2024: Walk With Me

6 min readJan 1, 2024

2024 is special to me. It is a leap year, an even year and it brings up my fifth decade in life. Out of this, I have been an author for about five years, and that is just one-tenth of my life. I am trying to do many things at work but I have to admit that writing pleases me.

I also admit that I regret that I did not know my passion earlier; Had I known, I could have taken a different path. But, my path is littered with the stories that I made, was part of, and experienced; so maybe, it is the divine way of putting me in this place and time to share those stories.

I have many ideas that can be converted into stories, but I am also building space for new ideas and experiments, as my writing expands.

Writing Goal #1: The Manuscripts — On the Anvil and In the Attic.

a)Completing the manuscript of ‘My Rainbow Bridge’

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”
― Toni Morrison

The story ‘My Rainbow Bridge’ is that story. It is a story that nobody has ever written. The book is in two parts — how death approaches life, and what happens after death. The construct of both parts is different — one is semibiographical and another fantasy-based, and I will have to step up and finish both during this year.

b) Repurposing ‘The Twine Shall Meet’ draft

Originally it started as a series of short stories, but it is a fairly mature draft — but you know how it is.

A new cover art using an AI Image for ‘The Twine Shall Meet’ manuscript

Almost a decade later, the story looks different. I have visited the Dubai location and have made notes on the plot, location, and the methods involved — now I have to put them into good use as I shall investigate more about connecting Guangdong, Singapore, Mumbai, Goa, and Dubai in the story of love, crime, and treason.

c) Making Progress with A City Full of Stories 4… or 3?

I haven’t mentioned this before. I am already two stories up in this manuscript of A City Full of Stories 4: Stories from the Garden City. I will make progress on this as I visit the Garden City — Bengaluru often. Don’t expect it to be in the limelight though. But this is my short story effort, unless…

Making Progress with ACFOS-4 … Don’t expect it to be in the limelight though. A new cover art

… you might ask what about ACFOS — 3 (A City Full of Stories 3: The Northeast Chronicles).

What about ACFOS-3? I am sure its time is due, as some stories are already a decade old and will need a relook if I have to start. It has a continuation of two stories from ACFOS-2: Stories from the City of Joy ( Calcutta / Kolkata).

But I shall wait for my creative advisor Shwetahitesh to read up on ACFOS-2 first, and advise me if ACFOS-3 needs to be up before ACFOS-4.

So, in summary — there are 3 hot manuscripts and one in the attic to explore. Let us see how this plays out. Walk with me, as I update my journey in my journal.

Writing Goal #2: Editing and publishing

a) Poetry Reviews: Compiling and Publishing Ponder 2023

Ponder 2023 is an amazing experience. It follows a combination of reviews and tributes. I have to add a couple of more reviews, and I will be well and truly ready for compilation and editing.

Cover art … for Ponder 2023, but the book will have a brooding woman on its cover as usual.

This year has been challenging because of work pressure, especially in the latter half, but I will use this new year’s ennui at work to catch up and finish. This will be the fourth in the Ponder series, and I am happy that I have been able to put my time and effort together to complete it.

b) Poetry: Compiling and Editing ‘Sunrise in the Western Sky’

The collection of ‘Poetic Duets’ that grew over 2023 between Priya Patel and me deserves a special place — the bookshelves of our patrons and followers. We have decided to come together, compile and edit the poetry collection, and then plan to publish it.

Priya consented to the title and being part of the Poetarrati Series as its fifth volume.

c) Compiling and editing my first non-fiction work ‘Wisdom of Nothing and Other Essays’

I could add a few more essays as I write as a featured contributor on the Bizcatalyst 360, an award-winning platform.

New cover art for ‘Wisdom of Nothing and Other Essays’

The title is interesting and the book will contain a series of essays about my politics, humanity, anthropology, society, and philosophical views. This will be again a project that I will take up based on the bandwidth and circumstances as the year progresses.

d) Fiction: Editing and submitting the manuscript / finding a publisher for ‘Bachelor’s Wife and Other Stories’

The editing of ‘Bachelor’s Wife’ largely thanks to the efforts of Shwetahitesh and Falguni Jain, my advisor and editor respectively is progressing well as we step into the new year.

Bachelor’s Wife… is now in the final stage of editing.

Fixing the story timelines, consistencies, flow, language, grammar, character arc, narratives, and points of view — the list of improvements can go on. The next challenge is to find a publisher — we are debating to go the traditional publishing route, as Shweta feels that the book deserves mainstream attention and readership.

e) Fiction: ACFOS — 2 may go into the editing phase

I am not certain about this. But it depends on how the circumstances play out with Bachelor’s Wife. ACFOS-2 is with Shweta, she is having her first look. In my view, it might take some time for us to converge on this.

I am keeping ACFOS-2 as a reminder that there is a completed first draft and it will require our attention sometime this year.

Writing Goal # 3: Book Reviews, Essays, and Ponder 2024

As I read more books, I write book reviews. I believe this is a vital contribution to both readers and authors. This year I aim to start reading more classical literature and therefore my reviews will be different.

I hope to write more essays for the BizCatalyst 360 platform, improving my diversity in terms of writing about various social and personal topics of interest.

Finally, I aim to write more poetry reviews and experiment with different styles, creating a breadcrumb trail of contemporary poetry collections in the process. That would be, of course, Ponder 2024.

Writing Goal #4: Collaborations will continue

Collaborations will continue. Shweta Joshi is formally my creative partner. Priya Patel’s prolific poetry and our poetry duets will continue. Sarah Polyakov will continue to inspire me with her art. My newfound interest in collaborative poetry will extend to others — Chloe Douglas, and Jacob Berghoef… and the list will grow, I hope.

Walk with me…

As you can see, there is plenty of interesting stuff in my literary journey in 2024. Walk with me, my friend, for this is a journey — our journey. For without you, the reader, my works are incomplete.