“T imes are good for new writers and books with the right kind of people around,” exclaimed an excited Francesca Fowler, at the launch of Primary Colours , an anthology of short stories written by three Coimbatore-based authors. She encouraged the three budding writers to follow their dream and write as much as they can.
Harshita Pandey, Tarini Agarwal and Tanya Pandey addressed the audience at the event. On an over-cast, slightly chilly, evening, when On The Go was packed to capacity, the authors warmed the audience with their words.
Twenty-one-year-old engineer but writer by passion Tanya Pandey described what a roller-coaster ride writing a story for this anthology was. “I had a rough idea but to work on it was the toughest bit. With the help of Hemant Kumar and Ruchira Kumar of the Quill Club Writers, I shaped the story and honed my writing skills,” she said.
Her sister and fellow author Harshita Pandey, a 14-year-old who has been published before, also addressed the audience. “I can’t believe that I already have two published books under my belt! It has all been possible thanks to Hemant sir and my parents’ faith in my writing,” she adds.
Parents of Harshita and Tanya, Binita and Sannjey Pandey also addressed the audience and urged other parents to allow children to follow their dreams. “Make your dream your job,” she advised.
The evening closed with Sannjey crooning a Kishore Kumar song and Hemant Kumar singing Na Tum Hame Jaano. Francesca put the audience into the mood for a dance with her songs Scars to your beautiful and Like I’m gonna lose you .
An anthology of three original stories, Primary Colours is published by Hemant Kumar of Quill Club Writers. He hasmentored the the three girls too. He said, “It is for the love of writing and reading that we started this project in October 2015. These writers are all immensely talented and have worked hard under strict deadlines.”
The three writers worked in close collaboration with the publishers even after the final drafts of their stories were done. Harshita Agarwal said, “We were working on proof reading, the layout, cover design, blurbs and publicising the book .”
Published by Quill Club Writers, Primary Colours is priced at Rs. 300 is available at Odyssey and Crossword locally. Online, the paperback version will be on Flipkart and the eBook on Amazon Kindle.
