
You Beneath Your Skin completes almost one year of its publication. To celebrate the milestone, the book will be free on Amazon Kindle from the 7th to the 11th August.
You’ll earn my eternal gratitude if you pick up the book while it is free–helps it climb the charts….it has managed to hit top 5 for a few categories.
While working on my writing,I’ve often been tempted to give up on my blogging altogether. This blog has been going on for more than 12 years now though, so I can’t quit. Blogging was never a career, writing was.The happy upshot of straddling both worlds is that sometimes you receive guest posts and write good stores, all in the same week.
Check them out if any catches your fancy :
At the Women Writers, Women’s Blogs, speaking about productivity amid a pandemic:
The other day, a writer rhetorically used the phrase on social media: “If you allow me to call myself a writer.” As writers, we often take time to call ourselves as such—many emerging writers I know doubt the importance of their own writing, and the writing time they carve out in their lives.
If we’re writing, and writing consistently and with intention, we are writers. Given our busy lives and the current pandemic that is reshaping our world, the time to write is always in short supply. I’m often asked: how do you make the time to write? In my case, the answer is simple: I’m married and don’t have children. I have friends though who have multiples—both children, and books. How they find the time to do anything at all beats me.
I’ve asked them and the answers are somewhat similar. Some resonate with mine, and the others I’ve found to be at odds with each other, but intriguing nonetheless. I’ll share them with you, and hope to learn a few tricks in turn. (Read more)
In another life, I used to work in the fashion industry, helping clothe the rich and famous. In New Delhi alleyways where I worked on projects involving embroideries and stitching, I got to see the underprivileged communities from up close. I myself earned very little, but only realised later that I was an unwitting part of a cycle of exploitation.
Over the years, I left New Delhi behind but my memories of those places did not fade. I continued to follow the news, and in December 2012 was confronted with what came to be known as the Nirbhaya tragedy. A 23-year-old physiotherapist returning home after an evening out, Jyoti Singh was accosted by six men who beat up her boyfriend, and raped and brutalised her to the extent that her intestines spilled on the road. She succumbed to her injuries a week later. The youngest of the accused turned out to be seventeen.
In the rage and helplessness that followed, I asked myself: what difference are you and your writing making in this world? And the short, depressing, answer was: none at all. (Read more)
At Lucinda Clarke’s blog about oral storytelling and audible:
“When that happens, I’ll know whether the love of stories that my grandma gave me has borne fruit. She was married at thirteen to a man much older than her, suffered many miscarriages before giving birth to my father and aunt, and over the years of encouraging them to study, taught herself to read. She learned enough that she read the classics in our mother tongue and wrote her own poetry, snippets of which lie fading in my cupboards, carefully wrapped in plastic.
In the meanwhile, I’ll try and read what books I can fit into my life, and listen to audiobooks if one catches my fancy. As I grow older though, I find that very few of them stand up to the dynamic, vivacious narrations by my grandmother who, while herself suffering from cancer, took time out to keep her grand-daughter entertained on those long Indian summer afternoons.”
Writing, feminism and justice have all been close to my heart–and Youtuber Natalia Suri sat me down and asked me a few questions.
Writing and blogging often clash with each other, so I might be a trifle scarce on the blog in the coming weeks, especially late August.
How has this week treated you? Are you going to download You Beneath Your Skin? Have you already got it? Check out the video, and tell me if you agree with all I have to say about women, New Delhi, and writing.
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Super insightful 😁 This is so amazing 🤩
Thank you for visiting my blog, Damyanti. I think what you’re doing for your book is excellent. A movie option is awesome!
Hi Damyanti – that’s fine we all understand … you’re doing a tremendous job with your book, as well as helping so much with the charities. Good luck and I know you’re around … take care of you too – and stay sane and safe … Hilary
Thank you Hilary, for the kind words.Take care.
I got my copy! Congrats on the book anniversary.
Thanks Yvonne! It’s been such a ride.
Congratulations on the movie option, Damyanti! That’s so exciting.
Your writing has been featured on a lot of great blogs.
Thank you so much. The blogging community has been really encouraging and supportive.
Is my writing making any difference at all! Well, I wouldn’t even want to face that question. Because I don’t know. I try to write things that would make life simpler for people but nothing for a real big cause. I hope I can do it someday.
Keep it up Sonia. Every little bit helps and you never know whose life you are touching with your work.
Congrats Damayanti! This book is on my TBR but I haven’t got around to buying it yet. I did look at amazon kindle but it’s not available for free on the India site 🙂..
But I’m surely going to read your book within this month or the next. The premise sounds really interesting 😊
Thanks Prachi. Hope you do pick up the book soon. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.
Damyanti I’ve appreciated the short stories you’ve shared over the years on this site and the helpful guest instruction you’ve shared. Your generous spirit as evidenced by projects you promote and support endears you to us all. 🙂
Thank you Ian. I absolutely adore your stories and enjoying reading Titali right now!
My blogs definitely suffer when I’m working on fiction and it’s going well. I sometimes feel guilty about it because the blogs have their own readerships, but my fiction comes first. I started the blogs to support my fiction and nonfiction writing. I do wish I had the time for everything!
I know that feeling! Especially since the blogging community has been so supportive over the years.
You use your blog to bring awareness to many things. That matters.
And I don’t know how people with kids get anything done either.
Thanks Alex. Promise to share the secret to that one if you ever discover it.
I know your writing is making a difference, Damyanti. You feature so many interesting people on your blog (which you most definitely should continue doing) and your book raised awareness for an issue I would have known nothing about — acid attacks on women. I don’t understand the deep rooted misogyny in the world especially since we all have mothers, but I hope it’s in our lifetime that we see such hatefulness disappear.
Thank you Pam. I do hope for the same!
What difference are you and your writing making in this world?
This question sort of shook me out of my reverie, D.
I write, nowadays everyday. But it never struck me if my writing was making a difference to anybody at all! There are times I feel guilty for calling myself a writer. But I am going to keep that question in my mind to help me work better.
See? Your writing is definitely making a difference!
Congrats for your book anniversary! And thank you for your posts and your Gazette.. You really have no idea how helpful your words are for so many out there.
Much love!
All of us writers go through the periods of self-questioning and doubt, Shilpa–I’m so thrilled you’re writing everyday now. That’s great progress and I wish I could say the same of myself!
Thanks for the kind words on the gazette! So glad you find it useful!
Good conversation with Natalia. Lots of good thoughts.
Thanks very much for listening, Jacqui. Would be happy for you to share it if you think it would be useful to your circles.
Done! I wish I’d thought of that. I go on auto-pilot and forget the details at times. This is definitely an article worth sharing.
Huge congratulation on your book’s very almost first birthday.
I have it, and it is high on my soon to be read list.
Look after yourself in your busy weeks to come.
Thanks so much. Would be a real honour to have you read it. We’ve known each other via our blogs for so many years now.