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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 "


:)

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