Namaskara fellow traveler,
The writer’s journey is a long one, as I think you will appreciate, having followed mine.
It has taken a little under three years, from starting to write Bella & Rami to get to the eve of publication. This isn’t necessarily very long for a book such as mine. Nevertheless, it is a significant quotient of time in a person’s life. Long enough for major life events to happen - to fall in love, to fall out of love, to start uni, to finish uni, to start a job, to leave...
Namaskara fellow travelers,
India Catch-Up
This note is a brief book-related update from my recent visit to India. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen some of the places I stayed: Bangalore, Tulunad, and Bombay. All three feature in Bella & Rami.
Bangalore: A City of Readers
In Bangalore (Bengaluru), I visited local bookshops to get a better sense of the city’s reading culture. Church Street is a bibliophile’s delight, lined with several venerable stores. The highlight was ...
Namaskara (hello) fellow traveler,
It is a blazing hot Aussie summer’s day. The brick paving is scorching and all living things are sheltering away from the heat.
I am listening to “Run it’s the Kid”, an Indian indie band that put out an album a decade ago and have only just resurfaced. Their laid back, chilled style, captures a lot that I love about India.
Try “Hourglass” recorded entirely while riding a scooter tandem or “Rubble” recorded while rowing a boat.
Over the past month I have been...
Namaskara fellow travelers,
Today I want to tell you about my pen name: why I decided to use one, why I chose Isobel de Border and what it is like being Isobel.
Pen names are used by writers for many reasons. Female writers have often used male pseudonyms in order to get published, think Mary Ann Evans aka “George Elliot”. Even Joanne Rowling aka “J.K. Rowling” was told that a book about a boy written by a woman probably wouldn’t sell (!!) Another common reason to use a pen name was and is to...
Namaskara fellow travelers,
After a weekend of brilliant sunshine, it is pouring rain: perfect for a day at the desk!
Last week I met up with Bryce Wilson, my Developmental Editor. Bryce is the person responsible for helping me improve the overall structure, content, and narrative flow of Bella and Rami. The “big picture" side of things.
My first contact with Bryce was via email six weeks ago. He was reaching out to introduce himself and setup a time to talk. He said that he was reading Bella...
Namaskara (Hello) fellow traveler,
The last weeks have been busy and productive ones. I am deep into revising the manuscript, reshaping the structure, rewriting some sections, adding new material here and deleting bits there.
You might think that I would have done these things in the six months since “finishing” Bella and Rami, but I needed a gentle push from my developmental editor, Bryce, to get me going.
Several people have now read some or all of the manuscript and this has been...
Namaskara (hello) fellow travelers,
Thank you for joining me on my writing and publishing journey!
My debut novel - Bella and Rami - will be published by Atmosphere Press next year (2026).
Some background... I began writing Bella and Rami in January 2024. I did so in order to understand events that had happened long in the past. I wrote it as a fiction, not a memoir, because it just seemed easier that way. I also wanted to work my way forward, not look back in time. I finished the first draft...