FROM DILIP MUKERJEA

"Genius is in-born, may it never be still-born."

"Oysters, irritated by grains of sand, give birth to pearls. Brains, irritated by curiosity, give birth to ideas."

"Brainpower is the bridge to the future; it is what transports you from wishful thinking to willful doing."

"Unless you keep learning & growing, the status quo has no status."

Saturday, January 31, 2009

BOOK REVIEW: 'TALEBLAZERS: IMAGINATION TO IMPRINT', by Dilip Mukerjea

[Extracted from the 'Optimum Performance Technologies' weblog.]

My good friend, Dilip Mukerjea, Learning Chef & Managing Director of Brain-Dancing International, has just released his latest masterpiece, 'Taleblazers: Imagination to Imprint'.

It is targeted primarily at all aspiring authors, from students to professionals.


As far as I know, there is no such book in the marketplace that is graphically illustrated with conceptual symbols, systematically packed with a very broad spectrum of pertinent topics from conceiving your first story-idea, through the use of story-starter stimulants & sentence mapping, all the way to editing & publishing the book, & coupled with illustrated understanding of the print economics as well as crafting a book prospectus.

Best of all, the book is skillfully organised in aesthetically vibrant colours across all of its 168 pages.

Even the conventional table of contents you often see in books is now superseded with the author's unique & beautiful tapestry of contents.

Please enjoy the snapshots from the book in this blog.

As an avid reader, I can say that the book is drawn from the author's real-world portfolio as an accomplished writer of many pragmatic works, namely:

- 'SuperBrain';

- 'Brainfinity';

- 'Braindancing';

- 'Building Brainpower';

- 'Unleashing Genius';

- 'Brain Symphony';

- 'Surfing the Intellect';





The first three books, released by the author during the mid-nineties, are now out of print.

The remaining four newer books, according to the author, now form the 'Creative Brain Quartet'.

More information about the books & ordering is available at the author's corporate website. Here's the link.

Personally, I know as a good friend, writing 'Taleblazers' has been a rather steep personal challenge to the author, as he has intentionally written it in just about two weeks, thus proving that his story-crafting methodology of bringing out "the best-selling author within you" & "moving you from rhetoric to reality" really works.

For a beginner, his "dot logic to launch your consciousness" is definitely ground-breaking, as most first-time authors often find a blank page rather intimidating. The moment the pen meets the paper, it's a dot, & if you could do that, then writing can commence its journey from that dot.

His apt metaphor of "pen & sword" & analogy of "jaw jitsu" - "if you can converse, you can write" - provide a very refreshing prologue to "just get it all out" on paper.

Every conceivable issue or problem in writing, editing & publishing a story is dealt with wit & wisdom.

Inspiring quotes are abound to keep you in good company. All the fancy icon graphics & rich conceptual symbols in the book come from the painstaking efforts of the author, who is also a gifted cartoonist & caricaturist.

Interestingly, from my point of view, this book caters to both traditionally text-oriented as well as picture-oriented readers.

The author shows you how to use your initial scribblings, jottings & even doodles - "the philosophy within random symbolic shapes" - on paper to bust your FUD (fear, uncertainty, & doubt).

To instill some fun at the onset of your writing endeavour, the author's 'The A to Z Narrative', 'Story Word Alternatives' & '12 Words Challenge' are great story-starter stimulants.

As an active blogger, I find these little nuggets very useful in my own writing pursuits.

With this book, I am confident that "the journey from first thought to bestseller" is right within your grasp, & best of all, the author is always there to hold your hand & tap your shoulder.

For me, my favourite chapters are sections 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10, pertaining to "Creative Calisthenics" as applied to writing, "Taleblazer Economics", "The Business of Taleblazing", "Crafting a Book Prospectus" & "Sentence Mapping", respectively.

As an engineer by training, the author has obviously an excellent command of the English Language as you can see from his linguistic footprints.

To conclude this book review, I like to extract two inspiring quotes from the book:

"All the words I use in my stories can be found in the dictionary - it's just a matter of arranging them in the right sentences." (Somerset Maugham)

"Exercising the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up." (Jane Yolen)

On behalf of the author, may I invite you to get hold of his book & "make your voice count by writing, publishing, & setting the fires of innovation ablaze!

This book is about YOU, writing with authority, expressing your authenticity!"

Bravo! My good friend!

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