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Author Topic: Trinidad & Tobago authors  (Read 18281 times)

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Offline vb

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Trinidad & Tobago authors
« on: December 03, 2012, 09:10:36 PM »
Discovered a critically acclaimed book by a Trini author here in Medellin: A perfect pledge by Rabindranath Maharaj.

Was curios as to other TT authors as I am presently working on a book myself.

Here's a list:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/countries/trinidad.htm
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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #1 on: December 03, 2012, 09:17:24 PM »
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #3 on: December 06, 2012, 05:30:47 AM »
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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #4 on: December 06, 2012, 08:29:05 AM »
I read some of  NEIL   BISSOONDATH work. Actually enjoyed it.
To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead
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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #5 on: January 23, 2013, 03:19:22 PM »
Newsday - April, 2012
===============

90-year-old author to present new book
Monday, April 9 2012

Ronald “Ronnie” Hinkson, at 90 years old, TT’s oldest living writer will present his new book Oil Man in the Sahara for his birthday on Wednesday.

Hinkson has worked in the oilfields in Trinidad as well as in Paris and the Sahara and the North Sea.

He is the uncle of “ Jackie” Hinkson, artist and painter.

The Writers Union of TT and The National Library will be honouring Hinkson at the National Library in recognition of his work.

The union has also presented a slide show of his photographs at the National Museum.

Despite a serious illness years ago , he says now he can “still catch a taxi and get on and about.” He remains an active, beloved and respected member of the Writers Union.

One of his other books Oil Man in Trinidad is a unique, insider history of events in the Trinidad oil industry. Another of his literary work Gemstones set in sterling silver is available at the University of the West Indies Library and NALIS. His work is also in the Aberdeen Library of Scotland.
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Local author wins major Literary prize
« Reply #6 on: June 05, 2013, 06:23:09 AM »


By Joel Julien
Story Created: May 31, 2013 at 10:01 PM ECT
Story Updated: May 31, 2013 at 11:33 PM ECT

“TRUST your voice and write what you know, even if you think no one will be interested. Believe me, they will be.”
This was the advice local author Sharon Millar had for young writers still hesitant to reveal their works when she sat down with Express reporter Sateesh Maharaj for an interview published two Sundays ago.
The Commonwealth Short Story judging panel yesterday showed their interest in Millar’s short story, “The Whale House”, by naming her co-win­ner of the 2013 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
The announcement was made yesterday at the annual Hay Festival of Literature & Arts in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, United Kingdom.

Lisa O’Donnell, UK, won the overall 2013 Commonwealth Book Prize with her book, The Death of Bees, published by Random House. Millar and fellow winner Eliza Robertson of Canada were presented with the prize by British author John le Carré.
The winner of the Commonwealth Book Prize receives £10,000 ($98,000) while the prize for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize is £5,000 ($49,000).
In 1997, Trinidad and Tobago novelist Earl Lovelace won the overall book prize with Salt. Fellow Trinidadian Barbara Jenkins has also been a previous winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
It has so far been an outstanding year for Millar.

She was named the 2013 Caribbe­an Region winner of the Commonwealth and her short story, “The Whale House”, was published earlier this week in Granta online.
Millar was recently short-listed for the 2013 Hollick Arvon Caribbean Writers Prize, sponsored by the Hollick Family Charitable Trust and Ar­von, in association with the Bocas Lit Fest.
She was also a New Talent Showcase author at the 2012 NGC Bocas Lit Fest.
Millar was short-listed for the regional prize last year but the title was won by Jamaican author Diana McCau­lay for work, “The Dolphin Catch­er”.
During her interview with the Express, Millar gave a synopsis of her winning entry:
“As a woman recovers from a miscarriage, an old conflict and a long kept secret are resurrected. Bush medicine, teenage sexuality and difficult moral choices culminate in this uniquely Trinidadian story—one of marriage and the secrets we keep from the ones closest to us.”
The Commonwealth Short Story judging panel was chaired by BBC journalist Razia Iqbal and included literary agent Elise Dillsworth, a fiction judge for the 2013 OCM Bocas Prize, and writer Oonya Kempadoo, a 2013 NGC Bocas Lit Fest author.

