Rakhi Jayashankar's Blog, page 22
July 2, 2020
JEAN ANGEL BY ATUL ARJUN MOHITE - BOOK REVIEW Book21 #BOOKMARATHON
CLICK HERE TO BUY THE BOOK
Zesia is a fanatasy land where women are being ill-treated by a tyrant king. Anyone who dares to defy the king would be tortured and killed. Women are not allowed to travel unless accompanied by men. Even the queen was not spared from the cruel and misogynistic reign of the king.When the people are disgusted of the atrocities happening around, a prophecy travels through the air like a breeze of relief. notwithstanding the fact that the prophet had to face the consequences of speaking out the truth, it gives expectations to the people of Zesia, that the child of prophecy would bring an end to the reign, the one who can see the things that noone else can see.
While the mayhem is happening in the kingdom, the queen finds solace in the love and care of a soft hearted soldier and bears his child, whom he names Jean. What will happen to the child, born our of marriage of the queen? How will the king react? What is the future of Zesia? The rest of the plot holds an answer to these questions.
The book is a decent easy read for the teenagers. Barring a few grammatical errors, the book has been proof read and set. Author has tried to imbibe several analogies with the life in Zesia and Kala Nagiri. The book is quite short and hence could be read in an hour or two. Except the names of Robert (King) and Jean, the rest of the names are out and out Indian names. The mismatch could be explained in the sequel, which is imminent considering how the book ended. Author has attempted well in holding the intrigue of the readers. The book must be assessed as a YA Fantasy, a pre teen read at that.
Overall the book is decent read targetting the pre teens.
AHAM BY SAURABH THAKUR - BOOK REVIEW Book 22 #BOOKMARATHON
Of late, Indian fantasy has been counted alongside mythological fiction. The literary world in India has been jampacked by mythological gods and characters presented in the modern era. Aham Saurabh Thakur has stood out among these books, though some of the characters seems analogous to mythology.
If compared to the current scenario, the human race is under danger. Hence the imagination of creation of a new race Rekhyt to protect the human race is relatable. The plot begins with the war between spirits and demons. Rekhyt is a new race created by spirits to protect the human race. Rwiju, is a rekhyt warrior who is the chosen one to save the race when the demon princess Vanee sets out for war with the spirits. Further the books gives a feast to the fantasy lovers.
A cocktail of suspense, action and fantasy, the book Aham is treat to the readers. The weapons chakra and Trishul of the spirits are analogous to the Sudarshana chakra and Trishul in Hindu Mythology. But these analogies aside, the book is a different approach by the author. Author has made use of his filmmaking experience in giving the readers a visual depiction of the incidents through the book. The tale of Damshi, when her child was being condemned since it is a demon's child, reminds the readers about the reality in the human world where we say children would pay for parent's sin.
Aham is the first book in the series and hence it is more of an introduction to the scenario. More is to come in the second book, which surely looks promising, with a secret of the past and Vanee's foray to the earth. Looking forward eagerly to the sequel
AHAM BY SAURABH THAKUR - BOOK REVIEW #BOOKMARATHON
Of late, Indian fantasy has been counted alongside mythological fiction. The literary world in India has been jampacked by mythological gods and characters presented in the modern era. Aham Saurabh Thakur has stood out among these books, though some of the characters seems analogous to mythology.
If compared to the current scenario, the human race is under danger. Hence the imagination of creation of a new race Rekhyt to protect the human race is relatable. The plot begins with the war between spirits and demons. Rekhyt is a new race created by spirits to protect the human race. Rwiju, is a rekhyt warrior who is the chosen one to save the race when the demon princess Vanee sets out for war with the spirits. Further the books gives a feast to the fantasy lovers.
A cocktail of suspense, action and fantasy, the book Aham is treat to the readers. The weapons chakra and Trishul of the spirits are analogous to the Sudarshana chakra and Trishul in Hindu Mythology. But these analogies aside, the book is a different approach by the author. Author has made use of his filmmaking experience in giving the readers a visual depiction of the incidents through the book. The tale of Damshi, when her child was being condemned since it is a demon's child, reminds the readers about the reality in the human world where we say children would pay for parent's sin.
