.
The author/editor interviews are something that I always look forward to because I get amazing insights into writing; into the creative process of each writer or author.
All writers are different in how they sort of approach their writing, so sharing the author interviews always is a learning experience for me as a reader and a writer. And also it is wonderful for my readers who could be the potential next best-selling author! Who knows!
So again, just to remind you that if you’re an author and would you like to be featured on my blog for an interview, just send me a message or comment on this post. I’ll get in touch.
In the meantime, please add my short fiction Generously Yours to your TBR list. If you’ve read it, please try to leave a review on Amazon; even two lines make a big difference. My books are self-published on Kindle Direct Publishing and Amazon really really supports books that have over 50 reviews, so that would be a great thing if my favourite, most popular short fiction Generously Yours can reach a milestone. It really makes a big difference for the book promotion as reviews matter and you know it affects how the book is shared and promoted across social media.
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Comments
Happy birthday! I’m glad you are working on blogging again. A lot of creative people stepped away from their blogs for a bit during covid.
“I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I am not. I write to explore all the things I’m afraid of.” —Joss Whedon
J Lenni Dorner (he/him or they/them) ~ Reference& Speculative Fiction Author, OperationAwesome6 Debut Author Interviewer, and Co-host of the #AtoZchallenge
Belted birthday wishes, Inderpreet. I completely understand your situation. Often writing is not the hurdle, it’s the hitting publish part that s;owes us down. And when one is away from the blogging world for sometime getting back to the routine becomes difficult, until you decide it is time and leave those inhibitions behind and finally hit publish. I am hoping to see your posts regularly from now on.
I read your book a long time ago and I don’t remember if I ever leave a review. I am very bad at leaving reviews. In fact, it’s one of my failures. I want to write reviews of books that I read and shows that I watch (which is a lot these days ), but never do that. My current read is Fly Away by Kristin Hannah. Also trying to read The Courage to be Disliked.
I like the look and feel of your blog, Indy. I really hope you will get back to regular blogging. See you around
Hey Indy!!.. Belated birthday wishes.. I am happy that you are trying to kick off that lethargy.. I haven’t been able to focus since Covid started.. Cheers to you, my friend..
Welcome back, Inderpreet. These two years have been such a fog–I find it so much harder to focus these days. Thanks for sharing these wonderful books, and a belated Happy Birthday! May this coming year of your life bring you all that you desire.
Look forward to your upcoming posts.