Preeti Shenoy's Blog, page 40

10 years of blogging!! The Celebrations have begun!! :)

Ten years. A decade. A long long time. It was on his day in 2006, that I wrote my first blog post.  A hesitant step. Born from extreme pain.  I had no idea what I was getting into then. I was writing mostly for myself.  I was devastated. I had no one to turn to. The  anguish from losing my dad engulfed me day in and day out.  It felt like a noose around my neck. There was anger that he was taken away so quickly, resentment, shock. But mostly grief.Mind numbing grief. I never knew there could be so much pain.There was no escaping from the fact that life, as I knew it was over. My days were dark.
I remember I happened to be reading  The Economic Times that morning, and there was a small article buried somewhere in the last pages which talked about a new trend called blogging. I had no idea what a blog even meant till then. (This was a decade back—remember? ) I decided to go online and see for myself.  And then I decided to start one anonymously. That first post I wrote is full of typos and errors which I have left untouched till date, as it reflects my state of mind at that time.
My blog was my constant companion throughout my dark days. I met so many people because of my blog.You can read my 500th post  HERE.
My blog grew as I grew. I made friends with people from many parts of the world, and later I met them in real life too.
My blog really catapulted me into a different realm, and my life changed in way I never even thought possible even in my wildest dreams.
Imagine going from an anonymous unknown somebody to where I am today.  One of the big moments for me was being invited to be a keynote speaker along with Bruce Dickinson ( yes yes, The Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden)I spoke to him in the green room and he wanted a copy of my book, which he made sure that I signed. Here is a picture:




I was also the keynote speaker and a guest of honour along with Shruti Hassan at an event organised by Madras Management association.  Here is a pic from my Instagram:

Had a wonderful time last evening. Shekhar Gupta was in conversation with HRD minister Prakash Javadekar and he had invited me personally. Felt good to interact with so many amazing people! In the photo with me (clockwise): priya ramani, nandan nilekani, vickramm sampath and Shekhar Gupta holding a copy of #ItsAllInThePlanets Feel blessed.A photo posted by Preeti Shenoy (@preeti.shenoy) on Oct 8, 2016 at 4:02am PDT

Have met and interacted with people like, Prahalad Kakkar, Nandan Nilekani, Shekhar Gupta, Priya Ramani, Vikram Sampath, Amy Chua, Kiran Nagarkar etc. So many writers, editors and publishers are my good friends now.
I have spoken at Ted x events, spoken at IITs, IIMs, and many corporates like Accenture, KPMG, Infosys etc. Have been invited and been a panelist at so many many literary festivals too.

I have also now lost count of the number of times I have been featured in Cosmopolitan, The Hindu, The India Express, Times of India, Femina and many may more publications.  In 2008, When my first media mentions came out, I was super excited. You can read the post HERE.

More than anything, the amount of personal connections that I have been able to make because of my blog (and subsequently my books) is something I feel so good  and grateful about.
One of the most treasured moments was when I got a  beautiful beautiful gift from Brazil.  You can read the post by going here.

Over the years, I have been asked why I don’t monetise my blog ( I refuse to even put google ad sense) . Lots of corporates have offered me lakhs of rupees for a mention of their products on my blog. I have turned each one down.
A blog is where I express myself . It is my own space.At the moment, I am doing  an international course on  Illustrated journaling, and as a part of my coursework, I had to make a little book, about myself.
 
What better occasion than this to share it with you? Here it is!


You can see the pages better here:










To me, my blog is the most authentic part of me, that I share with genuine readers. It is my go-to place when I need comforting. It is my blessing. It is my sacred spot.
And I thank you for being with me on my journey so far.  (The celebrations continue over the next one week. There will be a new post every day. So see you tomorrow! and don't forget to leave me a comment here, for a chance to win this BEAUTIFUL mug that my team designed.)


http://preetishenoy.com/

Book Launch--It's All In The Planets. Bangalore, Come and meet me :)

In my last post, I told you about the book signings and you also met Aniket and Trish.
I said I would introduce you to Nidhi--well, here she is!




There's so much happening around the book, that I sometimes find it hard to keep my blog readers updated, as the easier options are Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat. (In case you you want to see what I am upto during the day, you can follow me on snap. I post very regularly there, My snap id Preeti.Shenoy)
Despite all the above, like an old lover, I find myself returning again and again to the blog. It's where my heart is, it is where my core is. This is where I began my journey 10 years ago!(Yes, you read that right. It is  soon going to be TEN years since I started blogging and that is a very long time. I plan to do something very special on my 10th year blog anniversary which is coming up on October 22nd. So stay tuned ! )

My book launch started at Ahemdabad. It went SPLENDIDLY.  The audience was a very informed crowd who had read many of my books. Many were blog readers too.
This is what I had written on FB:

 The book tour of #ItsAllInThePlanets started off with a ROCKING note at Crossword Bookstores Ltd. (Mithaklai) Ahmedabad. It was a full-house. A very informed audience who had read ALL my books! The energy in the atmosphere was TERRIFIC, as every person present there will avow. We had so much fun. We talked about many things. I shared the back-story behind each of my titles. And I was moved when the readers brought me gifts! I met my youngest reader there who is just 13. She said she loves my books and got into trouble at school once for reading a book of mine :) (Please don't get into trouble!!) A heartfelt thanks to the readers who turned up in large numbers on a working day, and made me feel so loved! Watch out for many more launches to come!

