Bookaroo 2010

 (young Riddle of the Seventh Stone enthusiasts eager for autographs )

(friend Sonja Chandrachud's session with ghouls and goblins galore )

Participating in Bookaroo 2010, recently held in New Delhi, was an amazing experience. Personally, it was reliving my childhood when students of city schools sat around me enjoying a daramatized reading fom Riddle of the Seventh Stone. Anita Roy, my ever supportive editor from Young Zubaan was lively and exuberant as ever. The best part was when the youngsters caught up with me later and mobbed me for autographs and said the session was "awesome".

Obejctively sepaking, while the enthusiasm is contagious and the number of visitors are increasing exponentially at India's first and biggest children's literaure festival, there's a long road ahead. The vast majority of our millions of educated middle class parents and teachers are yet to be convinced of the importance of inculcating a love for reading among young people. Parents will readily spend hundreds of rupees on fast foods and junk foods, but books, no matter how well written and produced, are widely considered a waste of money.

Also, we are yet to overcome the colonial hangover. A large number of Indians still consider Indian books to be inferior in standards to foreign books.

There are plenty of people who do not want to read, who know all there is to know and don't care about anything else.

And, there are also events like Bookaroo. May there be many more! Here's my complete roundup published in Deccan Herald

happy new year

HAPPY 2011
We of the vermin underworld wave antennae, click pincers, flutter our wings and wave our tails to wish you all a fabulous 2011. We the heroes of Riddle of the Seventh Stone are waiting for you in every online bookstore (and regular ones too) Meet us, love us, take us home and introduce your friends to us. But please, say no to harmful chemical pesticides

Riddle reviews and press

The amazing adventures of Rishabh the rat and Shashee the spider are making news far and wide. Here are some links:

The Hindu : "A delightful and entertaining peep into the parallel universe of pests, the novel features the old city like you’ve never seen it." Read the complete interview/review in The Hindu

The Hindu says: "Riddle of the Seventh Stone keeps you hooked. You laugh as the kids foil Ajji's attempts to get rid of the pests. You sympathise with Rishab's struggles with geometry. Monideepa Sahu's portrayal of the kids and their interactions rings true and her language flows easily... Pick this one up for a great read." Read the full review here in The Hindu

Ranjana Kaul says in The Book Review: "Riddle of the Seventh Stone is an engaging book with unlikely protagonists drawn from the world of vermin and insects, a world which humans generally tend to ignore or treat with disgust and repulsion. The book straddles these two antithetical yet interdependent worlds with ease ... It is the author's ability to bring each character to life and make him or her an individual which sets this book apart." Read the full review in The Book Review

Reviewed at Saffrontree by Harini Gopalaswamy Srinivasan, talented author of Gind (Puffin) and The Smile of Vanuvati (Tulika)

Ace fantasy author Payal Dhar reviews Riddle in writeside.net

interview/review in Unboxed Writers

Riddle selected as Telegraph paperback pickings

Author Ramendra Kumar in Bolokids.com

Mummy knows best review

review in Deccan Herald

Riddle in Bangalore Mirror

The Hindu, Hyderabad Printpick

Singapore based author and journalist Zafar Anjum on Riddle

Hansda SS reviews Riddle

review in Bookrack

Riddle bangalore launch

Dear readers ,

Please do make it next saturday at 5 pm to reliance timeout, cunningham road for the launch of my new fantasy adventure novel for children.
please pass on the message to any young friends who may be interested.


about the book
Riddle of the Seventh Stone.

publisher:Zubaan books

THE BOOK:

Rishabh the rat and Shashee the spider are quite happy with the way they are: rummaging around in Venkat Thata’s wonderful, musty, dusty, rare herb shop in the heart of Bangalore. Until, that is, they stumble upon a magical powder and find themselves transformed into human children.

It’s not easy being a kid! There’s school and homework and wearing clothes and – yuk! – having to use soap… but even worse, their home is under threat from an evil moneylender known as the Shark.

Can Rishabh solve the cryptic clues that lead to King Kempe Gowda’s fabulous treasure before the Shark can get to it? Will the vermin survive Ajji’s herbal pesticide attack? Will Shashee be able to spin her way out of this tangled web of intrigue?

With the help off other children, friendly cockroaches, cheeky mosquitoes and a very Big Bandicoot, they set out of prove that no problem is too big even for the smallest of creatures.


THE REVIEWS:

“These are exciting times for children, with fiction such as Monideepa Sahu’s Riddle of the Seventh Stone — a unique take on ordinary events and creatures that we take so much for granted, things that get extraordinary in her gifted hands.” —Shreekumar Varma

“The author’s light and airy prose makes this book a delight to read for children and adults alike. She has a fine ear for dialogue and… conversations flow freely and fast….
A cracking good adventure tale.” —Shrabonti Bagchi, DNA

“A delightful tale…The fun and the excitement are enhanced by the spirited participation of an army of children, “friendly cockroaches”, “cheeky mosquitoes”, a Big Bandicoot and a troop of rodents…The illustrations by Pooja Pottenkulam complement Sahu’s limpid prose.” --The Telegraph


details of the book and the launch/reading.

Date: Oct 9th,Saturday

Time: 5 PM

Place: Reliance Timeout, Cunningham Road, Bangalore

Thanks and regards,

Monideepa

check out Zubaan Books

Riddle's journey

From my side, I get the impression that it is difficult to get a first book published in any genre in India. Literary fiction, poetry, chidlrens fiction, non fiction, all have their challenges. I recently interacted with a national award winning film critic, Mr. M.K. Raghavendra, who has had four books on films published by OUP and Harper Collins, and he too said that his first book took many years to get published. He began writing it in 2000, and the book saw publication in 2008.

In my own case, I began this novel (yes, its a full length novel, 174 pages long) in 2002. Any long work of fiction or non fiction takes years to write, revise and polish.I swapped critiques of entrie novels with other writers. That itself was a lot of work, but it did give me fesh insights and ideas for improvement.

In Feb 2008, I entered this manuscript anonymously in the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival Open Book Pitch, where it 'won' the nod of approval from Zubaan Books.

From then on, there were a series of revisions, exchange of ideas between me and Ms. Anita Roy, the Commissioning Editor of Young Zubaan on phone and e-mails. She patiently did much hand-holding and gave priceless advice to give the book that much needed final polish.

The contract was awarded in 2008 end.

The book is now published in August 2010.

From this point, I'm told that the book will take a month or more to reach bookstores all over the country. On line bookstores may of course be stocking up much sooner.I've heard that distribution and sales is another huge hurdle that many first timers face.

My baby is now leaving my hands and setting out into the big world. If it strikes a chord in the hearts of young readers (and oh yes, their parents and the young at heart) it will be my greatest reward.

riddle of the seventh stone

My own first book is published and is on its way to bookstores throughout the country. This is the final lap of a long and difficult journey. Writing a novel, rewriting and polishing it to make it the best it can be, is in itself an arduous project.