What should I write about?

How far to spread one's wings on Substack

Being both an author and a mathematician, I can think of several topics to kick off this column. My coming memoir is obviously one of them. Though I feel I’m still not done with my popular book on mathematics that came out in 2022—an offshoot of four decades of teaching math. Does one ever leave behind any of one’s books—or are they like children who remain close even when they’ve grown up and moved away?

But there’s more than just writing and math that I’ve been having fun with of late. In February, I took a class on stand-up comedy, and it’s been great going to Open Mic evenings around town to try my hand at getting people to laugh. And yesterday was the last day of another class I took—this one on improv—which was very liberating in unexpectedly revealing ways (“cheaper than therapy” is how I’d describe it).

The best parts of both these classes were the people I got to interact with—a cross-section of folks in the DC area that I wouldn’t have ever met otherwise. When I look back, it was one of the main incentives that drew me to writing as well—the chance to meet other writers and make friends with them. Something which just wouldn’t have happened, had I remained cloistered in my academic career as a math professor.

Which brings me to my other favorite pastime—cooking. The cooking club I belong to—a group of friends who put together a themed dinner about once every two months—recently celebrated its 100th dinner! Spread out over 20 years! I’m grateful that food remains such a source of enthrallment for me and so many of my friends.

It also remains one of the most surefire way of meeting new people and nurturing relationships. So here’s a confession—as of this year, I’ve started two-timing my cooking club. Actually, three-timing, since I’ve begun participating in two other food-related groups. Not that my club would mind. More foodie connections for everyone!

I’m writing this the day before Thanksgiving, so let me say how thankful I am for everything I’ve mentioned—the math, the writing, the food, the stand-up, and most of all, the people in my life, starting with my husband Larry. However, I started out trying to compose not a Thanksgiving message, but my first post—one that would convey what this Substack will be about. One that perhaps I might re-read myself in the future as a reminder of what I should be writing about.

I’ve hesitated a long time before taking this plunge. The online advice on Substack is that posts should be “highly targeted to your readership.” But whom should I be targeting? Mathematicians? Writers? Readers of literary fiction? Stand-up comedians? Cooks? The LGBTQ community? All of them? Except, as Substack adds: “If you’re writing for everybody, you’re writing for nobody.”

Fortunately, Sophia Efthimiatou, Substack’s brilliant head of writer relations, rescued me from this conundrum. She clarified that the advice was not about restricting topics, but about being true to oneself as a writer. She urged me to go ahead and write about everything on my list. It would all be cohesive in its own way, being a product of the same thought processes. My “targeted readership” would simply be those who found my writing appealing—those interested in how I process the world.

Spot-on advice, and very liberating. So be prepared for all the topics above in the weeks and months to come. Everything from personal essays, to takes on fiction and memoir, to math-flavored curiosities. With the occasional stand-up video or Indo-fusion recipe thrown in.

Let me also tell you what I’m personally seeking through this Substack. Ever since my first novel, The Death of Vishnu, that came out in 2001, I’ve never managed to interact with readers at the level I wanted to. Some of you may have seen the occasional X/Twitter post or Facebook entry, but I didn’t truly warm to either medium. In Substack, I feel I’ve finally found the right platform to express myself and forge stronger connections with readers. There’s that magical word again—connections—what so much of life is about.

This Substack will also look at internal connections—as in connecting the dots within ourselves. We all have such diverse interests, live in so many disparate worlds. How are they all connected? How do I connect mine? As I embark on this Substack journey with you, I’m hoping to find out. I’m also looking forward to refuting some popular myths along the way—for instance, that people are either left-brained or right-brained, but not both (or, for that matter, that mathematicians can’t do stand-up).

So, here goes. Anchors aweigh! Would love to get your feedback!

P.S: In case you’re wondering about the picture at the top of this post, it’s hispi cabbage—a nice little connection between math and food. You might have seen it at a farmers’ market—the beautiful conical geometry instantly warmed the cockles of my mathematician heart. But then I discovered what it tasted like—cut into wedges, grilled, and served with chimichurri. And my culinary cockles definitely got more excited than my mathematical ones.