Click HERE to see some great  high res photos of the launch. If you are already logged into Facebook,  you can go here too

The book already is a bestseller and was No.3 on Nielsen bestseller list.




The next stop for the book  tour is BANGALORE. Here is the invite



It's on Saturday, 1st October at 5.00 pm, at a lovely bookstore called Bookworm.
Hope to see you all there!
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ps:To read the first few chapters , you can go to http://preeti.io/3


 


http://preetishenoy.com/

Meet Aniket and Trish from #ItsAllInThePlanets

Many of you who follow my Facebook page or Instagram, would know that I signed more than 3000 copies in Delhi, at the Thomson Press. It was such an eye opener. The Press is THE largest in India and it is definitely a 'must-see' if you can manage a visit. Have never seen anything like that. Here is what I posted on my Insta gram.

EXHAUSTED after signing 3000 copies in a single day. Have been signing for more than 9 hours now. Hands are numb. Shoulders aching. But oh the satisfaction!! You pre-ordered, I signed. From my hands to yours. Coming soon #ItsAllInThePlanets Click on the link in the bio to grab your copy.A photo posted by Preeti Shenoy (@preeti.shenoy) on Sep 2, 2016 at 11:09pm PDT

We quickly ran out of signed copies, and I again travelled to Chennai where I signed more than 1200! Here are photos from that (again from my Instagram feed)

So the copies I signed were quickly gone!! I was in #Chennai yesterday #signing even more! :) Signed more than a thousand, in addition to what i signed earlier. Less than 5 days left to grab your signed copy! Coming very soon! #ItsAllInThePlanets (Check the link in my bio to pre-order the book )A photo posted by Preeti Shenoy (@preeti.shenoy) on Sep 10, 2016 at 12:25am PDT

It was a herculean task to sign so many books and I had shoulder pain for days. Now I have somewhat recovered (and will be travelling to Ahemdabad soon for the book launch!

Yes--we kick off the book tour in Ahemdabad) .





 Meanwhile I thought I would tell you about the characters of my new book. Aniket is a charming young man, a techie who lives in Bangalore. He is slightly overweight. Most people, when they start working become so busy that they neglect their diets, and exercise. Aniket is like that too. He lands himself a HOT girls friend Trish.

Trish wants him to lose his beer belly. Aniket will do anything to make her happy. He does love her truly. Watch this video (it is less than a minute) with sound turned on to meet Aniket.




And here is Trish. You can see for yourself why any guy would WANT to hold on to a girl like this :)





Do watch the above video too.  And tomorrow, I will tell you about Nidhi. Till then, stay tuned. _____________________________________

ps: Get the book: http://preeti.io/3http://preetishenoy.com/

New Book Releases today. It's All In the Planets

'There's a new book by Preeti Shenoy,'
'Oh is it? What's it called?'
'It's All In The Planets.'
'It's not yet there in stores?'
'It is now. I have all her books. and this one I am waiting to read.'

This is an actual conversation I overheard this morning, between two women waiting in the bus-stop, while I was walking my dog.

I smiled to myself and walked on. Then  I met someone , a girl who was walking to work, who recognised me.
'Are you Preeti Shenoy?'
'Yes'
'M'am--I can't believe it is you.'
'Okay--it is me.'

Then I get home.
We are having idlis for breakfast, and I am making the chutney, while the spouse is checking some messages on his phone.

Me: 'Hey, the book releases today.'
A pause.
Complete silence.
And then 'Is the chutney done yet?'

C'est la vie.
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ps:
Here is the book cover--my EIGHTH book!

Get it: http://preeti.io/3

Over the next few days, I shall introduce the characters, one by one and will tell you a little more about them.
Stay tuned.






http://preetishenoy.com/

The story of Mr.Video and Ms.Journal (Warning: violence involved)

It's official. It's a war. My home is now a war-zone. I am caught in the cross-fire, not knowing whose side to take.  My hand illustrated-journal has launched a war with my home-made video. To complicate things further, a professionally shot video has jumped into the fray.
I am inundated by the sounds of all of them screaming at me, yelling, jostling for attention.