Aham is the first book in the series and hence it is more of an introduction to the scenario. More is to come in the second book, which surely looks promising, with a secret of the past and Vanee's foray to the earth. Looking forward eagerly to the sequel
JEAN ANGEL BY ATUL ARJUN MOHITE - BOOK REVIEW #BOOKMARATHON
CLICK HERE TO BUY THE BOOK
Zesia is a fanatasy land where women are being ill-treated by a tyrant king. Anyone who dares to defy the king would be tortured and killed. Women are not allowed to travel unless accompanied by men. Even the queen was not spared from the cruel and misogynistic reign of the king.When the people are disgusted of the atrocities happening around, a prophecy travels through the air like a breeze of relief. notwithstanding the fact that the prophet had to face the consequences of speaking out the truth, it gives expectations to the people of Zesia, that the child of prophecy would bring an end to the reign, the one who can see the things that noone else can see.
While the mayhem is happening in the kingdom, the queen finds solace in the love and care of a soft hearted soldier and bears his child, whom he names Jean. What will happen to the child, born our of marriage of the queen? How will the king react? What is the future of Zesia? The rest of the plot holds an answer to these questions.
The book is a decent easy read for the teenagers. Barring a few grammatical errors, the book has been proof read and set. Author has tried to imbibe several analogies with the life in Zesia and Kala Nagiri. The book is quite short and hence could be read in an hour or two. Except the names of Robert (King) and Jean, the rest of the names are out and out Indian names. The mismatch could be explained in the sequel, which is imminent considering how the book ended. Author has attempted well in holding the intrigue of the readers. The book must be assessed as a YA Fantasy, a pre teen read at that.
Overall the book is decent read targetting the pre teens.
June 30, 2020
RITUAL BY UTTARAN DASGUPTA- REVIEW Book20 #BOOKMARATHON
CLICK HERE TO BUY THE BOOK
Serial killer tales have never failed in impressing the readers. The gorier the crimes the more thrilling the book. Hence a serial killer story where in girls of around ten years age are found dead with their heart removed is sure to incite the intrigue of the readers hence the book Ritual by Uttarandas Gupta.
Evolved in the background of Kolkata, Ritual is a darm murder mystery that is a blend of gruesome crime, religious fanaticism and assumed infidelity. ACP Ashutosh and his deputy Pradeep are assigned the case. The book is narrated in the first person narrative of Pradeep. The style of naraation is impressive, when Pradeep is seemingly have an engaging conversation with the readers. The intermittemt explanations about how Pradeep got to know about what happened with Ashutosh at several instances serves the purpose of closing the loopholes.
Uttaran Das Gupta veers away from the classic Bengali detective novel to reveal the sleazy, seamy underbelly of the City of Joy. The new classic: Kolkata noir’ MADHULIKA LIDDLE
It is brave on the authors part to reveal a major suspense of the plot in the blurb itself. The role of Vasant Sena in the whole plot. Despite this major spoiler of sorts, author has deftly held the readers and withheld their intrigue without fail, through the finesse of the craft. The characters are the USP of the plot. Every plot and sub plot is led by the characters. The analog of Vasantsena with the famous political-religious organisation in India is not lost on the readers.
ACP Ashutosh's personal life is also intertwined with the plot. Nonetheless author has carefully kept it wrapped to such an extend that only the relevant details are given and hence there is no lag in the plot. One of the commendable quality of the book is the consistent pace of the plot. It never drips anywhere in the plot. The readers will be surely stuck with the book till the end.
Uttaran Das Gupta is a New Delhi-based writer and journalist. He writes columns on films and literature, and his first book of poems, Visceral Metropolis, was published in 2017. This is his first novel.
