For me, sitting for long hours is the biggest challenge brought by severe spine compression. With office work + writing the book + WBFI work + giving talks on various virtual platforms, I often suffer from acute back pain. My family members strongly advised me against writing continuously and encouraged breaks. But when in the mood to write with the train of thoughts flowing naturally, I hate to break it despite aching hands. My friend Raja suggested applications that convert voice to text. But old habits die hard 😃 I am most comfortable with typing on my laptop. I was pleasantly surprised that I never suffered a 'writer's block'. Dad and my sister Mythreyi gave me their feedback right after completing each chapter. My niece Pranavi also spared her time to give feedback. I would ask my parents and siblings multiple times to describe the incidents that happened around the time of my birth and in my early years. I have heard these stories many times since my childhood. But I still wanted to crosscheck to narrate them accurately in my book. I shared a few pages with my friend, Jess Markt from USA who is a very good blogger, with a request to provide his honest feedback to know if I was on the right track. Then he asked me what type of feedback I was looking for - Editorial? Thematic? Stylistic? Constructive? or Positive? Frankly speaking I didn’t even know that there would be that many types of feedback 😃 I requested him to give me feedback on all the aspects with the intention to make my book more wholesome.I requested him to give feedback as a person from a different cultural background too. I had tried my best to provide clarity when I explained our customs related to events keeping in mind the readers from other states in India and from other countries. But I still wanted to know from him whether my effort was effective or not. He gave me very honest feedback.Thanks a ton to Jess! Until then I was trying to cover all the people close to me with the intent to not hurt them. But he made it clear to me that I should mention the names of just the people who would help in moving the story forward. Too many names would only create confusion and bore readers. On a lighter note tomorrow if any of my friends scold me for not including them in my story, I can show Jess's advice as a reason :) :) :) Jess, pl be ready :) :) Watch this space for more on my journey... Swimming against the tide - True Story of Para Swimmer Madhavi Latha Prathigudupu By Madhavi Latha Prathigudupu Available on Kindle now. Will be available on other platforms soon. To get updates on the launch of this book, pl visit www.pmlatha.com Proceeds from the royalty on this book would be used to fund our activities at YWTC CHARITABLE TRUST (www.ywtc.org). #authorjourney #writerslife #MadhaviLathaPrathigudupu #SwimmingAgainstTheTide