Monday, May 16, 2022

FULL OF PEACE

 



“Drink water from the spring where horses drink. The horse will never drink bad water.

Lay your bed where the cat sleeps. 

Eat the fruit that has been touched by a worm.

Boldly pick the mushroom on which the insects sit. 

Plant the tree where the mole digs. 

Build your house where the snake sits to warm itself. 

Dig your fountain where the birds hide from heat. 

Go to sleep and wake up at the same time with the birds — you will reap all of the day’s golden grains. 

Eat more green — you will have strong legs and a resistant heart, like the beings of the forest. 

Swim often and you will feel on earth like the fish in the water. 

Look at the sky as often as possible and your thoughts will become light and clear.

Be quiet a lot, speak little — and silence will come in your heart, and your spirit will be calm and full of peace.”

Saint Seraphim of Sarov

Monday, May 9, 2022

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE?



"What inspired you to write this story?"

A very good question that I get often. However, the answer is not as simple as the question seems. I do not come from a reading culture. Not enough extra cash to spend on novels, and even less spare time to read them. Reading for pleasure was a luxury that a struggling family could not afford. Writing them is even more alien. So how did I get here?

I was a child in-between. The only child to a single mother, I grew up in a household of grandparents, uncles and aunts. So I was conscious enough to not be as childish as my age mates, but not "mature" enough to be considered in older circles. Smart enough to be in the same class as older children, but not "big" enough to truly belong. Luckily, my grandfather worked at a printing press, so there were always reading materials lying about. My imagination became my closest friend, and I drifted towards books as water to the desert of my bountiful curiosity. Between those pages, I could be anything. In the quiet spaces, I could be anyone. 

 Novels are often a reflection of the human condition - the struggle to overcome hardship. Hence, reading them is escapist. You can consider my writing as homage to that human condition. Writing took me out of a dark place. Not only could I experience a different life, I could create different world. So what better place to write about than a place I've heard fun tales about, and what better story to write about than a boy overcoming a tough time. 

Enter Half a Lion, a fantasy story of siblings fighting for a throne set in Africa. It is a world in which any number of wonderous things can happen, like employing animalistic magic for one's bidding, or manipulating nature to one's purpose. Africans would tell you there is nothing fantastically about such things. Witchcraft is real. Whether these elements are make-believe or not, the story carries a very human story at its core. For me, Half a Lion is a book that goes beyond the words used to describe it. I still aspire to be as loving, as loyal and as determined as its protagonist. For a reader, I hope the experience is the same. 

There is something about books that stirs the human spirit and puts fire in the heart. Hardship inspired me to write, and writing helped me. May our struggles spur us into action, and not into depression. Without adversity, success has no punchline. Keep the faith.

YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE

  When you walk through a storm Hold your head up high And don't be afraid of the dark At the end of a storm There's a golden sky An...