Thank you so much for the overwhelming support to Rustom and the Last Storyteller of Almora. Pleased to share that the book, a literary crossover ( A byproduct of the Higgs Boson as produced by the LHC ) absolutely burned through the charts during preorders.
And now in a couple of days the book will start trickling into bookstores across the nation. I do hope you will sustain the enthusiasm for Rustom and the Last Storyteller of Almora and act your age (Assuming you are all my age) and go to that old fashioned place called a bookstore, buy your copy, tell the store manager that you will be back for more and walk out with your head held high.
Bookstores really really need your support. If you have already ordered online, you should really buy one copy from bookstores.
But this is not what the blog is about. Wanted to share a quick note on making characters come to life (unedited, so excuse the typos) All along, you have been hearing me talk about Rustom this, Rustom that and so on. But one of the most interesting characters in the book is Rustom's wife Jennifer. A person who was a big challenge to sketch out.
For all the other characters, Rustom, the storyteller, Mani etc..I was very clear about the way they looked and the way they acted. But everytime I came to Jen, I hit a concrete wall of sorts. While I had a good idea about how she looked (Think Perizad Zoraben) I was not clear on what she stood for. Her essence and all that, if you want me to sound like a writer. So unlike the other chaps, for whom I created detailed character maps, personality traits, dressing styles, the music they heard, what they read and so on - Jennifer was simply a ghost floating in my head.
Till under the influence of what should not be named, I wrote Smells Like Bombay. One of my personal favorites and boy oh boy did Jennifer really come to life after that! I knew exactly what would piss her off, what would make her happy and what are the things one should never ever do to Jen.
Guess what? A few weeks ago, Kaushik Shukla an independent musicians contacted me and said that he wanted to make a song out of Smells like Bombay. I was a little hesitant, considering how important that song had been in my journey but when I heard his other work I told him to take a stab at it without telling him about the book.
And boy oh boy. Kaushik and the southpaws simply blew me away with their song based on the poem. It captures Jennifer even more than the poem. Let me know if you like it as well.
And do order Rustom and the Last Storyteller of Almora online or get it from a bookstore near you! You will all love Jennifer in the book.
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