The show opens with Lavanya and Mahima talking about what writing and creativity means to them. They share their earliest memories of writing and how each of them decided to pursue it seriously. We chat about their respective manuscripts – both in the space of contemporaray fiction dealing with romance and coming of age, accompanied by some fantastic book recommendations! We talk about research and the process of writing stories about urban Indian relationships. We also delve into what each of them is exploring with their respective manuscripts and chat about the misconceptions people have about romance in literature. Later, we chat about the Emerging Writers Residency, their writing routines and more book recommendations! The episode ends with excerpts from Lavanya and Mahima’s manuscripts narrated by each of them respectively.

Mentions: Pomodoro Method, Cobalt Blue, Deviants, Shantanu Bhattacharya, The Education Of Yuri, Jerry Pinto, Janice Pariat, The Nine Chambered Heart, Ottessa Moshfegh, My Year Of Rest And Relaxation, Eileen, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Vikram Seth, Pride And Prejudice, Jane Austen, Hot Water, Bhavika Govil, Em And The Big Hoom, The Kiss Quotient, Helen Hoang, Crush, Richard Siken, Balaji Telefilms, Dhinchak Pooja, Lydia Davis, Kim Addonizio, Li-Young Lee, Kazim Ali, Olivia Laing, Franz Kafka, Letters To Milena, Marcel Proust, Sooryavansham, Welcome, Indra The Tiger, Lost In Translation, Shawshank Redemption, Catch Me If You Can, The Godfather, Harry Potter, Magic Pot, Tinkle, Jaani Dushman, Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Game Of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Airplane Mode, Shahnaz Habib, Chronicle Of An Hour And A Half, Saharu Nusaiba Kannanari, The Good Wife, No New Notifications, Kannan Gill, Quizzing With Comedians, Gangs Of Wasseypur

Lavanya Arora (they/he) is an independent researcher and writer exploring biology, culture, and food through stories, poetry, and narrative-driven articles. Their work has appeared or is forthcoming in Condé Nast Traveller India, Frontier Poetry, Soft Union, and elsewhere. In a past life, they tried understanding plant and bacterial DNA. You can find them on Instagram @lavaurora

Mahima Kohli is a writer and editor based in Mumbai. She has edited several books, and her short fiction has appeared in Gulmohar Quarterly and been adapted into sleep stories in three languages. She is currently working on a novel that looks at marriage, identity and family dynamics from an urban Punjabi lens. Mahima loves specialty coffee, books and nature, and works in taxation to pay for all that. You can find her on Instagram @kohliaroundtheworld

The Himalayan Writing Retreat (THWR) is a physical retreat tucked away in the Uttarakhand Himalayas. THWR was co-founded in 2016 by Chetan Mahajan & Dr Vandita Dubey. The retreat offers a variety of events, both online and in person. The HWR Emerging Writers Residency offers emerging writers an opportunity to live, learn and write among the stunning Himalayas. The aim is to help writers finish their writing projects and make their debut. To know more, you can check their website: https://www.himalayanwritingretreat.com/

Sangeetha Menon a.k.a. The Moody Marshmallow is a writer, editor and podcaster. She currently handles the rights portfolio at Tulika Publishers, where she finds new avenues for stories to travel. She has worked with organisations like Bound, Karadi Tales, and Carve Magazine to name a few. You can find her on Instagram: @marshmallow.musings and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/menonsangeetha/

Social Media:

Instagram - @theclosetwriterchronicles

Twitter - @TheMoodyMarsh

Email - [email protected]

Music:

Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io

Produced By White Hot

The show opens with Antara and Farah talking about what writing and creativity means to them. They share their earliest memories of writing and how each of them decided to pursue it seriously. We chat about their respective manuscripts – one in the space of fiction and the other in non-fiction, and the importance of amplifying female narratives, accompanied by some fantastic book recommendations! We talk about research and the process of writing for fiction and non-fiction. We also delve into what each of them is exploring with their respective manuscripts. Later, we chat about the Emerging Writers Residency, their writing routines and more book recommendations! The episode ends with excerpts from Antara and Farh’s manuscripts narrated by each of them respectively.

