The Next Big Thing

G’day from Brisbane, Australia! I’m here for ten days visiting my mum, and  been tagged by my friend (and fantastic writer!) April Prince for the Next Big Thing blog hop. No clue what that is? Never fear, here’s how it works: I answer a set of ten questions about my Next Big Thing/Book, and tag one or more writers to keep the blog hop going.

Do visit April’s blog and read about her two new board books DIG IN! and DIVE IN!

And next week check out posts by the writers I've tagged--Heather Kelly and Yat-Yee Chong!

1. What is the title of your book?
Red Turban White Horse

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

A real hurricane wedding that we had in the family. I've blogged about it here.

3. What genre does your book fall under?

Contemporary YA.

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

It's hard to think of actors of the right age and ethnicity, but for the leads I'd pick the lovely Naomi Scott (Lemonade Mouth, Terra Nova) and singer Zayn Malik of One Direction--though I honestly have no clue if he can act.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

When seventeen year old Mini decides to plan her sister’s Big Fat Indian Wedding--just like their late mom would have wanted—she doesn't count on Hurricane Irene getting in the way!

For a longer synopsis click here!

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

It will be published by Scholastic India’s new YA imprint Scholastic Nova. I don’t have an agent right now, though I have had in the past.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Ten months

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

There isn't much like it in YA, either here or in India.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I was inspired both by wonderful experiences like the wedding I mentioned before, which turned out extremely well in spite of everything, and also tragic circumstances like close friends dealing with cancer. While the book is a fun read it does deal with grief, and coming to terms with the loss of a parent. Unadulterated happiness is hard to find in life, and the book reflects that.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

It’s about a wedding and a hurricane, but it's also about first cars, first love, and fashion—I really had a blast writing about that!

Writers you’ve tagged for the NEXT BIG THING Blog Hop.

Yat-Yee Chong and Heather Kelly are both talented writers I’ve known for many years. Can’t wait to hear about their Next Big Thing!!

Covers of color

 

Getting to the cover art stage has made me curious about YA book covers depicting people of color. I've even started collecting covers on a pintrest board--it's interesting to see them together, actually.

Check it out here: http://pinterest.com/nandinibajpai/one-hundred-ya-book-covers-of-color/
Have you seen a cover I haven't pinned yet? Let me know in the comments, and I'll add it in!

Done, and done.

I should be excited--I sent off my finished novel on deadline last Wednesday.

But I was just so relieved that there wasn't room for anything else. You see, it was my nanowrimo novel from last year, which I didn't even get close to finishing in November. It sold on a partial--yes, I understand your incredulity, I couldn't believe it myself--and I still had half the novel to actually write, never mind revise.

I wasn't sure I could get it finished and in decent shape given that a) it was summer vacation b) we were going to Australia for 6 weeks, and c) my entire family was going to be there for a reunion.

So here's what I found:

You can write on vacation. You can write in Sydney, and LA, and Brisbane, and flying the mindbogglingly long flight over the Pacific. You can write on a plane while traveling with children. You can write in an airport. You can write AND catch up with your sisters, your nieces and nephews, your mum, your papa, your cousins, your aunt, and everyone else.  You can write while jetlagged, while homesick, while wondering if your dog and cat and garden back home are getting along fine without you. You can write while worrying that you will not write fast enough, or well enough. That you will not get it done.

You just have to ...um, do it.

And now there is the matter of waiting to see if my publisher (Scholastic India) actually likes the thing.

Later, there will be edits and revisions. For this book as well as the other one. But that can wait.

Right now I'm going to sit around for a week or two, thankyouverymuch, wallowing in sheer and utter relief.

On deadline, Down Under.

Checking in here after ages...

I'm in Australia, writing like mad. I've been here for four weeks already--but writing has not been the priority thus far. Until now, it's been all about family. I have three sisters and it's incredibly hard to get all four of us together. But this time not only did we manage to get all four sisters together, but the husbands, and the kids, and our parents as well! A real feat considering we live in India, Australia, and the US, and had to coordinate school holidays for all ten kids. Much camera clicking ensued, a small sample of which I've pasted below.

But now half of us have disbanded, and I'm down to the last two weeks in Australia. The deadline is looming and I've got to stay focused and write, write, write. Luckily, there is no better place to get in the zone than my mum's sunny garden in beautiful Brisbane! 

Two yeses from New Delhi, and one from New York

It's official and I can spill! I've signed with Joy Azmitia at Fineprint Literary. She's fabulous, and I'm thrilled! And also I've placed two books with publishers in India--Starcursed (YA Historical) with Rupa Publishing, and Red Turban White Horse (YA Contemporary) with Scholastic India. They should both be out next year--yippie!!!

 But before then I have this thing called a DEADLINE. So--back to work!

UPDATE : Then there's this. As of July 30th I'm back to (shock! horror!) being unagented again. The wonderful rep. I'd signed with at Fineprint Lit., Joy Azmitia, left agenting just a few short months after taking me on. She had good reasons for moving to the house side of publishing, so I'm glad for her. As for me, I've decided not to look for representation right now. Despite best intentions all around, my relationships with agents seem to be Starcursed.

Pictures from the NESCBWI conference

I'll try and post a recap of the conference tomorrow--too tired to get to it today...

It was nice to get back home...

..and go out to dinner with Chandra & the kids. :)

First Draft in sixty days

I'm not going to panic---yet. We're leaving for Australia on June 8th, and I HAVE to finish my first draft by then. So, I'll be writing up a storm and reporting here on progress, or lack thereof. I'm determined to get this done (and done WELL) before we head off down under!!!