THE BIG STORY

Five women. One passion. The written word. At an impromptu writers’ enclave, they talk to Team Femina about how they turned a page and found themselves face to face with an adventurous journey. So gripping that they were compelled to pen it down and script a new chapter for themselves. Photographs: Charles Joseph

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authors who believe that is the way to go. In fact, every established publishing house runs a self publishing division and I’ve been flooded with calls from different publishing companies in the US and Australia insisting that is the future of publishing.

Beyond boundaries"We live in a very global

world and Indian writers have broken all boundaries in publishing history.

I do believe that you have to be very proactive, resourceful and use an innovative approach to reach out to different audiences. With thousands of books vying for space in bookstores, one has to do a lot more than book readings at bookstores.

Next chapter please?"From birthing the

biography to delivering it to HarperCollins India has been a mind-expanding and an exhilarating experience that I wouldn’t exchange for anything in the world. But for now, I am back to celebrating people and their amazing stories at the Times community newspaper that I work for in New Zealand. The launch of ‘An Uncensored Life’ in UK, US, Dubai and Mauritius is on the cards. One thing that I have learnt in the last three years whilst writing Zerbanoo’s life story is to be more aware of every adventure that comes your way and embrace it. Don’t just write about it; live the dream—and I intend to do just that!"

Mark your placeIt is a gift to play with words and Farida Master—former scribe and biographer—manages it artlessly. A trifle winded post her latest whirlwind world book tour promoting her newest biography, 'An uncensored life’, she tells Corina B Manuel that writing books are game-changing adventures

Writing biographies was more like a date with destiny and

taking a leap of faith. I was at a juncture in my life, where I yearned for ‘What next?’ After a lifetime of chasing deadlines. It was more about being mindful when opportunities come your way. When I'd first interviewed Zerbanoo Gifford for a magazine article, which covered top Zoroastrians of the world who’d contributed to humanity, I never imagined that I would be writing her biography someday or spending time with her, researching her incredibly eventful life as a human rights campaigner, women’s champion and founder of the Asha Leadership Centre in the Forest of Dean, UK. It was truly an all-consuming experience. Like they say, be careful what you ask for. Your wish may be granted.

A journey unfolds"The journey was quite

simply mind-boggling! Starting with her neatly arranged archives in the attic of her home; I had never seen anything like that before.! There were hundreds of articles written by journalists all over the world. Meticulously filed documents cards, notes, photographs, newspaper clippings elbowed for attention. At first glance, I thought it would take me a decade to go through the wall-to-wall cabinets that housed the documentation. Also, she had impacted so many lives in different parts of globe which meant I had to contact a never-ending list of friends, colleagues, political observers to hear their stories. A lot of it had to be edited in the final P

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draft since every one couldn’t be fitted in.

"Zerbanoo is a fiery lady who believes in the 'power of now’ it was at times hard to keep up with her physically, mentally and emotionally. Sometimes as she jumped from one chapter of her life to another; I had to figure out the timelines and sequence of events. However, the most difficult part was digging deep to uncover those hurtful incidents in her life that she had locked away in the inner recesses of her mind. I felt terrible about opening up old wounds to understand the intricate weaves in the fabric of her life, and how they spun out. She now calls me her shrink and recommends that everyone should have a biography written!

On the sleeve"There is a huge sea

change that has shaken up the journalistic and the publishing world! The wonderful part is that we have all lived through it and been a part of it. The art of writing is no longer the domain of writers and authors but is peopled by bloggers and denizens of the social media world and brilliant YouTubers. There are no rules, except to break them. There are novels written in text language with specially created chapter for mobile phones. It’s a completely different book game now. Publishing houses are flooded with authors waiting to be published as well as thousands of self published

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"THE'RE ARE NO RULES, EXCEPT TO BREAK THEM!"

February 08, 2016 • FEMINA • 15