It was there that Jessica began to understand the finernuances of creative writing, fine tuning your subject, looking at literaturefrom a critical perspective and learning how to get your point across. Sheexplains, “I never thought I’d finish a novel, but all the ‘workshopping’ atthe course helped me work to achieving that goal.” Her editors at Rupa were abig help too, says Jessica adding, “Sometimes you’re so immersed in yoursubject that you cannot see the wood for the trees. I would often get querieslike, “what are you trying to say here?’. My MA in creative writing came inhandy because we were taught that criticism is part of the learning process.So, I would take another look at the work in question and realise that theywere right.”
Moving on to ‘Afterlife…” Jessica elaborates further on thefact that it was actually her dissertation, which eventually wound up beingaccepted by Rupa Publications. “’Afterlife..’ is a collection of short stories, ghost stories,which are inspired by stories that youhear in Goa. The main protagonists are the Fonseca family, who gather aroundafter a power cut and start sharing stories, life experiences and snippets offamily history, all of which have a scary underlying thread.
