Before you hit send

No writing advice this in case the title misleads you. Just sharing what happened before I got to the stage of hitting 'send'. 

Anyone who's written a full manuscript would have faced some amount of headache. When you sit down to write, it seems like a mountain. The good thing is you discover it can be broken up in small daily portions and munched comfortably. So you plan. If you set yourself goals, the stress increases. Well, some of it is good stress because it keeps you on the track. But some... suffice to say, it can really give you hypertension with the adrenaline racing through your body in case you don't 'make' it. Take my advice, don't make realistic goals. Make verrryyyy comfortable goals. This is from one who's been there.

So here's how it has minced along.

First, the upsets in the daily routine. Not that they are meant to be there. I have it planned I won't let writing interfere with anyone's time of me - if you know what I mean. No takeaways will be needed. Food will be cooked and ready at meal times. Laundry tended. But somehow characters begin to occupy more time than  I have allotted them. I'm getting complaints of you don't listen, mom. And angry retorts like yes, I did tell you about my test tomorrow. Weren't you listening? I can neither confirm nor deny. Have I been talking in my head to my H/h? Or more correctly hearing them talk? And missed hearing kids? *groan*

Then come more moments of the Inconvenient Muse. Staring at the boiling water till you suddenly realise you're supposed to be putting noodles in there, not stand planning out the dialogue you left unfinished when you couldn't get your brain cells to work at the keyboard.

Hubby's patience wearing thin because of kids' constant grumbles and the H/h black moment nearly becoming your own. Everyone getting sick of no outings, which I'm too stuffed with my story to think of organizing. Also I'm missing shared jokes and things because although physically present, I'm sometimes catching up on FB and twitter during family time. *hangs head in shame.*

Forgetting that I'm busy for myself and flying off the handle a few times. *oops* 

Then at last, the moment of light. Dun dun n dun. The lifting of dark cloud. End is in sight.

Everyone gets to see a more cheerful me. I even make kids favorite cheese dish to relax myself and appease them.

Finally, finally the much awaited day, when I hit 'send'. *crazy dance*. I make kids banana shake to celebrate and send out for chocolate. Hubby heaves a sigh of relief.

Whew! *mops forehead*

So how was your ride before you hit send? Smooth sailing or something like I went through? What about the multi-published authors? Do you still get butterflies in tummy before you hit send or is it just another day?

Would love to hear from you! :)

We went to see Punjabi movie 'Jatt and Juliet' yesterday. I don't go for Punjabi films much and went rather for my hubby's choice. But unexpectedly I really enjoyed the movie, especially for the lively comebacks of hero and equal stand-up by the heroine. Diljit Dosanj and Neeru Bajwa have done a great job playing the male and female leads. The highlight of the movie is the purely Punjabi humour. Director Anurag Singh has staged the perfect comedy timing throughout. For a light-hearted fun watch it took the bag, especially the romantic couple's daggers drawn interaction which was quite likeable, the hero calling the heroine 'dumnia' a Punjabi word for 'beehive' for most of the movie. Spunky, lively characters, great quips which were spin-offs on Punjabi language added to the amusement. Being light on the plot elements and some repetitive sequence in the scenes were the drawbacks but didn't take the charm out of viewing. Here's a song from the film on youtube with cute bangra steps executed well by Diljit.

Hi, 

Here's a Lucky Seven Challenge.

I was tagged in this post by Melissa Lockhart. 


The challenge : Post seven lines from an unpublished work of fiction. 
So, now to the rules

• Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript (fiction or non-fiction)
• Go to line 7
• Post on your blog the next 7 lines, or sentences, as they are – no cheating      
•  Tag 7 other authors to do the same

 So here's mine:

"You weren't saving it for your marriage? That's the usual reason for remaining inexperienced."

"You needn't think you've denied my prospective husband the chance of being my first." She dismissed with aplomb. "I've just been too shy because of my strict upbringing. My parents were very strictly religious and when they left me to mami even there the household was very uptight moral code."

"All this time you've been itching to get out of the confines?...

And now I tag:


Teresa Morgan
Maria Perry Mohan
Alex Butcher
Yasmina Kohl
Linda Soper
Bisi Leyton
Gabrielle Battistel


If you've been tagged before, pass on to someone else, please. No pressure. Just enjoy! 
Have a lovely week! :)

IPL Bonanza

Hi everyone, it's IPL season in India and being a cricket enthusiast I'm going to share some pics of my favourite team Chennai Super Kings players with you all. Have an eyeful :)

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                          The indigenous Captain cool

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Laid back coach

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Dreaming of the sixes he hurled at RCB!

