Be Careful, Tread Softly, You Are Living A Dream
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 by Abhinav Maurya
That's the way I feel. I knew that I would try getting a novel published sooner or later. But this is much more than I'd expected. My Book Pitch got four publishers interested at The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival. And as expected, I'm over the moon.
I like the fact that I don't know where this may lead me. But I know that I've arrived and am here to stay. And I do not say this with arrogance, but with a calm solitude of the person who knows that he has found a calling worth cherishing for the rest of his life through thick or thin. In fact, I count the announcement being made at the David Sassoon Library as an apt omen for the commencement of my writing career.
I find my situation slightly strange, because most of the blogger-cum-writers I know usually have an agent who takes care of all the details that bother us writers, including finding a suitable publisher for the books. In fact, McKoala got an agent recently. And here I've four publishers interested, and I don't yet have an agent to take care of things. God bless me!
Here's a brief outline of the book pitch:
This book is not the sort that I might normally write - it has more to do with plot and incident than with the literary novel of detached observations that I may be able to pull off easily. You could even classify it as chick-lit or lad-lit due to certain lightheartedness of the romantic plot. For me though, the attempt will largely be styloclastic, if the word exists. It will be a sharp deviation from the sort of literature I appreciate and that I might write in the future. It will be in fact like an illegitimate child with a history more colorful and intriguing than legitimacy can provide.
I wish to thank Peter Griffin, Jason Evans, Sarah Hina, and Amogh Bhole for helping make this possible for me in some way or the other.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed and waiting to see how things shape up. Meanwhile living the dream while it lasts...
I like the fact that I don't know where this may lead me. But I know that I've arrived and am here to stay. And I do not say this with arrogance, but with a calm solitude of the person who knows that he has found a calling worth cherishing for the rest of his life through thick or thin. In fact, I count the announcement being made at the David Sassoon Library as an apt omen for the commencement of my writing career.
I find my situation slightly strange, because most of the blogger-cum-writers I know usually have an agent who takes care of all the details that bother us writers, including finding a suitable publisher for the books. In fact, McKoala got an agent recently. And here I've four publishers interested, and I don't yet have an agent to take care of things. God bless me!
Here's a brief outline of the book pitch:
Set in the fictional world of Prince of Wales Medical College attached to Queen Elizabeth Memorial (QEM) Hospital, the novel revolves around the lives of its four central characters – Vinay Sengupta, Bhoomika Sen, Shyamsunder Chatterji, and Arnaz Eduljee.Other successful book pitches may be found here.
Vinay is the son of a retired lieutenant colonel, who wants Vinay to join the army as a medical officer when he is done with his studies.
Bhoomika is the daughter of a rich beer baron and a classical singer. Her parents had separated when she was four years old and she has grown up with her mother.
With a banker for his father and a housewife for his mother, Shyamsunder is a bourgeois nerd whose only accomplishment to date is his admission to the prestigious medical school.
The only non-Bengali protagonist, Arnaz is the daughter of a small-time industrialist mother. From her, Arnaz has inherited the verve and vivacity which make her the cynosure of attention on all occasions.
Set amidst the turmoil of anti-reservation riots that flare up across the country, A Cure For The Doctor tells the story of these doctors grappling with the thrill of their newfound affections, the burden of their noble profession, and the apathy of an indifferent government.
This book is not the sort that I might normally write - it has more to do with plot and incident than with the literary novel of detached observations that I may be able to pull off easily. You could even classify it as chick-lit or lad-lit due to certain lightheartedness of the romantic plot. For me though, the attempt will largely be styloclastic, if the word exists. It will be a sharp deviation from the sort of literature I appreciate and that I might write in the future. It will be in fact like an illegitimate child with a history more colorful and intriguing than legitimacy can provide.
I wish to thank Peter Griffin, Jason Evans, Sarah Hina, and Amogh Bhole for helping make this possible for me in some way or the other.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed and waiting to see how things shape up. Meanwhile living the dream while it lasts...
Thank me! Thank me! Or you could just secretly dedicate a character to me :D
Oh and congratulations :)
You're not actually an engineering student are you?
Aye Ishtaar, I've read your posts on all three of your blogs. You're too interesting to be just thanked. Let the thing get sealed and I'll find a way to thank you the secret way you want it. ;-)
BTW I am an engineering student at VJTI, but they were never able to engineer my thoughts or attitude in any significant way. Nor were they able to make me attend any lectures at all. Now I believe they pretty much think I've dropped out and they will thankfully not have to deal with me. ;-)
I attended a medical college for a few months before switching tracks which is where I found the background needed to write this novel.
Congratulations on that. It sounds like an exciting time. I hope to someday be there (once I have a finished novel in my hands, of course).
Paul (http://strugglingwriter.wordpress.com)
Hey Paul, I hope it is soon. :-)
Oh, Abhinav, my eyes are welling for you. I am just so thrilled that other people have recognized your talent, and so early on, too.
Your book sounds delightful, and I can't wait to read it. I'm so interested to hear that you went to medical school, too. I enrolled for a year, before deciding that my future lay elsewhere. I think we both made the right decision. :)
Please continue to blog about this process. It's going to be quite a ride! And if you ever need another pair of eyes for your manuscript, you know where to send it. ;)
Congratulations, my friend. The world is yours. Have fun with it.
