T. Dasu's Blog

The author event for Spy, Interrupted: The Waiting Wife scheduled for Friday, June 26 at Short Stories Community Book Hub has been POSTPONED--new date to be announced soon. Please take note.


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Writing by hand, the latest in techno-chic


A funny thing happened at a Flatiron cafe
Tamraparni Dasu
The other morning I was sitting in a cafe in the Flatiron neighborhood of Manhattan, waiting for a bookstore to open. Since I had more than an hour, I thought I���d get started on the next chapter of the third part of the Spy, Interrupted trilogy. I had been dragging my feet for days and distracting myself with various computer trivia instead of writing. I took out my black ink pen and fished around inside my bag for my notebook. Alas, I had left it at home. But I had three sheets of reviewers��� comments on a technical paper I had coauthored, printed only on one side, leaving three beautiful blank sheets for me to write on. Once I started, the words flowed and I began to fill up the page with sentence after sentence arranged in tightly spaced lines to pack in as much as I could into those three sheets.I had reached the end of the first sheet and was about to move on to the next one when I heard a voice. The young man at the next table was saying something. I looked up at him.���May I take a picture of you writing?��� he asked.I must���ve looked puzzled because he continued. ���It is so beautiful, that letter covered with flowing handwriting. I wanted to take a picture���it is rare to see that these days. I am afraid that it will die out.���He took the picture and we had a nice conversation before we parted. And then just today I saw this article: David Sax���s paean to Moleskine notebooks in The New Yorker about how tech startups are going bananas over the simplicity and efficiency of notebooks and handwritten notes.For me, the physical process of writing gives great pleasure, particularly when a silky smooth sheet of white paper meets an ink pen that flows easily and evenly. The brain seems to respond better when it sees the writing take shape on paper���not impersonal characters on a eerie glowing screen but shapes and forms that have evolved with me from my childhood, with idiosyncratic flourishes and irrational curlicues that are as unique to me as my fingerprints, symbols that are physical manifestation of what���s inside my head.The art of writing by hand is aesthetically fulfilling and creative in its own right. Calligraphy was a high art form in many cultures. While I make no claims to calligraphy or even a particularly beautiful handwriting, I am happy to be on the leading edge of an analog revolution���bring back the notebooks!

Congratulations,

Timeline Photos
Thank you, Madison Chamber of Commerce! Honored to receive the 'Best Renovation' award! All credit to John McManus, Paul Axelsen and the incredible McManus Builders team! But as we said tonight at the awards ceremony: Short Stories is our family's love note to Madison -- with our deepest thanks -- and the renovations we're looking for are in mind and heart. Yep, my local bookshop rocks :) ...

Short Stories Community Book Hub will feature "Spy, Interrupted: The Waiting Wife" to kick-off their new "Wine and Sign" series on Friday, June 26, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM. Look forward to seeing you at this fabulous book store in Madison, NJ!


Short Stories Community Book Hub

Independent Book Store for children, teens, and adults.

Spy, Interrupted: The Waiting Wife is now available at [words] Bookstore, Maplewood, NJ! The popular neighborhood bookstore joins Short Stories Community Book Hub (Madison, NJ), The Bookworm (Bernardsville, NJ), and Books & Books (Cayman Islands) in carrying the novel.


[words]
wordsbookstore.com
We are a unique and integral part of the Maplewood community. If you don���t already know us, learn more about who we are.

It's a long way to the top if you wanna write 'n' write...
hopefully this is a tiny step up!


Spy, Interrupted: The Waiting Wife is 2015 NIEA Finalist!
Tamraparni Dasu
Spy, Interrupted: The Waiting Wife was selected as a finalist in the 9th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards!

It's a long way to the top if you wanna write...
hopefully this is a tiny step up!


Spy, Interrupted: The Waiting Wife is 2015 NIEA Finalist!
Tamraparni Dasu
Spy, Interrupted: The Waiting Wife was selected as a finalist in the 9th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards!

Of Hollywood, Bollywood and Spies
Tamraparni Dasu
Book lovers are an opinionated bunch. They have strong likes and dislikes, and love to argue. But they are also curious, funny and warm, and unfailingly courteous. I thought it would be interesting to share some of the discussions I���ve had at author events, as well as some other questions I���ve been asked frequently.Most popular question by far: Are you a spy/work for the CIA?No, I am not, and I do not know anyone who is. In fact, if a real spy reads my book, I am sure that she/he will fall of the chair laughing. Just as I do when I read breathless articles in newspapers and magazines about machine learning and artificial intelligence. Recently, I met a former secret service agent who used to be on the security detail of a very high profile US cabinet secretary. He promised to read my book and let me know what he thought. I���ll keep you posted There are many famous Indian women writers who write about the immigrant experience; how come you chose such an unusual genre?I know that when publishers and publicists see my name or photo, they expect the whole immigrant ���caught between two cultures��� schtick. I am fed up with that.I write about what I enjoy and what I would personally love to read. And I truly feel that there is a big gap in the ���classy romance meets good thriller��� genre. Besides, my cultural roots will come through no matter what I write about. People loved the alu parathas and New Delhi scenes in Spy, Interrupted: The Waiting Wife, not to mention Nina���s extended family dynamic.Your book would make a great movie. Why don���t you turn it into a screen play?I���d love to! But, I don���t know where to start. In the meantime, for your amusement, here are some casting choices that have been suggested.Stephen James: Bradley Cooper, Tom Hardy (Too bad that my favorites, Colin Firth and Daniel Craig, can���t pull off a 30-something look anymore).Nina Sharma: Deepika Padukone, Mila Kunis.As promised, my friends at BHPL and I will either have bit roles, or will visit the studio set when it happens.Are the places you write about real? For example, the beach where Stephen and Nina have a romantic picnic?Yes, they are. A beach fitting that description can be found along the coast of Rhode Island.On a personal note, I am happy to report that my father is back home from the hospital and is doing really well. Thanks to everyone for their best wishes. And special thanks to Anne deFuria of Berkeley Heights Public Library for being so thoughtful and considerate during that week of uncertainty.

This article was written by a young intern, Anna Dezenzo, who interviewed me prior to the author event at

Author T. Dasu Discusses her First Novel at Berkeley Heights Public Library
www.tapinto.net
BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ - T. Dasu, author of Spy, Interrupted: The Waiting Wife, spoke to locals at the Berkeley Heights Public Library about the inspiration behind her latest spy thriller, her experi...

Thanks, Anne, for a warm welcome and lively evening. And thanks to Berkeley Heights Public Library members for spending this lovely Spring evening discussing espionage, romance, writing and Spy, Interrupted: The Waiting Wife. I promise that if the novel ever gets made into a movie, we will make a field trip to the studio set...just like we planned today.


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Thanks to T. Dasu for a lively author program this evening!