In a statement on behalf of the judges, Iqbal said: “It is a measure of the quality we had to choose from in the short-list that we unanimously settled on two joint winners. It was impossible to decide between them, though each one is quite distinctly different from the other. Both fulfilled our criteria of excellence in style, originality and tone.”

“Both these stories stay in the imagination and the heart long after they have been read,” Iqbal stated.
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Fearless Trini author inspires young writers.
« Reply #7 on: March 26, 2015, 01:49:51 AM »
http://www.guardian.co.tt/lifestyle/2015-03-25/fearless-trini-author-inspires-young-writers


 




Erline Andrews

Published:


Thursday, March 26, 2015


Amalie Howard wrote her first book at age nine. It was written out by hand in a copybook and was about a girl with magic tattoos.

At 15, she won a Commonwealth essay competition for a story about a man who played the violin as a way to communicate with his dead daughter, whose soul was trapped in a weeping willow.

She had a vivid imagination that was nurtured at home by her mom, a secondary school French teacher, and her dad, a primary school principal.

“My parents never stifled my creative drive at all,” she recalled.

Howard has parlayed that creativity into a career as an author, carving out a niche in the increasingly crowded young adult fantasy genre, which has exploded in the last two decades, with the success of book/movie series Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games.

Howard is about to release her sixth novel and is even in talks to have one of her books made into a television series.

Howard’s success is especially important to T&T because she was born here 40 years ago as Reshma Amalie Gosine. She migrated to study and work, spent time in Boston, New York and France, before settling in Colorado with her Australian husband.

Howard’s mom, Nazroon Ramsey, a retired French teacher, said she knew her daughter was special when at three, the little girl had a battle of wills when an aunt offered her juice in a plastic cup when Howard wanted a glass.

“She said, ‘No thank you. I don’t want the juice’. That showed me that she had a mind of her own,” said Ramsey.

Howard recently returned to T&T for the first time in ten years. The trip was a brief vacation and to celebrate her mom’s birthday, but she took the opportunity to hold a book signing at Mohammed’s Bookstore in La Romaine, which carries her books, make TV and radio appearances, and to visit her alma mater, St Augustine Girls’ High School.

She gave a classroom of wide-eyed teen girls advice on writing and on life.

“Dare to be different. Be the exception not the rule. Your differences are what’s going to make you you,” she said.

“Don’t be afraid to take chances or try anything new because you’ll never know if you’ll be able to do it or not,” she added. “Believe in yourself and you can’t fail. Be resilient.”

She was swarmed afterwards by eager students wanting her to sign books and bookmarks and answer more questions. Her presence gave hope to those with ambitions to write. “It made me realise I can do it,” said 13-year-old Amba Mohammed. “I shouldn’t stop writing.”

Howard always dreamed of writing. But she deferred it in favour of a corporate career until five years ago. A fan of fantasy novels and the young adult genre—she admires JK Rowling, JRR Tolkien and Anne Rice—she thought she could do better than Twilight author Stephenie Meyer.

“My biggest problem with Twilight was that Bella was so weak,” she said, referring to the series’ teen protagonist.

“I wanted to write about girls that inspired other girls,” she said.

She wanted to send the message to young readers that “no matter if you’re born with a disability or other problems you can surmount that.”

She wrote her first book, Bloodspell, got an agent, who got her publishing deals for that and subsequent books.

Bloodspell is about a 17-year-old girl who discovers she’s a witch and faces a curse. Waterfell and Oceanborn are a series about a mermaid hiding in the human world and seeking to reclaim her lost birthright from enemies. In Alpha Goddess, the human avatar of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi has to fight to save the world from an evil god.

The fearlessness of the characters is reflective of Howard herself.

On her Web site she boasts of extensive travel, bungee-jumping 765 feet in China, and attending a Halloween party at the Playboy Mansion.

St Augustine Girls economics teacher Pearl Balgaroo remembers Howard as a “brilliant student” with “an inquiring mind.”

“She challenged what you had to say. She didn’t take anything as is,” said Balgaroo.

