I’ve been recognized for my writing by being selected through a competitive process to work with an editorial team at Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Macmillan) on my unfinished novel manuscript. I collaborated with Katherine Jacobs, a senior editor at Farrar, Straus and Giroux for Young Readers, on my manuscript about an Indian-American girl’s experiences with vitiligo, a condition involving skin pigment loss that is stigmatized in India, and how she copes through creative writing. Usually, a publishing company will not even consider an incomplete manuscript, so I'm incredibly proud and honored that a company like Farrar, Straus and Giroux wanted to work with me when I was only 22 years old before I had even graduated college. While being supervised by Joy Peskin and Simon Boughton, the imprint's editorial directors, I consistently met strict deadlines of submitting 25 pages every two weeks and exceeded editorial expectations. By the end of my three month collaboration, I had produced 140 rough pages, polished 50 revised pages, crafted a plot structure, and drafted a compelling plot pitch/synopsis. Additionally, I collaborated with Conde Nast's chief digital beauty editor, Emily Gaynor, to publish a nonfiction essay titled "Vitiligo: My Journey Through Art" about my personal experiences with vitiligo. My storytelling was so impactful and powerful that the piece was featured as Teen Vogue's central headline for a full week, resulting in full audience engagement. I've recently graduated from Rutgers University with a B.A. in Engish and a Certificate in Creative Writing, and I'd love to be part of a writing group as I complete my novel manuscript and submit my poetry, short stories, and essays to literary magazines and other publications.

I am quite fond of reading and writing. I've journaled for more than half the amount of years I've been traversing my Life's learning journey. Been kind of in need of some motivation lately though. Really have enjoyed reading, learning, coming to be acquainted with the world by means of words; shared by speaking, reading, hearing, etc.

I did write a book. Got it all pulled together and listed online for sale among the recent years. It be composed of a story (that's a poem) with illustrations and little life advices basically. It's a coloring book, with writing and a small story at the beginning.  Have thought of maybe revising it a wee bit with maybe the help of a good agent or individual with the skill of helping me do that.  Hope to get it some more attention and gain the priceless gift of it helping others.

The name of the book is, "Learn to Live a Life You Love" and that be the basic topic of my book's content.

Want to connect with other writer's, and build greater connections to the world in happy great ways... some involving writing and such ;-)

Sall for now, yo :-) Best warm wishes to all

Cyber High Fives!

I'm feeling for routes through a sprawling landscape of documentary fiction and other disciplines such as memoir, history, three-dimensional objects on exhibit, and performance. The broad topics might include diaspora, genocide, mothers and daughters, secrets and lies, and monuments, memories, and memorials.

I'm a relatively new writer working toward my first publication. I have been writing poetry for a long time but have limited experience sharing my poems and receiving meaningful feedback. My ideal group would be one that is open to new writers and interested in keeping members accountable. Though I'm unpublished, I have a lot of experience in critiquing creative fiction and poetry, and so I see myself as a valuable asset to a workshopping group.

I've published several times in small press magazines. However, I can't seem to avoid certain pitfalls. I'll send something out, thinking it's good and worthy of publication. After it's rejected, I read it and think to myself, "Why did I send this out?" Often I go through this process 5 or 6 times with the same story, rewriting in-between submissions, and shaking my head every time I read something post-rejection. I don't mind if I'm writing something an editor philosophically disagrees with my work. However, I've been called racist, sexist, all kinds of other "ists" because people just naturally assume I believe what my characters believe, either not being able to comprehend the possibility one can write something other than one's own opinions, or perhaps "istism" is simply the nature of the beast. Unfortunate, really. Fortunately, I'm not forced into kowtowing. I don't pay my bills by writing. I have benefitted at times from taking an editor's comments to heart and rewriting with them in mind always with respect to format, but if I suspect a comment is borne out of personal bias, and doesn't reflect on the quality of the writing, I tend to ignore it. I respond by never submitting to that magazine again. So what I'm looking for is an honest voice, people who will judge my writing based on its quality, not its content necessarily. I tend to compromise only in the manner and degree to which I preach. My goal is to not preach at all.

One point about the writing itself. I believe every story has its own voice. I struggle to find that voice in an effort to perfect the story. In that regard, I've had first drafts that were nearly finished and published after one or two edits. I've also had stories I've struggled with for years, in which the idea is bigger, it seems, than my ability to write it.

Looking for a diverse group of people with a common passion for strong stories and characters, the written form, and finding meaning in the writing and reading process. Currently a Senior @ MTSU studying Computer Science and English :)