In all my years of reading books, and of all genres I have read, I must confess, I have never read a Fantasy novel. That is not to say I haven’t watched fantasy movies adapted from stories such as The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter; I have. And…
Book Review
Book Review: The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
In all my years of reading books, and of all genres I have read, I must confess, I have never read a Fantasy novel. That…
Book Review
Book Review: Flesh by David Szalay – Booker winner of 2025
A brilliant read. This book challenges the very notion that stories must end in a positive resolution. The reason I say this is that we…
Book Review
Book Review: Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer
If you thought the movie was great, then wait until you read the book. The writing is so velvety and yet complex. There were several…
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Book Review: Flesh by David Szalay – Booker winner of 2025
A brilliant read. This book challenges the very notion that stories must end in a positive resolution. The reason I say this is that we are today surrounded by stories, social media posts, and reels, all of which end with a clear, positive, or negative resolution. Stories follow set patterns—the…
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Book Review: Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer
If you thought the movie was great, then wait until you read the book. The writing is so velvety and yet complex. There were several parts of the book that I read over and over again to appreciate the exquisite usage of language. There were moments when I was so…
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Short-form Videos, Reels, TikTok, YouTube shorts: They are worse than Heroin
What is the most addictive substance in the world? Heroin? Cocaine? Nicotine? Alcohol? Marijuana? No. As of 2025, that distinction goes to short-form videos. They are distilled evil—digital Beelzebub. They are the perfect drug ever created. Short-form videos, though, are not chemical in nature, but they affect the brain almost…
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Book review: Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup
I had the pleasure of reading Shubhangi Swarup’s Latitudes of Longing, and I must say, I was swept by wonder and emotion. This was one of the finest books by an Indian author. The book was a journey, a fantastical voyage to fantastical places. Each character—Girija Prasad, Mary, Plato, Thapa,…
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Short story 5: Jungle Madness
I could hear the jungle, like a fierce, angry drum, its deep, rumbling bass booming and banging. I hid under the thick mossy trunk of a fallen tree, catching my breath. I dared not move; the sound of my shuffling feet would’ve alerted angry, frothing beasts. Their gnashing white teeth,…
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I have begun writing my second book
I started 2025 with a simple goal: improve my writing skills. Lofty! I was glad, though. Unlike most times in the past, at least this time I was aware of the challenge. When I was younger, I was a fool. I have no shame in accepting that today. Why? I…
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100 days of CHOICEHOOD – Day 5 – Everywhere Is Better Than Heaven
Good girls go to heaven. But wise, weird, and strange girls go everywhere…everywhere is way more interesting than heaven… This is an excerpt from Choicehood, my forthcoming novel. — Deboshree Ghosh
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Short Story 4: On the Verge
Exercise 4 — Emotion Without Labels Goal: Convey emotion via action, perception, somatic detail, and thought — with zero emotion words. Prompt: Receiving life-altering bad news over a crackly phone line. Target Length: 1,200 words I had been sitting on the couch all morning, staring blankly at the bare walls. Whenever lucidity came…
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Short Story 3: Shoe-sense
Exercise 3—Biased Observation Goal: Demonstrate how worldview filters description; what the POV omits matters as much as what they note. Prompt: Walking through a night market in a foreign city with a secret agenda. Target Length: 1,000 words Some things are unchanging. Flipflops clapping, shoes tapping, heels clacking, children’s feet shuffling, four-legged creatures…