Howard hopes her success can send another message: Race and gender shouldn’t keep back any author. Neither should being from a small island.

“You write a novel, if you believe in it enough, you get an agent, they send it to a publisher and you get published. You can totally do that from here,” she said.

“I’m an international writer. One of my publishers is British. That didn’t stop them from publishing me,” she added. “Publishers are looking for a good story.”

In fact, Howard said, her Trinidadian heritage has helped her work.

“Growing up in a place that is multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious is phenomenal. It gave me an appreciation for different cultures, different stories,” she said.

“There’s so much folklore and imagination, richness and diversity,” she added.

“It was a huge contribution.”
« Last Edit: March 26, 2015, 01:52:21 AM by vb »
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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #8 on: August 29, 2016, 10:56:27 AM »
http://www.guardian.co.tt/arts/2016-08-28/savanoy-three-popular-tt-series-gets-third-instalment


Savanoy by three: Popular T&T series gets third instalment

 

 
Paula Lindo
Published:
Sunday, August 28, 2016




T&T-born author Nathalie Taghaboni. Photo courtesy Dominic Iudiciani
Fans of the Savanoy series by T&T-born author Nathalie Taghaboni are rejoicing at the publication of the long-awaited third book, Side By Side We Stand.

The story, set mostly in Trinidad, centres around the fates of the Savanoy family—Jeneva, Carlton, Helene, Gloria, Remy, Vijay and Kenneth, characters that became dear to readers of the first two books, Across from Lapeyrouse and Santimanitay.

Taghaboni, who left Trinidad when she was 14 and now lives in the US, said readers have told her that not only the scenery but the characters are real and they see them walking the streets every day.

“There’s quite a bit of Book Three actually that only West Indians and specifically people who are familiar with Trinidad will notice.” She said the T&T of the books is an idealised version of the country.

Taghaboni said her muses wouldn’t allow her to be anything less than true to life, so a traditional happy ending may not be in the cards.

“Everyone tells me that the story feels so real, and Book Three reminds you that life is not a fairytale, sometimes there is no happily-ever-after. You may escape while reading a book but after the book closes, you still have to face life.”

One of the most stunning elements of the new book is the cover, which features a white-faced moko jumbie draped in white. The portrayal is by Jha-whan Thomas, whom Taghaboni met in 2014 while launching the first two books. She had previously been in awe of his 2008 Pandemic Rage performance for Brian MacFarlane and asked him to be on the cover in 2015, even before his 2016 Dying Swan portrayal.

Dying Swan designer Roland Guy James also did the moko jumbie's cover costume, with make-up by Mervyn de Goeas.

“My photographer Errol John went out five o’clock one morning to Lapeyrouse Cemetery and shot the cover for me. I’ve never met these folks but I’ve been working with them. Technology has helped me to remain connected in a very real way.”

Taghaboni’s lifelong fascination with pan and mas are evident in her writing, with the Savanoy family being famous for bringing an award-winning band every year. Her descriptions of the costumes are detailed and vivid, and have led to non-Caribbean readers being drawn to the festival, if their reviews are to be believed.

She shares these reviews on the Facebook page she runs under the name Queen Macoomeh, and the fans who gather there have been dubbed the “Studients of Commess University.” Taghaboni said her “studients” have contributed to her growth as a person and a writer.

“I truly enjoy people and in order for me to do what I do, I need to be receptive to them. This ‘university’ has so many different kinds of characters. I cull some of their attributes and use some of the interactions to create my own arsenal of characters for my writing.

“The only demand that I have on my Facebook page is that respect be shown to and by every person there, and if that can’t be done, then later.”

The folklore elements in the books are a result of stories Taghaboni’s grandmother told her as a child.

“I remember a painting on the wall of her house where all the local folklore characters were depicted: Papa Bois, La Diablesse, Mama Glo, all of them. She would point to each one and tell me their names and their characteristics and it stuck.

“I have pulled everything that has happened in all three books from a memory. The folk characters have always fascinated me, especially the moko jumbies. They terrified and excited the mind of the child within at the same time.”

Taghaboni said it would be a shame for T&T to lose these folklore characters to technology.

