Journal: Rewinding 2024
They said 2024 would be the leap year — a magical year. I now wonder how different it turned out to be. To understand, you could dip into my 2024 plans.
I experienced a challenging financial year that left me relying on my reserves, which may have affected some of my writing. Additionally, I encountered unexpected challenges at work that demanded more of my time and emotional energy. Consequently, my efforts became even more difficult. However, despite these struggles, there were still positive developments.
Now, let’s look ahead and seek inspiration. In the second part, we will address these challenges, using them as motivation for 2025.
The Books That Happened:
The first book was usual, Ponder 2023. The second book came as a challenge: A book review inspired by a fellow book club member — the one who inspired me to read the classics — Ayn Rand and the Fountain Head.
The Expected: Ponder 2023:
Ponder 2023 went along the usual lines. I published the book on Amazon. Of all the Ponder Series, the reception I got from the poets for this edition was the best. A few of them bought the book. I had written a four-part series on the book.
Part 1 covers how poems are born across the world. Anyone can write a poem, but after a few experiments, learn, listen, refine, and become a poet. But there is a need to identify great poetry. Today many agencies offer to publish poetry, for a basic price. While there are poetry competitions and anthologies, it might be a great collective effort, but if you ask, people would say that they don’t have time to read poetry. I explain that good poetry deserves attention, slow, savoring attention, and such experience should be recorded. That is the raison d’etre of the Ponder Series itself.
Part 2 talks about a few questions and the theme behind the cover, the Pondering Woman. A separate tribute to Chloe Douglas who digitally created a cover appears in Ponder 2024. Part 3 covers the continuation of the Tribute Series and the difficulties in achieving the book itself. Finally, Part 4, gives the details of the book itself — first, the Poem Review part contains 8 reviews, 19 poets, and 24 poems. The Tribute Series has 5 poets and 11 poems. The book was published in May 2024.
Because of new ‘distribution fees’ levied by NotionPress, the Indian edition has been put on hold. I hope to publish the Indian Edition along with Ponder 2024.
The Unexpected: ‘Fountainhead: A Review — A deep dive into Ayn Rand’s Masterpiece
This book was never planned, even in my dreams. First, it started as a prompt — a gift from my friend Anagha Fernandes, who is an avid reader, and an Ayn Rand Fan. My five-part review turned out to be a masterpiece, worth publishing, she said. So, I self-published the book on Amazon. The book is a much-needed piece of literary criticism of the Masterpiece.
I would recall another person who was a fan of Ayn Rand and Howard Roark, but that person would appear elsewhere. So much to say that my best-selling book is this one. Glad that I wrote it. It also marked my non-fiction debut.
The Books Yet to Happen:
We get some, we don’t get some. The main book did not make it to the shelves.
The Bachelor’s Wife:
Our editor, Falguni Jain, released our final edited version in February. My partner, Shweta Joshi was in transition to India, so we took up the book again in November. We realized that the book needed another read, so we started in December to check if the facts were right.
One of the readers pointed out a few phrases that might be deemed objectionable — while I don’t agree — the editors felt that this might need a ‘softening’. I deferred to them for their wisdom, as today’s hypersensitive social media on this hypersensitive topic can be double trouble if we don’t get it right.
We explored both traditional and independent publishers, but we have yet to decide on the best publishers suitable for this book.
The Writings:
The Ones That Happened:
The Unexpected: ‘Ten Thousand Pages: A Souvenir Saga’
The one who appeared in the second paragraph, the one who will always hold the corner of my heart appeared on my horizon, almost thirty years since we first met. What happened in between is a story in itself. The Thirty Years was a collection of poems called ‘Ten Thousand Pages’. The poignant poems of hope turned into a ‘let us go our ways’ ending.
She may not realize this, but this book is positioned between Poetarrati Volume 2 ( Angel: The Unrequited Love), which was published in 2020 — a work that serves as a sort of prophecy and the half-done work of Volume Z (Angel: The Search Within). It has played out precisely as predicted: a journey together on the thirtieth anniversary that marked the beginning of the end in 2024. Call me a ‘Prophet’ if you will. The essential point is that this is a collection of poems I had not initially planned to create, which became a souvenir of my first love.
