Back in London

This time, with my mother.  One month of sightseeing and job-hunting. 

I don't think I will have much time to update this blog, let alone check mail frequently (I still don't have a laptop). Weekdays for jobhunting and weekends for sightseeing - a hectic schedule that is surely going to be exhauting.

But I am happy I have got some one with me to share London with. VERY Happy. 

Trust me, the more the see the world, the less you wish to see it alone. 

Leaving Kanpur

The first ever science fiction writing workshop in India (Jun 15 - Jul 3, 2009) came to an end today, with a nice party on the front-yard of Suchithra Mathur's apartment.

We sang, laughed, drank, ate, and exchanged ambitions, plans and email addresses. Full of hope and contentment, took a final midnight walk in the campus of IIT, Kanpur.

Tomorrow, I leave in the early morning to Delhi, for a shopping weekend. I have a meagre budget of Rs. 2000, but I am sure I can buy a lot in Janpath market. 

We reached our hostel and waved at the guys, who are on their way to the men's hostel. It will be a long time before we could all meet again, but for now, we smile and say good night. 

I didn't go to class today :(.

I am unwell. I feel dizzy when I stood up or moved fast, and spent the whole day in bed. Is it the heat or as my friends suggested, is something wrong with my blood pressure? Got to do something about this when I go back to Chennai.

When I had my rest and woke up, I started thinking about my writing. If not for anything, I will forever remember this workshop for making me feel good about myself. I never thought I had it in me to write fiction, yet in the past 2 weeks, I have written three stories and all three were praised (even though only one of them is my personal favorite!). I am almost reluctant to submit them to magazines, because I want to keep them in my documents folder and savour their presence... they are the proof that I have "matured" from writing for children to writing for adults...

Meanwhile, here are some well-reputed magazines that pay good money for good stories:

Narrative magazine - http://narrativemagazine.com/shared/submit.php
Pays $350-$1000

Glimmertrain (reading period starts frm July 1) Standard submission - http://www.glimmertrain.com/writguid1.html
Pays $700

The Antigonish Review (reading period starts frm Sep 1) - http://www.antigonishreview.com/submissions.html
Pays $100

Malahat Review - http://malahatreview.ca/submission_guidelines.html
Pays $40 per page

The Pedestal magazine - http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com/submitguidelines.php
Pays: $.08 per word

More magazines here - http://www.pw.org/literary_magazines?apage=*