A thriller about murder, witchcraft, and royals

The sequel to my first debut novel The Hawa Mahal Murders is now with the publisher...waiting to be published. It's been ready for many months but finally with the publisher.

This took me a long time to finish. Five years. I took time to write the first one too, but was sure I'd write the next one much faster. I thought maybe 2-3 years. Being more experienced and confident, I was sure I could do it. 

Personal events intertwined. Births and deaths in close family and also plenty of travel. This shouldn’t be a reason for the delay, but it is.

There is nothing more I would like than to shut myself off from the outside world and write…write…write. But I chose not to do that.

Why? Writing makes you more conscious of being alive, but writing is not life. 

Is writing my life? I have to grudgingly admit that no, writing is not my life. Maybe if I was alone in this world with nobody I loved deeply, and if I lived on an island with pots of money, then writing could easily become my life. So that's decided. Writing is not my life. I love others and want to be with them too...I am not a typical writer. Neither melancholy and nor do I crave for solitude. In fact I crave company...laughter, noise, food, drink and parties. Does this make me an odd personality in the world of writers? Well, I guess it does make me odd in the world of good writers. Somehow I always believed that the best writers are committed 100% to writing. 

Do I think I am a bad writer or a good writer? Good, very good. Not literary, but very good at writing suspense and mystery. Very good at characterisation. I think I write better novels than many mystery writers who are famous...people will think it's my ego talking. Well, I truely believe it and don't consider myself egoistic in the least.

Writing is my passion, even if it isn't my life. It makes my heart sing, my soul float and it makes time fly. I may fantasize living on an island in an ocean or in the Himalayas, just writing, but I know I won't last more than a week. 

When I was in my teens and till the early twenties, reading was my life. Reading was exclusively my life. Nothing else mattered. I read everything I could get my hands on. I ignored life. I ignored friends. I ignored family. But by the mid-twenties, I was involved in life, involved with earning money, and involved with my children. That is why my novel, a book I always wanted to write came late. Very late. I don't regret it. 

I loved every minute of writing The Hawa Mahal Murders. Just like I loved every minute of writing its sequel. Yes, it's a sequel. What's it about? That will be my next post.

Hopefully it will launch soon. 

My writing will continue. Writing helps me breathe. So does Life.

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