RITUAL BY UTTARAN DASGUPTA- REVIEW #BOOKMARATHON
CLICK HERE TO BUY THE BOOK
Serial killer tales have never failed in impressing the readers. The gorier the crimes the more thrilling the book. Hence a serial killer story where in girls of around ten years age are found dead with their heart removed is sure to incite the intrigue of the readers hence the book Ritual by Uttarandas Gupta.
Evolved in the background of Kolkata, Ritual is a darm murder mystery that is a blend of gruesome crime, religious fanaticism and assumed infidelity. ACP Ashutosh and his deputy Pradeep are assigned the case. The book is narrated in the first person narrative of Pradeep. The style of naraation is impressive, when Pradeep is seemingly have an engaging conversation with the readers. The intermittemt explanations about how Pradeep got to know about what happened with Ashutosh at several instances serves the purpose of closing the loopholes.
Uttaran Das Gupta veers away from the classic Bengali detective novel to reveal the sleazy, seamy underbelly of the City of Joy. The new classic: Kolkata noir’ MADHULIKA LIDDLE
It is brave on the authors part to reveal a major suspense of the plot in the blurb itself. The role of Vasant Sena in the whole plot. Despite this major spoiler of sorts, author has deftly held the readers and withheld their intrigue without fail, through the finesse of the craft. The characters are the USP of the plot. Every plot and sub plot is led by the characters. The analog of Vasantsena with the famous political-religious organisation in India is not lost on the readers.
ACP Ashutosh's personal life is also intertwined with the plot. Nonetheless author has carefully kept it wrapped to such an extend that only the relevant details are given and hence there is no lag in the plot. One of the commendable quality of the book is the consistent pace of the plot. It never drips anywhere in the plot. The readers will be surely stuck with the book till the end.
Uttaran Das Gupta is a New Delhi-based writer and journalist. He writes columns on films and literature, and his first book of poems, Visceral Metropolis, was published in 2017. This is his first novel.
June 27, 2020
The Warrior Princess by Rubina Ramesh Book Blitz
ASHERAH: THE WARRIOR PRINCESS
A FANTASY ROMANCE
(The Goddesses Trilogy Book 1) by Rubina Ramesh
Print Length: 257 pages Publication Date: May 21, 2020 Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC Language: English Genre: Romance, Fantasy
Blurb
Bound by duty...Longing for love.
Asherah… Warrior Princess Asherah's mission is to destroy the cruel godling, Sandor, who was feared both by men and gods. She is forced to seek the help of the ancient God and her husband, Lord El, whom she married at a young age. But there she falls in love with Lord El's stable hand, Hanish.
Hanish… Hanish knows his limits. He knew falling in love with Asherah was forbidden.
The Love… They're both bound by duty - one to her kingdom and the other to his master - and so they try their best to fight the growing attraction between them.
Will this forbidden love ever reach fruition? When Asherah discovers the truth about Sandor, will it sabotage her love for Hanish? Or will the truth about her marriage to Lord El destroy her forever?
Caught between three men, Asherah has to travel to her past to know her present. Will her heart finally recognize her true love? Grab a copy of Asherah now to find out.
Grab your copy @
Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.in
Read the Excerpt
Rubina Ramesh is an avid reader, writer, blogger, book reviewer and marketer. She is the founder of The Book Club, an online book publicity group. Her first literary work was published in her school magazine. It gave her immense pride to see her own name at the bottom of the article. She was about 8 years old at that time. She then went to complete her MBA and after her marriage to her childhood friend, her travel saga started. From The Netherlands to the British Isles she lived her life like an adventure. After a short stint in Malaysia, she finally settled down in the desert state of USA, Arizona. Living with her DH and two human kids and one doggie kid, Rubina has finally started living the life she had always dreamed about – that of a writer.
Click here to check out all the titles by the author...