“I think today’s children don’t care or don’t know about Mama Glo or a La Diablesse. They want to hear about Friday the 13th or go catch Pokemon. I wanted to remind us of ourselves, of things we knew as kids, and for people to tell their children.

“It’s shameful that Twilight and those other characters are in the front row of our bookstores in T&T as opposed to our own. If I am a visitor, the last thing I want to see is more of the same, I am coming to your home and I would like to see how you live. So I try to bring it out in my books.

“In Trinidad and the Caribbean, we seem to dismiss ourselves and hold on to foreign while foreign has nothing better than we do, and often wants to take our stuff and re-purpose it. Witches and warlocks, we have La Diablesse and douens and Papa Bois and to me just the sound of those words is so evocative, and I think it’s time for us to step into our own shoes, they fit nicely.”

Side by Side We Stand will shortly be available at the Paper Based Bookshop at the Hotel Normandie in St Ann’s.

Arts
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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #9 on: August 29, 2016, 11:18:28 AM »
Congrats Nathalie (former forumite).


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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #10 on: May 14, 2019, 08:29:22 PM »

Trini author in deal with Netflix


https://www.guardian.co.tt/news/trini-author-in-deal-with-netflix-6.2.798965.e74686aa5b

Net­flix has snapped up the tele­vi­sion rights for the as yet to be pub­lished de­but nov­el of T&T na­tion­al Car­o­line MacKen­zie, which tells the tale of a Venezue­lan fam­i­ly liv­ing in this coun­try il­le­gal­ly.

The pub­lish­ing rights for MacKen­zie’s nov­el “One Year of Ug­ly”, have been pur­chased by Bor­ough Press for the Unit­ed King­dom and the Com­mon­wealth ex­clud­ing Cana­da, while 37 Ink has bought the pub­lish­ing rights for the nov­el in the Unit­ed States.

Ann Bis­sell, pub­lic­i­ty di­rec­tor at Harper­Collins, ac­quired “One Year of Ug­ly” for Bor­ough Press from Sue Arm­strong at C&W Agency.

TV rights were im­me­di­ate­ly snapped up by Net­flix, han­dled by Luke Speed at Cur­tis Brown, and US rights were ac­quired by Dawn Davis, v.p. and pub­lish­er at 37 INK, an im­print of Si­mon & Schus­ter, from Zoe San­dler at ICM Part­ners.

The busi­ness mag­a­zine of the book in­dus­try, The Book­seller, an­nounced the three-way auc­tion for MacKen­zie’s nov­el in an ar­ti­cle last week.

Hard­cov­er pub­li­ca­tion of the book is sched­uled for March 2020.

MacKen­zie, a free­lance trans­la­tor liv­ing in T&T, has de­scribed the deal as “a dream come true”.

“Through my dai­ly trans­la­tion work, I’ve been not­ing the in­flux of Venezue­lans in re­sponse to the po­lit­i­cal and eco­nom­ic cri­sis for years, and have been both fas­ci­nat­ed and dis­heart­ened by the lo­cal re­ac­tion to it,” MacKen­zie is quot­ed as say­ing in The Book­seller.

“I knew there was a sto­ry to be told of the Venezue­lan mi­grant ex­pe­ri­ence in Trinidad, and I’m so hap­py I was able to tell it through Yola,” she said.

Yola Pala­cios is the pro­tag­o­nist and nar­ra­tor of “One Year of Ug­ly”.

“One Year of Ug­ly is an im­mi­gra­tion sto­ry ex­plor­ing ex­ile, be­long­ing and ex­ploita­tion with hi­lar­i­ty, verve, and com­pas­sion. In Yola Pala­cios, Car­o­line has cre­at­ed a char­ac­ter un­like any oth­er I have met: she is bril­liant­ly wit­ty and bru­tal­ly fun­ny in her ob­ser­va­tions. I ab­solute­ly love her and I hope many read­ers will too,” Bis­sell is quot­ed as say­ing.

“Hav­ing es­caped crum­bling, so­cial­ist Venezuela, Yola Pala­cios hopes she and her fam­i­ly can fi­nal­ly set­tle in­to a peace­ful new life in Trinidad,” Bor­ough Press ex­plained.