Mentions: Fyodor Dostovesky, Reader’s Digest, Heart Lamp, Banu Mushtaq, Deepa Bhasthi, International Booker Prize, Max Porter, Little Wome, Louisa May Alcott, Brotherless Night, V V Ganeshananthan, Rumors Of Spring, Farah Bashir, Arundathi Roy, Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy, On Balance, Leela Seth, Andaleeb Wajeed, Learning To Make One Cup Of Tea, Natasha Badhwar, Zehra Naqvi, Reema Ahmad, Unparenting, Charles Dickens, Anna Karenina, Jhumpa Lahiri, Mahasweta Devi, Rabindranath Tagore, Anita Desai, Clear Light Of Day, Morning Pages, Julia Cameron, Shadow City, Taran Khan, Aashiqui, Fifty Year Road, Bhaskar Roy, Superboys Of Malegaon, Anatomy Of A Fall, Seen And Unseen, Amit Verma, Let’s Talk Memoir, Ronit Plank, Film Courage, Louisiana Channel, Andrew Huberman, Ted Talks, The Blue Book, Amitava Kumar

Antara Mukherjee is a writer from Kolkata, based in Mumbai, and she likes to write about the immediate realities of our society. Her stories and poems have appeared in over 25 literary magazines, and a play co-written by her has had 12 performances at the Bangalore International Centre since 2022. She's an alumna of the Kolam Writers’ Workshop, and her manuscript was selected for a mentorship program by Asian Women Writers (AWW), a platform by US & UK agents and editors, recognising upcoming women writers from Asia. She is represented by Jayapriya Vasudevan of Jacaranda Literary Agency, and her debut fiction will be published by Bloomsbury in April 2026. You can find her on Instagram @antara.mukherjee.bhattacharya

Farah is a writer based in Gurgaon. Her observation of people and her work as an advocate both enrich her writings. Her work has been published in Indian Express, Hindustan Times, Reader's Digest, Livewire, Outlook and Kitaab, to name a few. She loves to write haiku, short stories and personal essay. She is the recipient of the Natalie Goldberg fellowship. She was shortlisted for 100 inspiring Muslim Women of West Bengal by Rising beyond the ceiling foundation. You can find on Instagram @farahnaaz3

The Himalayan Writing Retreat (THWR) is a physical retreat tucked away in the Uttarakhand Himalayas. THWR was co-founded in 2016 by Chetan Mahajan & Dr Vandita Dubey. The retreat offers a variety of events, both online and in person. The HWR Emerging Writers Residency offers emerging writers an opportunity to live, learn and write among the stunning Himalayas. The aim is to help writers finish their writing projects and make their debut. To know more, you can check their website: https://www.himalayanwritingretreat.com/

Sangeetha Menon a.k.a. The Moody Marshmallow is a writer, editor and podcaster. She currently handles the rights portfolio at Tulika Publishers, where she finds new avenues for stories to travel. She has worked with organisations like Bound, Karadi Tales, and Carve Magazine to name a few. You can find her on Instagram: @marshmallow.musings and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/menonsangeetha/

Social Media:

Instagram - @theclosetwriterchronicles

Twitter - @TheMoodyMarsh

Email - [email protected]

Music:

Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io

Produced By White Hot

The show opens with Akash and Ramanjaneya talking about what writing and creativity means to them. They share their earliest memories of writing and how each of them decided to pursue it seriously. We chat about their respective manuscripts – one in the space of horror and the other in mythology, accompanied by some fascinating book recommendations! We talk about playwriting and it’s influence on each of their writing practices. We also delve into what each of them is exploring with their respective manuscripts. Later, we chat about the Emerging Writers Residency, their writing routines and more book recommendations! The episode ends with excerpts from Akash and Ramanjaneya’s manuscripts narrated by each of them respectively.

