Aisha Urooj's Blog, page 14
November 18, 2020
Blog of the month at Envie Magazine
I am happy to announce that Aisha’s Writing Corner (aishauroojbooks.wordpress.com) has been selected as the Blog of the Month in Envie! magazine 🥳
I am greatly honored that my blog was featured. You can find my interview with lovely Anna Page in the November issue at enviemagazine.com. You can subscribe to the great newsletter for free. It features up and coming Indie authors and their works.
When I started my blog, early this year, I had no idea that it will reach this far and I will have so many lovely followers. Thank you for reading my blog posts. I hope to write more about art, movies, animations and books that are inspiring. I hope that you discover something new from my blog posts.
I have another announcement 🥳 For the holiday season, all of my ebooks are priced at only $0.99. Be sure to check them out.
Thank you for dropping by! 😊
I am greatly honored that my blog was featured. You can find my interview with lovely Anna Page in the November issue at enviemagazine.com. You can subscribe to the great newsletter for free. It features up and coming Indie authors and their works.
When I started my blog, early this year, I had no idea that it will reach this far and I will have so many lovely followers. Thank you for reading my blog posts. I hope to write more about art, movies, animations and books that are inspiring. I hope that you discover something new from my blog posts.
I have another announcement 🥳 For the holiday season, all of my ebooks are priced at only $0.99. Be sure to check them out.
Thank you for dropping by! 😊
November 12, 2020
The Physics of Sorrow (2019)
“There is only childhood and death. Between the two, there is nothing.”
For this edition of TYMNHS, I will talk about the animated film The Physics of Sorrow by Theodore Ushev. The film is based on a book of the same name by author Georgi Gospodinov.
The Physics of Sorrow is an half hour animation showing us the life story of one man. It is a saga of his childhood reveries and adult regrets.
It is the first-ever fully animated film using encaustic painting. What is an encaustic style? It looks like a moving Edvard Munch painting. Once you see it, it becomes easily recognizable. It is smudged pastels whose edges are blurred, animated with wisps of dreams.
What is Sorrow in the film? It is a time capsule. It is nostalgia wrapped in regrets. The protagonist carries a briefcase with him with small life mementos. A gum wrapper. A dinosaur given by his daughter. Tin soldiers. Toy cars. We see him playing toy soldiers to becoming a soldier himself. He goes through a strict childhood, to enrolling in the army, to post-war PTSD, a marriage then a divorce.
The Physics of Sorrow is a poignant story. It is a moody and deep portrayal. Grief and sorrow are a constant companion. They are more familiar than happiness.
I want to read the book the film was based on. There are beautiful lines weaving through the film that touch a chord.
“Sometimes the end of the world is a purely personal matter.”
“How are you? How’s it going? How am I? I am not. Period.”
The protagonist regarding his briefcase and the end of the world: “To be opened after the end of the world. There must be something that remains though. Something He could use to start over. The day after the apocalypse, there will be no news, newspapers. How ironic? The most significant event in the whole history of humanity will get no media attention. Nobody will post on their Facebook page ‘The world has ended’.”
I hope that you liked today’s blog post. Thank you for dropping by!
For this edition of TYMNHS, I will talk about the animated film The Physics of Sorrow by Theodore Ushev. The film is based on a book of the same name by author Georgi Gospodinov.
The Physics of Sorrow is an half hour animation showing us the life story of one man. It is a saga of his childhood reveries and adult regrets.
It is the first-ever fully animated film using encaustic painting. What is an encaustic style? It looks like a moving Edvard Munch painting. Once you see it, it becomes easily recognizable. It is smudged pastels whose edges are blurred, animated with wisps of dreams.
What is Sorrow in the film? It is a time capsule. It is nostalgia wrapped in regrets. The protagonist carries a briefcase with him with small life mementos. A gum wrapper. A dinosaur given by his daughter. Tin soldiers. Toy cars. We see him playing toy soldiers to becoming a soldier himself. He goes through a strict childhood, to enrolling in the army, to post-war PTSD, a marriage then a divorce.
