Richard Crasta's Blog

"In writing, your audience is one single reader."--John Steinbeck. That reader, in my case, was me. Or is me. Sometimes, it is a friend, a couple of close friends or loved ones.

But in the last few years, I have, occasionally, lost my way. Because, the need for survival and money tends to distract writers from their original purity.

If a piece of writing has been cathartic for me, or if I have enjoyed rereading it, sometimes years later, and often with the same or greater pleasure than when I read it the first time--then my original purpose has been served.

Merry Xmas, all. As this is the season for receiving and giving gifts, and for reading (long nights), joy, and laughter, I am pleased to announce a few new books--humor, fiction, autobiography, political satire, serious commentary, a wide variety for different tastes--that have been published on Amazon Kindle, Smashwords, Apple Itunes, Barnes and Noble Nook, Kobo, Createspace, and Lulu.

So it means a few changes to my book list. Not all of my books are available on all platforms, but if you download Calibre (a free program), you can convert any major ebook file into a file that will suit your type of reader, in most cases.

Here are a few new books (some using the pen name Vijay Prabhu, which you will have to search for):

APOCALYPSE THEN AND NOW: AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW OF 9/11

Among the books that have reached the most readers and received the most critical attention:

THE REVISED KAMA SUTRA: A NOVEL (biggest, best-reviewed book)

IMPRESSING THE WHITES (well-reviewed, controversial, thought-provoking)

THE KILLING OF AN AUTHOR (also well-reviewed, censored)

EATEN BY THE JAPANESE: THE MEMOIR OF AN UNKNOWN INDIAN PRISONER OF WAR (short but well-loved, also in paperback from Createspace or Amazon).

I WILL NOT GO THE F**K TO SLEEP (my best general humor anthology: also with the subtitle "And Other Preposterously Wacky Essays" on some platforms--unless you want the parental humor only version which is available only on Kindle)

THE EMPIRE BITES BACK: Which is essentially the anthology of humor above without the child-parent humor or the f-word title. If I am able to reach people with this, I might discontinue the other title.

Here are the links to the individual platforms:

RICHARD CRASTA WEBSITE: http://www.richardcrasta.com/buybooks...

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001ICH6H4

Amazon Uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B001ICH6H4

Smashwords (all formats): http://www.smashwords.com/profile/vie...

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/richa...

Apple: http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/ric...

Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/search/searc...

Sony: http://ebookstore.sony.com/author/ric...

Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/richard...

PAPERBACKS:

from amazon.com, createspace.com, lulu.com, and richardcrasta.com

I Will Not Go the F**k to Sleep (paperback) : http://www.createspace.com/3714495

I Will Not Go the F**k to Sleep (Paperback special edition): https://www.createspace.com/3878291

Eaten by the Japanese (latest edition): https://www.createspace.com/4014767

Please search for "Richard Crasta", "Benny Profane," "Vijay Prabhu" and "John Baptist Crasta" (my father; I''ve added a few essays to his memoir).

Hello, Goodreads members. I was born in India in a community where, if you declared your intention to become a writer, they began to book a place in the local madhouse for you (there was a waiting list, lots of nuts created by the local version of Christianity, so you had to book in advance). There were no books in my home except for a couple of prayer books and old text books; we barely had enough money to buy nutritious food (no, there was never a shortage of rice--we belonged in some layer between the middle middle class and the lower middle class--but we fought over whose chance it was to get the Daily Egg). I did not meet a single published author until I was 18 or 19, and this author was possibly an undercover or part-time CIA agent (this so-called author was presented to us in Mangalore by the United States Information Service).

But I was determined, and it took about 15 years from the day I decided to be a writer to the actual publication of my first novel (and the rest is history, or history that has been buried deep in some smelly time capsule).

I am only now beginning to understand Goodreads. I have had a few well-received books, but recently have been publishing e-books. (My e-book publishing program is experimental and fluid, and some of the titles displayed in Goodreads have been withdrawn; I don't yet understand how to correct this.)

But I look forward to engaging with you as readers, fellow readers, and friends.