women writers – soniasmusings

Update on my second novel in my birthday month May

After three months of writing and editing my second Detective Raya Ray novel, I was finally ready to take the next step. So, on Tuesday afternoon, I initiated the process of mailing a document set related to the book to my literary agent. While there are many steps before the final version is published both in paperback and e-book format, I’m glad that I could give Raya a challenging case to crack. Coincidentally, it is also my birthday month.

The second Raya Ray novel (tentative title)

Since March’21, the doctor husband is back to his erratic schedule. I’m left with no choice but to raise the kid single-handedly once again. Shuttling between anxiety and helplessness, writing this book was my survival strategy. It also helped that I had my strongest support system in my brave five-and-a-half-year-old, who has barely met his father six times in sixty days. His interest in my project is beyond inspiring.

But I must also confess that the kid is a tough taskmaster. No reporting authority in my erstwhile corporate career has ever sought a status update of my work at a frequency of every half-an-hour, like this child. Phew! I’m quite glad that he has decided to shift his focus to Enid Blyton’s Mr. Noddy for the time being.

It is a tough time to live in. In the last couple of weeks, I’ve heard close friends lose their loved ones. I wasn’t even sure if I should put up an update on the book, especially when we are struggling to survive. But, art is a great survival strategy as well. It takes away our grief, worries, and hopelessness momentarily and gives us reason to dream of a better world. With a ray of hope in my heart that this too shall pass, I go back to balancing my role as a mother and a writer. Someday, I wish to write a book on what it means to be the wife of a frontline warrior.

Stay safe, stay home (if possible), take care, and wear a mask. We need to break the chain. Stay tuned for more updates related to Raya’s latest case.

A mixed bag of emotions in April

April is one of my favorite months since we celebrate my father’s birth on 1st April. As a banker, I looked forward to a relaxed April month after a grueling financial year-end in March. For the last three years, April represented the A2Z challenge daily blogging for me. But this year, I bowed out of the event in the last week of March after realizing that editing 1 lakh plus words of my second novel would require longer time, dedicated efforts, and undivided attention.

I began the first round of editing by March third week. I finished the third round of editing in the wee hours of the morning today. It is a hard-earned day off for me after twenty-six days of working at a stretch. I’ll go back to the final round of manuscript editing tomorrow before mailing it to my literary agent.

When my son celebrated my father’s birthday

On the personal front, we celebrated Baba’s birthday together. Last year, the sudden lockdown stranded him at Berhampore, while we stayed in Kolkata. My son started his second year of online classes on 12th April. Who would’ve thought that a year later, we would still be fighting the second Corona wave? The situation is worsening every day as election rallies get precedence over the need for social distancing. It’s painful to see kids adjust to yet another year of no friends, no classrooms, and no playground. Never did I imagine that a new uniform that was to bring joy to a class 1 kid wasn’t going to get dirty with pencil marks, crayon colors, and shared tiffin for another year.

We had one year to prepare for another pandemic. Instead of strengthening the healthcare sector, people in power spent money on election rallies, religious institutions, and statues. Now that people are dying due to an acute shortage of beds/oxygen cylinders/vaccines, will those who justified the expenditure on unnecessary structures take their families to such places instead of a hospital? My husband and his colleagues in the medical fraternity are back to war mode. And their families are back to where we were last year.

People in power have failed us, but it is the indomitable spirit of the common people that gives me hope. Yesterday, a bunch of us collated lists and reached out to authorities seeking help on Twitter. We aren’t giving up so easily. However, now that we know we are on our own, please wear a mask (or a double mask, if needed) and maintain social distancing protocols.

I’ll be back next month with the next update on Raya Ray’s second case. Until then, stay safe, and stay at home.

A couple of more reviews of Deal of Death and an interview featuring my blogging journey

Thank you, for loving my book ‘Deal of Death.’ In the last couple of days, I have seen some more encouraging reviews from authors, who are also known for their literary skills. Sonia Dogra, Radhika Acharya, and Vartika Mehrotra rave about this past-faced detective thriller in their reviews on Goodreads and Amazon.

If you have still not read the book, you can get a copy HERE.

Review by Radhika Acharya

Review by Sonia Dogra

On the personal front, I was interviewed by Naveen from blogabout.blog about my journey as a blogger/author and I had a great time answering his thought-provoking questions.