The Half-Expected: ‘A City Full of Stories 4: Stories from the Garden City’
The book starts innocently with two stories — an explosive corporate affairs cum office romance story, followed by a mid-marriage crisis of the same couple. I slowly converted them into a series, by making the protagonist of ACFOS 2 the main character of these two stories. Following this, a set of story plots emerged, well entrenched in the garden city. I spent most of December and January writing the third story — which turned out almost as a novella. An origin and an end story would make this a nice Part 1 of the book.
Part 2, similar to ACFOS 2, will feature stories of various people and events from Garden City, Bengaluru. I anticipate progressing slowly on Part 2 this year, as Part 1 remains the priority.
Ponder 2024:
Good poems deserve a disciplined review. In one of the toughest years for Ponder, it was my perseverance and discipline that kept the writing going. The book contains 9 in the Poem Review Series and 4 in the Tribute Series. More on this will appear in a separate journal note.
The Ones That Did Not Happen:
The Rainbow Bridge:
Due to work and other commitments, Rainbow Bridge has taken a long backseat. I have written the fifth chapter, and it is looking good. This year, I aim to complete Part 1 of the book. It is inspired by people close to me but delves into a more philosophical exploration of life and death.
The Twine Shall Meet:
It is the passenger in the journey — after a purple patch in 2020, the manuscript is on the back burner. I may take this up in 2026. I would focus on the pending fiction work to finish the first drafts.
The Ones That Were Born:
‘The Middle River’
A river flows through the heart of India, one that has witnessed eras even the Ganges has not. Our search for source material led us to the Skanda Purana, specifically the Rewa Khand. With our choice to embrace mythological storytelling in the style of "Bachelor's Wife," we plan to tackle this project after completing our work on "Bachelor's Wife."
‘Notes from Work’
During a challenging work environment, I began writing about how I navigated various situations. I found this process to be therapeutic, and it also turned into a valuable experience-sharing exercise. I published my reflections on my blog, Business 360, which serves as an interactive community platform. I am grateful for the continued support from Dennis Pitocco. I look forward to continuing this journey and writing more in 2025.
The One That Dreamed:
I finally expressed what I could be going after. The Nobel Prize. I have always been thinking about this. Why not? Just a funny take… but could be real, and I won’t say no.
Poem: I won’t say No to Nobel
I asked this AI thing —
These days, AI is a good, silent advisor
A great journey so far it says
A poet, an author, and a reviewer
A few people in this world are your type
They love your work, dude.So what it takes — I ask, quietly.
Many years must pass.
You have to write a lot more.
Then, you have to catch the eye — THEIR EYE.
What is eye-catching? — I ask.
Your oeuvre, the body of work.
Oh, and somebody, and if they feel
Might recommend.
Ah, THEIR EYE.I watched the videos of citations and the award.
They seemed stiff, morose, and silent.
The citation read with an eye on paper, clipped tones.
Then, the formal claps on cue.
THEIR EYE, I ask the AI again.
Yes, Indeed. They are the ones. THEIR EYE.And there are more… than MEETS THEIR EYE.
Wait, are we talking the same thing, dear AI?
Yes, Yes. It is their EYE and the more than meets.I pause and ponder. A poem is born.
Another addition to the oeuvre.
Another review, another story.
My body of work builds.
Now, let their eyes discover my oeuvre.
I won’t say no to a Nobel.~Ashok Subramanian © 2024
So, the idea is simple. Build my body of work. Poems. Poetry Reviews through Ponder. Fiction. Non-fiction. Essays. Read and Write. As simple as that.
Way Forward:
I will write about my plans for 2025 in a separate journal entry. One thing is clear: life is always about change, including publishing and writing. My goal is to read and write more while achieving my writing and publishing milestones in 2025.
~Chennai, Feb 2025.