Mentions: Tintin, Asterix, Enid Blyton, Panchatantra, Amuktamalyada, Panchakanya, Dr Pradip Bhattacharya, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Indiana Jones, Writers Block, British Council, Otis Haschemeyer, Pushcart Prize, Lord Of The Rings, Sholay, Stephen King, IT, Pet Cemetery, Stranger Things, The Plague, Albert Camus, Charlie Says, Kochi Biennale, Bhakti Poetry, Tukaram, Rahim, Kabir, Neil Gaiman, American Gods, The Good Omens, Terry Pratchett, Golden Compass, Sandman, Harry Potter, Satyajit Ray, Valmiki’s Women, Anand Neelakantan, Piranesi, Susanna Clarke, Annie Zaidi, Sundance Screenwriters Lab, Mahasweta Devi, Arundati Subramanian, Self Editing For Fiction Writers, Rene Brown, Dave King, Murakami, Baahubali, Golmaal, Girish Karnad, Heart Lamp, Banu Mushtaq, Tomb Of Sand, Perumal Murugan, Charulata, Aranyak Din Ratri, All We Imagine As Light, The Road, Cormac McCarthy, Amitava Ghosh, The Hungry Tide, Premchand

Akash Mohimen is a storyteller working in the theatre and film industry since 2006. He has written 7 plays, including Mahua and Under The Chestnut Tree, the latter being shortlisted for the Hindu Metroplus Playwright Award 2013. In 2015, he was selected for Sundance Screenwriters’ Lab where he co-wrote his first feature film, Rukh. In 2020, he co-wrote two seasons of the web series Bhaukaal. Akash has also worked as an editor for documentaries, advertisements and music videos. You can find him on Instagram @akashmohimen and X (Twitter) @AkashMohimen

Ramanjaneya Sharaph is a business and strategy consultant by design, since his unique name – with only one google hit – precludes any career hinging on anonymity and untrace-ability. His literary urges got an early boost when in the infancy of his accounting career, a boss reprimanded him to write short stories and not bestsellers in his audit reports. He lives in Mumbai with his wife who points to his large collection of books and reminds him that just because he is an accountant, he does not have to cook books. You can find him on Instagram @ramsharaph

The Himalayan Writing Retreat (THWR) is a physical retreat tucked away in the Uttarakhand Himalayas. THWR was co-founded in 2016 by Chetan Mahajan & Dr Vandita Dubey. The retreat offers a variety of events, both online and in person. The HWR Emerging Writers Residency offers emerging writers an opportunity to live, learn and write among the stunning Himalayas. The aim is to help writers finish their writing projects and make their debut. To know more, you can check their website: https://www.himalayanwritingretreat.com/

Sangeetha Menon a.k.a. The Moody Marshmallow is a writer, editor and podcaster. She currently handles the rights portfolio at Tulika Publishers, where she finds new avenues for stories to travel. She has worked with organisations like Bound, Karadi Tales, and Carve Magazine to name a few. You can find her on Instagram: @marshmallow.musings and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/menonsangeetha/

Social Media:

Instagram - @theclosetwriterchronicles

Twitter - @TheMoodyMarsh

Email - [email protected]

Music:

Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io

Produced By White Hot

The show opens with Bala and Riddhi talking about what writing and creativity means to them. They share their earliest memories of writing and how each of them decided to pursue it seriously. We chat about the similarity of themes in their manuscripts and explore the space of speculative fiction, accompanied by some really cool book recommendations! We talk about poetry and it’s influence while writing fiction and what each of them is exploring with their respective manuscripts. Later, we chat about the Emerging Writers Residency, their writing routines and more book recommendations! The episode ends with excerpts from Bala and Riddhi’s manuscripts narrated by each of them respectively.

