I have struggled trying to define a 21st-century writer. The model of my former heroes of the last century—Hemingway, Maugham, and Greene—who hung out in remote corners of the world, drank, caroused, and jettisoned periodic manuscripts, hammered out on battered typewriters, that became bestsellers, and who were never around to promote their work – that […]
Fragmentism, Revisited: A Writer’s Case for AI-Assistance Read More »
I am a 21st century author and a reluctant publisher. I say this because I finished writing my first novel in 2001, enrolled in the Humber School for Writers in 2002 and took the book through its mentor critique process, got recommended by my mentor to the school’s literary agency, and then hit a brick
A Writer’s View of Canadian Publishing Read More »
My literary agent, tasked with getting me into the commercial market, recently rejected one of my late 18th-century adventure novels because it had references to “breasts” and “spreadeagled legs.” He also pointed out that the dialogue consisted of longer sentences than are spoken today, although it was reflective of the historical period. “So what’s the
Let’s Talk “Woke” in Literature Read More »
I took a trip to Tulum again, during a recent visit to Mexico, after a gap of 35 years, a journey down memory lane, to see how tourism development had evolved in the intervening years. Like other sites visited and revisited over the years—Machu Picchu, Sigiriya, most notably—these places have gone from sparsely visited, unkempt,
Learning from the Mayans Read More »
As the new year advances, America invades Venezuela and kidnaps its president and first lady to stand trial in the USA for running drug cartels, while just earlier, it pardoned a convicted felon leader of another Central American state, accused of the same crimes, because “convicted felon” holds no gravitas anymore. The world is in
Pax Americana is in the ICU Read More »
The advent of chatbots such as ChatGPT was supposed to be a boon to writers. Overnight, for a small fee (or free, in some cases) you had the services of a digital assistant who could perform research, generate ideas, suggest better sentences, proof-read, create illustrations from text or voice instructions, or even write your article,
I have noticed that many friends and acquaintances in my demographic have become journalists and writers in recent times. It could be that, at our age, writing is an easier sport than more athletic ones, like cricket or sex, or that having lived on this planet for three-score and ten years, or more, these new
Can Writers Really Change the World? Read More »
We crossed the Deccan Plateau, heading east and descending to the coast to get to Pondicherry, a six-hour journey that went through the Eastern Ghats. The Ghats, clumps of loose granite boulders in places, loomed over housing erected precariously in their shadow, making me wonder about earthquakes and avalanches. The myriad establishments in the vicinity
Pondicherry – on the Tipu Trail (part 2) Read More »
The air was clean, the sky blue, and the temperature moderate when we arrived in Bengaluru, the Garden City and former hill retreat where people had vacationed from bygone times. But why was the place so damned crowded? Traffic was a cacophonous nightmare with tuk tucks, cars, busses, pedestrians and cattle merging and blending around
Karnataka – on the Tipu Trail Read More »
Based on a promise made eight years ago, we returned to Sri Lanka this winter, visited some old haunts and some new ones, and got to say goodbye to both the land and the people, for another visit seems unlikely, although I “never say never.” A lot seems to have happened in the eight years:
Sri Lanka Revisited – Again! Read More »