She is the winner of the Caferati Editors Choice Award, in the ‘Live Journal- Caferati’ Flash Fiction Contest, held in November 2008. The work that got her the award was: ‘The Scattered Journal’. Madhulika has a string of other awards and prizes to boast of too:
- Winner of the e-author competition organized by the Oxford Bookstore and the Reader’s Digest in 2006. Her winning entry was a set of five short stories.
- Second Runner-up in the Sulekha-Penguin India Smiles Contest, 2005, for her work ‘A Suitor for Saraswati’
- Overall Winner and Regional Winner-Asia of the 2003 Commonwealth Short Story Competition for A Morning Swim
- Highly Commended Winner in the 2002 Commonwealth Short Story Competition for ‘Love and the Papaya Man’
- Winner of the Sulekha Spring Romance Contest, July 2001 for ‘Crossing Paths’
- Winner of the Femina Thriller Contest in 2001 for ‘Silent Fear’
Her non-fiction work includes eight humorous talks written for All India Radio, and five travel articles for ‘Lounge’, the Saturday edition of the Mint (the Wall Street Journal’s India edition)
Phew, that is one long list of awards and recognitions, is it not? Would it not be great to know the secrets of her success? Read on….
This interview was conducted over email by Sohini Rajpal, with inputs from Preeti Sharma. If you wish to contact them or the author, email us at epublishing@chillibreeze.com
How and when did you begin writing?
Years ago – I think I wrote my first story when I was about 6 or 7 years old. I had a fertile imagination, and since I used to read a lot, I’d want to concoct my own stories as well. I’ve been writing consistently ever since, though only for my family to read. My first story to be published was in 2001.
For how long have you been freelancing?
Just over a year – I left my last job, after about 14 years of working in the corporate world, in March 2008.
Can you tell us a little more about the type of stories you write?
My stories are very varied. I’ve written in a lot of genres and on different topics, including humour, crime, social issues – even romance. The majority of my stories tend to be either focused on crime or on someone doing something that isn’t very nice, generally in a humorous way. And nearly all my stories have a surprise ending.
From where do you draw your inspirations?
From all over – sometimes from the tales and real-life experiences recounted by family and friends; occasionally from news articles; and sometimes just by deep thought on what I want to write about. For example, since I’ve participated in a number of competitions (and many writing competitions have a topic or theme to them), I look at the theme from all possible angles, think about it, and try to build a story around it. It takes long and is hard work, but it does work.
You are an active writer in the Indian online writing space. Do you think new budding writers are gaining through online competitions and e-publishing offers? Can you share some of your personal experiences in this regard?
Yes, online writing is a good way for a wannabe writer to get noticed. The only problem here is that since the Web is accessible to everyone, everyone thinks they can write. As a result, there’s truckloads of poorly written stuff floating about online, and the chances of good writing being recognized for what it is, are low. The usual reaction is: “Everybody can get published on the Net, so if you’re published on the Net, it’s no big deal.” It’s therefore a good idea to stay on the lookout for online writing competitions from reputed companies and sites (such as www.oxfordbookstore.com – which organizes an annual e-author contest – and www.livejournal.com). Getting published in one of these adds to your credibility and can help you make your presence felt. Also look out for magazines and journals that have an online presence (many will accept online submissions), and do a regular search of the Net for writing competitions and so on. There are loads of opportunities out there for a writer to exploit!
Did you ever consider publishing your work as e-Books?
Not really, because I’ve long harbored the fear that an e-book is more liable to being pirated and illegally downloaded. I know piracy is just as likely in a paperbound book, but it’s a mindset I’m trying to get rid of. Maybe someday.
With Amazon launching Kindle reader, in your opinion would reading habits change and authors like you consider publishing e-books?
In India, I don’t know. At about $260 – that’s over Rs 12,700 – it is expensive. Add to that the fact that you’re still paying something like $10 a book (close to Rs 500), and I’m not sure it’s likely to catch on very much, at least in India. Yes, possibly with people who travel a lot and still want to read a lot. But for someone like me, who’d prefer to carry a couple of paperbacks, Kindle reader doesn’t sound worth it. In any case, if I have my laptop with me, and wanted to read an e-book, I’d do so on my laptop, with a lovely big screen!
Regarding authors wanting to publish e-books just because Kindle reader has arrived: I don’t think that really matters, because it’s not as if these books are only e-books: they’re electronic versions of books already published as hard copy. The author’s benefiting anyway.
Which genre of work do you see becoming popular in India?
Detective and crime fiction, I hope – since that is what my usual genre is (although crime fiction is popular enough in the vernacular; it’s just not caught on as a genre in English written by Indian authors). Crime/detective/mystery/thriller works also offer a very wide scope within themselves – for instance, historical detective fiction is a genre in itself.
My first novel, The Englishman’s Cameo, is slated for release later this year.
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