Category Archives: Books and media

I’m reading Oryx and Crake. Like anything by Margaret Attwood, brilliant and disturbing. What an amazing writer. Did you know she has an account on Wattpad? Last year she wrote an op-ed in support of the world’s largest online community … Continue reading →

Posted on September 1, 2013 by Rati Mehrotra | Comments Off on Writing on Wattpad: The River of Forgetfulness

Looking for beta readers for a middle grade fantasy

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Rati Mehrotra

I’m looking for beta readers for my middle grade fantasy novel. 40,000 words of second draft and I need a second, third and fourth pair of eyes. I’ve already edited it once but I’d love some feedback on the story … Continue reading →

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Reading Science Fiction in Calgary

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Rati Mehrotra

A fat silver moon hangs low in the clear Calgary sky and I’m thinking about wolves. And the endless excuses we make for ourselves. According to Bob Broadhead- protagonist of the Gateway by Frederick Pohl – the only reason big, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and media, Science fiction and fantasy, Travel | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Writing Romance in Newfoundland: Interview With Victoria Barbour

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Rati Mehrotra

Despite the fog, the forbidding crags, the marshes and the stormy Atlantic – or perhaps because of all these things – Newfoundland is an amazingly romantic place. The perfect setting for Victoria Barbour’s light-hearted and enjoyable romance novel: Against Her … Continue reading →

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What Cugel the not-so-Clever teaches us about character

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Rati Mehrotra

Jack Vance died on 26th May in California aged 96. Enough has been said on the blogosphere about this amazing genius of a writer who wrote over 60 genre fiction books, and I’m not going to repeat it, except to … Continue reading →

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Monsters, myths and machines

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Rati Mehrotra

I hid in the closet for years. Everyone around me is so literary, I never really admitted to my love for writing fantasy and science fiction. That’s changed now but the conversation still leaves a little something to be desired: … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and media, Science fiction and fantasy, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Fact and fiction, truth and lies: Braco

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Rati Mehrotra

“What you see is not true and what is true is not seen.” Violence and war in fiction can rarely match up to the sordid, devious reality of it. We cannot dream of the depths to which we humans can … Continue reading →

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Enchantment and escape: fantastic books

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Rati Mehrotra

I just finished reading The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne Valente. What a delightful, charming, original book it is! I can’t recommend it enough. I am definitely looking forward to reading the rest … Continue reading →

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Fragments of (non) sense

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Rati Mehrotra

Woe is me. Even my illustrator, the inimitable Amy, thinks I cannot write. “You use too many sentence fragments!” she scolds. “Try not to begin sentences with ‘and’ or ‘but’”. But Amy! We don’t speak in complete sentences. Must I … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and media, Writing | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Riddle me this

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Rati Mehrotra

‘The riddles are three, but Death is one’, Princess Turandot warns her suitor Calaf in Puccini’s famous opera Turandot. Undaunted, Prince Calaf answers all three riddles correctly: What is born each night and dies each dawn? (Hope) What flickers red … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and media, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments