LoL (Love of Literature)
By Jayanthi Sankar & Sredhanea Ramkrishnan
A chance for aspiring authors out there to win the Love of Literature.
LoL (Love of Literature)Dec 06, 2022
LOL(Love Of Literature) S4- Ep 1 (Sisters in Literature)
Guest Bio-
Chyrel J. Jackson and Lyris D. Wallace are Literary visionaries and two-time #1 Ranked
Best Selling Amazon Authors. Reared and raised in the South Suburbs outside
Chicago. African American Literature influenced their writing and is one of their favorite
genres. Both writers write in the spirit of their past great Literary ancestors. Chyrel and
Lyris both were Pushcart Nominees in 2021-Poem Love Unspoken, Heartbeats
Anthology and 2023, Poem- No Justice for Breonna, Published in Social Justice Inks
Anthology.
This edgy writing duo is featured in numerous poetry anthologies, Literary Journals, and
International Global Magazines.
Chyrel and Lyris have published SistersRoc’N’Rhyme Presents Poems in the Key of
Life, Mirrored Images and Different Sides of the Same Coin.
You will find them always writing. Creating written legacies one book at a time.
These two writers have found their voice and can be found on Sistersrocnrhyme.com.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S3- Ep 12 (New York Times best selling Trilogy and it's Indian roots)
Guest Bio- Alka Joshi
Alka Joshi is the internationally bestselling author of the Jaipur Trilogy: The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur and The Perfumist of Paris. Her debut novel, The Henna Artist, immediately became a New York Times Bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Pick and was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. It has been translated into 29 languages and is currently in development at Netflix as a tv series. Joshi was born in India and came to the U.S. with her family at the age of nine. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of Arts.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S3- Ep 11 (A non-fiction on compulsive over-eating taking it's "course" through words)
Guest Bio- Joy Mast
Joy Mast is a speaker, teacher and author who enjoys writing on faith topics. She lived in Spain and in Washington, DC before returning to her home state of North Carolina where she currently resides. After she experienced healing from compulsive overeating in her early 30’s, Joy wrote a course for women called Releasity, which helps women break free from emotional overeating. Her first book, Set Free & Satisfied, is the book form of that course and was released in the fall of 2023. To learn more about the book and course, visit her website at www.joymast.com. Joy graduated from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in Communication Studies. She enjoys reading, bringing friends and family together, the Spanish language, and laughing. Joy and her husband, Steve, a graphic designer, have two daughters.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S3- Ep 10 (8 years of research and comraderies in Literary Residency)
Guest Bio- Radhika Iyengar
Radhika Iyengar is the author of her debut book, ‘Fire on the Ganges: Life Among the Dead in Banaras’. She’s a graduate of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, New York. Radhika won the Red Ink award for Excellence in Indian Journalism (2018), and has been a recipient of the Charles Wallace India Trust Fellowship, the Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellowship and Sangam House Residency.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S3- Ep 10 (Pioneering Hi-fantasy)
Guest Bio- Zaid Hasan
Zaid Hasan is an aspiring author, currently editing his debut novel. It’s an epic adventure story in the High Fantasy genre with elements of Sci-Fi mixed in.
Zaid is a proud Muslim-American, born and raised in New York, hoping to explore deep themes and offer new perspectives through his art.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S-3 Ep-9 (Parenting with humour)
Guest Bio- Lalitha Ramanathan
Lalitha is a Finance Manager turned writer. She is an avid blogger and has published her stories with many online platforms and anthologies. She is a 2022 Orange Flower Award Runner-up. Her upcoming debut book on parenting humor will be published by OM Books International.Lalitha lives with her family in Singapore. When not writing, she loves to read, play the violin, and design Rangolis, all the while gathering ideas for her next plot. She loves writing stories with a pinch of humour!
LOL (Love Of Literature) S3- Ep 8 (Women's side of the Indo-pak partition)
Author Bio- Natasha Sharma
Natasha Sharma is a freelance software developer who moonlights as a writer. She has been a voracious consumer of the written word since her childhood and is never without a book (or a Kindle) by her side. A true blue feminist, she is passionate about creating awareness on gender inequality and other social issues. At the same time, her work displays a characteristic streak of cleverness and wit. Her stories have been published in several online magazines like eShe, Reading Frame, Thinking Pen, eFictionProject, and Penmancy, amongst others. Her op-ed pieces and other articles can be found on leading web portals such as MoneyControl, SheThePeople, and Women’s Web.Her stories have been printed in several anthologies like Everything Changed After That, Musings Mundane and Mortal, Existing Loudly, The Runner’s Tribe, TMYS’s Review: Food and Drinks, Dancing Gold Flecks, An Iron Fist in a Velvet Glove, amongst others. In 2022, in association with Tell Me Your Story, York Center for Asian Research at York University awarded a ‘Certificate of Excellence’ for her short story, ‘Wind Beneath Your Wings.’ Vishwakarma Publications has bagged the rights to her debut novel. Meanwhile Natasha is working on her second one. Natasha lives in Pune with her husband and daughter, and their furry friend, a Labrador Retriever by the name of Biscuit. She can be reached at her social media handles: Website: https://natasha-sharma.com/Twitter: @natsharmaInstagram: @natashahsharma
LOL(Love Of Literature) S3- Ep 7 (Journalisting her way to fiction and Limca book of records)
Guest Bio- Veena Rao
V
eena Rao is an award-winning Indian-American journalist and author. Purple Lotus, her debut novel, is a 2021 American Fiction Award winner, a 2021 Georgia Author of the Year finalist, and an award-winning finalist in the multicultural and women’s fiction categories of the 2021 International Book Awards. She is the founding editor of NRI Pulse, an Atlanta-based news publication. She has been recognized by The Limca Book of Records (the Indian version of the Guinness Book of Records) as the first Indian woman to edit and publish a newspaper outside India. When she is not writing or meeting press deadlines, you will find her meditating or gardening. To find out more about Veena, visit her website www.veenaspulse.com.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S3- Ep 6 (The politically correct, poetic memoir)
Guest Bio- Kerry Kriseman
Kerry Kriseman is the author of Accidental First Lady: On the Front Lines and Behind the Scenes of Local Politics, published by St. Petersburg Press. The memoir recounts her 22 years as a political spouse to her lawyer-turned-politician husband, Rick Kriseman, St. Petersburg Mayor from 2014-2022. Historical dramas, traveling, scratch cooking, drinking wine, and daily walks are her interests. The St. Petersburg native is a graduate of University of South Florida with a B.A. in Mass Communications/Broadcasting and has worked in print media for the St. Petersburg Times (now Tampa Bay Times) in various positions in the Newsroom and Marketing Department. She volunteers in the community and serves on multiple non-profit boards. She joined Creative Clay as the public relations manager. The non-profit creates equality through art with programs for individuals with neuro-differences. She has served as mentor with the 'Take Stock in Children' program in Pinellas County Schools since 2014. She also volunteers at Tampa General Hospital in their pet therapy program.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S3- Ep 5 ( Dealing with grief poetically)
Guest Bio- Anne Marie Wells
Anne Marie's debut collection of poetry, Survived By: A Memoir in Verse + Other Poems, was accepted for publication by Curious Corvid Publishing and is scheduled for release in April of 2023.
Her chapbook, Mother, (v), won the 2023 Cinnamon Press Pamphlet Contest and is scheduled for publication in Spring 2024.
She won the 2023 Jackson Hole Poetry Box Contest, the 2023 DC Public Library Haiku Contest, the 2023 Maryland Writer's Association Poetry Contest, and was one of 120 poets long-listed out of 15,000 entries for the international Erbacce Prize. Anne Marie was a finalist for the inaugural Emma Howell Rising Poet Award, was the winner of the 2021 Crow House Press Poetry Competition, and earned the 2021 Peter K. Hixson Memorial award in poetry, which was presented by Writer's Relief. She received the 2020 Milestone Award presented by Wyoming Writers, Inc., and the 2020 Rising Star Award presented by the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce. She was a 2021 Wyoming Women of Influence nominee in the arts category for amplifying the voices of the LGBTQ and disabled communities through her writing.
Anne Marie was also selected in 2020 and 2021 as an Editor's Pick poet in the Brain Mill Press National Poetry Month Contest. She was selected to be part of the 2020-2021 Community Literature Initiative poetry publishing program through the Sims Library of Poetry and was invited back as a TA for the 2021-2022 cohort and as an instructor the following year. She was accepted into Passengers Journal's summer 2020 poetry workshop and the 2021 Room Magazine writing mentorship, during which she studied under Téa Mutonji. She has also studied under torrin a. greathouse through The Speakeasy Project and under Natalie Eilbert and I.S. Jones through Brooklyn Poets. She has received support from Capital Storytelling, the Wyoming Arts Council, Eclipse Lit, and Brooklyn Poets.
