My writerly life for the last couple of weeks

I’m a part of the Himalayan First Draft Club and I’ve been attending their sessions with writers on Sundays. We had an initial kick-off session on Zoom with Chetan Mahajan, who owns and runs the Himalayan Writing Retreat.

So far, I’ve attended zoom sessions featuring Kanchana Banerjee and Vish Dhamija. I’ve watched webinars and Live Sessions featuring Kanchana Banerjee before, but this was my first time attending a session with author Vish Dhamija. Kanchana Banerjee’s novels include ‘A forgotten affair’( Harlequin) and ‘Nobody’s Child’ ( Harper Collins India 2019). She is working on her third novel. Vish Dhamija is an award-winning crime fiction writer who has written about 10 books, mostly legal thrillers. His debut novel was ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ ( Srishti Publishers). His next book ‘Prisoner’s Dilemma’ is releasing this month from Pan Mac Millan India. It is available for pre-order.

Writers from all over the country and some outside India, too, are a part of the April cohort of the Himalayan FDC. Many of them are a book old, while some have written short stories and poems. There is a Google Excel sheet where we are all supposed to enter our word count for the day. We are expected to write every day of this month. We are also part of a whatsapp group. I’m halfway through the programme and being in touch with so many writers has helped me stay motivated although I’ve been a silent lurker. I’ve been writing a poem a day, keeping with NaPoWriMo.

I’m also a part of a writers’ whatsapp group by Blogchatter called ‘Help me write a book’. I’d joined that a couple of months back and decided I would write poetry this year. I’d written three poems based on a different theme as a part of this group, but for NaPoWrimo, I changed the theme and I’ve been writing a poem a day on my new theme.

What have you been reading and writing? Do let me know in the comments section.