To complicate the war-zone further, there's Oktobuzz (a set of wonderful people to work with, and I love working with them.) who are perfectionists. Then there's my extremely sweet, ever-obliging, web-designer, Pranav.
Pranav and Oktobuzz are on my side, of course.

The videos and the journal seem to have taken a life of their own. They threaten to engulf us, take over our tiny world which is It's all In the Planets.

At first all was under control. Oktobuzz told me that a video had to be made. And in that sweet way, they said 'Preferably shot by a professional photographer.'
'No problem,' I said, and I hired one.
He is a brilliant photographer, and has shot all my book cover photos too.

So, we made this video:




And then he said 'Lets shoot it against a black background.'
I said 'okay, no problem.'

And we made this:




Then  I sent it very proudly to Oktobuzz.
And that's when it all started.

Oktobuzz said both the above videos don't work.And they wanted me to to make yet another one, this one more natural.

'No problem, 'I said and made this.

Preeti talking about the Hand illustrated jouranl for Superfans Contest from Preeti Shenoy on Vimeo.




The journal felt jealous. It's jealousy peaked like the Indian sensex during Harshad Mehta's times. It shot up like a bull.
'How dare you give that much attention to the videos, after spending so much time with me?' it thundered. I was so scared, I hid under the bed.

And to be fair to Ms.Journal, I had indeed lavished a lot of time on her, and spend a lot lot lot more time, decorating her, creating her, engaging with her. ( a creation so intricate, it has to be feminine ;) )

Don't believe me? Here are a few sample pages:








And there are 24 pages!!!

So you can imagine how elaborate Ms.Journal is. She is entirely hand-made by me too.

I went into full-on-placate mode. I used the classic douse-the-fire strategy, before it turned into an inferno.
Uh-oh, wrong move.
Ms.Journal took my kindness for weakness, and it further infurated Mr.Video. (Video has to be masculine! Takes and re-takes and re-re-takes, like the  countless action replays in those cricket matches)

Mr.Video decided to act up. He vanished overnight with the thumbnail. I kid you not, the thumbnail of the video disappeared from the microsite which we had created for this. Pranav swung into action mode.
He emailed Labnol.
Amit , the man behind (and in front) of  Labnol is also known to me personally,  replied very promptly.He said that google had retired the code. (what? I imagined code walking off into the sunset years with a drink in one hand, and a suitcase in another). He was super-nice, helpful and kind and he immediately gave a solution.

Pranav once again swung into action, with Hemal (the man behind and in front of Oktobuzz).and me watching on.

And Good Lord---None of us have slept for days now. We have all been caught up in this whole war.

Meanwhile a lot of people began downloading Ms.Journal.

And appreciation began pouring in:
(am copy pasting from actual mails and FB posts  received)

 Thankyou mam, for this beautiful gift. Your writings always fill me with positivity; loved all your thoughts in this journal. I am with utter patience looking forward to your new book launch.
---Tanya Jain

It's really nice mam.. Keep writing more and more.

The one I most loved is- "it happens for a reason"

Love your pen that writes so well... And you who love ur pen so much as to reach your fans... Touching their hearts and giving them sleepless nights... Drenched pillows... Because you simply talk to our hearts..

Love and regards
---Ashly.

Padhmajaa Bhaskaruni As soon as I grabbed it I have taken a color hard copy... A good one ever... Happy to have it in my hands... Thanq so much mam..
 Rashmi Pai Lovely hand made journal PreetiShenoyma'am. I thoroughly enjoyed it. U indeed have put yr heart n soul into it


 Saioni Dasgupta Got it yesterday di :) And i love it :D and i have decided to print the whole thing and keep it with me

And there are TONNES more coming in.
Ms.Journal is happy . Mr.Video is happy.
Now , finally, the  battle field is somewhat quiet.

But it is a delicate balance. If I take the side of one, another might get offended.

Oktobuzz, Pranav and I are lying in the trenches, quietly watching.

So far, so good!
_______________________________________________________________
pssssst: If you want a free copy of Ms.Journal, you can go to https://contest.preeti.io/
but please be very quiet. Mr.Video might act up, and I simply don't have the energy to deal with him again.
Help me out, will you? ;-) 




http://preetishenoy.com/

A nice little surprise for you! (coming soon!) :)

In my last post, I mentioned there's a surprise coming.

And that I have worked very hard at creating it.  (which itself was a big clue).
Many of you came up with nice guesses. But nobody guessed what it is.


For the first time ever! I will be sharing my unreleased hand-illustrated journal in the #SuperFans Contest! ( 24th August, Wednesday, 11 AM). Are you in?

Follow my Facebook page for details :)
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ps: 

 For exclusive pre-order signed copies from Amazon India go to : http://preeti.io/3http://preetishenoy.com/

It's all in the planets (My new book!): A behind the scenes tale

Most people think that when you finish writing a book,   your job is over.  (do click on the hyperlink to read 'what writing a book involves') I am here to dispel that myth. Your job starts only then!