The Physics of Sorrow is a poignant story. It is a moody and deep portrayal. Grief and sorrow are a constant companion. They are more familiar than happiness.
I want to read the book the film was based on. There are beautiful lines weaving through the film that touch a chord.
“Sometimes the end of the world is a purely personal matter.”
“How are you? How’s it going? How am I? I am not. Period.”
The protagonist regarding his briefcase and the end of the world: “To be opened after the end of the world. There must be something that remains though. Something He could use to start over. The day after the apocalypse, there will be no news, newspapers. How ironic? The most significant event in the whole history of humanity will get no media attention. Nobody will post on their Facebook page ‘The world has ended’.”
I hope that you liked today’s blog post. Thank you for dropping by!
November 9, 2020
Goals update
So I had meant to do another TYMNHS post last week, but I was sufficiently distracted by the US elections 👀
I will do a update post instead and leave the other post for later. I had set some goals for my books a few posts prior, here is my progress:
I have reached the review goals for Divine Error. I have now 5 international reviews for my dark comedy 🥳
I have 9/10 reviews for my novel My Dear Ellie. Very close to my goal of 10 reviews!
Eleanor’s Travels is going to release very soon and I am excited about the upcoming release. You can pre-order the book at a discounted price right now at http://mybook.to/Eleanors-Travels
The audiobook for My Dear Ellie is still pending review. I will update as soon as I hear any update. I will most likely do a giveaway at my Twitter account once it is released. My twitter handle is @Aisha__Urooj, if you like to follow me there 😊
That is all for updates. Thank you for dropping by!
I will do a update post instead and leave the other post for later. I had set some goals for my books a few posts prior, here is my progress:
I have reached the review goals for Divine Error. I have now 5 international reviews for my dark comedy 🥳
I have 9/10 reviews for my novel My Dear Ellie. Very close to my goal of 10 reviews!
Eleanor’s Travels is going to release very soon and I am excited about the upcoming release. You can pre-order the book at a discounted price right now at http://mybook.to/Eleanors-Travels
The audiobook for My Dear Ellie is still pending review. I will update as soon as I hear any update. I will most likely do a giveaway at my Twitter account once it is released. My twitter handle is @Aisha__Urooj, if you like to follow me there 😊
That is all for updates. Thank you for dropping by!
October 27, 2020
Enola Holmes
In this edition of Things You Might Not Have Seen, it is my pleasure to talk about the movie Enola Holmes. The movie is based on the book series by Nancy Springer of the same name.
It is rare to come a across a movie where nearly all the characters are likable.
Sherlock Holmes
Intimidating ✔
Frustratingly aloof ✔
Dashing ✔✔✔
Mycroft Holmes
The ‘bad’ Holmes brother ✔(both brothers are negligent to an extent)
Explosive temper ✔
Magnificent moustache ✔
Mother Holmes
Mysterious ✔
Cool mother figure ✔
Mad ✔
Enola Holmes (16 year old sister of Sherlock and Mycroft)
Rebellious ✔
Witty ✔
Relatable ✔
Can’t embroider ✔
Viscount Tewkesbury of Basilwether
Adorable nincompoop ✔
The Bowler hat villain
Persistent ✔
Sinister ✔
The real nemesis
Predictable ✔
The plot of the movie was predictable, even if unbelievable at times. A sixteen year old surviving so long in London with that much money on hand? Especially, after revealing the $$$ to the clothes seller, for instance? 😆
The main characters themselves made it a good movie to watch. Although, some of the side characters were as one dimensional as the caricatures that Enola drew.
Enola was plausible as a Holmes sister. To her credit, she made jujitsu look easy in a steel-framed corset plus hip enhancers 🤭👗
I loved the dynamics between Tewkesbury and Enola 💕 That is where the magic of the film happens.
I hear that there could be a sequel? I will watch it to see more of Tewkesbury-Enola and ofcourse, for a more lively (still dashing) Sherlocks 😉
I hope that you liked this blog post and discovered something new today. Thank you for reading!
It is rare to come a across a movie where nearly all the characters are likable.
