Sundari Venkatraman's Blog, page 53

Sharing: BOX SET OF MY THREE BOOKS

I would like to share my latest news with all my readers. Having self-published three books on Amazon under the banner of Flaming Sun, I decided to make a box set of the collection under one umbrella and sell it as a combo unit. That's how Flaming Sun Collection 1: Happily Ever Afters From India Box Set was born. I have to thank both my kids - Vinitha & Vignesh - for making the 3-D cover for the same. 

This Box Set contains my novels The Malhotra Bride, Meghna and The Runaway Bridegroom and is priced way lesser than the three books if bought separately.

Buying links:
Amazon.com | Amazon.in | Amazon.co.uk |  Amazon.ca | Amazon.com.au

[image error]

Sharing: BOX SET OF MY THREE BOOKS

I would like to share my latest news with all my readers. Having self-published three books on Amazon under the banner of Flaming Sun, I decided to make a box set of the collection under one umbrella and sell it as a combo unit. That's how Flaming Sun Collection 1: Happily Ever Afters From India Box Set was born. I have to thank both my kids - Vinitha & Vignesh - for making the 3-D cover for the same. 

This Box Set contains my novels The Malhotra Bride, Meghna and The Runaway Bridegroom and is priced way lesser than the three books if bought separately.

Buying links:
Amazon.com | Amazon.in | Amazon.co.uk |  Amazon.ca | Amazon.com.au

Blog Tour; THE EKKOS CLAN by Sudipto Das

The Ekkos Clan  by  Sudipto Das


The Blurb
"The Ekkos Clan" is the story of Kratu’s search for the killers of his family, his own roots and the mystery behind his grandmother’s stories.

It’s the fascinating account of Kubha and the basketful of folklore she inherited from her ancestors. The eventful lives of Kubha and her family span a hundred years and encompass turbulent phases of Indian history. The family saga unfurls gradually, along with Kubha’s stories, through the three main characters – Kratu Sen, a grad student at Stanford, Kratu’s best friend Tista Dasgupta, and Afsar Fareedi, a linguistic palaeontologist.

Afsar hears about Kubha’s stories from Kratu in a casual conversation, but she figures that these stories are not meant to be mere bed time tales – they contain rich linguistic fossils and layers of histories.

In a bizarre incident Kratu miraculously survives an attempt on his life. His sister and uncle had not been so lucky. Were these murders acts of revenge, or a larger ideological conflict connected to Kubha’s stories which conceal perilous secrets that should be suppressed?

Afsar, Kratu and Tista travel across continents to unravel the mystery of Kubha’s roots and the origin of her stories.

At a different level, the novel subtly delves into the origin of one of the oldest civilizations of the world and the first book written by mankind.
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Meet the Author





Sudipto was born in Calcutta to a family which fled Bangladesh during the partition riots of 1947. He grew up listening horrid stories of the partition, something which he has used extensively in his debut novel The Ekkos Clan. He completed his engineering from IIT Kharagpur in 1996. He lives in Bangalore.



You can stalk him @

                              
           Wikipedia 

Media Mentions 


"A promising debut in the growing realm of modern Indian fiction" - Jug Suraiya 
"An Indian thriller inspired by Dan Brown & Harrison Ford!... fast-paced thriller, replete with murder and miraculous escapes" - Telegraph 
"If you are a history buff and a thriller aficionado, then [it] might just be the book for you" - The Hindu 
"A tale of the Indian civilization and culture... takes you on a roller coaster ride" - The New Indian Express 
"An interesting read for an afternoon... One feisty woman's partition story" - Bangalore Mirror 
"Should be read for its sheer aspiration and the intelligent handling of historical material" - The Sunday Guardian 
"Is essentially a mystery novel, but is grounded in a substantial base of research and exploration into our past" - newsyaps.com       




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Blog Tour: MEET THE CREATOR "YAMINI VIJENDRAN" of Full Circle Fame

Meet the Creator of FULL CIRCLE
Yamini Vijendran
(Pic Courtesy: www.indireads.com)Hello Yamini Vijendran, welcome to my blog. I enjoyed reading your book Full Circle . I must say that it’s a very quaint romance and it needs a mature mind to create the book. 