“Life for the Pala­cios is nev­er qui­et, and when Yola’s for­mi­da­ble Aunt Celia dies, the fam­i­ly once again find them­selves liv­ing on the edge. For Celia had been keep­ing a very big se­cret – a lo­cal crim­i­nal called Ug­ly to whom Celia owes an aw­ful lot of mon­ey. With­out the funds to pay him off, Ug­ly forces the en­tire fam­i­ly to do his bid­ding un­til Celia’s debt is set­tled. What Ug­ly says, the Pala­cios do, oth­er­wise: big trou­ble,” it stat­ed.

MacKen­zie is a for­mer na­tion­al schol­ar who speaks four lan­guages and holds a Mas­ters in tech­ni­cal trans­la­tion from Im­pe­r­i­al Col­lege Lon­don.

She was short­list­ed for the 2017 Com­mon­wealth Short Sto­ry Prize for “The Dy­ing Wish”, and was the win­ner of the 2018 Small Axe Lit­er­ary Com­pe­ti­tion short fic­tion cat­e­go­ry for her satir­i­cal short sto­ry ‘The Chick­en Coup: A Dis­tinct­ly Mas­cu­line Ad­ven­ture for Dis­tinct­ly Man­ly Men”

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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #11 on: June 06, 2019, 11:50:40 PM »
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfaU4HFZJZo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfaU4HFZJZo</a>


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfaU4HFZJZo
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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #12 on: June 07, 2019, 03:52:13 PM »
Interesting. I will take a read.

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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #13 on: June 22, 2020, 01:26:44 PM »
Discovered a critically acclaimed book by a Trini author here in Medellin: A perfect pledge by Rabindranath Maharaj.

Was curios as to other TT authors as I am presently working on a book myself.

Here's a list:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/countries/trinidad.htm

Well after years of procrastination, finally finished the book back in April. All 61 chapters of it. Have been editing and getting the Letter of Query ready. Today I start approaching agents. Fingers crossed. ;-)

VB
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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #14 on: June 23, 2020, 07:50:23 PM »
 :thumbsup: Looking forward to reading it.

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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #15 on: July 07, 2020, 04:00:32 AM »
Trinidadian Ian Williams wins Canada’s top literary award for fiction

By Stabroek News November 19, 2019




TORONTO,  (Reuters) – Writer Ian Williams won Canada’s top annual literary award for fiction for his book “Reproduction,” the prize’s sponsor said yesterday.

“Reproduction,” published by Random House Canada, explores the bonds between family and how they are formed, through individuals in a Toronto suburb.

“You have no idea how special this is to me,” Williams told the audience while accepting the Scotiabank Giller Prize. The award carries a cash prize of C$100,000 ($75,901.33) while each of the other five shortlisted finalists takes home C$10,000.

The Giller Prize was founded in 1994 by Jack Rabinovitch, a Montreal-born real estate developer, in memory of his late wife Doris Giller, a literary journalist. Notable Canadian writers including Alice Munro and Mordecai Richler supported its creation, and Scotiabank began backing the award in 2005.


 
The six shortlisted finalists were chosen from a list of 117 submissions.

Williams’ family emigrated to Canada from Trinidad in the late 80s, according to an interview he gave to the National Post newspaper in 2013. Williams, who is an assistant professor of poetry in the University of British Columbia’s creative writing program, is based in Vancouver and grew up in Brampton, Ontario.

Notable previous winners of the award include Canadian literary giants such as Munro, Richler, Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje. Atwood and Munro are both on the prize’s advisory board, which is separate from the jury.

Atwood’s most recent book, “The Testaments,” a sequel to her popular 1985 dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale,” was long-listed for the award this year.

In selecting Williams’ book for the prize, the jury called it “an engrossing story of disparate people brought together and also a masterful unfolding of unexpected connections and collisions between and across lives otherwise separated by race, class, gender and geography.”

Williams thanked Atwood, who was present at the gala, and said the first book he bought with his own money was one of hers. He also thanked Rabinovitch, who died in 2017, for his support of the arts.


