Barbara Venkataraman's Blog: A Trip on the Mobius Strip, page 3

December 27, 2021

End the Year With a Smile: A Year of Shorts :-)

Are you having trouble focusing? Does your mind wander? Could you use a chuckle or two? There's a cure and it's only $1.99. A Year of Shorts: Flash Fiction is a fun collaboration of authors who were challenged to write a story using exactly 100 words. The book has 4 sections: Scary Shorts, Holiday Shorts, Valentine Shorts, and Dog Days of Summer Shorts. Guaranteed enjoyment for the wandering mind. :-D

Here's the link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09...

Description:

A Year of Flash Fiction, what a blast! The challenge: capture a mood, a memory, or an experience, using exactly 100 words. Whether it's Halloween, the Holiday Season, Valentine's Day or the Dog Days of Summer, stories like Ice Cream Hero, Lemonade Stand, and The Prank take you back to your childhood, while others like Fever Pitch, The Panty Liner Incident, and Lemonade Stand evoke summer heat and the search for relief. Other stories like What's the Buzz?, Lazy Lake, and Change of Season leave you with a smile.

Enjoy stories by Goodreads authors Jina Bazzar, James J. Cudney, IV, S.J. Higbee, Sandra J. Jackson, Loretta Marion, Didi Oviatt, Carmen Radtke, Amy Reade, Rosemary Reeve, Kelly Santana-Banks, L.A. Starks, Josh Venkataraman and Barbara Venkataraman as well as authors Bob Beckman, Kathleen Fowler Costa, Eric Homberger, Jeff Homberger, Geoffrey Marion, Jodi Markley, Nico Morales, Julie Morrall, Alison Sullivan, Kaitlyn Sutey, and Vijay Venkataraman.
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Free Promo 12/27-12/31 :-)

Happy New Year! My first Jamie Quinn Cozy Mystery, Death by Didgeridoo, is free today through 12/31, spread the word! :-)

Description:
Attorney Jamie Quinn is on a six-month hiatus from practicing law to deal with her beloved mother's death. Rarely leaving the house, she shares most of her days with her late mother's cranky cat.

But soon, Jamie is forced into action by a frantic call from her Aunt Peg, whose autistic son Adam is in police custody and suspected of murdering his music teacher, a once-famous rock star named Spike.

It's up to Jamie to find the real killer. The problem is, Spike seems to have had more enemies than he had friends, and Adam had confessed to the murder already. Can Jamie piece together the evidence and bring the murderer to justice before it's too late?

A delightful, light mystery set in the small town of Hollywood, South Florida, Death By Didgeridoo is the first book in Barbara Venkataraman's Jamie Quinn Cozy Mysteries series.

Here's the link:
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Didgerid...
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Published on December 27, 2021 07:58 Tags: barbara-venkataraman, death-be-didgeridoo, free-e-book, jamie-quinn-cozy-mysteries

December 1, 2021

Holiday Cheer For Only 99 cents! :-)

It's the holiday season and what better way to start your festivities than a good book of holiday stories? You won't want to miss my holiday collection: Holiday Shorts: Flash Fiction. It will brighten your day and make you smile--and it's only 99 cents! :-D

Description:
Holiday Flash Fiction, what could be more fun? Capture a mood, a memory, a wonderful experience, using exactly 100 words. Stories like Secret Santa, Brag and Gag, In the Nick of Time, The Roar of the Crowd, and Opposites Attract will give you a chuckle. Other stories like Everyone's a Critic, Spread Joy and Holiday Magic will make your holidays even more enjoyable.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08...
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November 21, 2021

Book Promo for Ren-Fair Fans 11/22-11/26:-D

Do you love a good Renaissance Fair? The costumes, the shows, the artisans, the tall people on stilts? If that's you, then you will love Peril in the Park, Book 3 of my Jamie Quinn Cozy Mystery Series and the good news is it's only 99 cents from 11/22-11/26.

Check it out: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

Description:
Someone has decided to make life difficult for Jamie Quinn's boyfriend, Kip Simons: the new director of Broward County parks.

There is trouble in the park, but who's the culprit? Is it the angry supervisor passed over for promotion, or the disgruntled employee Kip recently fired? Or maybe there's someone with an even bigger ax to grind.