Sundari: How much of the book is from real life and how much is from your imagination?

Yamini: First of all, thanks for hosting me on your blog Sundari. You are one of the authors in the blogosphere and ‘authorosphere’ whom I admire and respect a lot. It is a pleasure to be interacting with you.

Well, yes, parts of this book are from real life. Malini has shades of me, my aunts and my mother. The setting is very similar to a retirement home I have visited in Pollachi, Coimbatore. But the story that weaves through these real entities is imaginary.

Sundari: Thank you for saying that about me Yamini. That’s really big of you. I think you are an excellent writer too. To continue... usually the protagonists of romantic novels range from age 14-40. How did you land up writing about senior citizens?

Yamini: I did not really start with a specific intention to explore that demography. However, I have always wondered how it would be if I were to meet my youthful crush after many years, how we would interact, and what feelings would run through us. So that and the song from Aandhi, “Tere bina zindagi se koyi”, were my biggest influences in conceptualising Full Circle .

Sundari: That's truly interesting! And who do you think is the target audience for your novel?

Yamini: I think because of the demography Full Circle explores, it will find patronage among an entire range of people. Whether you are in your twenties or your sixties, Full Circle is a story that offers something for everyone. Although it is not fast paced and steamy the way young adults would like it nowadays, it has that rustic charm that many will find attractive.

Sundari: I agree with what you say about the rustic charm. You have set the story in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu with a lot of detailing. Incidentally, it is my place of birth and helped me connect with the story. How did you do the research?

Yamini: I have relatives in Kumbakonam who helped me with the setting, information about the temples and the life in the agraharam. My own paternal aunt has lived in one such agraharam, so her experiences and inputs helped. And as always, the internet is ever present as the biggest tool for research, so what I did not find anywhere else, I found on the web.

Sundari: I agree with you completely about the internet. I do most of my research there too. Now, imagine yourself in Rumi’s place. What would have been your reaction if it had been your Grandmother who had found the love of her life at 60?

Yamini: To tell you the truth, it would be a bit difficult to digest, not because I have anything against my grandmother or love, but because of the way we have been brought up and the way we have conditioned our minds to think. It would probably take time, but I would like to think that I would eventually be able to accept it. My Rumi is what I would aspire to be in such a situation.

Sundari: And hopefully you are creating more Rumis out there in the world as people read your book. I could not but admire her character. It has been a little more than a year since Full Circle was published. When should we expect your next? Can you tell us something about it?

Yamini: I have been working on a couple of scripts, progressing a bit and fizzling out mid way. So I am not sweating it out to churn out books fast. I take my time as a writer and am confident that whatever I write, even if it just one more, will be something that will leave a mark of its own. 

Bravo Yamini! With that we come to the end of our little chat session with the Creator of the lovely romance novella Full Circle . If you like to read a soft love story in a small town setting, then you will surely love this one folks! Go for it. 

Blog Tour: FULL CIRCLE by Yamini Vijendran

My Review
Malini is 60 plus and lives with her son, daughter-in-law and teenage granddaughter in the city of Chennai. She’s been widowed since two years and feels a strong urge to visit her roots at Kumbakonam. Much against her family’s wishes, Malini shifts to a Retirement Home there. Is fate calling out to her?
I am amazed at Yamini coming up with a 60-year-old heroine for a romance novella. But the author has proved that she can write a convincing story and how! Beautiful story, well-written making for a thoroughly enjoyable read.
There were at least two situations where I could not help shedding tears. Congratulations, Yamini Vijendran! Considering this is her maiden venture, the author is bound to get better and better. It really makes me look forward to more from her.
Full Circle  by  Yamini Vijendran



The Blurb Outwardly, Malini is a contented, sixty-something grandmother with a loving family and everything a person could wish for. But Malini has lived her entire life with a secret confined to the deepest recesses of her heart.

Haunted by the past, she travels to Kumbakonam, her native town, which she had left years ago. There, she comes face-to-face with her long-lost love.

After forty years, will Malini be able to reclaim her own life, when love comes knocking at her door once again?