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June 21, 2020
Cover Reveal - Breathe Believe Balance by Shyamal Vallabhjee
‘An “out-of-the-box” approach to performance enhancement’ Mahesh Bhupathi
'This book will benefit the readers in transforming their lives positively' Gaur Gopal Das
‘Inspiring, uplifting and thought-provoking’ Lara Dutta
‘A powerful, practical guide to self-discovery’ Soha Ali Khan
'Profound and sophisticated' Kristina Mand Lakhiani
Breathe Believe Balance is one part memoir and one part guide to self-discovery. It is an intimate account of the lessons Shayamal Vallabhjee learnt while growing up during South Africa's apartheid era, from living the life of a monk and travelling the globe with professional athletes. He has popularized the concept of 'Balance' in India. Using his knowledge and experience from the worlds of science, spirituality, and psychology, in this book, Vallabhjee takes you through this introspective and self-healing journey.
From understanding the importance of self-love to decoding the science of healthy relationships; from learning to be emotionally present in every conversation to engineering your environment for success, Breathe Believe Balance helps you take a deeper look at your life. Offering a scientific analysis of the human psyche and packed with useful questionnaires, this book is your guide to self-transformation and personal mastery.
June 19, 2020
"I believe you can be anybody you want " says Warren Stribling, the author of Sin and Zen
It's been a while since I have hosted an interview. Seems like ages now. But the wait was worth it. We got to interview someone who unique in his own way and his literature. Warren Stribling, the author of Sin and Zen
Hi Warren
Welcome to our virtual tete a tete.
Will Strief- Do you have any personal experience with a similar person in real life?
Will is definitely a version of myself. How could he not be? I think every character that an author writes has a least a little of the writer in him or her, even if the author may not realize it, or want to do admit it. Will is similar to me in his thirst for knowledge and exploration and understanding. Yet, whereas I have been told my whole life I am an old man trapped in a young man’s body, Will is more ‘young’. He’s a bit more naive and selfish. I believe Will and I have very much the same soul, but the filters we apply to ourselves for the world to see make us a bit different in the end. Nonetheless, I can definitely say I have personal experience with someone like Will. Even when writing Will, I learned about myself. It was an enlightening and fun experience.
Yes, that's true. Every character will have a part of the writer too. Mine too had. So, How did the struggles of an ex-serviceman come to you?
That one is easy. I was that man. I am an Iraq War veteran with the United States Air Force and an injured French Foreign Legion parachutist. When you are living those struggles, you don’t really see them as ‘I’m struggling because I’m adjusting to civilian life.’ You just think to yourself, ‘I’m really shitty at this life thing.’ Or ‘Everybody struggles like this.’ Or even if you start to see that the reason you are struggling is due to being a broken soldier, you still don’t want to accept it. ‘I won’t be another cliché. I’m better than this. I’m fine.’ Unfortunately, those traumas of war and living a very different lifestyle still have their sneaky ways of exploiting you through alcohol/drug abuse, trust issues in relationships, and not being able to accept the status quo. It’s a process to integrate into civilian life, especially if you joined the service immediately into adulthood as I did and then get out with nothing and no one to support you or guide you as you try to simply start a new life with your wings clipped, in my case, both literally and metaphorically.
Oh that's incredible. Salute you. As a soldier, did you have the dream of being a writer? Or Did it come naturally to you?
My first dream was to be a soldier. Then that upgraded to be special forces. It was somewhere after getting in trouble with the Air Force and then joining the Legion and getting injured in service that I realized my soldier days were over.
Writing has always come naturally to me, as something I enjoy, and as a form of self-therapy. It has always made me feel better about whatever I was feeling or thinking and then, it gave me perspective on whatever that was.
Using that to possibly help others process their own feelings and thoughts started to feel like a calling then.
I wrote a novella for my mother for Mother's Day when I was in high school and she has since told me to be a novelist. I obviously had other dreams of being a superhero in the military. A life I got to live for some time, falling from the sky and saving the world and whatnot, but after my injury and months laying in a hospital bed with no chance of ever being in a combat company again, I told myself, 'I didn't join the infamous French Foreign Legion to drive a bus or push papers.' Months in a hospital bed also left me lots of time to think. Something I wasn’t used to as a soldier. Whereas I used my body before, I knew I had to now use my mind if I was going to continue to exist in this world.