Anne Marie's poems and prose have appeared or are slated to appear in Platform Review, The Round Magazine, DASH, Ninth Letter, The Alchemy Literary Journal, Brain Mill Press, Santa Fe Writing Project, The JH Poetry Box, Changing Womxn Collective, Angel City Review, Coastal Shelf, In Parentheses, Lucky Jefferson, Meniscus Journal, Muddy River Poetry Review, Other Worldly Women’s Press, Poets’ Choice, MacGuffin, Passengers Journal, Skylight 47, Turbulence and Coffee, Soliloquies Anthology, Unlimited Literature, Variant Literature, The Voices Project, and others.
She is a faculty member for the Community Literature Initiative and strategic partnership fellow for The Poetry Lab.
Interested in becoming a published poet? I want to help you in your creative journey. Even if you've never written a poem before in your life, I can guide you from first word to seeing your work in print.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S3- Ep 4 (Creating Reading rockstars, tween book writing)
Guest Bio- Kathryn P Carter
Kathryn is an educational consultant, children’s book author, and speaker. Her goal is to elevate, energize and encourage children to become reading rockstas. She is the author of The Lizzie B. Hayes children’s book series about a precocious eight-year-old and three generations of her colorful family. Her historical fiction series is just right for children ages 8-12. Through her Ten Steps to Reading Success © parent workshop, participants learn tips and strategies to support children on the journey to success in school and in life. Kathryn is available to speak about children's literacy development and tips for aspiring authors.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S3- Ep 3 (Becoming a professional author)
Guest Bio- Damyanti Biswas
Damyanti is the author of You Beneath Your Skin, an Amazon-bestselling crime novel, which has been optioned for screens by Endemol Shine. She co-edits the The Forge international literary magazine. Her next, The Blue Bar, published by Thomas & Mercer received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S3- Ep 2 (Authorpreneur & supporting other authors)
Guest Bio- Winnifred Tataw
Winnifred, or as most know her by Winnie, is an artist, entrepreneur, and Amazon Bestselling author of her debut series: The Gods’ Scion. Winnie has had a lifelong love of literature and art. She wants to create a beautiful fantasy world with compelling and intriguing characters as a writer. Winnie loves to spread positivity and joy to those around her and look at the world through a glittery pink lens.
website- https://winsbooks.blog/
LOL(Love Of Literature) S3- Ep 1 (editing a magazine & creative content writing)
Guest Bio- Ankush Bharti
Ankush Bharti is the Chief Operations Officer of Writers' Kalam, India's latest knowledge-based education venture. Also, the Editor-in-Chief of The Holistic Pine, the independent monthly lifestyle international journal released by Writers' Kalam, Ms Bharti, keeps an open mind towards the possibilities of content creation in the new media. She is trained in content writing and content marketing. A writer with experience in the publishing industry, Ankush Bharti has coauthored several books. Previously, she worked as a content reviewer for a prominent organisation. She was also the co-founder of a content writing company.
An avid reader, she spent hours of her time as a youngster in the libraries of Shimla. This experience proved crucial in providing her with the necessary material for the writer in her. Known as a prodigy since an early age, she has won many national and international competitions in writing.
She writes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and plays. She has directed plays and worked as a theatre artist. A public speaker and all-rounder, she is also a performing artist. When she is not writing, she is seen making caricatures.
Her recent books include Letters to Life and Stories from the Soil.
She is also a life coach, motivational speaker, NLP practitioner, and NLP Trainer.
