Saturday, 30 April 2011
The Nightmare : The story behind the story
I can remember that magical night 6 years back, i.e. when I was in my 6th standard. Mom and brother were deep asleep, dad was busy working on his office papers and files, and I was just rolling on the bed and trying to kill the time, but failing to do so. Realizing that its no use being on the bed when your mind is at something else, I went up to my dad and asked him a little about novels and novelists.
After briefing me with a rudimentary explanation about novels and writers, he cajoled me to sleep. And the next day found me penning my first book. I don't know how it happened, or why it happened; all I knew was that it had happened, and there was a thing of purpose attached to it.
Days were going really good, and I wrote that book for almost 3 years. As I neared the verge of its completion, I lost the whole manuscript somewhere. The loss didn't hugely perturb me, for writing a book or becoming an author was something that I had never dreamt of. The following year found me just idle; managing to manage myself between school studies and neighborhood buddies, fun with friends and some serious plans for my future that were happening in my home and in our locality (well, at that time, discussions on my future plans never included me!)
10th grade went on well, and I realized soon that the coming year had something in store for me. One, IIT classes, and two, 'The Nightmare' finally done and stocked safely in my PC, getting ready to make its way to the publishing desks. Sometimes, even today, I wonder why the former thing ever happened; the later thing had a purpose, but the former didn't!
'The Nightmare' had kept me focused on writing for almost a year, which helped me maintain a balance between schooling and writing. But, the testing time was yet to come, without which the whole work would have experienced a purposeless meltdown. We began contacting publishers, and the journey wasn't as easy as I had thought. The next 2 years that came, didn't come just like that, but brought a message that was very much important for anyone in life; that rejections shouldn't lead to dejections.
Those 2 years were the ones that overflowed with rejections. Here, I want to mention all those publishers who had refused my work:
Penguin, India
Rupa & Co., India
Whitmore Publishing, USA
Harper Collins, India
Jaico Publishing, India
Bloomsbury, England
Poisened Pen Press, England
Random Book House, India
New Century Book House, India
Orient Black Swan, India
This 'rejection phase' taught me something very valuable, 'the more negatives you face, the more positive you ought to become'. What I had learnt had finally paid off; the ending of 12th grade marked the beginning of the birth of 'The Nightmare'. Frog Books India, an imprint of Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, had finally found my script worthy to reach the readers' hands. The script was accepted for publication in February 2011; edited, processed and printed in March; and released in April.
Dear Reader, 'The Nightmare' is a book written by someone who doesn't know much about books!;) Hence, your comments/suggestions/compliments are very much welcome. Once you are done with the book, send in your opinion to " tejatheauthor@yahoo.com "
:)
After briefing me with a rudimentary explanation about novels and writers, he cajoled me to sleep. And the next day found me penning my first book. I don't know how it happened, or why it happened; all I knew was that it had happened, and there was a thing of purpose attached to it.
Days were going really good, and I wrote that book for almost 3 years. As I neared the verge of its completion, I lost the whole manuscript somewhere. The loss didn't hugely perturb me, for writing a book or becoming an author was something that I had never dreamt of. The following year found me just idle; managing to manage myself between school studies and neighborhood buddies, fun with friends and some serious plans for my future that were happening in my home and in our locality (well, at that time, discussions on my future plans never included me!)
10th grade went on well, and I realized soon that the coming year had something in store for me. One, IIT classes, and two, 'The Nightmare' finally done and stocked safely in my PC, getting ready to make its way to the publishing desks. Sometimes, even today, I wonder why the former thing ever happened; the later thing had a purpose, but the former didn't!
'The Nightmare' had kept me focused on writing for almost a year, which helped me maintain a balance between schooling and writing. But, the testing time was yet to come, without which the whole work would have experienced a purposeless meltdown. We began contacting publishers, and the journey wasn't as easy as I had thought. The next 2 years that came, didn't come just like that, but brought a message that was very much important for anyone in life; that rejections shouldn't lead to dejections.
Those 2 years were the ones that overflowed with rejections. Here, I want to mention all those publishers who had refused my work:
Penguin, India
Rupa & Co., India
Whitmore Publishing, USA
Harper Collins, India
Jaico Publishing, India
Bloomsbury, England
Poisened Pen Press, England
Random Book House, India
New Century Book House, India
Orient Black Swan, India
This 'rejection phase' taught me something very valuable, 'the more negatives you face, the more positive you ought to become'. What I had learnt had finally paid off; the ending of 12th grade marked the beginning of the birth of 'The Nightmare'. Frog Books India, an imprint of Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, had finally found my script worthy to reach the readers' hands. The script was accepted for publication in February 2011; edited, processed and printed in March; and released in April.
Dear Reader, 'The Nightmare' is a book written by someone who doesn't know much about books!;) Hence, your comments/suggestions/compliments are very much welcome. Once you are done with the book, send in your opinion to " tejatheauthor@yahoo.com "
:)
Yeah..Its me..!
Ravi Teja was born in 1993 in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, India. Having completed his secondary school education, he now plans to enter the film industry as an actor and a producer. Politics and philanthropy are his other interests. He can be contacted at tejatheauthor@yahoo.com
Friday, 29 April 2011
Excerpt 3
Both of them fixed their eyes on him, and they moved forward. They started making plans as how to capture the chap. Even a small fault could result in terrible circumstances, as they did not reveal to anyone that they were from the FBI. Publicity would prove perturbing, they thought. Anthony got inside the restroom. And the duo knew that this was their chance. They hurriedly barged in, and as they entered inside, both acted as if they didn’t know each other.