So, I got out, taught English for a while to pay the bills. Yet, that didn’t feel quite right either. It felt pretty good. I enjoyed watching people learn. But... no. It wasn’t a calling.
After finishing the first novel, I knew it to my true role in this play of life.
Do you have any writing routine?
No. Not really. I mostly go with the flow.
A typical day for me is a mix of being a house-husband and being a writer.
My wife owns her own business and usually stays pretty occupied with that. I try to maintain the house, and when I have those hours in the day when the dogs are sleeping and the dishes are done, I write.
Sometimes I have a freelance job to do. Sometimes I write for my own blog. Sometimes I write a short story for a competition. Lately, I’ve been focused on my second novel.
From time to time, I’ll focus purely on marketing what I do have. It’s a mix of things, but it all revolves around my family and the writing.
Writing is my art, it’s my way of expressing my soul, but my family is my heart. If my heart isn’t in a good place, the writing suffers. Find a place to call home, a place you feel comfortable. Maybe that place is a spot on the map, maybe it’s a culture or set of traditions.
I’ve traveled and learned that place isn’t those things for me. I may like them and find some comfort in them, but home for me is in my wife’s eyes and swinging on the wagging tails of our dogs.
So, one has to learn to balance and appreciate both of these things I think. Find your place in this world and then get to work. Writing isn’t monkey work or something that can be done by formulas or standard operating procedures. It’s a really involved process that requires a lot of creative thinking, and if you can find the right place and support to do that, you’ll be better for it.
Beyond that, coffee, cigarettes, and loud classical music in my ears while imagining my keyboard is a piano is pretty much my method and madness for writing.
That's indeed a different way of inciting your imagination. Beyond imaginations, tell us about you
Ewww... these are normally the questions people love to answer, and I just don’t enjoy at all. But I’ll give it a try:
I’m a bit of a pain in the ass. I have my moments where I’m clever. I can be childish. I can be fun. I can be angry or even violent. I like my solitude, but I also enjoy making people laugh. I’m definitely more of a dog-person than a people-person, but I find the most rewarding connections can be made with the fellow man if you have the patience and compassion for it.
That doesn’t mean one can escape who they were, but they can use it, both good and bad, as a foundation to add more to their lives. I’m not so great at living by expectations or the rules of society. I do believe in having morals and codes to guide oneself, but even those should be reexamined as we walk along this journey of life. Beyond that, however damaged or magical I may prove to be at times, I do try to be the best I can be.
This is all pretty vague. I usually try to avoid these questions in both my personal life and professional life. Yet here I tried. I hope it gives a bit of a glimpse into who I am.
Haha that's the first time I'm getting a self introduction of this sort. Interesting though and dignified too. Sin and Zen has depicted the carnal sequences with the same dignity. Was that a conscious effort on your end ?
I’m glad you find the carnality of my writing done with dignity. It was not done in conscious effort.
Not simply ignored or painted over in flowery colors. We, as humans, are both ugly and beautiful. I believe both deserve to be recognized and respected. If I painted the carnality of human nature with some dignity, then it was done from a subconscious level. I’m glad you see that. Thank you.
Would you categorise your book as an erotica, psychological fiction or contemporary fiction?
I definitely don’t see my novel as erotica. Erotica for me is just writing sex for the joy or profit of sex. I almost didn’t even want to make the book sexual, but sex is such an integral and major part of our lives. How could I possibly write about love and finding oneself, without showing the messiness that sex brings to both? Did I enjoy writing a sexy scene or two? Sure, why not? Sex is pleasurable. Sex is also the closest we can get to connecting to another human and seeing who they really are. As a species, sex is obviously a part of who we are on a survival level, but I believe it is also something that helps or destroys us in a spiritual way.