 
“If you’re wealthy and got tons of money… support whatever moves you,” Williams told the audience.

   
« Last Edit: December 20, 2020, 01:47:24 AM by vb »
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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #16 on: October 02, 2020, 12:41:20 PM »
Discovered a critically acclaimed book by a Trini author here in Medellin: A perfect pledge by Rabindranath Maharaj.

Was curios as to other TT authors as I am presently working on a book myself.

Here's a list:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/countries/trinidad.htm

Well after years of procrastination, finally finished the book back in April. All 61 chapters of it. Have been editing and getting the Letter of Query ready. Today I start approaching agents. Fingers crossed. ;-)

VB

Would you believe finishing a second book this weekend.
No I don't work in the kitchen.

My memoirs based on my three years working in war torn Afghanistan.

Covid 19 slowing yuh boy down. But hope to have both books published in 2021.

VB
« Last Edit: October 02, 2020, 07:39:20 PM by vb »
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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #17 on: October 03, 2020, 12:55:17 AM »
Good Luck, Blessing, vb

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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #18 on: December 20, 2020, 01:43:27 AM »
Discovered a critically acclaimed book by a Trini author here in Medellin: A perfect pledge by Rabindranath Maharaj.

Was curios as to other TT authors as I am presently working on a book myself.

Here's a list:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/countries/trinidad.htm

Well after years of procrastination, finally finished the book back in April. All 61 chapters of it. Have been editing and getting the Letter of Query ready. Today I start approaching agents. Fingers crossed. ;-)

VB

Would you believe finishing a second book this weekend.
No I don't work in the kitchen.

My memoirs based on my three years working in war torn Afghanistan.

Covid 19 slowing yuh boy down. But hope to have both books published in 2021.

VB


Should be out on March 13, 2021. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.
Web page to go up  on Jan. 1, 2021.

« Last Edit: December 20, 2020, 01:48:07 AM by vb »
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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #19 on: December 20, 2020, 07:58:24 AM »
Congrats, VB. Much success on the purcha$e end. :applause:

Please share what the writing process has been like and what your challenges in bringing it to publication have been. And why you regard it as important to share the narrative.

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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #20 on: December 20, 2020, 10:19:53 PM »
Asylum,

actually this is my second book, the first, TRIALS & TRIBULATIONS was finished first but will come out later around Oct.

I am hoping to use the more international flavour of Afghanistan to get people's attention and then use any fame from that as leverage for the second book which is all Trini, sort of Biswas meets Miguel Street meets Angela's Ashes.

To be honest, I never thought of this as a book. I kept a journal when I was in Agh. because I thought it was historical. Some of my friends raved about it and thought it could be a book or even a movie. I never really saw what they saw. However, when I was about to finish Trials, my cousin encouraged me to make the journal into a book "it could be a bestseller," as he put it.

Only because of their enthusiasm I did so. However, I read excerpts of someone else's memoir re Afgh and found myself going from paragraph to paragraph without taking a break. So then I began to understand what they might have been referring to.

This is a different perspective, that of a civilian in a war zone not a soldier but in addition to putting up with the Taliban, you also had to put up with certain challenges from within, i.e., the very people with whom you worked and many times because of the colour of your skin or race despite very high ranking ID. If you can read the blurb on the back of the book you can see how crazy the life was. Also like in any huge organization, you have to deal with a host of characters some, rude/lazy/incompetent, etc.
 Most people spend about six months there, I spent three years.

Additionally, how many Trinis give an account of what it was like to live in a war zone.

The writing process was easy as I simply had to edit my journal. The writing style is laid back as I simply expressed my feelings from day to day.

I did some research into self publishing as getting an agent for Trials had been tedious.
I discovered a company called Tablo which is supposed to be pretty good in terms of handling logistics etc., I will say they decreased my stress level considerably. I am still in the process of getting it published so I will have more to say about them in the next few months.

VB
VITAMIN V...KEEPS THE LADIES HEALTHY...:-)

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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #21 on: December 21, 2020, 01:09:56 PM »
Congrats vb. Did not know You was a superstar. Looking forward to reading it.