Anthony was freshening up. The two stood beside him, each on either side. Ricardo took out a bottle of medical anesthesia and filled the whole thing into a syringe. Then, he patted on Anthony’s butt and pierced the needle in. Anthony gave a loud cry, which died off in seconds. He fell down unconscious. Thomas immediately went and locked the door from inside, to make sure no one came in. Ricardo flushed the syringe and the drug bottle into the commode.
Tying Anthony’s hands and feet, Ricardo said, “Success!”
Looking into the opposite mirror and running his hands through his sleek hair, Thomas muttered, “When will he regain consciousness?”
Sealing Anthony’s mouth, Ricardo replied, “What I have given is a small dose; he should be back to normal in about four hours.”
Thomas tittered, “Hah! At last, everything worked out well!”
All went well until then, but the real challenge was about to come; now they had to somehow manage to get through the place without arising the suspicion of any police officer in the airport. And that was something strenuous. While Ricardo was wondering what to do, Thomas took out a huge foldable luggage bag from his valise. He spread it on the ground and opened it. Ricardo understood right away what they are going to do.
They caught hold of Anthony, lifted him and positioned him in the rucksack. Thomas opened the door and brought in a trolley. Placing the rucksack on the trolley, the two moved out cautiously, just to make sure no one was watching them with cynicism.
Excerpt 2
Ricardo gave the ID cards to Thomas and said, “Have a look at these. I find the faces familiar.” Thomas looked at them and nodded his head in agreement. Basing both his arms on the two edges of the table, Ricardo looked at Rodney and asked, “But the whole building was in flames; how come these seem untouched?”
“That’s what amazed me too sir; the room over there…”, saying so he pointed to a room a few meters away from them, and continued, “was unaffected. Everything inside that room is in a similar condition.”
Ricardo looked back. He walked and entered inside. It was very congested, on one side of the wall was a mirror, and on the other side were a few clothes hanging. It actually appeared like a dressing room. As he was about to leave, a metallic door on the floor at one corner caught his attention. He went upto it and was about to open, and Rodney entered inside. He said, “Sir, that leads the way to the women’s house down. The two floors are connected internally.”
Ricardo raised his eyebrows; he gave a wry smile and came outside. Thomas was talking with one of the members of the investigating team. Ricardo interrupted, pointing towards the evidence kept on the table, “This is all we have.” Thomas nodded his head and wiped his face with his hanky; his skin gets oily frequently.
Excerpt 1
Ricardo went and opened the door, to find a fair and short person standing with a bunch of papers in his hand.
“Mr. Anthony?”, he asked.
Ricardo’s mind at once began to search for some lies to put forth in order to escape these moments of agitation. Controlling his tongue, so that it wouldn’t go out of place, Ricardo said, “This is Anthony’s cousin; he has gone out…”
That guy stood in silence for a minute, and then said, “Ohh… hey… hi… this is Eleanor; I am the owner of this building!”
Ricardo smiled and nodded, nodded and smiled. He was finding it tough to bring his acting instincts into play.
Eleanor said, “By the way, I wouldn’t mind if you’d offer me a cup of cold coffee!”
Ricardo was in a fix; he couldn’t say yes, and he couldn’t afford to commit a blunder by saying no.
Eleanor moved in, and Ricardo moved back. There were two dead cadavers lying in the bed, and then there was this guy who wanted a cup of cold coffee! Ricardo began to develop acute hatred towards the present moment.
Meanwhile, Andrew was in the bedroom, wondering what was going on between the two. He tried hard to experience at least a modicum of solace, or else, the situation would grip him to death. Ricardo offered Eleanor a seat, and with expressions of great munificence, he went into the kitchen.
Trying to make the best out of what was available in there; Ricardo managed to find a bottle of beer and a few tumblers. He brought and kept them on the table and took his seat. As he emptied the bottle into the tumblers, Andrew came.
“This is Andrew,” Ricardo said, “my friend.”
Eleanor glanced at him and they both exchanged handshakes. Andrew took his seat, and then his share of beer.
Before Ricardo had started, Eleanor had already done with a glass. Having some more of the drink, Eleanor asked Ricardo, “So what do you do?”
“I am into a sports gear business,” Ricardo replied almost instantly, as if the answer was waiting at the tip of his tongue to jump out.
Eleanor looked at Andrew, and before he could ask anything, Andrew said, “Me too… we both are partners actually!”
The Nightmare : Synopsis
The RiAn Organization, a secret society that renders public help without the knowledge or intervention of the FBI officials, was founded by Ricardo Hughes and Andrew. For the past many years, it had been solving numerous abduction and homicide cases, thereby salvaging the public from the dark clutches of the wicked. And one such case was that of a little boy Joe, who had been kidnapped while he was on his way to his friend’s house…
As the search for Joe continues, Andrew meets with an unfortunate death, or rather, a homicide. Ricardo feels nightmarish. Andrew’s demise deeply disturbs him, and the way the killer was using his criminal intelligence makes Ricardo more resolute to take him by horns, and he returns back to the FBI Dept. of Mexico, where he had been working a decade ago, from where he had to resign due to unfair allegations raised against him.
Accompanied by his colleague Thomas McVeigh, the duo come across six more mysterious homicides, which give them recurrent nightmares, leaving the top cops baffled. As the story reaches its culmination, Ricardo and Thomas realize that all the homicides which initially looked unrelated, were, in fact, interconnected; and it was the very same guy who had been behind all these.
They finally succeed in taking the killer to task, but…
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)