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The newest team member who took the season by the storm

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                                 Raina in a rare restful pose

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       Anyone recognise him? Smashed some well placed shots



#sorry people had to remove the pics.

A poetic endeavor

Hi everyone! Today I'm posting a poem written by my daughter. So proud of her but that's natural. Hope you like it as well.
                                             

                                         THE ROAD

I start from the route you choose to travel

Made of coal tar or just of gravel

I emerge from a beautiful ridge

Or connect two banks forming a bridge

I’m the cause of much confusion

And many a times cause an illusion

I help you get to your destination

Be it real or just imagination

I don’t care about where you belong

Discrimination is past me, I take everyone along

I stretch along and divide in two

You choose the one you want to

Some take the path their mind set

But some don’t take and they regret

 You can travel in day or in the night

Enjoying the sun or the moonlight

 I stretch as long as the river Nile  

Or end after covering only a mile

I pass through the forest, I lead to the beach

You can find roaming on me, insects like a leech

Sometimes under a tree-cover, sometimes left plain

You can marvel the breeze or enjoy the rain

I’m always ready to help you all

Have made wonders like the Great Wall

I’m made in curves or in straight lane

Can’t help the traffic which drives you insane


Do let me know how you found it. Till next time, cheerio!
Have a great week!

The Inconvenient Muse

Writers often struggle with that slippery customer, writer's muse. Mostly the problem is in pinning it down. Well, I have been hard at work trying to put down the first three chapters of my Passions book. I call it that after the name of the contest Mills and Boon India hosted and also because it is that for me...a passion. Though the amount of mental and even more psychological energy being expended - in seesawing the ever threatening question of Will It Be - makes for the more appropriate term 'obsession'. Anyway, to get back to the point, during this I have discovered how inconvenient my Muse has become. After wasting away precious keyboard minutes in jabbing away words I know can't be exciting to the reader since they sound flat to me, I give up and go start on lunch. Only to find that suddenly the situation I was head banging is crystal clear, the hero who had been mouthing dialogues like my recalcitrant son at lunch when he doesn't get his favourite meal, is now really talking as though he means it, all in my head, the heroine is whizzing away on her emotional stream, a stream made up of perfectly tailored words. Maybe it's because the stress of thinking is gone or that having your hands busy allows your mind to wander off on its own path. But the problem is, instead of tapping keys, my fingers are closed around the spatula. How tough it is only if you're a writer you can imagine! Out of desperation, I grab the nearest thing, my phone and starting qwertying the lines, only they've faded a little and takes me a bit of thinking to remember, what did he say after she said this?oh bother! And then the ominous sound of sizzling vegetables reminding me of where I am. Scratch the typing, I have a family to feed and a charred meal will not make for happy smiles.
Ah such are the trails of an inconvenient muse!


What about you? Do you wrestle with this inconsistent entity? Have you ever thought of the perfect scene then not remember a word when you started to type? Do share your thoughts, I'd love to know!

Have a great week! :)

About March Mayhem and April chats

I call the last month March Mayhem because it was vacation time! I can see all mums nodding in sympathetic understanding. When kids are home from school, an automatic anarchy sets in the house. Nothing seemed to get done. And an overdose of nothing, combined with repetitive screeches to get them in order leaves poor maternal nerves frazzled and patience frayed.
That is why April is a breath of peace and brings breezes of calmness. (I'm a horrid mother, I know), but that's what kids at school mean to me. Last week  I spent hours of conversation with hubby, which time had somehow gone missing from our routine. It came to me then, how talking, even if it is chatting about nothing in particular, is so important to feel connected. Unless those sounds waves are being transmitted and received, you start to feel mental distance . Isn't that why we all love social networking? Even without the sound waves, the power of moving communication that touches you across the miles (or across the street as the case maybe) and makes you empathize with, say, a friend facing the same springs allergies as you, cannot be discounted.
I read somewhere recently that this is the reason why we cut trees. Because they are silent, have no way of showing their existence and cannot retaliate even though they are stronger and tougher. Does that make you think?  Maybe silence isn't golden after all.

Have a great weekend! And do share your thoughts regarding my ramblings :)