Seven Secrets of the Writer's Life by Padma Venkatraman

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In my novel, Vidya climbs the stairs in secret every evening, to visit the upstairs library that is forbidden to her. As I said in my author's note, I fell in love with the written word a long time ago, in the library of the home where I was born, though I didn't have to visit it in secret.

Then again, secrets are always interesting. So I thought I'd share some secrets of my writing life.

1. Sometimes, when I do a Climbing The Stairs book event, I get really passionate and I yell. Who knew that I could behave this way in public? Here's what I yell about. My book is multicultural, and I'm proud to be contributing to the growing body of excellent multicultural fiction in America. But there's a lot more to my book. Most importantly, it tackles UNIVERSAL themes of war and peace. See? I'm already yelling with my capital letters. But I have to. I yell, because here's what I think. Gandhi wasn't Indian, he was American, too. He embraced diversity. He respected multiculturalism. He belongs to the entire world. Any messenger of peace belongs to every human being. And, on the flip side, World War II engulfed the whole world. That's why it was called a WORLD war. And, finally, my book was published in America, and it's message is one of hope. Hope is the state motto of Rhode Island, where I live. So it's a Rhode Island book and an American book and a multicultural book and a global book!
   
   
2. I cried when I wrote the Protest March chapter in Climbing The Stairs.
   
   
3. Sometimes, when I read from the novel, members of my audience cry. That makes me really happy. That doesn't mean I'm a mean human being. I don't like making people cry unless it's through my books.
   
   
4. How do I manage to juggle home, work, family, university, and writing? Here's my secret. Our lawn is brown not green (but thankfully our patient and forgiving neighbors smile when I refer to it as our wildflower garden). And my writing desk, as you can see in the photo, is piled high with higgledy piggledy stacks of books, papers, calendars, directories, pens, pencils, envelopes, newspapers, mugs, CDs, photographs...
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. I'm Indian. I'm American. I'm British. I'm German. If you think that's crazy, let me quote a fellow citizen of the United States, "Do I contradict myself?...I contain multitudes." Or, in my own words: there are many homes in my heart. What does this have to do with my writing life? A lot. Because the homes in my heart find their way to the page.
   
   
6. My audience often appears as fascinated with my hair as with my work. I've been asked how long my hair is, what shampoo I use, and how long it took me to grow. For a while, I wore my hair in a tight bun as a reaction. Now, I forbid all questions about my hair when I open up the floor to questions if I'm wearing my hair down, like this:
   
   
7. I love holding my novel in my hands as you can see from this smile on my face:. It's a precious, wonderful feeling. There are few things that feel better. Holding a baby is one of them.

View more information on Padma Venkatraman's Climbing The Stairs

Padma Venkatraman, Climbing The Stairs, India, Young Reader, World War II, friendship, library, growing up, Penguin Books, books