Aisha Urooj's Blog, page 16

Review of My Dear Ellie on a Bookish Blog

Hi Everyone,

You can find the latest review of My Dear Ellie on a Bookish Blog at the link below:

https://kirstynreviews.home.blog/2020...

Thank you

Rising Star on ENVIE magazine

Rising Star on ENVIE magazine

I am excited to say that I have been featured as a Rising Star on Envie magazine for my debut novel My Dear Ellie on their May 2020 issue.

Check out their May issue on enviemagazine.com

If you are interested in knowing more about my debut novel, please click the links below:

Ebook: https://books2read.com/My-Dear-Ellie-...

Amazon: https://amazon.com/dp/B083JJK8TY

Featured as Writer of the Week

Hi everyone,

I am happy to be featured as Writer of the Week by
@ClaireLyonsGrow on Twitter

😃 Check out her great book lovers site and my interview at:

http://mrsaverageevaluates.co.uk https://mrsaverageevaluates.co.uk/ais...

If you like Indie books to read, my book is on friendship

http://books2read.com/My-Dear-Ellie

https://amazon.com/dp/B083JJK8TY

TYMNHS: Nocturne in Blue and Silver; the Lagoon Venice by James Whistler

One of my favorite paintings, that I had the pleasure of seeing in person at an Art gallery, was the Nocturne in Blue and Silver; the Lagoon Venice by James Whistler (Oil on Canvas, 1879-1880).

When I was growing up, my teacher asked the class to sketch two professions that we wanted to be in when we grew up. My first sketch was, no surprise, a Doctor 😅 (In my defense, I did end up in research). My second sketch was of an Artist.

I have taken art classes throughout High School and I still paint today. I would be enamored with the paintings in my art book, not realizing that it didn’t show (pardon this pun) the ‘whole picture’.

An image on a page can’t show the true scale or dimensions of an artwork nor can it capture the layers, brush strokes and rough surface in its glossy representation.

I was in awe when I saw that some of the impressionist paintings in the exhibition I attended spanned the length of a room. This painting, however, was the size of a magazine. I had seen pictures of it but it wasn’t my favorite until I saw it in person.

The best way I can describe how I felt after seeing this painting is that imagine that you get sucked into a void where you cannot see or hear anything else. There is absolute silence. That is how I felt looking at the ghostly boats and the small lights off to the distance. I could imagine crickets chirping in the silence of the night and the sounds of water rippling in small waves.

I still get chills thinking about the powerful impact this painting had on me that day.

Thank you for reading! I hope that you discovered something new with me today.

Rescue puppy Buddy

If you have read my book My Dear Ellie (thank you!), you would have come across Cassie’s wonderful puppy Buddy. Actually Buddy might technically be Ellie’s, based on unfair puppy favoritism. Cassie knows this and has on occasion displayed slight jealousy in her naturally green eyes. She, however, quickly gets over it as Ellie helps her walk buddy early in the morning (Cassie is not a morning person at all!)

I chose Buddy to be a rescue puppy in the novel for a specific reason. I believe it is important to support your local animal shelters. There are wonderful cats, dogs, rabbits and all kinds of wonderful animals just waiting to find their forever homes and give all their love to their new owners. For buddy, it was love at first sight for both Ellie and Cassie. Perhaps you will have the same experience too 😊

In my second novel (a work currently in progress!), I will focus and highlight some of the animals Ellie encounters on her trip around the world. It would be great to see from her perspective as she is such a animal and nature lover. I can’t wait until the book is ready for readers to read! (Lol that was a tongue twister). Hope that you are having a good day, please remember to take good care of yourselves 💕

TYMNHS: TV show My Golden Life

On this edition of Things you might not have seen, I move away from art and books to find inspiration in TV land. I present to you the South Korean drama series My Golden Life with leads Shin Hye-Shoo and Park Si-hoo.

One bored day as I was flipping through the channels, dependent entirely on the mercy on what my local tv provided, I came across a subtitled drama showing the life of a struggling office worker. As I was going through my own job finding struggles, I stopped channel surfing and was glued to the tv.

Despite her Herculean efforts, this poor girl could not catch a break! (Oh how I related 😭) The tv series is more than just office politics though, it is about family.

