Book Authoring Retreat: The Full Album

The beginning of the book authoring journey for 17 individuals who are attempting to write their first book. http://Kiruba.com/authoring
Click to view The Full Album.

Posted by Kiruba on Nov 26, 2013 in Books, farm, Workshop, Writing | comment

In action at the Book Authoring Retreat

The 100 Day Book Authoring Challenge got kickstarted over the weekend. 17 of us got together for two days at our farm. We unplugged ourselves from usual life to focus entirely on planning and prepping up for our books. Here are some of the snaps from the authoring retreat. http://Kiruba.com/authoring

Click to view the Album.

Posted by Kiruba on Nov 25, 2013 in Books, farm, Workshop, Writing | comment

Book Authoring Retreat Participants

The awesome gang that participated in the ‘Book Authoring Retreat’ this weekend. We are taking on the challenge of working over the next 100 days (make that 99) to launch our books by March 1, 2014. More info at http://Kiruba.com/authoring. Photo by the uber-talented Amar Ramesh of www.facebook.com/anrbphotography

Posted by Kiruba on Nov 25, 2013 in Books, farm, Workshop, Writing | comment

Update to Authoring Retreat Team

Hi Team,

We are exactly two weeks away from our Book Authoring Retreat and am very excited for it.

Here is a quick update email for all of you who have registered for the event.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: The dates for the workshop is November 23 & 24. Please make sure to block your calendar and not to have any other work commitments on those two days.

ARRIVAL TIME: Even though the event is on Nov 23 & 34, we are requesting all participants to land at the venue on Friday, 22nd evening/night itself. This is because we will have an early morning start on Saturday, 23rd and its important that all of us are well rested and ready to start.

Please do not plan on starting on Saturday early morning. Its a 4 hour commute from Chennai and you will be tired by the time you get here. Hence, everyone please plan to reach the venue on Friday evening or night itself.

ADDRESS: You can find the directions to the venue here http://www.kiruba.com/farm/location/

CAR-POOLING: The best way would be for all of us to carpool and travel. Its a great way to break the ice, get to know each other and bond even before the event starts. How many of us have cars here?

LEAVE YOUR WORK AT HOME: One of the main reasons why we are having an offsite venue is to help peel ourselves from our everyday tasks. By being away at a remote place, it helps us disconnect from our regular life and help us focus 100% on the workshop. So, please inform your clients, colleagues, family and friends that you would be unavailable on these two days. Trust me, it makes a BIG difference.

FELLOW PARTICIPANTS: You can know who else is attending the event at http://Kiruba.com/authoring/authors . I would recommend you spend some time looking at the profiles. This would be very helpful when you network with them at the event.

NEED YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS: If you look at the participants page in the website, you will notice social media icons next to your names. We need the list of URLs so that we can link them up. Please check your profile. If yours is not linked, then mail the URLs to lakshmi@f5ive.com with a CC to me.

FACEBOOK UPDATES: From now on, lots of updates regarding the event will happen on the Book Authoring Retreat Facebook Page. https://www.facebook.com/events/424471970990904/ If you aren’t signed up here, make sure you do.

THE BOOK: As a way to tap into the minds of great writers and best-selling authors, I started a book project as a way to prepare for our authoring workshop. The book is titled, ’500 WORDS BEFORE 8AM….and Other Practical Writing Tips from Bestselling Authors’. More about the book at http://Kiruba.com/500 . Make sure to especially check out the authors section at http://Kiruba.com/500/authors
I will share the digital version of the book with all of you at the workshop. Lots of wonderful lessons for us.

If you have any queries regarding the workshop, please ask them at the Facebook Event page. I will answer them there. This way, the answers will be helpful for others as well. Alternatively, you can always reach me at 09841597744 and at Kiruba@Kiruba.com.

Eagerly look forward to the event.

Posted by Kiruba on Nov 8, 2013 in Books, Workshop, Writing | comment

A sneak peek of the incredible Catherynne M. Valente’s Pep Talk

“Write something true. Write something frightening. Write something close to the bone. You are on this planet to tell the story of what you saw here. What you heard. What you felt. What you learned. Any effort spent in that pursuit cannot be wasted. Any way that you can tell that story more truly, more vividly, more you-ly, is the right way.

So holler. Tell it loud and tell it bright and tell it slant and tell it bold. Tell it with space whales and silent films or tell it with quiet desperation or tell it with war or tell it with dragons or tell it with tall ships or tell it with divorce in the suburbs or tell it with dancing skeletons and a kraken in the wings.”

Posted by Kiruba on Nov 4, 2013 in Books, Workshop, Writing | comment

25 days to go for our ‘Book Authoring Retreat’

Exactly 25 days to go for our ‘Book Authoring Retreat‘. 3 days to go for NaNoWriMo. This is an excellent time to start working on the outline of your book. Don’t worry about the finer details. A rough outline is good enough. Good luck folks and quite excited for our event.

Posted by Kiruba on Oct 28, 2013 in Books, Workshop | comment