LOL (Love Of Literature) S2- Ep 24 (Building realistic characters)
Guest Bio- Rajni Mala
Rajni Mala Khelawan is an Indo-Fijian Canadian writer and researcher. She has given numerous inspirational speeches and public readings in Canada and in the Fiji Islands. In addition to being a visiting writer at the University of South Pacific, Fiji Islands in 2011, Khelawan was profiled on hit TV and radio shows such as Bollywood Boulevard, CBC Radio, Omni News, NUTV, and Asian Magazine TV. She was the Writer-in-Residence at Fiji National University in 2014. Her short story “Bucket of Cherries” was a winning entry for New Asian Writing Journal; and "Still Standing" was published in The Voice Magazine. Khelawan's two novels are Kalyana (2016) and The End of the Dark and Stormy Night (2008). Her third novel In the Shade of a Bougainvillea Hedge is forthcoming. Khelawan holds a Master of Arts Degree from the University of Toronto. Her SSHRC-funded research entitled "Gender and Ritual among Fijian Hindu Women" studied gender and Hinduism among descendents of indentured Indians. Khelawan's areas of academic research includes South Asian religions; indentured history and colonization; and transnational and diaspora studies. Currently, she lives in Toronto, Ontario, and is working on her fourth novel "Across the Black Waters" under the Canada Council for the Arts grant.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S 2- Ep 23 (Podcast as a promotion tool)
guest bio-Lovelace Cook
Lovelace Cook is a storyteller, writer, and podcaster. She worked in NYC for magazine publishing and television, and she worked on feature films in LA while attending film production and screenwriting classes at UCLA and the American Film Institute. She traveled through and lived in India, SE Asia, and the UK from 2013-2016. The books, authors, and films she discovered influenced her podcast Bollywood and Books, and her misadventures on the road, traveling like a 20-year-old on a gap year, inspired her novel MEET ME IN MUMBAI the novel.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S 2- Ep 22 (Chap books to the rescue of poets)
Guest Bio- Anuja Ghimire
Nepal-born Anuja Ghimire (Twitter @GhimireAnuja) writes poetry, flash fiction, and creative nonfiction. She is the author of two poetry books in Nepali: Ankur andArthaat. She recently published a poetry chapbook in English: Kathmandu (Unsolicited Press, 2020). Her poetry chapbook fable-weavers is forthcoming from ethel-zine in fall of 2022. An associate editor for Up the Staircase Quarterly, her poems and essays have been nominated for Best of the Net and Pushcart prizes. She works as a senior publisher in an online testing company. She enjoys teaching poetry to children in summer camps. Her work found home in print and online journals and anthologies in Nepal, India, Bangladesh, the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Scotland, and Australia. She lives near Dallas, Texas with her husband and two children.
LOL (Love Of Literature) S2- Ep 21 (podcasting to delve deeper into being an author)
Guest Bio- Landis Wade
Landis Wade is a recovering trial lawyer, dog and sports lover, host of Charlotte Readers Podcast, speaker, teacher, moderator, fly-fisherman and author of books and stories whose third book—The Christmas Redemption— won the Holiday category of the 12th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards. He won the 2016 North Carolina State Bar short story contest for The Deliberation and received awards for his non-fiction pieces, The Cape Fear Debacle and First Dance. His short work also has appeared in Writersdigest.com, The Charlotte Observer, News and Observer, Flying South, Fiction on the Web and in anthologies by Pamlico Writers’ Group, High Country Writers and the Daniel Boone Footsteps Personal Story Publishing Project.
website- https://landiswade.com/
LOL(Love Of Literature) S2- Ep 20 (environment friendly fiction)
Guest Bio- Harini Nagendra
Harini Nagendra is a professor of ecology at Azim Premji University, and a well-known public speaker and writer on issues of nature and sustainability. She is internationally recognized for her scholarship on sustainability, with honors that include the 2009 Cozzarelli Prize from the US National Academy of Sciences, the 2013 Elinor Ostrom Senior Scholar award, and the 2017 Clarivate Web of Science award for interdisciplinary research in India.
Her non-fiction books include Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present and Future, and two books co-authored with Seema Mundoli – So Many Leaves, and Cities and Canopies: Trees in Indian Cities, which received the 2020 Publishing Next Awards for best English non-fiction book in India, and was featured on the 2021 Green Literature Festival’s honor list. The Bangalore Detectives Club is her first crime fiction novel.
Harini lives in Bangalore with her family, in a home filled with maps. She loves trees, mysteries, and traditional recipes.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S 2- Ep 19( Podcasting her way to writing)
Guest Bio- Shahnaz Ahmed
Shahnaz Ahmed's a dentist by profession yet her heart has always been with books. She’s an avid reader and a bookish podcaster. She dreams of being an author and her first full manuscript is currently in the editing zone. In her free time, she loves to travel and hang out with family and friends.
LOL(Love Of Literature) s 2- Ep 18( transitioning from essays to illustrations)
Guest Bio- Patrice Gopo
Patrice Gopo is an award-winning essayist. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications, including Catapult, Creative Nonfiction, and Charlotte Magazine. She is the author of All the Colors We Will See, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. Her debut picture book, All the Places We Call Home, will release in June 2022. Patrice lives with her family in North Carolina. Please visit www.patricegopo.com to learn more.