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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #22 on: December 21, 2020, 07:31:45 PM »
Congrats vb. Did not know You was a superstar. Looking forward to reading it.

Deeks,

you really didn't know!  ;D

VB
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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #23 on: December 22, 2020, 08:05:35 AM »
Asylum,

actually this is my second book, the first, TRIALS & TRIBULATIONS was finished first but will come out later around Oct.

I am hoping to use the more international flavour of Afghanistan to get people's attention and then use any fame from that as leverage for the second book which is all Trini, sort of Biswas meets Miguel Street meets Angela's Ashes.

To be honest, I never thought of this as a book. I kept a journal when I was in Agh. because I thought it was historical. Some of my friends raved about it and thought it could be a book or even a movie. I never really saw what they saw. However, when I was about to finish Trials, my cousin encouraged me to make the journal into a book "it could be a bestseller," as he put it.

Only because of their enthusiasm I did so. However, I read excerpts of someone else's memoir re Afgh and found myself going from paragraph to paragraph without taking a break. So then I began to understand what they might have been referring to.

This is a different perspective, that of a civilian in a war zone not a soldier but in addition to putting up with the Taliban, you also had to put up with certain challenges from within, i.e., the very people with whom you worked and many times because of the colour of your skin or race despite very high ranking ID. If you can read the blurb on the back of the book you can see how crazy the life was. Also like in any huge organization, you have to deal with a host of characters some, rude/lazy/incompetent, etc.
 Most people spend about six months there, I spent three years.

Additionally, how many Trinis give an account of what it was like to live in a war zone.

The writing process was easy as I simply had to edit my journal. The writing style is laid back as I simply expressed my feelings from day to day.

I did some research into self publishing as getting an agent for Trials had been tedious.
I discovered a company called Tablo which is supposed to be pretty good in terms of handling logistics etc., I will say they decreased my stress level considerably. I am still in the process of getting it published so I will have more to say about them in the next few months.

VB

Stellar stuff and insights, VB. Thanks for sharing.

Spoke recently to another Trini who is trying to be published in 2021 with Peepal. It's a deliberate process.

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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #24 on: December 23, 2020, 12:58:52 AM »
You know I submitted Trials & Tribulations to Peepal about two months ago.
they said it was under review.
Your post reminded me of them. Went to the site, couldn't log in, said my email is incorrect despite contacting me on it when I registered in October.

Not a good sign. ;-)

EDIT My mistake, they had an alternative site for submission. It is STILL being reviewed.

VB
« Last Edit: December 23, 2020, 01:02:24 AM by vb »
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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #25 on: December 31, 2020, 10:32:37 PM »


https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/no-i-don-t-work-in-the-kitchen



Pre orders for Kindle and paperback are available on Amazon.

the book is also available on Barnes & Noble and many of the other usual outlets.

VB
VITAMIN V...KEEPS THE LADIES HEALTHY...:-)

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #26 on: January 02, 2021, 12:36:19 AM »
You may be familiar with the work of Anjan Sudaram. If you are not, I think you may find it of interest.

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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #27 on: January 02, 2021, 01:06:53 AM »
VITAMIN V...KEEPS THE LADIES HEALTHY...:-)

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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #28 on: January 07, 2021, 02:30:23 PM »
VITAMIN V...KEEPS THE LADIES HEALTHY...:-)

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Re: Trinidad & Tobago authors
« Reply #29 on: January 08, 2021, 10:27:08 PM »
With the web page being up for only a week and the Release Date March 13,
the book jumped up 214 000 spots on Amazon.ca rankings today (paperback) and 209 000 spot (Kindle).

In amazon.ca rankings of the Hot New Releases - with both peraprback and Kindle mixed in, it stands at number 2 and 3.

Amazon.com has it ranked as the number one ranked upcoming Canadian Biography.
And it has been fluctuating between Number 10 - 20 in Can. Bios.

https://vbhoolai.wixsite.com/veersenbhoolaiauthor/no-i-don-t-work-in-the-kitchen

VB

VITAMIN V...KEEPS THE LADIES HEALTHY...:-)

 

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