Sherlock Holmes
Intimidating ✔
Frustratingly aloof ✔
Dashing ✔✔✔
Mycroft Holmes
The ‘bad’ Holmes brother ✔(both brothers are negligent to an extent)
Explosive temper ✔
Magnificent moustache ✔
Mother Holmes
Mysterious ✔
Cool mother figure ✔
Mad ✔
Enola Holmes (16 year old sister of Sherlock and Mycroft)
Rebellious ✔
Witty ✔
Relatable ✔
Can’t embroider ✔
Viscount Tewkesbury of Basilwether
Adorable nincompoop ✔
The Bowler hat villain
Persistent ✔
Sinister ✔
The real nemesis
Predictable ✔
The plot of the movie was predictable, even if unbelievable at times. A sixteen year old surviving so long in London with that much money on hand? Especially, after revealing the $$$ to the clothes seller, for instance? 😆
The main characters themselves made it a good movie to watch. Although, some of the side characters were as one dimensional as the caricatures that Enola drew.
Enola was plausible as a Holmes sister. To her credit, she made jujitsu look easy in a steel-framed corset plus hip enhancers 🤭👗
I loved the dynamics between Tewkesbury and Enola 💕 That is where the magic of the film happens.
I hear that there could be a sequel? I will watch it to see more of Tewkesbury-Enola and ofcourse, for a more lively (still dashing) Sherlocks 😉
I hope that you liked this blog post and discovered something new today. Thank you for reading!
October 23, 2020
My Dear Ellie on Creative Drive podcast
Thank you J. Alejandro for featuring an excerpt from 'My Dear Ellie' on his Creative Drive podcast.
You can check out the podcast at this link:
https://idlewy.blog/2020/09/24/cd38-m...
Make sure to check out his other episodes as well!
You can check out the podcast at this link:
https://idlewy.blog/2020/09/24/cd38-m...
Make sure to check out his other episodes as well!
October 17, 2020
The Graveyard book
In this edition of Things You Might Not Have Seen, I chose The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. The reason: It is two weeks away from Halloween. I wanted a spooky book 👻. From a list of Halloween themed books, this one caught my eye.
I read books while I write my own so that 1. I don’t burn out
2. I get a much needed kick…I mean inspiration to write better 🤣
The graveyard book reminded me about the power of simple writing. I can throw words like ‘Spell-binding’ and ‘haunting’, which it is. But the book is more than that.
It is oddly familiar. It grips at your heart like the smoky tendrils of a bad dream. Some places in the book, the ghouls’ lands for instance, are like visions of nightmares you might have had.
The story starts with the murder of a family. All except the youngest child. The killer is ruthless. The toddler was only spared because he had stumbled away to a graveyard. It is a chilling moment when the killer sniffs his way towards the baby.
The baby is rescued by the ghosts in the graveyard. He is granted Freedom of the Graveyard. There, he grows up to be a Nobody. He is Nobody Owens, or Bod for short.
We meet many interesting characters. Some are ghosts. Some are witches. Some are neither living nor dead, but at the edge of being both.
It is a short book, but there is a lot packed in the pages. If you are looking for a book for this spooky season, I would recommend you read The graveyard book.
Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope that you discovered something new today 😊
If you like a dark comedy for Halloween, be sure to check out my book Divine Error. It is also available on audible and iTunes. Books2read.com/Divine-Error
I read books while I write my own so that 1. I don’t burn out
2. I get a much needed kick…I mean inspiration to write better 🤣
The graveyard book reminded me about the power of simple writing. I can throw words like ‘Spell-binding’ and ‘haunting’, which it is. But the book is more than that.
It is oddly familiar. It grips at your heart like the smoky tendrils of a bad dream. Some places in the book, the ghouls’ lands for instance, are like visions of nightmares you might have had.
The story starts with the murder of a family. All except the youngest child. The killer is ruthless. The toddler was only spared because he had stumbled away to a graveyard. It is a chilling moment when the killer sniffs his way towards the baby.
