Preeti Shenoy's Blog, page 19

Win a trip to Mumbai, and attend Women Writers Fest with me!

Hello!

A bit  of news I have is this FUN and EASY contest that we are running, where two winners will be flown to Mumbai to attend Women Writers Fest  (click on link to know all details) with me ! We will also take care of the hotel stay for a night.  And ALL participants will get an assured surprise in their inbox on 28th Feb!  We started it today, and it goes on till 25th feb.
Isn't this Fabulous? I am very excited about it!

What do you have to do to enter?




Simple--Share a pic with 'Life is What You Make it' and post it  on YOUR social media (blog, facebook, Twitter, Instagram--anything you like and use the hashtag #LifeWithPreeti so we find it. Also set your account to public! Please make it a post (as stories disappear in 24 hours)
We have already started receiving pictures from as far as Kedarkanth. I am absolutely loving it, and it is so moving and wonderful to see all the pictures.


I have a lot of news to share with you, though if you have been following me on Instagram or Twitter or facebook, this isn't really 'new news' to you. I have decided to read a 100 books this year! Yes, a hundred :)

And guess what--I have already finished 13, and am now on my 14th. This is probably one of the reasons, I didn't blog earlier. I was too caught up in reading (and writing my next book). If you want to see all the books I have read, and what I thought of them, I have put them all in the highlights on my instagram page.

You don't need an Instagram account to  view it. Just click on the link, and then look at circular  icon, which is the highlights. I have named it 'Books'. I have also shared tips to read more, My favourite books of 2018, etc.

The other thing I decided to do this year, is to get to know YOU better! If I know where you are based, it will help my team to plan my book tours, so I can meet you, in person. Hence if you haven't filled in  this very short form, I request you to do. Here's the link:
 http://preeti.io/form


And here is a pic of the contest:


Here in this pic, you can see one of my readers Sakshi Bari, who shared this pic.


Fun, isn't it?

Also please tag me, and I will like and comment on the pics you share.


Happy Valentines day!
Leave me comments---tell me what you think of this!
I can't wait to hear from you.

Love
Preeti




Grab It's All In The Planets: http:/preeti.io/3
http://preetishenoy.com/

A Valentines Day special! (Win a trip to Mumbai, and attend Women Writers Fest with me!)

Hello!

How have you been? How has the new year started for you? I hope all is good.

 This is  my first post of 2019 (God, where did January go? And where did two weeks of Feb vanish?!) and it's on Valentine's day.


I have a lot of news to share with you, though if you have been following me on Instagram or Twitter or facebook, this isn't really 'new news' to you. I have decided to read a 100 books this year! Yes, a hundred :)

And guess what--I have already finished 13, and am now on my 14th. This is probably one of the reasons, I didn't blog earlier. I was too caught up in reading (and writing my next book). If you want to see all the books I have read, and what I thought of them, I have put them all in the highlights on my instagram page.

You don't need an Instagram account to  view it. Just click on the link, and then look at circular  icon, which is the highlights. I have named it 'Books'. I have also shared tips to read more, My favourite books of 2018, etc.

The other thing I decided to do this year, is to get to know YOU better! If I know where you are based, it will help my team to plan my book tours, so I can meet you, in person. Hence if you haven't filled in  this very short form, I request you to do. Here's the link:
 http://preeti.io/form

 

The third bit of news I have is this FUN and EASY contest that we are running, where two winners will be flown to Mumbai to attend Women Writers Fest  (click on link to know all details) with me ! We will also take care of the hotel stay for a night.  And ALL participants will get an assured surprise in their inbox on 28th Feb!  We started it today, and it goes on till 25th feb.
Isn't this Fabulous? I am very excited about it!

What do you have to do to enter?
Simple--Share a pic with 'Life is What You Make it' and post it  on YOUR social media (blog, facebook, Twitter, Instagram--anything you like and use the hashtag #LifeWithPreeti so we find it. We have already started receiving pictures from as far as Kedarnath. I am absolutely loving it, and it is so moving and wonderful to see all the pictures.



Here in this pic, you can see one of my readers Sakshi Bari, who shared this pic.


Fun, isn't it?

Also please tag me, and I will like and comment on the pics you share.


Happy Valentines day!
Leave me comments---tell me what you think of this!
I can't wait to hear from you.