The editing process is long and painful. We went through at least 4 edits, before this final version was done. At one point, my editor and I had exchanged 14 emails over a very minor detail, which you wouldn't even notice when you red the book. (I have a superb Editor! I love working with her).

Once the book is out, it is important to tell your readers what the book is all about. Many authors think that marketing a book, is the job of the publishers, and they can sit back and relax. I would disagree. I think when you have put in so much effort into the book, and your publishers has invested a lot of money to bring out the book, then the very least one an do is participate actively, then it is only befitting that the book deserves a thrust, to reach the right readers.


To tell you what the book is all about, I have been working round the clock with my team (it is superb working with them) and we created these two motion posters. Those of you who follow me on Facebook, would know that it has got over 60K views! (which is remarkable).


In case you haven't seen it, here it is:





We also made another video for the blurb: I am sharing that as well here:




Other than these, there's is going to be a special surprise for all of you. Have been working round the clock at it. It is something very special, verrrrrrrrrrry exclusive.

Any guesses what it is?
Tell me in my comments, and watch this space~!
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For signed copies: pre-order your copy on Amazon India at http://bit.ly/AmazonItsAllInThePlanets_

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http://preetishenoy.com/

New Book! Do you want to know the title? (and also some post cards from Bhutan!)

Hi there,
If you have been following my Facebook public posts, or my Instagram,  or my column in Financial Chronicle, you would know that I have just got back from an AMAZING holiday in Bhutan.
The country is PURE magic.

I stayed in Thimpu Punakha and Paro. It was ethereal.

Here are a couple of pictures, in case you missed my posts.


By the river Wangchuk in Thimpu.

 This was at a Nunnery in Paro.

 At Thimpu. The Buddha is MAGNIFICENT. I  feel so blessed to have the privilege of being able to  sketch this scene.
 The art is to Die for!
Fooling around :) (Life is a crazy ride and nothing is guaranteed)


I also did an amazing trek (walked 18.3 kms!!) to Tigers Nest. But I will save that for another post.

I came back with a loud THUD to India, wishing my holiday would not end, and it took me a while to get back to Social Media :)

But now I am here, and excited about me new book coming out :)

Join me on Facebook today(1st August) at 6.00 pm IST where we are playing a 'Decode the title' game.

To make sure you do not miss it:
1. Like my Facebook page, if you haven't already liked it.
2.Hover on the 'Liked' button near my cover photo, on the left corner of the page
3.Select the 'see first' option
By doing this Facebook will ensure that you don't miss out on any post I put up. 

Tonnes of fun ahead! 
See you there. Today! :) 
Love
Preetihttp://preetishenoy.com/

On making time for things that matter to you

Recently I came across a lovely meditation technique espoused by a  Tibetan buddhist master Mingyur Rinpoche, who says that you can meditate even if you have only one minute.
I found the concept fascinating, practical, useful and enlightening.
Click HERE to watch him explain it.

If you think about it, it is actually about living in the moment, not thinking about yesterday, not worrying about tomorrow, instead to be fully present, now and here.

Of late, I have been doing that a LOT. I have been sketching from live subjects. (I am taking an online course ). When I sketch, it is almost a meditative experience. I forget about everything else.

Today i did one of the most detailed drawings I have ever done in my life. It took more than 3 hours.
Here's what I made:

 I am also sharing some of my other drawings:








Many people ask me how I get the time to do so much; Here's the things---I believe that you always make time for that which you want to do. (I had also written a post on time management some years back)

If you like someone a lot, you will make time for them, no matter what. Same for things you love doing.
No matter what is going on, it is always possible to tweak your schedule a bit for things that matter most to you.

I have worked really hard for my 8th novel, and finally it is all done. Hence I am completely immersing myself in my art.

And oh yes, am taking a much deserved vacation too :)
Of course, I will share the pictures with you, and write about it. So stay tuned!


If you want to see updates, about my day, as and when they happen, you can follow me on snapchat; My id is preeti. shenoy.


Hope you have had a lovely weekend folks. I sure have !
Will post again soon.
Stay happy. Stay blessed.
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  Buy preeti shenoy's books at a fab price!http://preetishenoy.com/

End of blog marathon (post 30)

So the last 30 days, I have been putting up a new post. Some of you have commented on ALL my posts--Sanjay Dua, Femina, Prathima,Rudraparyaga, Tarang Sinha, and on Twitter Arpit Shah are some names that come immediately  to my mind. Thank you for being with me and leaving me comments. Also a thank you to ALL who read.
Apologies if I have missed out some names---Have just named from the top of my head.

I will blog again soon.
I definitely enjoyed my posts--hope you have too.

Have an awesome weekend!
With love
Preeti


http://preetishenoy.com/