Mentions: On Being, Krista Tipett, Relax, Ellen Bass, Kaveh Akbar, Danez Smith, Pablo Neruda, Ocen Voung, Helter Skelter, Akhil Katyal, Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Sumana Roy, Tishani Doshi, Han Kang, Greek Lessons, The Vegetarian, Orbital, Samantha Harvey, Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Kafka, Metamorphosis, Parable Of The Soul, Octavia Butler, Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel, Jose Saramago, Death At Intervals, Blindness, Seeing, Yoko Ogawa, The Memory Police, Murakami, Aravind Jeyanth, Teen Couple Have Fun Outdoors, Anjum Hasan, History’s Angel, Perumal Murugan, Poonachi, A Visit From The Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan, Deepa Annapara, Djinn Patrol On The Purple Line, Jerry Pinto, Sharanya Mannivanan, Dibakar Bannerjee, The Land Of Far-Beyond, Enid Blyton, Ruskin Bond, Courage The Cowardly Dog, A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth, Kafka, Fydor Dostovesky, Steinback, R K Narayan, Satyajit Ray, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mubi, Pokhar Ke Dunu Paar, Don’t Look Now, Lake Mungo, Perfect Days, Wim Wenders, Kaho Na Pyaar Hai

Bala (Balaji Gopalan) has been writing for over two decades and covers themes such as love, loss, silence, the journey towards the self, celebration of life, and, of late, political conditions. He has self-published two books of poetry: Oblivion (a love story in poems) and Adrift, Ashore (a man’s quest for his lost song). He has also published a novel, The Descent (an absurd take on a liberal society’s descent into authoritarianism).

Riddhi Dastidar is a writer and reporter in Delhi. In 2020 they were awarded the TFA Award for Creative Writing for their poetry. Their journalism has won first prize at the 2021 SCARF Media for Mental Health Awards and a 2022 UNFP Laadli Award. Their work has been shortlisted for the 2021 Wasafiri New Writing Prize, the 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize & the 2020 Himal Short Story Prize. Riddhi was a 2022 South Asia Speaks Fellow under the mentorship of Deepa Anappara for their debut novel. Their fiction appeared in in ‘A Case of Indian Marvels’, Aleph’s anthology of India’s finest new writers. In 2021, they founded the collective Mutual Aid India with disabled and queer friends.

The Himalayan Writing Retreat (THWR) is a physical retreat tucked away in the Uttarakhand Himalayas. THWR was co-founded in 2016 by Chetan Mahajan & Dr Vandita Dubey. The retreat offers a variety of events, both online and in person. The HWR Emerging Writers Residency offers emerging writers an opportunity to live, learn and write among the stunning Himalayas. The aim is to help writers finish their writing projects and make their debut. To know more, you can check their website: https://www.himalayanwritingretreat.com/

Sangeetha Menon a.k.a. The Moody Marshmallow is a writer, editor and podcaster. She currently handles the rights portfolio at Tulika Publishers, where she finds new avenues for stories to travel. She has worked with organisations like Bound, Karadi Tales, and Carve Magazine to name a few. You can find her on Instagram: @marshmallow.musings and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/menonsangeetha/

Social Media:

Instagram - @theclosetwriterchronicles

Twitter - @TheMoodyMarsh

Email - [email protected]

Music:

Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io

Produced By White Hot

The show opens with Anisha and Poornima talking about what writing and creativity means to them. They share their earliest memories of writing and how each of them decided to pursue it seriously. We chat about the similarity of themes in their manuscripts and delve into literature in politics and identity, sprinkled with some great book recommendations! We talk about censorship and what each of them is exploring with their respective manuscripts. Later, we chat about the Emerging Writers Residency, their writing routines and more book recommendations! The episode ends with excerpts from Anisha and Poornima’s manuscripts narrated by each of them respectively.

Mentions: Toni Morrison, Jazz, Don McLean, Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov, The Godfather, Kunal Purohit, H-Pop: The Secretive World of Hindutva Pop Stars, Saeed Naqvi, Being The Other: The Muslim In India, Prophet Song, Paul Lynch, Girls Who Stray, Hurda, Atharva Pandit, Mother India, Prayag Akbar, Quarter Life, Devika Rege, Prelude To A Riot, Annie Zaidi, Leila, Rakshanda Jalil, But You Don’t Look Like A Muslim, English August, Upamanyu Chatterjee, Like Being Alive Twice, Dharini Bhaskar, Doctor Zhivago, Boris Pasternak, The Master And Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov, Rumors Of Spring: A Girlhood in Kashmir, Farah Bashir, Munnu: A Boy From Kashmir, Malik Sajad, Enid Blyton, Wuthering Heights, Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead, A Room With A View, E.M. Foster, The God Of Small Things, Arundathi Roy, Satanic Verses. Salman Rushdie, Ground Beneath Her Feet, The Illicit Happiness Of Other People, Manu Joseph, The Sly Company Of People Who Cae, Rahul Bhattacharya, The Bluest Eye, Murakami, Wide Sargasso Sea, jean Rhys, A Bad Character, Deepti Kapoor, Age Of Vice, True Detective, Silence Of The Lambs, The Killing, Wes Anderson, Darjeeling Limited, Glastonbury, The Sinner, Adolescence, Mindhunter, Broadchurch

