"After struggling for years to find an agent or publisher, it was funny how the book was noticed by an editor through Facebook!" Susmita wrote on her blog.

"I had had a short story, Growing Tomatoes, published in Planet-The Welsh Internationalist in 2012. Someone read it and commented on Facebook. It was brought to the attention of the editor of Parthian Books, Susie Wild, who approached me. It was like winning the lottery! But it goes to show that editors do look around, and word does get around, and the more you write, the more you will be read."

A Normal State of Mind is about two young women -- one a widow, the other a lesbian-- struggling to locate their place in the cruel realities of current India. We can't wait to read it.

Pic: Susmita is the only Indian author featured in Rarebit, a new collection of 21 contemporary stories by Welsh writers.