The baby is rescued by the ghosts in the graveyard. He is granted Freedom of the Graveyard. There, he grows up to be a Nobody. He is Nobody Owens, or Bod for short.
We meet many interesting characters. Some are ghosts. Some are witches. Some are neither living nor dead, but at the edge of being both.
It is a short book, but there is a lot packed in the pages. If you are looking for a book for this spooky season, I would recommend you read The graveyard book.
Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope that you discovered something new today 😊
If you like a dark comedy for Halloween, be sure to check out my book Divine Error. It is also available on audible and iTunes. Books2read.com/Divine-Error
October 8, 2020
Star Trek: Lower Decks
For this edition of Things You Might Not Have Seen, I will talk about the new animated series “Star Trek: Lower Decks”.
This series caught my eye for one good reason: I wanted an introduction to Star Trek. Catching up with Star Trek’s different series and many episodes is an intimidating task! It is hard to know where to start.
What I like about the animated series: Even though I have not seen the original, I can tell that this version is not taking itself too seriously. Lower decks is good-naturedly poking fun at the original Star Trek. Case in point (and perhaps my new favorite): The sarcastic Vulcan salute. “Live long, and prosper” indeed 😆
The ship itself is called USS Cerritos (which sounds like a combination of the words Cheetos and Doritos). It is no way as impressive as the other ship names, such as Enterprise, Voyager, Discovery, and Excelsior. I can’t find the etymology of the name, so I can’t confirm the meaning, but Cerritos is also the name of a small US city.
I also liked that Lower Decks is a story about the underdogs: Mariner, Boimler, Rutherford and Tendi. The story of the crew behind the scenes. The animated series shows the complex world of Star Trek, without going too much into the details. It would be hard to do punch lines if you have to explain all the jokes.
Does the animated series make me want to see the original? Maybe. On it’s own, it is entertaining and funny. I can see that the underdog characters are growing and developing, perhaps even to lead their own ship one day. Their friendship to one another is at the heart of the show.
I hope that you liked today’s blog post. Thank you for reading! 😊
This series caught my eye for one good reason: I wanted an introduction to Star Trek. Catching up with Star Trek’s different series and many episodes is an intimidating task! It is hard to know where to start.
What I like about the animated series: Even though I have not seen the original, I can tell that this version is not taking itself too seriously. Lower decks is good-naturedly poking fun at the original Star Trek. Case in point (and perhaps my new favorite): The sarcastic Vulcan salute. “Live long, and prosper” indeed 😆
The ship itself is called USS Cerritos (which sounds like a combination of the words Cheetos and Doritos). It is no way as impressive as the other ship names, such as Enterprise, Voyager, Discovery, and Excelsior. I can’t find the etymology of the name, so I can’t confirm the meaning, but Cerritos is also the name of a small US city.
I also liked that Lower Decks is a story about the underdogs: Mariner, Boimler, Rutherford and Tendi. The story of the crew behind the scenes. The animated series shows the complex world of Star Trek, without going too much into the details. It would be hard to do punch lines if you have to explain all the jokes.
Does the animated series make me want to see the original? Maybe. On it’s own, it is entertaining and funny. I can see that the underdog characters are growing and developing, perhaps even to lead their own ship one day. Their friendship to one another is at the heart of the show.
I hope that you liked today’s blog post. Thank you for reading! 😊
October 2, 2020
Divine Error available on Audible and iTunes
Divine Error is now available on Audible and iTunes!
It is also available worldwide on books2read.com/Divine-Error
I am running a free audible promo code giveaway on my twitter @Aisha__Urooj and my blog aishauroojbooks.wordpress.com
Giveaway open to all UK and US residents. Enter for a chance for free audiobook!
It is also available worldwide on books2read.com/Divine-Error
I am running a free audible promo code giveaway on my twitter @Aisha__Urooj and my blog aishauroojbooks.wordpress.com
Giveaway open to all UK and US residents. Enter for a chance for free audiobook!
October 1, 2020
Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
For this edition of Things You Might Not Have Seen, I talk about the book Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. This book is the prequel to the famous Hunger Games series.