Love
Preeti




Grab It's All In The Planets: http:/preeti.io/3
http://preetishenoy.com/

This is how I welcome the new year

 Happy happy happy new year folks!!! As I type this, I can hear loud party noises and fire crackers all around.
I dislike parties. I prefer being in a quiet atmosphere with my loved ones, doing something meaningful together.
We always light the lamp at midnight. It's a family tradition. You can see the lamp in the first picture, and my altar, illuminated by the brightness of the lamp in the second.

We thank the universe for ALL the blessings bestowed upon us.
And we welcome the new year with prayers and gratitude.


With this I come to the end of my blog marathon. 31 days, and I have given you all 31 posts!
Leave me comments. I love to hear from you.

 Happy New Year once again. May all your dreams come true.
Grab It's All In The Planets: http:/preeti.io/3
http://preetishenoy.com/

My TOP TEN books for 2018

I have read 35 books this year. If you are looking to read MORE  in the new year, I have also written a post on it : 5 easy ways to read more and transform your life.

Since the end of the year is a good time to make a list, I thought I would share my TOP reads for this year. (It would be difficult to list all 35 I read, and also I didn't enjoy all)

So here are my top  ten in no particular order. (It was very very very hard to pick just ten).
I am not writing what these books here about as you can easily look them up online,  and read what they are about. Some are non-fiction in this list. They might have been published many years back--but it is just that I read them this year.

1. Nightingale --Kristin Hannah.






2. Childhood friend --Vaikom Muhammed Basheer



3.The Last Email --Mridula Garg





 4. Little Fires Everywhere --Celeste Ng








5. Bad Blood --John Carryrou.

6. Knight of seven Kingdoms: GRR Martin


7. The Little Prince:  Antoine de saint exupéry 

8.Text Don't Call: By INF Joe (a book of illustrations)
9. Unsuitable boy: Karan Johar (LOVED the raw honesty in this one and could completely  relate to many things he said. Please don't read if you are looking for some literary work)


10. Keeper of Lost Things; Ruth Hogan




What about you?  Have you read any of the above books?
What are YOUR top books? Tell me in comments!
Love
Preeti
____________________________
buy my books: http://preeti.io/amazon


Grab It's All In The Planets: http:/preeti.io/3
http://preetishenoy.com/

5 useful tips on keeping an illustrated journal in 2019

After my post yesterday, which I shared on twitter as well,  I got a LOT of response and queries about my journal and the process. Many people wanted to start one, and asked me for tips. You really don't need exemplary drawing skills to start an illustrated journal. You can use stamps, stick stuff, use quotes--and do anything you want.

If you plan to keep an illustrated journal in 2019,  here are my top tips.

1. Use variety: Think about WHAT you enjoy. Some enjoy making collages. Some enjoy just writing short entries in bullet journals. Some enjoy painting. Some like quick colour pencil scribblings. I use a variety of methods. You can see in my above post--I have used only a quote.

2. Think different :If you are afraid that it will become boring, then you are probably thinking about what a journal means in a set way. Change that thinking. It can be a cross between a scrapbook, a diary, a collage and a planner. Thus a bus ticket from that day can go into the journal.

3. Start small: If you are afraid you will give up half way, start with a less daunting goal. Set a goal to journal every day for 5 days. Or perhaps, every day for a week. Stick to that small goal. You will soon find how quickly you have got into the habit, and how you look forward to it!

4. Use social media: One way to stick to a commitment is to go public. Announce that you will be posting every day for five days or a week or whatever goal you have set. This way, when you commit publicly you are forced to keep it up.

5. Use inspiration from others: I find the journals of Mari Andrew , Jose Naranja and Kathrin Jensen-Marwedel very very inspiring. You can follow me on my instagram art account  to see who all I am following.

Since so many of you requested me to share more pages from my journal, here is one more page! I mostly make these pages just for myself, and some are too personal to share. Some I don't mind sharing.



The above page is from July. You can see the date in the  top right corner. I am happy that this year I did manage to read 35 books (In addition to writing two!) . My goal for next year is 40 books.
And of course to write in my journal, every single day, which I managed for whole of 2018 too.

 Hope you find these tips useful.
Leave me comments!