Is it the only way? Of course not. My second book is not nearly as lustful and sexually charged as the first one. In fact, there is only one sex scene in the sequel. And it was written more to connect Will to his past and the first book. To show his growth from who he was to who he has become. Also, ‘Sin and Zen’ was about romantic love - eros, of love versus lust. ‘Anger and Hope’ is philia – family love. Now, we may not like to think about it, but all of us in existence today are here doing what we do because we were once a glow in our fathers’ eyes that our mothers just couldn’t refuse. Am I going to write that sex scene? Hell no. Still, I’m not in denial about the erotic nature of our existence.
Coming full circle here, I don’t write the erotic parts of the novel for the sake of enjoyment or profit. If I had to classify myself, I would call my writing Transgressive Fiction. It’s a pretty small niche though, too small even for Amazon to make a category for it. So, I throw it under Psychological Fiction and Dark Humor. I would also accept the idea of Literary Fiction and Contemporary Fiction, but those are a bit broad and can take almost anything that isn’t fantasy or science-fiction.
That's most important. Not writing it for the sake of enjoyment and profit. It showed too. Are you working on your next book?
I am. I am doing the final edits now. I will have it up for presale this week and the release will be July 24th. Exactly one year after the publication of my first novel. Anger and Hope will continue to watch Will evolve and grow as we all do. This time not by chasing eros or climbing mountains or meditating in Bodh Gaya, but as the prodigal son looking to understand his roots and looking for a connection of philia. There will still, of course, be lots of traveling along the way, this time across the continental United States.
How can the readers reach you?
You can find me in most major places in the digital world. I won’t tell you where I’m living physically. That’s weird. But online, I am on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Medium, and a few other places. My handle is the same for all: @SWStribling. I also have a website: www.wstribling.com
Hi Warren
Welcome to our virtual tete a tete.
Will Strief- Do you have any personal experience with a similar person in real life?
Will is definitely a version of myself. How could he not be? I think every character that an author writes has a least a little of the writer in him or her, even if the author may not realize it, or want to do admit it. Will is similar to me in his thirst for knowledge and exploration and understanding. Yet, whereas I have been told my whole life I am an old man trapped in a young man’s body, Will is more ‘young’. He’s a bit more naive and selfish. I believe Will and I have very much the same soul, but the filters we apply to ourselves for the world to see make us a bit different in the end. Nonetheless, I can definitely say I have personal experience with someone like Will. Even when writing Will, I learned about myself. It was an enlightening and fun experience.
Yes, that's true. Every character will have a part of the writer too. Mine too had. So, How did the struggles of an ex-serviceman come to you?
That one is easy. I was that man. I am an Iraq War veteran with the United States Air Force and an injured French Foreign Legion parachutist. When you are living those struggles, you don’t really see them as ‘I’m struggling because I’m adjusting to civilian life.’ You just think to yourself, ‘I’m really shitty at this life thing.’ Or ‘Everybody struggles like this.’ Or even if you start to see that the reason you are struggling is due to being a broken soldier, you still don’t want to accept it. ‘I won’t be another cliché. I’m better than this. I’m fine.’ Unfortunately, those traumas of war and living a very different lifestyle still have their sneaky ways of exploiting you through alcohol/drug abuse, trust issues in relationships, and not being able to accept the status quo. It’s a process to integrate into civilian life, especially if you joined the service immediately into adulthood as I did and then get out with nothing and no one to support you or guide you as you try to simply start a new life with your wings clipped, in my case, both literally and metaphorically.
Oh that's incredible. Salute you. As a soldier, did you have the dream of being a writer? Or Did it come naturally to you?
My first dream was to be a soldier. Then that upgraded to be special forces. It was somewhere after getting in trouble with the Air Force and then joining the Legion and getting injured in service that I realized my soldier days were over.
Writing has always come naturally to me, as something I enjoy, and as a form of self-therapy. It has always made me feel better about whatever I was feeling or thinking and then, it gave me perspective on whatever that was.
Using that to possibly help others process their own feelings and thoughts started to feel like a calling then.