LOL(Love of Literature) s 2- Ep 17 (Reviewing vs promoting books)
Guest Bio- Harsh Agarwal
Harsh Agarwal is a book reviewer, critic, content creator and a student. For years, he has served as a useful source of motivation, help or advice. He finally decided to own that role and be intentional about it. He started Keetabi Keeda with a mission to give others a taste of his thoughts and experiences, and has been at it ever since. What started as weekly posts has evolved into a rich site filled with information about various topics that are near and dear to his heart.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S2- Ep 16 (Story telling through illustrations)
Guest Bio- Sharon Dev
A Fashion Designer & Stylist of 20+ years , Sharon Dev recently quit her full-time day job to focus on her love for illustration. While her illustrative style is centered around fashion, food & nature, Sharon enjoys conceptualizing, illustrating & laying out Graphic Novels & Kid’s picture books.
Having collaborated with Kids authors, Sharon co-published her first picture book ; The Adventures of Grandpa & Ray. She is presently writing & illustrating her first independent series of Kid’s Graphic Novels, while also pursuing her second collaborative picture book.
When she’s not doodling, Sharon can be found annoying her pet cat or buried beneath a pile of old comics & travel magazines. She also loves local travel, is a tree-hugger, recreational baker & a lover of all four-legged creatures.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S2- Ep 15 (Inspiring dreams through words)
Author Bio- Sanjay chandra
Born in 1959, Sanjay started his professional journey as was expected of him–an engineer with the Indian Railways Services. But he chose to
drive the course of his life in later years, leaving a
secure job to join the private sector and eventually
pursue his entrepreneurial dreams.
Along the way, he realised that there was a storyteller within him–every communication in his life was a story in itself! As he reflected upon his journey, he started penning down anecdotes
from his life which he hoped would inspire others to pursue their dreams. He published his memoirs The Life and Times of a Common Man in 2019.
Sanjay now sees stories all around him. Writing has become a passion, and he has finally become a storyteller. He is also a traveller, a book lover and an amateur photographer.
He lives in Gurgaon with his family.
Sanjay loves interacting with readers via his website
(www.authorsanjaychandra.com), and on social media platforms–
Facebook page (/thelifeandtimesofacommonman),
Facebook (/sanjay.chandra.549)
Instagram (@sanjay03031959)
Twitter (@sanjay030359)
Linkedin (/sanjaychandra1959).
LOL(Love of Literature) S2- Ep 14 (Getting richer in genres)
Guest Bio- Megan Rich
Megan Rich studied creative writing at the University of Michigan and is a recent graduate of Lighthouse Writers Workshop's Book Project Program. She has received the Virginia Voss Writing Award and recently won first place in the 2019 North Carolina Confucius Institute's Chinese Essay Contest. She is the author of a memoir, Six Years of a Floating Life and is currently seeking representation for a literary novel. She's a 2022 recipient of the Arts and Science Council Charlotte's Creative Renewal Fellowship. Photo credit: "Courtesy of Nancy Pierce"
LOL(Love of Literature) S 2- Episode 13 (Living a thriller through words)
Author Bio- Yasmin Angoe
Yasmin Angoe is a debut author of the critically acclaimed novel Her Name Is Knight and first-generation Ghanaian American. She is a developmental editor and has worked in education for nearly twenty years. She received the 2020 Eleanor Taylor Bland Award for Emerging Writers of Color from Sisters in Crime and is also a proud member of Crime Writers of Color, and several other literary organizations.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S 2- Ep 12(Rhyming with the times)
Guest- Joe Garrick
Joe Garrick is the author of "Whose Hoof Is That?", "Billy the Dentist," and "The Best Bagel Book." Joe is a North Carolina native who grew up in Hickory, NC, and attended "THE" Appalachian State University. Joe currently works as the Director of Business Development for a full-service digital marketing agency based in Charleston, SC. Joe is also an aspiring custom hat maker, occasional wedding officiant, and a new dad!
Joe has always had a love for music, especially rap and hip-hop (and he even has a little musical talent himself). Though Joe's hip-hop career hasn't quite taken off yet, he thought it would be nice to transition his creative skills into a different avenue that will hopefully reach a lot of people. Joe loves to make others laugh, and the goal of all of his books is to do just that.