In any case, there's a dead guy in the park and Kip has gone missing. With the help of her favorite P.I., Duke Broussard, Jamie must race against the clock to find Kip before it's too late.
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Published on November 21, 2021 09:54 Tags: barbara-venkataraman, ebook-promo, jamie-quinn-cozy-mystery, next-chapter, peril-in-the-park

November 12, 2021

Indie Author Panel 11/13 at 2:00 :-D

Find out what a literary agent can do for you!

Join to hear from our panel of literary agents and authors.





Barbara Venkataraman Alexandra Weiss Vanessa Campos

Award-winning author Barbara Venkataraman is an attorney in South Florida where she draws inspiration for her books from the daily headlines.

Alexandra Weiss joined the world of publishing in 2016, as an associate agent with the Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency. In 2021, she joined Azantian Literary Agency where she represents fiction and nonfiction picture books, middle grade, young adult, graphic novels, and select adult nonfiction.

Vanessa Campos is an agent at D4EO Literary Agency, she is looking to help bring more diverse voices to the business, entrepreneurship, and self-help publishing space. She also manages the Broad Book Team, a group of talented book creators dedicated to bringing your book project to life.
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Published on November 12, 2021 07:45 Tags: barbara-venkataraman, broward-county-library, indie-author-day

October 31, 2021

Two more book promos! :-)

My new publisher, Next Chapter, is so good at keeping those promos coming. :-D Be sure to check out these 99 cent promos between 10/31-11/4:

The Case of the Killer Divorce (Jamie Quinn Mystery Book 2)

In book two of the Jamie Quinn Cozy Mysteries series, Jamie has returned to her family law practice after a hiatus due to her mother's death. It's business as usual until a bitter divorce case turns into a murder investigation, and Jamie's client becomes the prime suspect. When she can't untangle truth from lies, Jamie enlists the help of Duke Broussard, her favorite private investigator, to try to clear her client's name.
Jamie's also hoping that in his spare time, Duke can help her find her long-lost father. But can the two find out who the killer is, and bring him to justice?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

Teatime with Mrs. Grammar Person

Fear not, Gentle Writer, Mrs. Grammar Person is here and she has the answers to all of the questions you never thought to ask.
As a dedicated and serious grammarian, she will do what it takes to be entertaining and enlightening, but never vulgar or coarse. Heavens, no! Where are her smelling salts? Warm and witty, Mrs. G.P. makes grammar interesting with rhyming, wishful thinking, story-telling and a champagne toast.
You are cordially invited to join her for a spot of tea!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...
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October 24, 2021

"Why I Hate Haunted House Stories" Guest post by author Brandon McNulty :-D

I am thrilled to introduce you to Brandon McNulty, a wonderful author and writing coach who grew up loving monsters, demons, and the thrill of a great scare. Now he writes supernatural thrillers, horror, and other dark fiction. He is a graduate of Taos Toolbox Writers Workshop and a winner of both Pitch Wars and RevPit.

Brandon wrote a Halloween-themed guest post just for me and all I had to do was ask. Thanks, Brandon!

You can find Brandon here:
https://www.amazon.com/Brandon-McNult...
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
https://www.youtube.com/c/WriterBrand...

Why I Hate Haunted House Stories

Think about the last haunted house story you read or watched. Did a family move into their new home only to discover doors randomly opening and strange noises escaping the attic? Did the so-called heroes have to beg cops or paranormal investigators for help? Did the previous owner commit a heinous sin that must be atoned for?

I’m a horror writer, so it might surprise you to learn that I hate a popular horror trope: the haunted house. Specifically, suburban haunted houses. Whether it’s a gaudy mansion or a modest bungalow, I’ve seen too many.

In my YouTube video titled: My Five Most Hated Horror Clichés, haunted houses ranked #3 on my list (https://youtu.be/RfKB_HmiVqw). They’ve become a tired cliché for two reasons: the setting and the setup.

The setting for these types of stories is almost always a suburban home. I understand the logic behind choosing a suburban home—it’s something many of us can relate to—but when a setting gets reused countless times, it becomes too familiar. The more familiar a horror trope becomes, the less scary it gets. And when horror fails to scare (or at least thrill) an audience, it fails outright.

The solution is to embrace the unknown, which is the one thing that has scared human beings back to our earliest ancestors. Modern writers must construct a new, unpredictable breed of haunted houses. Hell, it doesn’t even have to be a haunted house. Try haunted airports, haunted grocery stores, or haunted rec centers. Try stretching the idea of what a “house” is until new ideas arise like ghosts from a decrepit cellar.