Anisha Lalvani has a Master’s of Arts degree in English Literature from Mumbai University. She has worked in publishing and on various literary projects. She currently works in communications at a leading think tank that engages with the nexus of environment, economic opportunity and human well-being. You can find her on Instagram @anisha.lalvani.54 and X (Twitter) @AnishaL_Writer

An educator by profession, Poornima Rajamani was born and raised in Mumbai and now calls Bengaluru home. She began work on her first novel in 2022. Using the landscape of her home cities, she seeks to portray the chequered realities of India viewed from a political, urban lens. The impact of traditionalism on the freedoms of expression, choice and liberty is a major theme in her work. You can find her on Instagram @cocoalunaofblore and X (Twitter) @ladywriter79

The Himalayan Writing Retreat (THWR) is a physical retreat tucked away in the Uttarakhand Himalayas. THWR was co-founded in 2016 by Chetan Mahajan & Dr Vandita Dubey. The retreat offers a variety of events, both online and in person. The HWR Emerging Writers Residency offers emerging writers an opportunity to live, learn and write among the stunning Himalayas. The aim is to help writers finish their writing projects and make their debut. To know more, you can check their website: https://www.himalayanwritingretreat.com/

Sangeetha Menon a.k.a. The Moody Marshmallow is a writer, editor and podcaster. She currently handles the rights portfolio at Tulika Publishers, where she finds new avenues for stories to travel. She has worked with organisations like Bound, Karadi Tales, and Carve Magazine to name a few. You can find her on Instagram: @marshmallow.musings and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/menonsangeetha/

Social Media:

Instagram - @theclosetwriterchronicles

Twitter - @TheMoodyMarsh

Email - [email protected]

Music:

Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io

Produced By White Hot

Welcome to a very special series in collaboration with The Himalayan Writing Retreat! Listen to 10 new voices in 5 episodes as they talk about the ups and downs of writing a manuscript, finding their passion and the significance of a creative community. First episode drops next weekend! Tune in to the trailer to listen to a few sound bytes from the first episode!

The Himalayan Writing Retreat (THWR) is a physical retreat tucked away in the Uttarakhand Himalayas. THWR was co-founded in 2016 by Chetan Mahajan & Dr Vandita Dubey. The retreat offers a variety of events, both online and in person. The HWR Emerging Writers Residency offers emerging writers an opportunity to live, learn and write among the stunning Himalayas. The aim is to help writers finish their writing projects and make their debut. To know more, you can check their website: https://www.himalayanwritingretreat.com/

Sangeetha Menon a.k.a. The Moody Marshmallow is a writer, editor and podcaster. She currently handles the rights portfolio at Tulika Publishers, where she finds new avenues for stories to travel. She has worked with organisations like Bound, Karadi Tales, and Carve Magazine to name a few. You can find her on Instagram: @marshmallow.musings and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/menonsangeetha/

Social Media:

Instagram - @theclosetwriterchronicles

Twitter - @TheMoodyMarsh

Email - [email protected]

Music:

Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io

Produced By White Hot

Season 4 finale! The episode opens with Aishwarya talking about what creativity means to her. We continue our conversation on AI and its relationship with disability and accessibility. We delve into Aishwarya’s journey as a visual artist as a blind person and how she’s challenging the status quo on who can be an artist. Later, she talks about her process and routine as a writer. We also talk about poetry and resources for poetry writing month. We exchange more recommendations on books and tv shows. The episode ends with poetry written & narrated by Aishwarya.