Website- https://whosehoofisthat.com/
Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/joegarrickschildrensbooks/
LOL(Love Of Literature) S 2- Ep 11 (When nostalgia is your creative force)
Guest Bio- Dr. Megha
The author, Megha is a dental surgeon by profession and loves to work around words too. She has been writing short stories and poetry in English for a while. Megha completed her education in Bangalore and presently lives in Raipur with her lovely family. She is friendly, loves talking to people, an animal lover and a traveller. ' By two coffee - and other tales brewed in Bangalore' is a collection of short stories, that she self-published. It is largely based on her life as a child in Bangalore.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S2- Ep 10 (Blog coach)
Guest bio- Ruth Adeyemi is a multidimensional woman achieving great feats both in career and business.
She is a Biochemistry graduate of Jacksonville University, USA. She graduated as a part of the top 1% and the best Chemistry student who recently published her first scientific research in the Georgia Journal of science.
She is currently doing her doctorate degree in Pharmacy at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy in Jacksonville, Florida.
As the founder of SARMLife, an organization focused on helping brands grow their blog traffic and income with business blogging and digital marketing strategies, she has done a tremendous job in raising 5-figure business owners and other bright minds in the digital space.
Ruth desires to help and be a shining light to everyone that crosses her path even as she carves a future that enables her to continue to help others grow.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S2- Episode 9 (Blogging to book writing)
Guest- Debeshi Gooptu
Debeshi Gooptu is a former journalist turned author who lives and works in Gurgaon. Her novels and short stories have been published by Juggernaut Books and Rupa Publications. She writes a blog, The Gurgaon Diaries, chronicling life in the Millennium City of Gurgaon. She can be found on Twitter (@DebeshiGooptu) and her blog:
LOL(Love Of Literature)S2- Ep 8 (History in fiction and fictional History)
Guest Bio- Meredith Ritchie
Meredith Ritchie has made a career in business communications and wrote this, her first novel, as a cure for acute empty nest syndrome. She lives in Charlotte with her husband and two cats, who encourage her curiosity of the forgotten triumphs of the spirit, especially those in our own backyard.
LOL(Love Of Literature)s2- Ep 7(Rhyming for children)
Guest Bio- Vidhya Muralidhar
Vidya Murlidhar is a children’s book author, essayist and teacher who lives in Charlotte, NC. The written word has been her sacred anchor, steadying her through the journey of motherhood. It has helped her make sense of the chaos that reigns in her world, both inner and outer. Her essays on motherhood have been published in Mothers Always Write, Chicken Soup For The Soul, Grown and Flown, India Currents, Infinithoughts, Saathee, Life Positive, and Filter Free Parents. Her first children’s book is titled “The Adventures of Grandpa and Ray” and is available on Amazon.com. She is currently working on her second children’s book. You can read her work at vidyawrites.com.
LoL(Love of Literature) S2- Ep-6(Kids books & illustration)
Guest bio- Subashini prasad
An MBA from the Indian School of Business, Subhashini Prasad quit her banking job to pursue her passion for writing. Her first book, Not Really Indian, is a collection of ten short stories about women who have lived in India and abroad. It ranked among Amazon’s 50 Bestsellers in the first month of release and has over 100 reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Outlook India and The Statesman named the collection as a must-read anthology for 2021. In 2020, she won Runner-Up, Beyond-the-Box Storyteller of the Year Award. She has also written a children’s story called Hoo and Hau, published on Story weaver. Recently, Deccan Herald named her among 10 personalities to have ventured into a field unknown to them. Subhashini currently lives in London with her husband and two children. In her spare time, she loves dancing and doing yoga..
LOL(Love Of Literature) Ep-5 (From screen to paper)
Guest Bio- Sarah Archer
Sarah Archer is a Black List Screenwriting Mini-Lab fellow who has had material produced for Comedy Central and published short stories and poetry in numerous literary magazines. After living in Los Angeles, where she worked in literary management and development on projects including House, Concussion, Roots, and Girls Trip. Sarah Archer's debut novel, The Plus One, was published by Putnam. As a screenwriter, she has been recognized by the Black List organization and the Nicholl Fellowship, and had material produced for Comedy Central. After working in TV and film development in Los Angeles, she currently lives in North Carolina.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S2- Ep 4(Mythology as it is)
Guest Bio- Preetha Rajah kannan
Preetha Rajah Kannan lives in Madurai, where she is a homemaker and mother of two.
She is the author of Dance of Shiva, Shiva in the City of Nectar, Son of Shiva, Hounds of Shiva, The Warrior God, and the editor for the transition of Navagraha Purana from Telugu to English.
