Sceadu
by Prashant
Pinge
Genre: YA fantasy fiction
Date of Publication: Nov 10, 2014
Cover Artist: Reptile FX
Book Description:
All this while, Matilda’s shadow
had been growing larger and larger. Suddenly, it lunged out of the ground and
swallowed her, like a python does its unsuspecting prey.
Nine year old Matilda ends up
with a century old book through a series of strange coincidences. And
disappears. Her brother and cousins are forced to suspend their hostilities and
pursue her to Sceadu, a land inside the human shadow. Once there, the reluctant
visitors find themselves chased by the vicious Hefigans, creatures of Sceadu.
However, everything changes with the revelation of an ancient prophecy that
foretells the doom of the world they left behind.
With the stakes suddenly raised,
the children must now navigate the dangerous terrain, overcome grave
challenges, and unlock the secrets of the shadow. But can they do it in time to
thwart the plans of the treacherous Hefigans? Or will they succumb to the guile
of a ruthless enemy who is equally determined to destroy mankind?
Sceadu
is a fast-paced adventure which blurs the boundary between the physical and the
psychological, the real and the mythical.
Available at Amazon
Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/BIQHTbekS8Y
Guest Post:
From writing to production
Writing is a passion I have been pursuing for over a decade now, with four books of children’s fiction and two short stories to my credit. One of the reasons I really enjoy writing stories for children is they get illustrated. And these visuals add an extra dimension to the story, making it even more enjoyable. But what about an audio-visual experience? While I tremendously enjoy reading, there is no doubt that watching the Harry Potter series on celluloid truly brought the fantasy to life. It was with this motive that I decided I wanted to take baby steps towards production.
In the past, I have written scripts for a few popular animation series in India. During this time, I had also written a screenplay titled ‘Freedom of Expression’ which I had been really interested in converting into a short film. I had made a few attempts to do so but the pieces of the puzzle somehow never fell into place. That was, until about a year and a half ago. More often than not, my efforts had been rendered void due to the financial aspects. So I decided the best way forward would be to take the crowdfunding route, a channel that had recently been introduced in India.
The most important aspects though were putting together a team. I fortunately met a director who was as excited about the script as I was. As it so happened, I had also set up an animation and VFX studio a few months earlier which meant that special effects could be handled in house. And finally, my brother, ever the music aficionado, agreed to compose the music for the film. We ran the crowdfunding campaign alongside polishing the script, scouting for locations, and bringing on board the rest of the team members including the actors.
The crowdfunding experiment was successful, and the shoot took place over a five day period in Pune, a city near Mumbai. We had our moments of insanity such as a major power cut during filming, scrambling for balloons (a critical prop), and last minute location hassles. But despite all the chaos, everything did come together in the end. The shoot was followed by a lengthy post production process involving creating special effects, composing music, and editing. At the time of writing this article, the film is finally complete and shall soon be submitted to film festivals around the world.
All in all, my fledgling journey into the world of production has been very rewarding thus far. And I look forward to taking on my next production challenge soon.
About Freedom of Expression
‘Freedom of Expression’ follows the travails of an artist living in a monochromatic world where all other colours have been banned by the authorities. However, the protagonist has experienced colour as a child until its eradication and has suppressed those memories into his subconscious. He has no choice but to exist in this paradigm until his subconscious awakens. The rest of the film explores his quest to understand and rediscover the missing element from his palette.
Excerpt:
Matilda sat at
her old wooden desk, staring into the thick yellowed pages of a book under a
dull moth ridden beam cast by the night lamp. But every time she blinked, it
seemed as if the words had played a round of musical chairs. And the moths,
fluttering through the words at times and hovering over them at others, did not
make things any easier.
Matilda was
about to turn the page when there was a tug at her feet. It was a very gentle
one, almost imperceptible. Surprised, she glanced down, but there was nothing.
Perhaps it’s just my imagination, she thought. She was about to shake her thick
dark brown curls out of her face when she felt it again.
Matilda pushed
her head down and looked into the dark void with furrowed brow. Her skinny legs
stared back. But before she could decide on whether she had actually felt
anything, there was another tug, an unmistakable one this time. And another
one. The truth suddenly dawned upon Matilda. It was her shadow, trying to drag
her into itself.
Matilda jerked
back the chair, kicking hard at her shadow. But it snapped back, pulling at her
even more viciously. She stomped upon it repeatedly. But the dark grey shape
began jabbing at her feet and ankles. Matilda pushed herself up and made a
frantic attempt to run. But her legs refused to move, and she almost toppled
forward.
All this while,
Matilda’s shadow had been growing larger and larger. Suddenly, it lunged out of
the ground and swallowed her, like a python does its unsuspecting prey.
About
the Author:
Prashant Pinge was born and
brought up in the picturesque neighbourhood of Shivaji Park in the bustling
city of Mumbai in India.
A quiet and diligent student
throughout his schooling and college years, Prashant proceeded to pursue
electrical engineering at Purdue University in the United States. Over the next
decade, he accumulated three more degrees, a master of science in management
from Lancaster University, a post graduate program in management from Indian
School of Business, and a post MBA master in international management from
Thunderbird School of Global Management.
Apart from enjoying the company
of books, Prashant had always had an imaginative bent of mind. But writing only
happened in the fall of 2003, when a remarkably intriguing dream interrupted an
uncharacteristically deep spell of slumber, compelling him to stagger to his
desk and pen down the idea. That book is still a few years away from being
written. Prashant, however, continues to work from his cauldron of creativity
and churn out critically acclaimed works of fiction.
In addition to his literary
pursuits, Prashant is Managing Partner in his marketing and branding firm,
Media Panther. In his spare time, Prashant enjoys collecting old coins, reading
fiction, travelling to exotic destinations, watching movies, and listening to
music. He recently wrote and produced a short film titled Freedom of
Expression. Prashant is also keenly interested in the subjects of psychology,
mythology and ancient history.
Prashant lives with his wife and
son in Mumbai.
Author website - http://prashantpinge.com
Author Facebook page - http://facebook.com/PrashantPingeAuthor
Sceadu Facebook page - http://facebook.com/SceaduTheBook
Twitter page - http://twitter.com/prashantpinge
LinkedIn page - http://in.linkedin.com/in/prashantpinge
Google+ page - http://plus.google.com/+PrashantPinge
Goodreads page - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8393378.Prashant_Pinge
Tour
giveaway
3 ebook copies of Sceadu
Rafflecopter coming soon
1 comments:
Thanks for the great post! I do hope your readers enjoy Sceadu!
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