See you again tomorrow!
Love
Preeti





Grab It's All In The Planets: http:/preeti.io/3
http://preetishenoy.com/

On keeping diaries and journals.

In my book A Hundred Little Flames Gopal Shanker keeps a diary. I have based him on my own grandfather who used to keep diaries.

I too have kept journals and diaries ever since I was a child. This year, I am happy that I managed to write a page, every single day. In addition to my personal diary, I also kept an illustrated journal this year. I found it was great fun. I am sharing three pages from my illusrated journal, to give you an idea of what my journal is like.





You can see the date stamp on the top right corner of each page, and you can see how I have drawn something from my day. Often there is nothing dramatic in my day. They are just ordinary days. But what I like is to find something 'worthy' from that day, and draw it in the journal.
I follow just one rule for my journal--no recording negativity of any kind. I focus only on the positives.

In my personal diary, I write my thoughts--my goals, what I have to do in the future, and generally I record whatever happened that day.

If you wish to keep an illustrated journal, you can watch this very useful video.

Often we give up writing a diary as we get bored, because we record the same thing almost every day. But if you keep an illlustrated journal, you would look forward to it, as you would try and focus on that part of the day, which could go into the journal. This automatically makes you look at the bright side of life.

I think it's a great practice to keep a journal. And if it's been a while since you made a drawing, then you could put your drawing skills to use.
That's all for now. More tomorrow.
Love
Preeti
_____________________________



Grab It's All In The Planets: http:/preeti.io/3
http://preetishenoy.com/

'Switch off' (from) your phone

A little while ago, I was at a restaurant with my family. Whenever we go out, we have a rule--we all keep our phones face down on the table and we don't take them till it is time to leave. Similarly at home, we have the rule 'No phones at the dining table'. We follow this rule diligently. The rule is not just for the children but for the parents too. No one is allowed to flout it.

At the restaurant, there was another family seated next to us. There was a father, a mother and two grown kids. Each of the family members were engrossed in their phones, and never even looked up. They all ate their meals silently.

Let's face it---we're all addicted to our phones to a large extent. If  you are like most of us then you feel uncomfortable and restless if you do not check your phone every twenty minutes or so, sometimes even lesser.
Those goblins called Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter have us on a leash, and we do what they bid, without even realising it or giving much thought to it.


A few months ago, I started making another change to my routine. I have a hammock in my garden upstairs on the terrace. What I began doing was leaving my phone downstairs in my room, and heading over to the hammock with a book. I don't leave the hammock till I finish 50% of the book.
This has boosted my tally of books read. This year I have read 35 books, in addition to writing two.

When we are stuck to our phones, what we are doing is taking away time from our LIFE. These are precious moments which we will never get back. When we deliberately start putting away our phones, for about 2-3 hours in a day, we realise how  much we have been controlled by the phone. We find ourselves with more time in the day.

There are up-sides to  social media.
But when the phone takes over your life completely, then you are creating a huge problem which will be difficult to control later on.

What do you do to fight your phone addiction? Do you do anything at all?
Do you think you are addicted?

Tell me in comments.

Love
preeti

________________________
Grab It's All In The Planets: http:/preeti.io/3
http://preetishenoy.com/

Three quotes from Love A Little Stronger (wordless Wednesday)

Today, I am doing a wordless wednesday. 
Here are three quotes from my book  Love A Little Stronger which is a collection of TRUE stories from my life.



T


Goodnight folks.
New post tomorrow.
_________________________
buy Love a little Stronger at just Rs. 92/- paperback and Rs.&71 on Kindle.
Grab It's All In The Planets: http:/preeti.io/3
http://preetishenoy.com/

Why some people are always lucky!