:)
Well, i am sticking to what i said before. You are too good to be a novice.
And i have been proved to be correct.
Congratulations :)
ps: Well, i am also doing my engineering from Bombay (as you say).
But, yeah, no grudges with my college as such :)
@Sarah: Thanks a ton. I don't feel like using a cliche, but that really means a lot of support coming from an experienced person like you. :-)
It's just another thing we have in common... this medical school thing... ;-)
P.S. I think we both started our blogs almost at the same time and are toning it down together too. I also think that continuing the trend, we will someday collaborate on a novel, though when is a question the fates must decide. ;-)
@Arunabh: But I'm a novice!!! Only a very focused one at that...
Good you said Bombay before I'd reason to fume. :-)
From your blog, I got that you study at IITB. I'm doing my final-year project there, and so I know why you harbor no grudges against your college. ;-)
Congratulations, Abhinav!!
I wish you many, many successes. I know you will keep the creative spirit alive.
Why are we such total opposites lol... Are you on gchat?
@Jason: Thanks a lot Jason. I'm looking forward to the next contest on your blog as you'd promised... It's February ya know... ;-)
@Ishtaar: Are we? At least we have this in common that we're total opposites of each other. :-)
I remember a poetess in my college whose work I did not like very much but one of her poems have never left me. It was about savoring what little similarities we have instead of harping on differences and making them bigger than what they deserve to be.
As for gtalk, nah... I get very bored of chatting. Let me tell you why... I remember an incident when Siddharth Dhanvant Sanghvi asked a reporter if he could write the answers to the interview questions instead of having a verbal interview, because the written word has more pith and longevity than the spoken one, and therefore is worth striving for. I totally agree... :-)
kudos pal,
would love to read your book.
the language and the flow makes your blog a very interesting read.
and yeah buddy, thanks for leaving your footprints on my blog.
www.thepregnantthought.co.cc
smiles :-)
aham
Congratulations!
It sounds like a great plot. Hope everything goes your way 'styloclastic' and all that!
@Aham: Thanks. I thought much lesser of my blog... Still do... ;-)
@Medhini: Thanks. Even I hope that things go my way, styloclastic and all that... ;-)
hi there
hey there..hope all is well
dude wat ru doing in engg tat 2 in vjti??!! u should be out there in the wilderness back packing across europe
maybe vjti has found its own chetan bhagat
i appreciate for dropping by buddy. did u passed ur exam?
Congratulations,
you have reached a milestone! Good luck with work ahead of you. As far as you think that the upcoming book may be more like an illegitimate child of yours, remember how much beloved they often are!
Thank you for your kind comment on my blog, I shall try to get ahold of the book you were talking about.
@Vienna For Beginners: Thanks for dropping by my humble blog. I loved yours much more than I do mine. Will keep visiting often. :-)
As for the illegitimate child, well I've to agree what you say is true.
@Tejas: About the backpacking thing, it might soon come true if I succeed in going to Sweden, France or Germany for my studies.
As for the Bhagat thing, I wouldn't be as sure as you.
Thanks for dropping by.
@Noemi: Hey there. ;-)
I just gave the exam; the results are supposed to be out soon. BTW, it is very difficult not to pass in my bloody colonial college.
Growl! Where are you! Tell me what you think about Jung and the anima animus and the collective unconscious. You always have something cool to say. :)
hey mate..
the plot definitely seems intriguing...
awaiting ur book...
congrats.
hi abhinav....thanks for the piece of advice. it really helped. as u must have figured out i'm getting my way through the blog...haven't finished yet. infact! i got to learn yet many things before i start enjoying it. by the way...i had checked out your blog long back...via caferati intoduction page. its fun reading you...and ya! i'd like to say what sarah hina had said..."He's young, but (and I know this phrase has become trite) he truly is an old soul." hope i get to reda more of you..looking forward to it...
@Bala: Thanks for dropping by and for the encouragement. :-)
@Tina: It's always a pleasure to help other bloggers. Nice to know you are also a part of Caferati. As for the old-soul-stuff, I know that Sarah and you are just being nice to me out of habit. ;-)
how u doing there
Where are you! I'm mad at you.
Use facebook!
Nice blog!
@Anushka: Dear Ishtaar, don't make me use facebook everytime you wanna blast me off. My blog is good enough for that, ne?
@Aakanksha: Thanks a ton!
@Noemi: Thanks for dropping by.
Abhinav! How many times will you make me comment on the same post! Grrrr! Post a word, a syllable, a poem, a line, a picture! Anything! :p
Congratulations, Abhinav!
Congrats in order dude!!
I initially thought "Prolific" was the word to describe ur blog.
I think i'll just add Humongous to it.
Cheers anyway.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
hey abhinav
bumped into this blog... awesome..
me also was a student of VJTI..
wow u gettin a novel published..
thats gr8!!!
me also want to know how to go abt the publishing scene out here...
and check out my blog too...
Congrats, Abhinav! Thrilled for you. Best, Laju