Wednesday, May 5, 2021

My May IWSG Post and Readers’ Reaction to my Books

 

I don’t know about Covid in your countries at this point, but it seems to have caught India in its deadly grip. The cases are rising everywhere, so many people are falling prey to Covid. To break the transmission chain, we are in a 14 day lockdown. The second wave has been really devastating, all around me I’m hearing sad news. The spate of bad news has made me anxious and fearful. I’m unable to concentrate on anything. I just pray to God to get us out of this and keep everyone safe.

And before I realized it, April slipped into May. It’s time for another IWSG (Insecure Writers Support Group) post. IWSG is an online group of writers posting on the first Wednesday of the month. Our posts are mostly writing related. Do visit the IWSG website for some amazing writing and publishing resources and tips.

IWSG is the brainchild of Ninja Captain Alex J Cavanaugh, author of Amazon Bestsellers: CassaStar, CassaStorm, CassaFire and Dragon of the Stars, with several more on the way.

May 5 question - Has any of your readers ever responded to your writing in a way that you didn't expect? If so, did it surprise you?

Yes, I’ve often been surprised by readers’ reaction to my books. Many readers told me that they cried after reading my feature on Father's Day in the newspaper. The feature was a dedication to my father. One middle aged lady after reading my book ‘The Lion Who Wanted To Sing’ told me that she was so motivated by the lion and his passion for singing, that in her forties she started pursuing her dreams, saying that if the lion could do it, so could she. A school principal mentioned my book in her graduation speech to motivate the tenth graders to reach out for their dreams. Both these incidents surprised me. I had no plans of writing an inspirational book, but my singing lion ended up inspiring people. Many people, especially children have told me during school visits, that my book ‘Festival Stories Through The Year’ has inspired them to celebrate festivals in a different way, the way the characters in my books celebrate.

I’m eager to read about what reaction from your readers has surprised you all?

P.S. Please pray for us. We need all your prayers to see us safely out of the pandemic that is now a raging like a tsunami.