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Report: Giant pandas at the Hugo Awards and other WorldCon updates

Last month, I was part of an invited delegation to Chengdu, China for the Worldcon. Played a dual role there. I was an author from India talking on panels about Indian science fiction. I also represented Locus Magazine (I work there, btw) covering the event, working on partnerships and selling t-shirts and pins at the stall.   This is my second Worldcon and can I say, I’m hooked! This one was…

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Announcing India's first Ecopunk for kids. And it's hilarious!

I’m terribly, awesomely excited to announce my new novel for kids! It’s India’s first ecopunk, sci-fi adventure and a book that’s so close to my heart. The idea of the book came as I made Lego garbage monsters with my nephew (then eight years old, now going 14. That’s how long books take to be made). Two siblings take help from their mother’s cranky, wacky robot to fight against all freaks of…

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Two stories, two translations: Kannada and Italian

My work has been translated to two different languages close to my heart: Kannada spoken in my home state and Italian

Very happy to announce that my work has been translated to two different languages close to my heart. One is Kannada, spoken in the state I have been living in since the last decade (Karnataka, for readers who might not know) and the second is Italian, spoken in a shoe-shaped country obsessed like Indians with food. Chuffed about my first translation to Kannada! Bhaisaab’s Bespoke Brides…

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A literary festival with students, book signing, pals and drumming

Last week, I was invited to the Alliance Literature Festival at the Alliance University. In any festival, it’s the conversation with people – readers, authors, attendees that remain with me.

Last week, I was invited to the Alliance Literature Festival at the Alliance University. In any festival, it’s the conversation with people – readers, authors, attendees that remain with me. At #ALF2022, I had a long-drawn conversation with fellow panellist and art historian Alka Pande, a softly spoken, reflective personality who told me how she started the India Habitat Centre’s art gallery. I…

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Finalist In AutHER Award 2022 For Children Lit

Very happy to announce that my book on Indian scientists, They Made What? They Found What? has made it to the shortlist of AutHer Award 2022 in the children literature category

Very happy to announce that my book on Indian scientists, They Made What? They Found What? has made it to the shortlist of AutHer Award 2022. It’s in the children literature category. Peeps, do wish me the best and buy my book. Also, check out the works of other amazing authors on this list: Shabnam Minwalla, Paro Anand, Devika Cariapa and Devika Rangachari. About the book In ‘They Made…

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You became my penpal thanks to two kids & what I learnt from them

You became my penpal thanks to two kids & what I learnt from them

Welcome! Dear Penpal is a fortnightly newsletter by me, Shweta Taneja, to support you in your creative journey with tips, opportunities, insights and inspirations. Subscribe or read the archives here. Dear Penpal, I have to tell you this story! The name of my newsletter, ‘Dear Penpal’, came thanks to two inland letters that I wrote to two kids in two hospitals – one in India, one in Canada. I…

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You don't need to be productive always to be creative

You don’t need to be productive always to be creative

How you can deal with guilt when not being productive, how watching Korean dramas helps and a cool, free futuristic game you can play online. Dear Penpal is a fortnightly newsletter by me, Shweta Taneja, to support you in your creative journey with tips, opportunities, insights and inspirations. Subscribe or read the archives here. Dear Penpal, How has your fortnight been? I��ve already become…

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Excerpt: New SF short on buying a robotic bride

Excerpt: New SF short on buying a robotic bride

Thrilled to announce the release of a weird new short science-fiction story written by me. Read Bhaisaab’s Bespoke Brides Boutique, a hilarious futuristic satire about a family going to a store to buy a custom-made robotic bride. The story was inspired by a Delhi-based shop keeper and published in USA-based webzine, The Antonym. An excerpt: How to select a robotic bride “This is DesiBot…

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Dealing with Covid-19 and starting a letter of hope

Dealing with Covid-19 and starting a letter of hope

Welcome! Dear Penpal is a fortnightly newsletter by me, Shweta Taneja, to support you in your creative journey with tips, opportunities, insights and inspirations. Subscribe or read the archives here. Dear Penpal, It’s been a tough month for all of us. For me too. I heard the news that all my family, six of them, in Delhi were covid-19 positive. I wanted to go to them, help out with food,…

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Some of my latest releases in books, articles and stories

Some of my latest releases in books, articles and stories

All of 2020, my publishing plans, as with all writers, went haywire. Even though our world continues to be up and down and all the rollercoaster in between, I’m happy to say that I have had five cool things in latest releases out with different publishers in the last few months. What I love about the collection of my recent releases is that there is NOTHING in common between any of them (except…

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Release: New Solarpunk short story on evil dolphins

Release: New Solarpunk short story on evil dolphins

What happens when dolphins take over the world? Create a technology that humans have no understanding of? I’m thrilled to announce the release of my new solarpunk tale, The Songs That Humanity Lost Reluctantly To Dolphins. It’s part of an upcoming anthology on imagining an optimistic future by World Weaver Press, an independent publisher based in the USA. The anthology is called Multispecies…

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My book on science releases on National Science day

My book on science releases on National Science day

It’s National Science Day today. That’s 28th February peeps. A little more than ninety years ago, Sir CV Raman discovered what is called The Raman Effect. To refresh your memory on what exactly Raman Effect means, you can either read its Wikipedia page, or pick up my book on Indian scientists, They Made What? They Found What? For the book I’ve been working hard and crazy towards, all of 2020,…

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Cover Reveal: New book on science and Indian scientists for kids

Cover Reveal: New book on science and Indian scientists for kids

From fiction, I’ve time-travelled to writing a science book for kids! I’m thrilled to announce my upcoming flipbook with Hachette India. Since it’s a book on science and Indian scientists written by a, umm, science-fiction author, expect more than a few laughs, a lot of activities and quizzes, and a rollercoaster ride through the stories of modern India’s contemporary scientists working in…

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Why WhatsApp policy is different for EU than for India

Why WhatsApp policy is different for EU than for India

WhatsApp’s new privacy policy popped on my screen a lazy morning a couple of weeks ago, spreading its black-on-white legalese. Unlike most people who groan at the idea of reading clauses when all they want to do is scroll through good morning messages, I was filled with a sense of joy and determined purpose. (First published as a opinion piece in Mint Lounge, a business daily in India.) The new…

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Must read graphic novels by Indian authors

Must read graphic novels by Indian authors

When my eyes are screen-lagged, I love to cuddle up on my couch and unfurl a good old graphic novel, especially a narrative non-fiction one. A few years ago, I would have always recommended fantasy (I hounded artist Appupen, till he agreed to draw the covers of my fantasy series Anantya Tantrist Mysteries and have two graphics novels to my name: the bestselling Krishna Defender of Dharma and The…

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Global internet is dead, thanks to for-profit algorithms

Global internet is dead, thanks to for-profit algorithms

In the 1980s, when the global internet emerged, it was a network of decentralised computers in different universities across countries. By the 1990s, with Tim Berner Lee’s World Wide Web, any node across this network, could access any information. As storage capacity and data access speeds increased, this was quickly taken over mostly US-based companies, offering free products to users. When…

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Happy New Year: I had a great 2020! Here’s to 2021

Happy New Year: I had a great 2020! Here’s to 2021

Yes, I had a great 2020 and I wish you a happy new year. This post is about all the little thankful things that come into our brains, bodies and soul, while the world is churning viruses. It was while developing a talk for my alumni network at Lady Sriram College, that I realized I had a great year. Since the past few years, I had been in a kind of a slump. Possibly self created. Everything was…