Sully, a movie we watched some time back,enthralled me, though I must admit that what made me book the tickets, were just two names associated with the movie—Tom Hanks and Clint Eastwood. Having seen the ones Tom Hanks starred in, and the ones Clint Eastwood directed --and of course starred in too, I am a fan of the Westerns--- my expectations were high and I was not disappointed. It is a film which is a biographical drama, about the US airways flight 1549, and  its pilot Chesley Sullenberger, who made a dramatic landing of his plane on the River Hudson, after being hit by a birdstrike. He saved the lives of all passengers on board. Sullenberger is a hero in his home country, and US President George Bush called him to thank him for saving the lives of passengers. Obama invited him and the entire crew to to join the presidential inauguration ceremony.
Even though he landed the plane safely, Sully is under an investigation, and stands to lose everything he has worked for his entire life.  What struck me most about the movie, was the one sentence that Sully utters, which changes his perspective. Spoiler alert—Please skip this paragraph, if you plan to watch the movie. In a scene in the bar, he watches a television anchor say, that it is all about the timing. I will not reveal how this affects what follows next.
Long after the movie, those words remained with me. In life too, it is all about the timing.  The situations that occur might have turned out differently if the split second decision we made was wrongly timed. The people we meet, the interactions we have, the relationships we develop—it is just because it was timed perfectly.  It is almost as if there is a conspiracy going on behind the scenes for every event that happens before, to align perfectly in perfect time, if someone has to meet.
Sometimes, one might have known a person for years, and might have interacted with them in a regular manner, which they are used to. And yet, it might be that one moment which they share which changes how they feel towards each other. At other times, chance meetings with perfect strangers have an infinite potential to change your life. Psychologists and scientists have investigated into the phenomenon of  ‘chance encounters’ and have concluded that a large part of how we ‘attract luck’ has actually to do with how we think, how open we are to new possibilities and how we view the world. While we have no control over the randomness of the events that occur to us, what we can control is how we react to them, and how we grab the opportunities presented to us.
Richard Wiseman, one of Britain’s most respected and popular psychologist, also the author of The Luck Factor among many other books, has been studying why some people seem to have all the good fortune in the world, and why others seem to be magnets for disaster. Wiseman conducted many interesting experiments and concluded that the ‘unlucky people’ are generally tense, anxious and are too focussed on their problems. The ‘lucky ones’ are more open to the possibilities, that anything unusual can bring. They have positive expectations and create self-fulfilling prophecies , and when they encounter misfortune, they are more resilient. They also are more likely to spot chance opportunities and act on them, when compared to ‘unlucky’ people. The ‘unlucky people’ he noted, tended to be creatures of routine. They followed the same pattern in their lives, took the same routes to work,  and met the same kind of people. The ‘lucky ones’ introduced variety into their lives, met different kinds of people, and generally kept their ears and eyes open.
Many travellers on airplanes hate any kind of small talk and usually put on their headphones, and listen to music or read a book. A few get talking, and convert a chance meeting into something eventful. A few others go on to make business contacts. Some even strike up lifelong friendships, and some meet the love of their lives.A chance meeting with someone might turn out to be boring or interesting, depending on what makes you light up with anticipation. Opening up, is a chance one decides to take. You can gingerly side step these encounters, and go back to routines, pretending they never happened. Or you can go with the flow, and see where the path takes you.

The choices we make have the power to change our lives forever. It’s all in the timing. Some call it luck.
________________________________________________ Buy my books: http://preeti.io/amazon


Photo by Zac Durant on Unsplash
Grab It's All In The Planets: http:/preeti.io/3
http://preetishenoy.com/

A Christmas Eve post.

Hi there,

Today I watched this movie on NetFlix along with my daughter and fell in love with it. Kurt Russel SHINES as Santa. The animation is fantastic. The direction is flawless and the actions scenes had me on the edge of my seat, as I joined the brother-sister duo in their adventures along with Santa. Even though the story is somewhat predictable, what I loved was the treatment. I had a lump in my throat, I laughed and cried with the protagonists as I found myself INSIDE the sleigh along with Santa and the kids.

 I think that is what a good book or a movie does. It transports you to a different world.


CHRISTMAS EVE!! HOORAY!!

Even though I am not a Christian, I do celebrate Christmas. I know many of my Christian brothers and sisters, would be going for midnight mass.

I wish you all a very merry Chritsmas.





Incidentally, today is Day 24 of my blog marathon! I am so happy I have sincerely kept this up for this long. :) Are you? Tell me in comments.

Also tell me what are you all time favourite movies? Tell me why too without any spoilers please. I am always looking for list of movies to watch.

That's all for now. Will be back tomorrow with a new post.

Till then keep the warmth in your heart and a smile on your face.

Love
Preeti
Grab It's All In The Planets: http:/preeti.io/3
http://preetishenoy.com/