Ruchira's Ramblings

Oh my God, I completely forgot about 2nd Tuesday this time. And missed the submission deadline. Brilliant. I'm still posting this because I wrote it and no point not posting, right? Okay, on to the topic under discussion- Dealing with the Inner Critic, is that it? I’m not sure I can say much on this- seeing that I’m myself not exactly an efficient arbitrator between my writing self and the skeptical, pessimistic, unhappy creature who keeps whispering things like “this plot is lousy” and “this is no good” and “why are you even writing?” She is there as I struggle to find an opening sentence to a piece of work; she is there as I get stuck midway and again when I read a first draft for the first time. How many times have I typed a sentence only for that voice to dismiss it as lame and pathetic? And I don’t know of twelve and a half ways to deal with it, all I do know is I must keep writing ignoring that voice till I can reach the end. It isn’t easy, I fail at it more than I would like...

' I don't believe in it (writer's block). All writing is difficult. The most you can hope for is a day when it goes reasonably easily. Plumbers don't get plumber's block, and doctors don't get doctor's block; why should writers be the only profession that gives a special name to the difficulty of working, and then expects sympathy for it? ' ~~Oscar Wilde So here we are again at the second installment of Patti Larsen ’s blog-hop. The topic this month has been suggested by me so you can guess this is a subject of some importance to me- a problem that bugs me frequently, making me devise various schemes to counter it. It comes in various shapes- phases of severe idea-drought, a complete lack of the will to write which sometimes culminates into a fear of the writing act (is there a name for this phobia?), the feeling that nothing I write is good enough and therefore pointless…no matter what it is- there are periods when even the most prolific of us have di...

This time last year, I was used to logging into Twitter only to check the tweets of a handful of celebrities that I was following at that time, and to occasionally tweet about my bouts of fever or exam anxieties to no one in particular. My blog was in coma, I spent most of my Facebook time playing Zynga games (Yoville, Farmville, CafeWorld, Petville, Fishville- you name them, I’ve played them all, with the probable exception of Mafia) and in short my social (networking) life was near about non-existent. Then there were last minute revisions, then the exams, then post-exam trips to the shopping mall and to the movie theatre- and I disappeared from the Internet. When I returned in the 2nd half of the year, I went back to playing games. It would have probably gone on like this if I did not receive that message out of nowhere from the 100 Stories for Haiti Facebook group, asking for submissions for yet another charity anthology, this time for the victims of the Pakistan flood. Before thi...

The Missing Key We found our compartment and after a brief, ritual fight over the window seats, settled down. There was a group photo (“Don’t leave me out!” “Stop pushing me-you’re still within the frame”) and then the whistle blew. The train chugged slowly out of the platform and moms and dads with waving hands jogged backward from our windows. “Cheers!” said the Pink Princess. “Three days of freedom- no parents, no homework, no…” “We are supposed to study botanical specimens on this trip.” The Bookworm frowned at Princess. “Hey, don’t spoil the fun before it’s begun.” I said. “It’ll be over soon enough anyway.” The Kitten brought out a cake she had baked for the journey, and I started tuning my radio to find the FM. We were all gearing up for the party when trouble struck. The Aspiring Loafer announced she could not find her key. Her suitcase was now securely chained to the berth with a lock that couldn’t be opened. Well, Loafer was legendary for missing things right under h...

“Lend you my batmobile? You gotta be kidding, right?” The Batman exclaimed, glaring at me with equal amounts of outrage and disbelief. “You’re taking the batcopter, so you can spare-” “Do you even know how to hold a steering wheel?” “Don’t think there are any flipper compatible ones, Bruce,” the CatWoman sniggered, “I dare say even Wayne Industries is yet to come up with one.” I ignored the collective jibes that followed and tried to plead once more. “I can peck at the button controls. Look, how else am I going to deliver gifts in time to so many people?” How does Santa do it every year, anyway? Note to Self: Find out working up plans from reindeers. Must find one first though, opposite poles! “I don’t care,” Batman replied, “You’re not going anywhere near any of my cars.” This is so damn selfish! He’s supposed to help people. Well, perhaps he doesn’t consider me to be people enough.:( “Then let me come with you,” I said, “I’ll help you rescue Santa and someone else amongst yo...

Good Reads for Good Causes 50 Stories for Pakistan by 50 writers Produced by Big Bad Media http://www.bigbadmedia.com Look at the image on the cover of this book.(it's right there on the side bar) A man and a boy knee-deep in water. Father and son? Uncle and nephew? Teacher and pupil? Or perhaps just a kid, lost, tagging on to an adult in the hope that he will be taken somewhere safe, dry? They are wading away from the light into the darkness and gloom. The unknown. Fear. Hunger. Disease. But they are also wading towards you. They can’t ask for your help. You must choose to give it. A simple way of doing that is to buy this book. Proceeds go to helping the victims of the Pakistan floods. Available from the Blurb bookstore: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1678288 £4.95 Shambelurkling and Other Stories is an anthology of children’s stories and poems from writers far and wide, with all profits going to National Autistic Society Early Learning Plus Programme. £3.99 ...

'Shambelurkling and Other Stories' is an anthology of short stories and poems for children between 8 and 12 years of age, which has been compiled and edited by the lovely Marit Meredith ( The Pages Magazine ). The book is now for sale via Lulu.com as a paperback or download. Whichever format you chose, the National Autism Society will receive £1.06 per copy sold. And oh the most important part: It has got my poem - 'The Land of Dreams: A Fairy Rhyme' and also my story- 'The Missing Key.' It has got also got contributions from Rebecca Emin, Rachel Carter,Emma Kerry, Mandy K James, Cindy Schuerr,Trevor Belshaw, Jonathan Pinnock, Sharon Birch, Maureen Vincent-Northam and many others. I'm dying to read it all (*checks letter-box and sighs sadly*) You can buy the paperback version, or download the ebook version. For each copy sold, the National Autism Society will receive £1.06. A good book, and a good cause. Merry Christmas in advance.:) P.S: The book ...