O. Aishwarya is currently pursuing Doctoral studies at IIIT Bangalore in the area of IT and Society. She has worked for a year at Vision Empower, a non-profit organization that aims to make science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects accessible to blind and visually impaired children studying in special schools in Karnataka. She also has a Masters Degree in Development from Azim Premji University. Having recently discovered ways of producing visual art as a blind person, she is now exploring the use of art as a medium for breaking stereotypes and confronting ableism. Researching, and creating more knowledge on disability studies and accessibility, is her passion as well as profession. You can find her on Instagram @the_blind_bookworm

Sangeetha Menon a.k.a. The Moody Marshmallow is a writer, editor and podcaster. She currently handles the rights portfolio at Tulika Publishers, where she finds new avenues for stories to travel. She has worked with organisations like Bound, Karadi Tales, and Carve Magazine to name a few. You can find her on Instagram: @marshmallow.musings and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/menonsangeetha/

Mentions: Youth Ki Awaaz, Medium, Rising Flame, Adithi Rao, Braille, Azim Premji University, XRCVC, Tiffany Yu, Emily Ladau, Carly Findlay, Say Hello, Skin Stories, Tommy Edison, Helen Keller, Louis Braille, POV, Be My Eyes, Enid Blyton, Invisible Women, Why Loiter, Hunchback, Booker Prize, Butter, All The Light We Cannot See, Atypical, Netflix, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, The Cock Is The Culprit, J Devika, A Case Of Exploding Mangoes, Champaca Bookstore, Harry Potter, JK Rowling, The Grammar Of My Body

Social Media:

Instagram - @theclosetwriterchronicles

Twitter - @TheMoodyMarsh

Email - [email protected]

Music:

Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io

Produced By White Hot

Season 4 Finale! The episode opens with Aishwarya talking about what creativity means to her. Aishwarya shares her earliest memories of being creative and writing and what that’s been like as a blind person. She shares various experiences and perspectives on disability and accessibility and her work regarding the same. She also shares book recommendations. Later Aishwarya talks about how AI and assistive technology has helped her, but also how nuanced it is and what seems to be missing. The episode ends with poetry written & narrated by Aishwarya.

O. Aishwarya is currently pursuing Doctoral studies at IIIT Bangalore in the area of IT and Society. She has worked for a year at Vision Empower, a non-profit organization that aims to make science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects accessible to blind and visually impaired children studying in special schools in Karnataka. She also has a Masters Degree in Development from Azim Premji University. Having recently discovered ways of producing visual art as a blind person, she is now exploring the use of art as a medium for breaking stereotypes and confronting ableism. Researching, and creating more knowledge on disability studies and accessibility, is her passion as well as profession. You can find her on Instagram @the_blind_bookworm

Sangeetha Menon a.k.a. The Moody Marshmallow is a writer, editor and podcaster. She currently handles the rights portfolio at Tulika Publishers, where she finds new avenues for stories to travel. She has worked with organisations like Bound, Karadi Tales, and Carve Magazine to name a few. You can find her on Instagram: @marshmallow.musings and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/menonsangeetha/

Mentions: outh Ki Awaaz, Medium, Rising Flame, Adithi Rao, Braille, Azim Premji University, XRCVC, Tiffany Yu, Emily Ladau, Carly Findlay, Say Hello, Skin Stories, Tommy Edison, Helen Keller, Louis Braille, POV, Be My Eyes, Enid Blyton, Invisible Women, Why Loiter, Hunchback, Booker Prize, Butter, All The Light We Cannot See, Atypical, Netflix, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, The Cock Is The Culprit, J Devika, A Case Of Exploding Mangoes, Champaca Bookstore, Harry Potter, JK Rowling, The Grammar Of My Body

Social Media:

Instagram - @theclosetwriterchronicles

Twitter - @TheMoodyMarsh

Email - [email protected]

Music:

Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io

Produced By White Hot

The episode opens with Vishala talking about what creativity means to her. She shares her earliest memories of being creative. We talk about reading and books. We delve into Vishala’s various creative pursuits – Comaya a community celebrating creativity, wellness & Indian wilderness, and Theta Tales, a micro-publishing house. Vishala shares how writing started for her and how she’s been engaging with different formats. We also talk about her early carrer days and the school she runs in rural Tamil Nadu. The episode ends with an excerpt from Vishala’s book narrated by her.