I have to say that the story arc related to her father was heart achingly sad 💔. I wish it wasn’t there, my copious amount of free-flowing tears wish it wasn’t there but I understand why it was included. The storyline about her father provides the heart of this, at times, fantastical drama series and is sadly both moving and poetic about life and loss. Excuse me while I go grab the tissues 🤧

There are ample other relatable story lines in the series for instance about her sister, proving that family is defined by more than just blood ties. There is commentary about social status and the choices young couples in South Korea have to make in regards to family planning. There are plethora of stories about meritocracy and entrepreneurship. I really recommend you to give My Golden Life a chance.

Hope you found something new to discover on this edition of TYMNHS. Many thanks for reading

New Blog Series: Things You Might Not Have Seen or TYMNHS?

I am still in search of that list but that won’t stop me from starting a new blog series centered around Things You Might Not Have Seen or TYMNHS, for short lol. Why? Because like Ellie says in My Dear Ellie, the world is more wonderful and weird than you know and we should explore it.

So what will I be focusing on the TYMNHS posts? Anything that catches my fancy and sparks the creative mind. I would limit it to Books, movies, shows and art though because if I fall down the black hole of strange nature phenomenon, cute animal videos or funny clips, there is no getting out of it.

For my first entry, I present to you this Art: ‘Dawn’ – Edmund Hodgson Smart, 1907. Dawn is a symbol of hope and new beginnings and I begin my new blog series with this image.

What a lovely image..though it could be renamed the ‘Quarantined Life’. I hope that you hadn’t come across this painting before and that I introduced you to something brand new.

I will continue to feature more books, movies, shows and art for you to see. I hope that you find them as mesmerizing as I did.

Favorite things

So I wanted to share with you a list of some of my favorite movies, books and shows from last year. These included some mainstream ones and lots of obscure foreign films (with subtitles). I had been enchanted with either the storytelling aspect or the visual or something odd or compelling in it. Sadly, I can’t find that list. I am sad I can’t share it with you and sad for me too as I can’t remember everything on the list (I watch a lot of movies).

I won’t end this post on a negative. I will share at least one film that was on there. It was the Secret World of Arrietty.

If you are a fan of Studio Ghibli movies, you might be aware of this treasure of an animation. It was nostalgic in the way of childhood crushes. The most beautiful aspect was definitely the visuals. To be that small and see our normal world anew! The garden was enchanting and had a meditative serene atmosphere. If you haven’t seen the film, I highly recommend it.

I will continue to look for that elusive list and hope to share with you some of my favorite finds. Have you discovered any book or film lately? I would love to hear about it.

Discover Indie Authors

Hi everyone,

I had the pleasure of interviewing with Kara Skinner, please find the link to her blog interview below. There you can also discover interviews by other Indie authors. I hope it will bring you closer to finding a book for your next read. Be sure to check out my novel My Dear Ellie as well. I hope that you will add it to your reading list. Best wishes for your health and happiness 😊

Here’s the link to the interview: https://loversquarrelreviews.com/2020...

Finding inspiration in the time of pandemic

I finally got to writing something for my second novel. Ever since the pandemic outbreak, my mind has been distracted by numerous other things. To be fair, I had also been involved in other promotional projects as well as adjusting to the realities of working from home.

I found that looking at funny videos helped as well as going over my collection of inspiring quotes. I wanted to share these with you and hope that if you are struggling to find inspiration, these might provide you with that spark.

“I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent; curiosity, obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism have brought me to my ideas.” Albert Einstein

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” Thomas A. Edison

“Live the full life of the mind, exhilarated by new ideas, intoxicated by the romance of the unusual.” Ernest Hemingway

“All great achievements require time.” Maya Angelou

“I am attracted to laughter. If someone smiles often, thinks positively, and can enjoy the small things in life; I am naturally enticed with who they are. I admire someone who can put their cynical and pessimistic thoughts aside and bear through with a sense of humor. To me, that is everything. I think I’d fall in love with a compassionate person who can laugh through their own tears.” Anonymous

“Be softer with you. You are a breathing thing. A memory to someone. A home to a life.” Nayyirah Waheed

“I want to live the rest of my life with a gentle softness that never, ever hardens. I want to live the rest of my life with my heart placed gently on my sleeve; not afraid to be seen by the world. I want to be vulnerable and open, and I want the warmth of love to spread through me and all around me like the beautiful constellations bringing light to the darkness of the sky. I want to accept the hardest times in life for all that they are, and I want to trust that I have the resilience to walk through the flames.” Colleen George