Buy @
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Meet the Author





Yamini Vijendran (@saimini) is the author of ‘Full Circle’, a romance novella published by Indireads. After being a Software Professional for 7 years, Yamini has been freelancing from home for the past 3 years. She loves to dabble in fiction and romance and drama are her favorite genres. Her short stories have been published in ‘Love Stories That Touched My Heart’, an Anthology published by Penguin India, New Asian Writing and Six Sentences. Yamini also likes to pen poems when inspiration strikes, and her poetry has been published in The Indian Review, Contemporary Literary Review of India and ‘A World Rediscovered’ a poetry Anthology by Cyberwit Publications. Yamini draws material for her stories and poems from the world around her. When she is not converting her experiences to stories or poems, Yamini reads, plays with her toddler, and fools around her laboratory, that is, the kitchen. 



You can stalk Yamini Vijendran @

                              
                  




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Sharing: LITOMANIA 2014 DAY 2

L-R: Christopher Doyle, Shubha Vilas Das, Meghna Pant, Anand Neelakantan & Shatrujeet Nath
On the second day, I decided to go to Litomania only in the afternoon. Luckily for me, I remembered to take my camera. I had expected the shows to run late like the earlier day. But they were only late by a few minutes. I went to Does mythology need a twist? By Christopher Doyle, Shubha Vilas Das, Shatrujeet Nath and Anand Neelakantan. The moderator was Meghna Pant. I have to mention here that she was excellent, asking the right questions and being an intelligent listener. 

I am familiar with Anand Neelakantan’s writing as I am reading his book Ajaya in which Duryodhana is the protagonist. Author Anand Neelakantan is well known for his contrarian views as he takes the sides of the ‘supposed’ villains from mythology. His first book is Asura which tells the story from Ravana’s view point. 

After attending this programme, I am keen to read Christopher Doyle’s books too. Swami Shuba Vilas Das spoke really well and it was fascinating listening to him. 

Meghna Pant & Anand Neelakantan
The last part of the programme was just Anand Neelakantan and Meghna Pant as they spoke about the author’s latest book – The Rise of Kali – that continues with Duryodhanan’s story. The author explained why he felt the need to tell the story from what people considered the ‘villain’s’ view point. Amazing!

L-R: Vikram Sathaye, Parul Sharma, Sorabh Pant & Rishi Piparaiya
The next programme was Do happy people make great humour writers? I must say that this was the best one that I attended. I was sitting in the second row and laughed non-stop, almost falling out of my seat a few times, for the whole hour.  It was Sorabh Pant, Parul Sharma and Rishi Piparaiya – all authors – with Vikram Sathaye playing moderator. While Parul is quietly humorous, Rishi spoke very little. It was Sorabh who stole the show along with Vikram. Every time Sorabh opened his mouth, the audience were in splits. He was simply howlarious! And so was Vikram with his jokes on the cricket team. While making people laugh, Sorabh Pant also had many intelligent things to share – like how ‘chaos’ and ‘adrenaline rush’ make him what he is – a very successful stand-up comedian. It was the most awesome one-hour session. Loved it!

L-R: Shoma Narayanan, Leena Varghese, Sudeep Nagarkar & Sachin Garg
I crashed midway into Are Romance Novels just a Happy Bubble? Does reality often burst it? In conversation with Shoma Narayanan, Sudeep Nagarkar, Leena Varghese and Sachin Garg. The discussion was kind of tanda after that humour session. I liked a number of things I heard from Leena Varghese. Very mature stuff about how relationships depend on accepting the other for what he/she is. Very valid points indeed! What surprised me was the number of male romance authors that I came upon during the lit fest. After Ravinder Singh the earlier day, it was Sudeep Nagarkar and Sachin Garg on the second day. And believe me, they are all super successful. Sudeep has done his engineering, not enjoying it at all. It was only after he received the printed copy of his first book that his family got to know about his becoming a published author. The three-book old Sachin Garg also happens to own a publishing house. Impressive! 

I got out at the tail end of the programme as it was question time and I was getting quite late. I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the 2-day Litomania lit fest organised by Think WhyNot . Kudos guys! 