I wrote a novella for my mother for Mother's Day when I was in high school and she has since told me to be a novelist. I obviously had other dreams of being a superhero in the military. A life I got to live for some time, falling from the sky and saving the world and whatnot, but after my injury and months laying in a hospital bed with no chance of ever being in a combat company again, I told myself, 'I didn't join the infamous French Foreign Legion to drive a bus or push papers.' Months in a hospital bed also left me lots of time to think. Something I wasn’t used to as a soldier. Whereas I used my body before, I knew I had to now use my mind if I was going to continue to exist in this world.
So, I got out, taught English for a while to pay the bills. Yet, that didn’t feel quite right either. It felt pretty good. I enjoyed watching people learn. But... no. It wasn’t a calling.
After finishing the first novel, I knew it to my true role in this play of life.
Do you have any writing routine?
No. Not really. I mostly go with the flow.
A typical day for me is a mix of being a house-husband and being a writer.
My wife owns her own business and usually stays pretty occupied with that. I try to maintain the house, and when I have those hours in the day when the dogs are sleeping and the dishes are done, I write.
Sometimes I have a freelance job to do. Sometimes I write for my own blog. Sometimes I write a short story for a competition. Lately, I’ve been focused on my second novel.
From time to time, I’ll focus purely on marketing what I do have. It’s a mix of things, but it all revolves around my family and the writing.
Writing is my art, it’s my way of expressing my soul, but my family is my heart. If my heart isn’t in a good place, the writing suffers. Find a place to call home, a place you feel comfortable. Maybe that place is a spot on the map, maybe it’s a culture or set of traditions.
I’ve traveled and learned that place isn’t those things for me. I may like them and find some comfort in them, but home for me is in my wife’s eyes and swinging on the wagging tails of our dogs.
So, one has to learn to balance and appreciate both of these things I think. Find your place in this world and then get to work. Writing isn’t monkey work or something that can be done by formulas or standard operating procedures. It’s a really involved process that requires a lot of creative thinking, and if you can find the right place and support to do that, you’ll be better for it.
Beyond that, coffee, cigarettes, and loud classical music in my ears while imagining my keyboard is a piano is pretty much my method and madness for writing.
That's indeed a different way of inciting your imagination. Beyond imaginations, tell us about you
Ewww... these are normally the questions people love to answer, and I just don’t enjoy at all. But I’ll give it a try:
I’m a bit of a pain in the ass. I have my moments where I’m clever. I can be childish. I can be fun. I can be angry or even violent. I like my solitude, but I also enjoy making people laugh. I’m definitely more of a dog-person than a people-person, but I find the most rewarding connections can be made with the fellow man if you have the patience and compassion for it.
I believe you can be anybody you want and you are never under any obligation to be the same person you were yesterday.
That doesn’t mean one can escape who they were, but they can use it, both good and bad, as a foundation to add more to their lives. I’m not so great at living by expectations or the rules of society. I do believe in having morals and codes to guide oneself, but even those should be reexamined as we walk along this journey of life. Beyond that, however damaged or magical I may prove to be at times, I do try to be the best I can be.
This is all pretty vague. I usually try to avoid these questions in both my personal life and professional life. Yet here I tried. I hope it gives a bit of a glimpse into who I am.
Haha that's the first time I'm getting a self introduction of this sort. Interesting though and dignified too. Sin and Zen has depicted the carnal sequences with the same dignity. Was that a conscious effort on your end ?
I’m glad you find the carnality of my writing done with dignity. It was not done in conscious effort.
I do feel that even the dirty and animalistic parts of being human are dignified though and should be explored.
Not simply ignored or painted over in flowery colors. We, as humans, are both ugly and beautiful. I believe both deserve to be recognized and respected. If I painted the carnality of human nature with some dignity, then it was done from a subconscious level. I’m glad you see that. Thank you.
Would you categorise your book as an erotica, psychological fiction or contemporary fiction?
