by Wilfried Voss, President of Copperhill Media Corproation

Let me distort Mark Twain’s quote “Truth is more of a stranger than fiction” and make it “Life can be stranger than fiction,” and this is what the following story is about.

For the past several years I have researched the bizarre world of writing and publishing, which has led me to some pleasant and some not-so-pleasant experiences. One of the truly pleasant experiences was meeting Joy J. Kaimaparamban through the AuthorNation.com online forum. The forum is designed as a social network for authors seeking or giving advice on writing and publishing.

Joy was one of those looking for advice to promote his first novel, The Azure of Solicitude. At the same time he was looking to find a publisher for his next novels.

Joy’s real name is John Joseph, and he assumed ‘Joy J. Kaimaparamban’ as his pen name. He was born on October 1939 in a middle class family of Kerala, the south most state of India. After finishing his education he became a schoolmaster and worked in several Kerala government schools, teaching English in middle school classes. He  retired in 1995 and resides now at Vayalar, a beautiful lakeside village in Alappuzha (Alleppey) district with his wife and two children.

I noticed his entries on the AuthorNation forum and shared some of my experience with writing and publishing plus the inevitable promotion of your book and website. One of my advises, though, was unfortunately a bad one. In order to find a publisher it makes sense to contact a literary agent, and I had recommended an agency that turned out to be a scam. Scammers in the writing & publishing industry do have a keen business sense, and everything they offer makes sense. In that respect they reflect a higher level of professionalism than regular literary agents and traditional publishers (See also my article: Literary Agents Are Snobby Bastards).

Nevertheless, I felt bad about giving such ill advice, and I offered to publish and promote his next novel. Within a few days we had an agreement, and we are now in the process of proof-reading his new novel, The Ayurvedic Healer. At the same time we created the cover as shown here on this blog post.

In Joy’s own words, “The novel is the story of an Ayurvedic Physician.  Hope you have heard of Ayurveda, an ancient medical science generated in India. When I thought of writing about an Ayurvedic Physician, I remembered my ancestor, who had converted into Christianity from Brahminhood (An upper division in Hindu religion).  Except this fact, remaining narrations are fictitious. I have created a mythological atmosphere throughout the novel. Freedom struggle of India, Communist revolt in Kerala, a Southern State in India, social developments, emergence of new societies etc., are dominating in this novel.  The novel reveals the developments of incident that happening from 1920 to 1960. Although this is not a historical novel, nevertheless I am trying to unveil the personal life of an Ayurvedic Physician who had lived for the downtrodden people.”

See also his website at http://www.kaimaparamban.com.

While it is always a very exciting process working on a new novel and publishing it, I received my greatest gift through one of Joy’s e-mails in which he addressed me as ‘Wilfriedji.’ His explanation was: “I address you ‘Wilfredji’.  According to Indian custom, we use ‘ji’ as most honourable suffix.  We are giving it to most revered persons like our father of nation Gandhiji.”

For more information on Ayurveda see also my entry, Ayurveda – Science of Life.