The book is from Coriolanus Snow’s Point of view. I chose to highlight this book because of this reason. Snow is an antagonist who doesn’t think he is one. It is a tricky perspective to convey, I know because I faced the same situation in my Novella, Divine Error. Damon is an Angel who doesn’t fit in Heaven.
As a writer, I had a lot of fun writing Damon. I am sure that Suzanne Collins did as well writing about Snow, judging by the hefty length of the novel. I breezed through her book, despite the 700 or so pages.
In terms of comparing to Hunger games, this is a different novel. The novel outcomes are different. Snow gets away with murders in this one and faces no punishment. Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes sets the tone for the franchise.
None of the other characters were as memorable as Katniss and Peeta. Lucy Gray and Sejanus felt like a bland, meeker version of Katniss and Peeta. Perhaps that was the point of the book. It was meant to focus on Snow.
We were already invested in Snow because we knew what his role was later in the series. In this novel, he was interesting because he was vulnerable and morally gray. He was not the polished villain of Hunger games.
I hope that you liked today’s blog post. If you are interested in checking out another book with a villainy perspective, Divine Error is now available worldwide at books2read.com/Divine-Error
Thank you for reading! 😊
The book is from Coriolanus Snow’s Point of view. I chose to highlight this book because of this reason. Snow is an antagonist who doesn’t think he is one. It is a tricky perspective to convey, I know because I faced the same situation in my Novella, Divine Error. Damon is an Angel who doesn’t fit in Heaven.
As a writer, I had a lot of fun writing Damon. I am sure that Suzanne Collins did as well writing about Snow, judging by the hefty length of the novel. I breezed through her book, despite the 700 or so pages.
In terms of comparing to Hunger games, this is a different novel. The novel outcomes are different. Snow gets away with murders in this one and faces no punishment. Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes sets the tone for the franchise.
None of the other characters were as memorable as Katniss and Peeta. Lucy Gray and Sejanus felt like a bland, meeker version of Katniss and Peeta. Perhaps that was the point of the book. It was meant to focus on Snow.
We were already invested in Snow because we knew what his role was later in the series. In this novel, he was interesting because he was vulnerable and morally gray. He was not the polished villain of Hunger games.
I hope that you liked today’s blog post. If you are interested in checking out another book with a villainy perspective, Divine Error is now available worldwide at books2read.com/Divine-Error
Thank you for reading! 😊
September 25, 2020
Askew (Toronto Reels 2019)
For this edition of Things You Might Not Have Seen, I highlight the animated short Askew. It is a featured animated short for Absolutely Canadian Toronto Reels 2019.
I liked the animation for its style and moody atmosphere. It is about a museum director who is obsessed with perfection. She obsesses over an askew painting. Her quest for perfection leads her to destroy the very art pieces she is responsible for.
There is a great message behind it all. She gets a new perspective on life: Sometimes through imperfection, we find a new way of seeing things.
There are cameos by many famous art pieces, such as the Scream by Edvard Munch and The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo. Keep an eye out for those 😉
You can watch the animated short at the 30 minute mark here: https://gem.cbc.ca/media/absolutely-c...
There are three other great animated shorts in the link above: Wash day, First Steps and Family Affair. The link will be available through Jan 2021. Be sure to check it out.
I hope that you discovered something new today. Thank you for reading!
I liked the animation for its style and moody atmosphere. It is about a museum director who is obsessed with perfection. She obsesses over an askew painting. Her quest for perfection leads her to destroy the very art pieces she is responsible for.
There is a great message behind it all. She gets a new perspective on life: Sometimes through imperfection, we find a new way of seeing things.
There are cameos by many famous art pieces, such as the Scream by Edvard Munch and The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo. Keep an eye out for those 😉
You can watch the animated short at the 30 minute mark here: https://gem.cbc.ca/media/absolutely-c...
There are three other great animated shorts in the link above: Wash day, First Steps and Family Affair. The link will be available through Jan 2021. Be sure to check it out.
I hope that you discovered something new today. Thank you for reading!