I definitely don’t see my novel as erotica. Erotica for me is just writing sex for the joy or profit of sex. I almost didn’t even want to make the book sexual, but sex is such an integral and major part of our lives. How could I possibly write about love and finding oneself, without showing the messiness that sex brings to both? Did I enjoy writing a sexy scene or two? Sure, why not? Sex is pleasurable. Sex is also the closest we can get to connecting to another human and seeing who they really are. As a species, sex is obviously a part of who we are on a survival level, but I believe it is also something that helps or destroys us in a spiritual way.
Is it the only way? Of course not. My second book is not nearly as lustful and sexually charged as the first one. In fact, there is only one sex scene in the sequel. And it was written more to connect Will to his past and the first book. To show his growth from who he was to who he has become. Also, ‘Sin and Zen’ was about romantic love - eros, of love versus lust. ‘Anger and Hope’ is philia – family love. Now, we may not like to think about it, but all of us in existence today are here doing what we do because we were once a glow in our fathers’ eyes that our mothers just couldn’t refuse. Am I going to write that sex scene? Hell no. Still, I’m not in denial about the erotic nature of our existence.
Coming full circle here, I don’t write the erotic parts of the novel for the sake of enjoyment or profit. If I had to classify myself, I would call my writing Transgressive Fiction. It’s a pretty small niche though, too small even for Amazon to make a category for it. So, I throw it under Psychological Fiction and Dark Humor. I would also accept the idea of Literary Fiction and Contemporary Fiction, but those are a bit broad and can take almost anything that isn’t fantasy or science-fiction.
That's most important. Not writing it for the sake of enjoyment and profit. It showed too. Are you working on your next book?
I am. I am doing the final edits now. I will have it up for presale this week and the release will be July 24th. Exactly one year after the publication of my first novel. Anger and Hope will continue to watch Will evolve and grow as we all do. This time not by chasing eros or climbing mountains or meditating in Bodh Gaya, but as the prodigal son looking to understand his roots and looking for a connection of philia. There will still, of course, be lots of traveling along the way, this time across the continental United States.
How can the readers reach you?
You can find me in most major places in the digital world. I won’t tell you where I’m living physically. That’s weird. But online, I am on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Medium, and a few other places. My handle is the same for all: @SWStribling. I also have a website: www.wstribling.com
That was an awesome piece of interview from Warren Stribling. His perspectives were different and thought-provoking. You can read My review of SIN AND ZEN
And CLICK HERE TO BUY THE BOOK
June 16, 2020
SIN AND ZEN BY SW STRIBLING- BOOK REVIEW NO.19
CLICK HERE TO BUY THE BOOK
Erotica is an often a frowned upon genre. The reason behind this is the predisposition of the modern writers to squeeze in unnecessary graphic sex scenes, probably of the impression that the readers might want to concentrate more on those than the plot itself. The quality of erotics has degraded of late due this misconception.
S.W. Stribling, through his book Sin and Zen, has brought a fresh color to the whole genre. Through the life of Will Strief, author has put forth a man's foray into the lives of women. Wiill strief is an ex-service soldier who retired injured. Instead of pitying about his limbs he is making the most of his life. He hangs out with friends and tries everything that gives him excitement and happiness. Despite being physically disabled, he never fails to attract women. What happens in his life is the crux of the plot.
Stribling writes a fast-paced psychological fiction that delves into the mind of a restless man trying to navigate an unplanned, but ultimately revealing, journey.
The characters lead the plot. Each character possesses individuality. The craft of the characters is the USP of the book. Will's carnal experiences are not about mere sex and hence the book stands out among other eroticas.In fact, I would not tag the book an erotica because the plot is all about human psychology and relations and the fornication sequences are integral part of the book and are going with the plot. His shift from once woman to another seems a little far fetched in between but his connect with Claudia compensates for the same.
Overall the book targets at a group of readers who like to read about human relations and are matured enough to read the graphic sequences with the mind of a reader rather than looking for mere pleasure.
