Mahabharata On the Move

Mahabharata: The Eternal Quest, has received a tremendous response from readers, including great endorsements from professors, some of whom plan to use the book in their classrooms. As you may know, there is much controversy in academia  as to who Sri Krishna is and His role in the Mahabharata.  

In MahaTEQ I bring to bear my life’s work in theater and storytelling and tell the story in a cinematic, fascinating and thought provoking way.Without being didactic, the book offers an authentic Vaisnava perspective in the understanding of who Krishna is, of dharma, of real leadership qualities, and of the foreboding nature of our age, the Kali-yuga. All this as the story moves steadily forward, and in under 280 pages (a comfortable read for a college or even high school course).

My hope is that MahaTEQ  will eventually replace William Buck’s ambiguous rendition that so many professors are accustomed to using and that the book will be used in discussion groups, for dramatic readings, and ultimately as the basis for a film. This is what the Mahabharata Project is about.   

In this respect, I ask the help of the devotees. We are upon the season for gift giving and MahaTEQ would make a great gift for scholars, professors or for those special people you are cultivating. I request that you get copies for  these contacts or  encourage them to order a copy themselves.

I have a sale of MahaTEQ going on now which I am extending until the end of the year.  If you happen to be coming to New Vrindaban the book is only $11 (cover price $16). To read reviews or order copies (Free shipping) through Paypal go to www.Mahabharata-Project.com   OR  contact me directly at story108@juno.com

Thank you.  

Word Is Out

In the last two months since publication the response to my new book, Mahabharata: The Eternal Quest  has taken off. Word is getting around, and  I have even gotten orders from Ireland and Australia (from the world wide storytelling community which I am involved in) where they are paying as much for the shipping as they are for the book itself.  The verdict is that it’s a great read whether you’re familiar with the story or not.

 Sacinandana Swami had this to say -

“Wonderful!  Your storytelling art – which quickly gets to the essence of everything – has opened  the world of Mahabharata to me , for it has opened up the world of the feelings and emotions of Mahabharata.” 

At this time of year people are naturally thinking about gifts for the holidays. This month I am offering FREE shipping in USA for all orders placed in November. [adjusted the prices at my site for November: 1 Book – $16;    2 Books – $32;    3 Books – ONLY $45;  5 Books ONLY $70] For more info check out my site www.Mahabharata-Project.com  where you can order through Paypal OR order directly from me at story108@juno.com

Tips On Writing

In Spark - a book about creativity by Julie Burstein, the painter Chuck Close is quoted: "Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work."

Woody Allen puts it this way: “Eighty percent of success is showing up.”

And Neil Gaiman: “You have to write when you’re not inspired. And you have to write the scenes that don’t inspire you. And the weird thing is that six months later, a year later, you’ll look back at them and you can’t remember which scenes you wrote when you were inspired and which scenes you just wrote because they had to be written next.”

It’s so true. Some scenes or characters may not be easy to approach. You hesitate  because you’re afraid that it won’t come out right and you’ll be exposed as a fool.  But you just have to do the work and  start writing. Allow one thought to lead to another and for one sentence to lead to another. The next day much of it looks like crap. But that’s what I like about writing: you get a second chance and a third chance and a forth chance if you want it. But the writer has to take advantage of those new chances. Don’t depend on the muse. Study your craft.

For more On Writing visit my site www.Mahabharata-Project.com

Tips On Writing

Several years back  I was  attracted by this two full page ad in the NYT Book Review section highlighting two pages of a new book's opening. It was The Man From Beijing, an international mystery thriller. I had thought of opening the Mahabharata like a mystery story.   Those two provocative and well chosen pages were a powerful hook, although it turned out they weren't  the book's very opening pages. I got the book and it promised to be a powerhouse, as was the premise of the book, and the flashbacks. But after mid way,  the story began to unravel as the author moved away from the basic premise.

Henning Mankell is one of Sweden's great writers, so it was alarming to see such a potentially good story fall flat on it's face. The author tried to take the story where it really didn't have to go. He lost momentum in the process.  If Mankill couldn’t get a handle on his story, how was I going to do it with the vast Mahabharata. Later, I found the reviewers and readers had a mixed response to his book.  A lot of people still seemed to like the book because it was from Mankill. Unfortunately, I did not have a dedicated following like he did.

For me, however, the lesson was  simple. That is, to stick to the premise of your story. Premise means the purpose, the idea, the essential message or meaning of the story. The basic truth of the story.  The premise should be a compass for the author. It may take a while working with the story to begin to fully define and  understand your premise. It's easy to start a story. You might have one definite idea or a jumble of ideas and scenes. But in the excitement, you can't let that jumble carry you away, which it did with The Man From Beijing which got into superfluous passages and scenes.  Once you find it,  keep your eye on  the premise. Don't lose sight of it.  As a writer, that's what you have to serve.

For more tips see www.Mahabharata-Project.com  - On Writing

Coming in November - Free Shipping on my book Mahabharata: The Eternal Quest