Hi y’all, 
I’m a bit new to the internet forum world – too much reading, writing and travelling – but I feel a new addiction coming on…
I’ve just had my first novel published – its fiction set in and published in India. I launched it in Mumbai a few weeks ago, and so far so good. I’ve yet to approach publishers in other countries, but hope to learn a few things about that, promo and the ‘outside world’ of writing now that I’ve come up for air after the sensory deprivation of actual writing.
Here’s a bit of bio so you now where I’m coming from - I grew up in Wellington, New Zealand, graduated with a commerce degree and hit the road. I’ve since lived and worked in Hong Kong, London and Sydney doing six months contracts in IT, finance and marketing, in between travels ranging from three months to one year. I’m now thirty-one years old, and have been travelling (as in being on the road, not working) for about four of the last ten years.
I’ve always been a passionate reader and writer, and part of the reason for me to travel is to give myself the time and head-space to do these two things. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to travel in Asia from Myanmar to Taiwan, in Western Europe from Santorini to Venice, Barcelona to Amsterdam, and in East Africa circling Lake Victoria though Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. I got a PADI scuba diving license in Egypt, learnt to fly paragliders in Australia and have since flown over one hundred hours in Australia, Himachel Pradesh in the Himalaya and near Mumbai.
I’ve spent two years in the Indian sub-continent, including a sixteen-thousand kilometre motorcycle journey across the Himalaya from Pakistan’s border with China on the Karakorum Highway to Nepal, then down to Goa. I flew a paraglider fifty kilometres across the foothills of the Himalaya before spiral-diving over the Dalai Lama’s temple and a dharma centre where I had attended a number of ten day Tibetan Buddhist meditation retreats. I visited the site of the Buddha’s birth in Lumbini, where Buddha first taught at Sarnath, and the place of enlightenment at Bodhgaya, and studied hatha and ashtanga yoga at Rishikesh, Mysore and Sri Lanka. I spent a season in Goa and a week in Bollywood as an extra in movie.
My most recent trip was a few weeks in Mumbai to promote my first novel. It’s set entirely in India, and though it is a fictional narrative, not travel writing or travelogue, it is partially structured around a journey in India. It has been really well received so far with a few kind reviews and interest from the India press.
Here’s a tag on the story;
“Zac Goodman disappears while paragliding in the Himalaya. The only clue his companion finds to aid his search is a manuscript describing their motorcycle journey from the Himalaya, to mystical encounters in the sacred cities, and on a violent reunion in Goa. Set entirely in India, The Highway takes a lucid, otherworldly trip to the end of the road…”
Critics have said -"The Highway has that cult quality that makes readers on the road (physically and psychologically) pass a book on; the style is accomplished, the narrative complex and fulfilling.”
I’ve sold a few travel articles in the past, and though my first love is fiction, I’ve started doing more of that kind of work to mix it up a bit. There's plenty for me to learn about this, fiction and publishing, so I look forward to your collective help! :clap
It’s a privilege to be able to share in a likeminded community, and not always that easy to find, so I look forward to the pleasure of your company on the boards. :thumbs
All the best
Will Marks
*******************************************
Check out my novel, "The Highway" - www.willmarks.com
Available now at /www.vedamsbooks.com/cgi-...o36181.htm
I’m a bit new to the internet forum world – too much reading, writing and travelling – but I feel a new addiction coming on…
I’ve just had my first novel published – its fiction set in and published in India. I launched it in Mumbai a few weeks ago, and so far so good. I’ve yet to approach publishers in other countries, but hope to learn a few things about that, promo and the ‘outside world’ of writing now that I’ve come up for air after the sensory deprivation of actual writing.
Here’s a bit of bio so you now where I’m coming from - I grew up in Wellington, New Zealand, graduated with a commerce degree and hit the road. I’ve since lived and worked in Hong Kong, London and Sydney doing six months contracts in IT, finance and marketing, in between travels ranging from three months to one year. I’m now thirty-one years old, and have been travelling (as in being on the road, not working) for about four of the last ten years.
I’ve always been a passionate reader and writer, and part of the reason for me to travel is to give myself the time and head-space to do these two things. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to travel in Asia from Myanmar to Taiwan, in Western Europe from Santorini to Venice, Barcelona to Amsterdam, and in East Africa circling Lake Victoria though Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. I got a PADI scuba diving license in Egypt, learnt to fly paragliders in Australia and have since flown over one hundred hours in Australia, Himachel Pradesh in the Himalaya and near Mumbai.
I’ve spent two years in the Indian sub-continent, including a sixteen-thousand kilometre motorcycle journey across the Himalaya from Pakistan’s border with China on the Karakorum Highway to Nepal, then down to Goa. I flew a paraglider fifty kilometres across the foothills of the Himalaya before spiral-diving over the Dalai Lama’s temple and a dharma centre where I had attended a number of ten day Tibetan Buddhist meditation retreats. I visited the site of the Buddha’s birth in Lumbini, where Buddha first taught at Sarnath, and the place of enlightenment at Bodhgaya, and studied hatha and ashtanga yoga at Rishikesh, Mysore and Sri Lanka. I spent a season in Goa and a week in Bollywood as an extra in movie.
My most recent trip was a few weeks in Mumbai to promote my first novel. It’s set entirely in India, and though it is a fictional narrative, not travel writing or travelogue, it is partially structured around a journey in India. It has been really well received so far with a few kind reviews and interest from the India press.
Here’s a tag on the story;
“Zac Goodman disappears while paragliding in the Himalaya. The only clue his companion finds to aid his search is a manuscript describing their motorcycle journey from the Himalaya, to mystical encounters in the sacred cities, and on a violent reunion in Goa. Set entirely in India, The Highway takes a lucid, otherworldly trip to the end of the road…”
Critics have said -"The Highway has that cult quality that makes readers on the road (physically and psychologically) pass a book on; the style is accomplished, the narrative complex and fulfilling.”
I’ve sold a few travel articles in the past, and though my first love is fiction, I’ve started doing more of that kind of work to mix it up a bit. There's plenty for me to learn about this, fiction and publishing, so I look forward to your collective help! :clap
It’s a privilege to be able to share in a likeminded community, and not always that easy to find, so I look forward to the pleasure of your company on the boards. :thumbs
All the best
Will Marks
*******************************************
Check out my novel, "The Highway" - www.willmarks.com
Available now at /www.vedamsbooks.com/cgi-...o36181.htm