The other problem is the setup for these types of stories. There’s nothing wrong with using plot structure to build a story, but when the same elements and scenarios keep appearing, promising ideas rot into clichés.

The good news is that haunted house tales don’t have to be predictable. One of my favorites in recent memory is the 2016 movie Don’t Breathe in which a trio of thieves breaks into the house of a wealthy blind man who isn't as helpless as he seems. It’s fresh and exciting and it never feels clichéd thanks to its intriguing premise.

But for every Don’t Breathe, there are entire neighborhoods full of uninspired haunted mansions that storytellers keep building. If you’re a writer, don’t be afraid to design new types of haunted houses. And if you’re a reader, make sure to pay those a visit.
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Published on October 24, 2021 11:31 Tags: barbara-venkataraman, brandon-mcnulty

Two book promos at once! :-D

Two of my award-winning Quirky Essay books are only 99 cents right now, yay! I'm Not Talking About You, Of Course is on promo from 10/23-10/27.A Trip to the Hardware Store & Other Calamities is on promo from 10/24-10/28.

Here are the descriptions and links:

I'm Not Talking About You, Of Course:

Winner of the "Indie Book of the Day" award, this short collection of humorous essays explores such quirky topics as annoying pet people (“I’m Not Talking About You, Of Course”), analyzing your inner child (“Irrational Fears”) and how to live like the Amish in the aftermath of a hurricane (“A Jolt of Electricity”).

Included are also stories of just how much damage can be caused by a sneeze (“It All Started with a Loud Sneeze”), why it is so complicated to buy a tube of toothpaste (“Ask Me No Questions”), how not to prepare dinner ("Martha, I Let You Down"), making new friends ("Friends in Low Places"), how a parent’s obsessive hobbies can become an inescapable vortex (“Crazy Hobbies”), and why spending the night in a sleep clinic is like being abducted by probing aliens (“Nightmare at the Sleep Clinic”).

If you don’t see yourself in one of these entertaining essays, then I’m not talking about you, of course...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

A Trip to the Hardware Store & Other Calamities:

This collection of humorous essays explores such quirky topics as disastrous home repairs, ("A Trip to the Hardware Store"), an unfortunate dinner party (“Dinner is Served"), the truth about lazy people ("Lazy Bones"), the weird life of a debt collector ("Your Account is Past Due") and obsessions with gadgets ("Gadget Girl").

You'll also learn how surreal the aging process is (“Where Did the Time Go?"), why you shouldn't judge a person by their job (“Beyond Belief”), and how to complicate simple transactions (“High Finance”).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...
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Published on October 24, 2021 09:45 Tags: barbara-venkataraman, ebook-promo, i-m-not-talking-about-you

October 13, 2021

Great Fiction Writing Advice--For Free! :-)

Hi everyone!

I recently discovered a YouTube series that offers fantastic fiction writing advice by writer Brandon McNulty. He covers so many topics: scene structure, mood and emotion, heroes and villains, bad dialogue vs. good dialogue, to name a few, and he uses familiar scenes from movies to demonstrate his points. Each video is short and engaging and I watched them all. Highly recommend!

Check them out here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChqA...
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Published on October 13, 2021 08:02 Tags: brian-mcnulty, writing-advice

October 12, 2021

Accidental Accident: Justice for the Groveland Four only 99¢ 10/12-10/16

Our award-winning book, Accidental Activist: Justice for the Groveland Four, is on sale for 99¢ 10/12-10/16

Check it out here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...

Description:
Discover the incredible four-year quest for justice for The Groveland Four, and learn how to pursue your own causes, whatever they may be.

Accidental Activist is a primer for positive action, and a journey through Florida's past as well as its future. Some of the things you will learn by reading this book:

Everything takes more time than you think
Nothing ever goes according to plan
Help can come from unexpected places
Time is on your side
Everyone is connected
You can reach your tipping point for success and not even realize it
Your goals can change along the way
Flexibility is key
Let's get started, shall we?
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Published on October 12, 2021 10:38 Tags: barbara-venkataraman, ebook-promo, groveland-four, josh-venkataraman, social-justice

A Trip on the Mobius Strip

Barbara Venkataraman
Whenever I see something funny or weird that you can relate to, I will share it. Anything that will make you smile, or shake your head, or wiggle your ears. I'd like to see that, by the way... ...more
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