[image error]

Sharing: LITOMANIA 2014 DAY 2

L-R: Christopher Doyle, Shubha Vilas Das, Meghna Pant, Anand Neelakantan & Shatrujeet Nath
On the second day, I decided to go to Litomania only in the afternoon. Luckily for me, I remembered to take my camera. I had expected the shows to run late like the earlier day. But they were only late by a few minutes. I went to Does mythology need a twist? By Christopher Doyle, Shubha Vilas Das, Shatrujeet Nath and Anand Neelakantan. The moderator was Meghna Pant. I have to mention here that she was excellent, asking the right questions and being an intelligent listener. 

I am familiar with Anand Neelakantan’s writing as I am reading his book Ajaya in which Duryodhana is the protagonist. Author Anand Neelakantan is well known for his contrarian views as he takes the sides of the ‘supposed’ villains from mythology. His first book is Asura which tells the story from Ravana’s view point. 

After attending this programme, I am keen to read Christopher Doyle’s books too. Swami Shuba Vilas Das spoke really well and it was fascinating listening to him. 

Meghna Pant & Anand Neelakantan
The last part of the programme was just Anand Neelakantan and Meghna Pant as they spoke about the author’s latest book – The Rise of Kali – that continues with Duryodhanan’s story. The author explained why he felt the need to tell the story from what people considered the ‘villain’s’ view point. Amazing!

L-R: Vikram Sathaye, Parul Sharma, Sorabh Pant & Rishi Piparaiya
The next programme was Do happy people make great humour writers? I must say that this was the best one that I attended. I was sitting in the second row and laughed non-stop, almost falling out of my seat a few times, for the whole hour.  It was Sorabh Pant, Parul Sharma and Rishi Piparaiya – all authors – with Vikram Sathaye playing moderator. While Parul is quietly humorous, Rishi spoke very little. It was Sorabh who stole the show along with Vikram. Every time Sorabh opened his mouth, the audience were in splits. He was simply howlarious! And so was Vikram with his jokes on the cricket team. While making people laugh, Sorabh Pant also had many intelligent things to share – like how ‘chaos’ and ‘adrenaline rush’ make him what he is – a very successful stand-up comedian. It was the most awesome one-hour session. Loved it!

L-R: Shoma Narayanan, Leena Varghese, Sudeep Nagarkar & Sachin Garg
I crashed midway into Are Romance Novels just a Happy Bubble? Does reality often burst it? In conversation with Shoma Narayanan, Sudeep Nagarkar, Leena Varghese and Sachin Garg. The discussion was kind of tanda after that humour session. I liked a number of things I heard from Leena Varghese. Very mature stuff about how relationships depend on accepting the other for what he/she is. Very valid points indeed! What surprised me was the number of male romance authors that I came upon during the lit fest. After Ravinder Singh the earlier day, it was Sudeep Nagarkar and Sachin Garg on the second day. And believe me, they are all super successful. Sudeep has done his engineering, not enjoying it at all. It was only after he received the printed copy of his first book that his family got to know about his becoming a published author. The three-book old Sachin Garg also happens to own a publishing house. Impressive! 

I got out at the tail end of the programme as it was question time and I was getting quite late. I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the 2-day Litomania lit fest organised by Think WhyNot . Kudos guys! 

Sharing: LITOMANIA 2014 DAY 1

Pic Courtesy: Litomania FB pageI was pretty excited when I saw the listing for Litomania in Mumbai Mirror. Having never attended a lit fest ever, I decided to go for this one as it was held quite close to home. I registered immediately online for it and chalked out the programmes I wanted to attend. Preeti Arora – we used to work together at Buzz18 – called to tell me about Litomania and we both decided to meet there.

The first day – October 11, 2014 – inauguration, etc., began late and all the shows were subsequently late.

Without meaning to, I attended the inauguration and after that came the programme – What is India reading? It was a discussion by Amish Tripathi, Ashwin Sanghi, Ravi Subramanian and Ravinder Singh. I have read Amish’s Shiva Trilogy; The Rozabal Line, Chanakya Chants & The Krishna Key by Ashwin Sanghi; If God is a Banker & Devil in Pinstripes by Ravi Subramanian. I got to know that day that Ravinder Singh is a romance author and has written a few books that are very popular with the younger generation. Click Here to know more about this author.