Vishala Ramswami works in sustainable textiles and green energy. She is a passionate educator, has set up the Empower Trust and runs a school in rural Tamil Nadu. Vishala is also the co-founder of Comaya a community based on the gifting economy blending creativity, wellness & Indian wilderness. She is an aspiring children’s writer and is also in the process of setting up a micro-publishing house called Theta Tales.

Sangeetha Menon a.k.a. The Moody Marshmallow is a writer, editor and podcaster. She currently handles the rights portfolio at Tulika Publishers, where she finds new avenues for stories to travel. She has worked with organisations like Bound, Karadi Tales, and Carve Magazine to name a few. You can find her on Instagram: @marshmallow.musings and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/menonsangeetha/

Mentions: Famous Five, Enid Blyton, Sherlock Holmes, Edgar Allen Poe, Roald Dahl, kindle, The Hindu, Young World, Waterstones, WH Smith, Barnes & Noble, Tulika Publishers, Tara Books, Karadi Tales, Bijal Shah, Bibliotherapy, Chhaunk, Abhijit Banerjee, Burning Man, Utopia For Realists, Humankind A Hopeful History, Faya Dayi, Mubi, Waltz With Bashir, Tamil Pulp Fiction, Blaft, Ant-Caste SF Anthology, PG Woodhouse, How To Feed A Dictator, Alice B Tokla’s Cookbook

Social Media:

Instagram - @theclosetwriterchronicles

Twitter - @TheMoodyMarsh

Email - [email protected]

Music:

Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io

Produced By White Hot

The episode opens with Ashwitha talking about what creativity means to her. Ashwitha shares how she decided to pursue a degree in literature and medieval history. We chat about how she started writing and what the publishing process has been like. She talks about her experience as a teacher and how that’s influenced her writing. We also delve into her interest in history and her inclination towards writing and creating more books in this space. We also exchange recommendations for books, anime, tv shows and video games! She also talks about a publishing house she’s setting up with her partner. The episode ends with an excerpt from Ashwitha’s book narrated by her.

Ashwitha Jayakumar is the author of over a dozen works for readers of all ages, from the bestselling My Little Book of... series of board books for toddlers to works of non-fiction on medieval and modern history for older readers. After graduating with a master’s degree in Literature and Society: 1688–1900 from the University of Edinburgh, she taught English literature to secondary school students and worked in publishing before doing an MA in medieval studies from the University of Leeds entirely for fun. She’s mad about history, fantasy novels, chocolate and dogs. You can find her on Instagram @ashwitha_writes

Sangeetha Menon a.k.a. The Moody Marshmallow is a writer, editor and podcaster. She currently handles the rights portfolio at Tulika Publishers, where she finds new avenues for stories to travel. She has worked with organisations like Bound, Karadi Tales, and Carve Magazine to name a few. You can find her on Instagram: @marshmallow.musings and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/menonsangeetha/

Mentions: Diary of Anne Frank, The Lord Of The Rings, Tolkien, Orlando Bloom, Wattpad, Twilight, Fifty Shades Of Grey, Shakspeare, To Kill A Mockingbird, Dead Poet's Society, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Brandon Sanderson, The Stormlight Archive, Rebecca Yarros, Naomi Novik, Katherine Arden, The Winternight Trilogy, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, JK Rowling, Angie Sage, Septimus Heap Series, Fullmetal Alchemist, Attack On Titan, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Good Wife, Battlestar Galactica, Parenthood, Only Murders In The Building, Severance, Arcane, League Of Legends, The Witcher 3, Zelda, The Curse Of The Obra Dinn, Chants Of Sennar, Secret Hitler, Shasn, Dungeons & Dragons

Social Media:

Instagram - @theclosetwriterchronicles

Twitter - @TheMoodyMarsh

Email - [email protected]

Music:

Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io

Produced By White Hot