She has also written extensively for the New Indian Express and contributed short stories for children in the Express School Magazine. Her story 'The Tale of an Ice Cream' was published by Penguin in their anthology, Blogprint. Another short story, 'Moving out', was published by Unisun as part of the anthology, Two is Company and other stories.
LOL(Love Of Literature) S-2- Ep 3 (Indian epics and it's little-big characters)
Guest Bio- Parag Shah
Parag Shah is a techie turned writer. He has diverse literary interests and has begun the writing journey with his first passion: The Mahabharata. Parag has published several short stories from the epic and plans to continue spreading lesser-known stories from Indian Mythology to a wider audience.
Amazon link- https://www.amazon.in/Parag-Shah/e/B09B66RL8S?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1648365098&sr=8-1
LOL(Love Of Literature) S2- Ep 2- From memories to a memoir
Author Bio- Ranjani Rao
Ranjani Rao is a scientist by training, writer by avocation, originally from Mumbai, a former resident of USA, and now lives in Singapore with her family. She is presently working on a memoir. She is co-founder of Story Artisan Press and her books are available on Amazon. She loves connecting with readers at her website and at
LOL(Love Of Literature) S2- Ep-1 (The infamous saga of an Indian Literary Agent)
Guest bio- Lalitha Ravindran
Lalitha is the founder of First Forays Literary Agency (www.firstforays.com). She feels she has a karmic relationship with books and stories since she stumbled into publishing after a long and successful corporate career. A chance meeting with an author at a LitFest led her into becoming an agent. She focuses on writers of fiction and non-fiction and also handles book adaptations to films, television and web series.
LOL (Love Of Literature)- Ep 27 (Being a Literary Artist)
LOL(Love Of Literature)- Ep 26 (The People reader)
Guest Bio- Lata Gwalani
Lata is a narrator of human experiences and spends time pondering the how and why of relationships. She has X-ray vision into human psyche, and deduces more than what meets the eye, and is usually wrong. She is wary of people and is highly impressed with Noah for allowing only animals on his ark. She has authored two books – Incognito and Prisoners of Secrets. Her third book was released in January 2022 and has been winning readers since. She has been a corporate trainer for over two decades, specialising in Leadership through Emotional Intelligence. She has done considerable and pioneering work with women in this context.
LoL(Love Of Litearture)- Ep 25 (Author beyond genres)
Guest Bio- Abha Iyengar
Abha is a British Council certified creative writing mentor. She is an award-winning, internationally published poet, author, editor and translator.
Abha has been a writer-in-residence at the Sangam House Residency and received the Lavanya Sankaran Writing Fellowship for 2009-2010.
Her short fiction, The Marshlands, was shortlisted in the DNA-Out of Print short story contest (2015). Abha's poems have appeared in the Anthology of Contemporary Indian Poets and her fiction in The Indo-Australian Anthology of Short Fiction. Her story, The High Stool, was nominated for the prestigious, Million Writers Award.
Her published works include Yearnings, Flash Bites, Shrayan, Many Fish to Fry and The Gourd Seller and Other Stories. She has co-edited an anthology titled The Other, which is a collection of 33 stories by several authors on this theme.
Abha holds Creative Writing Workshops, edits fiction manuscripts and personally mentors aspiring writers. She writes/speaks on motivation, confidence building and finding the creative self.
LOL(Love Of Literature)Ep-24 (No Genre shall pass undone)
Guest Bio- Tanushree Podder
A hundred travel tales, 15 novels, and a bagful of dreams – that’s Tanushree Podder. An adventurous soul, she has dabbled in multiple genres like historical, military, crime, romance and paranormal. Two of her books, Boots Belts Berets and The Girls in Green, are soon to be adapted into web series.
LOL(Love Of Literature) Ep- 23 (Laying out the Lay out)
Guest Bio- Vidhya Velayudham
Born in coimbatore, did her schooling in Udumalpet. Completed UG in Psychology from Madras University and Masters in Applied Psychology from Bharathiyar University. She was a meditation teacher for 17 years. As of now she is a layout artist with zero degree publishing from its inception. She is a hobby artist who loves to work with pencils.
LOL (Love Of Literature)- Ep 22 (Love for Language)
Guest Bio- Gayathri (Zero Degree Publishing)
Born and brought up in a village near Udumalpet, Tiruppur district.
Studied D pharm. Learning English made her switch over to languages and literature after marriage. Studied MA, Mphil in French in 2010.