Author Ravinder Singh Pic Courtesy: http://www.thenational.ae/It was an interesting discussion on how Modern India is keener to read Indian authors who write about Indian characters unlike the older generation who grew up on Western authors. I must say it was a very interesting and absorbing group discussion with all the four authors participating in equal measures.

The next programme I attended was a group discussion on the Romance Genre and I was sure I would find a lot of useful inputs here. The participants were Author Madhuri Banerjee; Author Bhaavna Arora and Author-Publisher Amrita Chowdhury with moderator Rachel Lopez. Topic was Is India exploring the 50 shades?

Author Madhuri Banerjee Pic Courtesy: http://www.fuccha.in/Only after sitting for some time I realised that this was only about writing explicit scenes in romances. I haven’t read the Fifty Shades series and that obviously was the reason for my gaffe. When the discussion got to the stage of writing about same sex relationship and relationship with animals (yep, you read right), Preeti and I had had enough and left the hall.

Chef Sanjeev Kapoor Pic Courtesy: http://zoinkmediablog.files.wordpress... had an invite to Ravi Subramanian’s Masterclass on How to write a book and get it published. I checked at the reception if I could attend and as they had no objection, we both went to the hall allotted for the lecture immediately after lunch. Without meaning to we landed at Chef Sanjeev Kapoor’s India’s obsession with gastronomy along with Pooja Dhingra and Shipra Khanna. I must say that Sanjeev Kapoor held the audience’s attention as he spoke about his career growth from learning to be a chef, his culinary show on Doordarshan to penning his first recipe book. Today, he has sold more than two and a half million copies of his books. Amazing!

Author Ravi Subramanian Pic Courtesy: http://iyatingupta.com/ Next was Ravi Subramanian’s class. He held the audience spell bound as he took us through the session first talking about how to write and then how to get your work published. I liked it when he said that a writer must write every day and should make time for it maybe by giving up on TV time or even sleep. It was sound advice and I have decided to follow it – to write every day. So far so good!

I went to meet the author and introduced myself, congratulating him on his awesome books. I was pretty thrilled when he recognised my name when I told him that I had sent him his book reviews on my blog. Ravi S did promise to help me with the print publishing of my books. Let’s see.

The last class I attended that day was on When writing mythology, does the writing change the writer? Participants were Amish Tripathi and Ashwin Sanghi while the moderator was Rachel Lopez. I had missed half the discussion as the earlier programme had got delayed. But I still found the discussion very interesting.

What a day!

More info on Day 2 in the next blog


[image error]

Sharing: LITOMANIA 2014 DAY 1

Pic Courtesy: Litomania FB pageI was pretty excited when I saw the listing for Litomania in Mumbai Mirror. Having never attended a lit fest ever, I decided to go for this one as it was held quite close to home. I registered immediately online for it and chalked out the programmes I wanted to attend. Preeti Arora – we used to work together at Buzz18 – called to tell me about Litomania and we both decided to meet there.

The first day – October 11, 2014 – inauguration, etc., began late and all the shows were subsequently late.

Without meaning to, I attended the inauguration and after that came the programme – What is India reading? It was a discussion by Amish Tripathi, Ashwin Sanghi, Ravi Subramanian and Ravinder Singh. I have read Amish’s Shiva Trilogy; The Rozabal Line, Chanakya Chants & The Krishna Key by Ashwin Sanghi; If God is a Banker & Devil in Pinstripes by Ravi Subramanian. I got to know that day that Ravinder Singh is a romance author and has written a few books that are very popular with the younger generation. Click Here to know more about this author.

Author Ravinder Singh Pic Courtesy: http://www.thenational.ae/It was an interesting discussion on how Modern India is keener to read Indian authors who write about Indian characters unlike the older generation who grew up on Western authors. I must say it was a very interesting and absorbing group discussion with all the four authors participating in equal measures.

The next programme I attended was a group discussion on the Romance Genre and I was sure I would find a lot of useful inputs here. The participants were Author Madhuri Banerjee; Author Bhaavna Arora and Author-Publisher Amrita Chowdhury with moderator Rachel Lopez. Topic was Is India exploring the 50 shades?