Worked in Stella Maris college from 2011 to 2018 as Assistant professor of French. Quit the job to start Zero Degree Publishing with Mr. Ramjee Narasiman. Translated Sudha Murthy's book Here There and Everywhere into Tamil. Translated Anne Hebert's 2 stories from French to Tamil which were published in Vikatan's Thadam and Yaavarum.com.
LOL (Love Of Literature) Ep-21- Jack of all genres
Guest Bio- San Lin Tun
San Lin Tun has published over ten English books including his recent
novel "An English Writer" and "Waves and Other Poems". His writings
appeared in several publications such as Asia Literary Review,
Borderless, Kitaab, Mekong Review, etc. He is currently a guest
fiction editor of Ambrosial Literary Garland online magazine and Open
Leaf Press Review.
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/san.lintun.12
LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/san-lin-tun-3b67a050
Instagram-@sanlin855
LOL(Love of Literature- Episode 20 (Travelling with and through books)
Guest bio- Shivaji Das
Shivaji Das is the author of four travel memoirs and photography books. His latest book is ‘The Other Shangri-La.’ Shivaji’s work has been featured in TIME, Economist, BBC, Asian Geographic, etc. He is the conceptualizer of Global Migrant Festival and Migrant and Refugee Poetry Contests and is the Managing Director-APAC for Frost & Sullivan, a research and consulting company.
website: http://www.shivajidas.com
LOL(Love Of Literature)- Ep- 19 ( Poetry, Medium and much more)
Author Bio-
Gurpreet Dhariwal is the author of My Soul Rants: Poems of a Born Spectator. Her first poetry book got her appreciation and accolades by people all over the world. She has done her double masters in Information Technology and Computer Applications. She found her bliss in writing when she was 18 years old. She firmly believes in karma philosophy and humanity. Her poetry reflects the poignant situations that are neglected in large. She can be read at https://medium.com/@dhariwalgurpreet
LOL (Love Of Literature) Ep-18 (A publisher's perspective of the book Kaleidoscope)
Guest Bio- Ramjee (Zero Degree Publishing)
Training professional with 20 years of progressive Sales & Training experience in Professional Training, NBFC,FMCG, Insurance & Banking domain. Specialties: Leadership and Management, Customer service, Sales and Human Dyanamics. Branched in to business from 2013,Produced 5 movies and distributed many In to building flats and plots And partner of zero degree publishing for the last 4 years.
Zero Degree Publishing aims to introduce to the world some of the finest specimens of modern Indian literature in English translation. To begin with, they take great pride in introducing Tamil literature in English translation because, as Henry Gratton Doyle said, "It is better to have read a great work of another culture in translation than never to have read it at all."
LOL (Love Of Literature) Ep-17 (Branching out of comfort genres)
Guest Bio- Sakshi Arora
Sakshi Arora is a post graduate in English Literature and holds a diploma in French Language. She is a poet and also a Verbal, Communication and Personality Development trainer.
Apart from writing for various anthologies, she has also written online journals. She is also an author of the book, Aisling.
For her, poetry is the way to find emotional catharsis. She believes that poetry sheds a light on the world and provides the best way to express yourself and understand others.
Moreover, she loves everything revolving around arts in general and literature in particular.
LOL (Love of Literature) Ep-16 (Poetry is and of the soul)
Guest Bio- Gopa Bhattacharjee
English Poet Gopa Bhattacharjee is born and brought up in Kolkata. She is an entrepreneur and has been the Director of a Private Limited Manufacturing Company for the past 26 years. But she is passionate and enthusiastic about weaving poetry relating to the realities of lives and diversities of nature.
She completed her Masters in English and has been a part time teacher trainer in CMTC for many years
Her poetry book UNTURNED VERSES was published in Kolkata International Book Fair 2020
She has been the guest poet in many poetry meets in and out of Kolkata. She is one of the leading actors and producer of ‘Kolkata Cocktail’, the short poetry film presented by ICCR. Her poetry has been published in various national and international magazines, journals like Different Truths , Our Poetry Archive, The Raven Claw ( Germany ), Soflay .Inc ( Mexico ) , Universal Culturi ( Poland ), IPPL journal December 2019, SETU and also in an anthology named “Muffled Moans Unleashed “,as well as in the international anthology named ‘Women’
She has been the featured poet at the American Consulate, Kolkata Lit Meet 2020 ,Nagar Kirrtibas and many other cultural meets in and out of Kolkata.