Author Madhuri Banerjee Pic Courtesy: http://www.fuccha.in/Only after sitting for some time I realised that this was only about writing explicit scenes in romances. I haven’t read the Fifty Shades series and that obviously was the reason for my gaffe. When the discussion got to the stage of writing about same sex relationship and relationship with animals (yep, you read right), Preeti and I had had enough and left the hall.

Chef Sanjeev Kapoor Pic Courtesy: http://zoinkmediablog.files.wordpress... had an invite to Ravi Subramanian’s Masterclass on How to write a book and get it published. I checked at the reception if I could attend and as they had no objection, we both went to the hall allotted for the lecture immediately after lunch. Without meaning to we landed at Chef Sanjeev Kapoor’s India’s obsession with gastronomy along with Pooja Dhingra and Shipra Khanna. I must say that Sanjeev Kapoor held the audience’s attention as he spoke about his career growth from learning to be a chef, his culinary show on Doordarshan to penning his first recipe book. Today, he has sold more than two and a half million copies of his books. Amazing!

Author Ravi Subramanian Pic Courtesy: http://iyatingupta.com/ Next was Ravi Subramanian’s class. He held the audience spell bound as he took us through the session first talking about how to write and then how to get your work published. I liked it when he said that a writer must write every day and should make time for it maybe by giving up on TV time or even sleep. It was sound advice and I have decided to follow it – to write every day. So far so good!

I went to meet the author and introduced myself, congratulating him on his awesome books. I was pretty thrilled when he recognised my name when I told him that I had sent him his book reviews on my blog. Ravi S did promise to help me with the print publishing of my books. Let’s see.

The last class I attended that day was on When writing mythology, does the writing change the writer? Participants were Amish Tripathi and Ashwin Sanghi while the moderator was Rachel Lopez. I had missed half the discussion as the earlier programme had got delayed. But I still found the discussion very interesting.

What a day!

More info on Day 2 in the next blog

Blog Tour: AGAINST ALL RULES by Summerita Rhayne

Against All Rules By  Summerita Rhayne



MY REVIEW
Against All Rules is all about the sexual tension between Tahir and his secretary Samara. I loved the names of the protagonists. Tahir is recently divorced and Samara is torn between feeling sad for his broken relationship and being glad that he is free to be pursued as she’s been in love with him since a long time. After a lot of back and forth they get together in the end.
Summerita Rhayne’s language is good, though a stronger hand at proofing would have been a help. 
The story line could have been stronger. It’s all about sexual innuendoes over the first half of the book till the reader begins to wonder why can't they just get on with it and let us be at peace. There’s a little bit about Tahir’s relationship with his father. But I can’t see where it fits with the story line. It’s a separate issue altogether. 
I will go with three stars for this book for the author’s writing style, the titillating content and the wonder of weaving a story around lust. 
All the best to Summerita Rhayne on her writing and self-publishing venture as there’s one thing I can promise about her book – Against All Rules will sell. 



The Blurb The efficient PA out of her depth...
Samara knows getting attracted to Tahir is like asking for trouble. Not only is he her boss but he’s got divorced recently and has sworn off any commitment. Short term is not on her list but temptation has never been stronger.

The man who doesn’t have faith in rainbows anymore...

Tahir doesn’t believe in enforcing a code of conduct he cannot follow. But Samara might just make him make an exception! An affair at the office might seem a solution to his troubles but how can he avoid treading uncharted territory…?

Against All Rules

…when fire is set, it’s hard to avoid the blaze


Buy @
Amazon.com | Amazon.in 
Watch It 




Meet the Author






Summerita Rhayne loves to write sensual and emotional romance. There's no knowing when some quirky - or sometimes even not so quirky - happening in daily life might trigger her right brain and then she's off craving a new story. She loves writing characters who learn and grow and find their way out of their troubles and emotional hang-ups. Hot, sensual heroes and sassy but sweet heroines mostly fit the bill in her stories. She also believes that a touch of humor never goes amiss in a book.

She divides her time between family, job and writing - and loves winding down with music, movies and the internet!



You can stalk Summerita Rhyane @                                            




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