Janet MacLeod Trotter's Blog, page 7

SPELLBOUND

Beautiful and tranquil photos of a winter morning in India …

Enchanted Forests

The location is the temple village of Bateshwar,  Bah, District Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India  as mentioned in the previous blog titled Balls of Sugar.

The River is the Yamuna which flows within a mere 5 kms of the River Chambal at this point which in turn is now home to the Endangered Gharials.

I was spellbound by the beauty of the Landscape and had the pleasure of  watching an Indian Cormorant skim over the River as it competed for Fish with the Fishermen.

Cormorant in Flight 

Mustard Fields in bloom, Silhouettes of Large trees , a foggy Winter morning and a Cormorant in Flight kept me Spellbound.

Spellbinding Landscape and the Cormorant

The Sun filters through the Fog and the Flying  Cormorant has a Pelican for company and a new competitor for Fish as well.

In the Company of a Pelican

The pictures say it all…

View original post 6 more words

Filed under: Opinion Tagged: Enchanted Forests blog, India, nature, winter

Barrackpore House and its English Park: 1803 -1912

I’m re-blogging this fascinating article on the history of Barrackpore in Bengal:

রাজভবন লাটবাগান In sequence of the previously posted essay, ‘Barrackpore, a little Calcutta’, I am tempted to bring about the subject once again to share with you the fascinating details of the mak…

Source: Barrackpore House & Its English Park: 1803 -1912

Filed under: Opinion Tagged: 19th century India, Barrackpore, British Raj, Calcutta history, India

This Friday, Stand with Bandcamp in Support of Immigrants/Basic Human Values

This Friday, for any purchase made on Bandcamp, they will donate 100% of the share of the proceeds to the American Civil Liberties Union, who are working to oppose last week’s Executive Order barring immigrants and refugees from seven Middle Eastern countries from entering the United States. Please read more about their position here, and help us spread the word.

My friend and talented writer, Amanda Baker, has a children’s story on Bandcamp.

If you have not already and would like to buy a download of Casey & the Surfmen then why not do it this Friday 3rd Feb?

http://amandabaker.bandcamp.com/

or if there is anything else you were going to buy on Bandcamp – why not do it on Friday?

Bandcamp Daily

Like 98% of U.S. citizens (including the President), I am the descendant of immigrants—my great-grandparents came to America from Russia and Lithuania as teenagers and worked in sweatshops until they were able to afford to bring the rest of their families over. Most everyone you speak to in this country has a similar story to tell, because we are, in fact, a nation of immigrants, bound together by a shared belief in justice, equality, and the freedom to pursue a better life. In this context, last week’s Executive Order barring immigrants and refugees from seven Middle Eastern countries from entering the United States is not simply immoral, it violates the very spirit and foundation of America.

Contrary to the assertions of the current administration, the order will not make us safer (an opinion shared by the State Department and many members of Congress including prominent Republicans). Christian religious leaders…

View original post 1,810 more words

Filed under: News, Opinion Tagged: Amanda Baker, American Civil Liberties Union, audio books, Bandcamp, Casey & The Surfmen

DAILY DEAL! The Girl from the Tea Garden for 99p just for today!

I just wanted to let you know that my latest novel in the India Tea Series, THE GIRL FROM THE TEA GARDEN, is on the Amazon UK Daily Deal today.

It’s on for 99p (just in Amazon UK)

This is the third novel in the India Tea Series.

[image error]

Filed under: New Publications, News Tagged: 99p, Amazon bestsellers, Amazon Daily Deal, India Tea Series, The Girl from the Tea Garden

Landour – A Beautiful Offbeat Hill Station

Love India’s hill stations? Read this interesting blog post on a little known gem …

Himadri Negi

Born and brought up in a beautiful hill station (Nainital) myself, there is something about these small towns that attracts me and they are my first pick every time I want a vacation. My friends don’t understand why after spending 20 years in Nainital, I still crave to be in the hills – well, you need to have lived there to know it yourself. One of my favorite hill stations in the Northern part of India is ‘Landour’ – not known to a lot of people, a quiet cantonment town about 6kms (3.7 miles) from Mussoorie, Uttarakhand. Home to Ruskin Bond, Mussoorie’s best kept secretis tailor made for people like me that love spending time away from the hustle bustle.

It’s a 7 hour drive from New Delhi making it a perfect weekend getaway.

Places to stay: There are many small cottages and hotels around the place, but ‘La…

View original post 1,023 more words

Filed under: Opinion Tagged: hill stations, India, travel

Laura Kemp Guest Post – 8 Things You Need to Know About Being an Author @laurajanekemp @aria_fiction

Amusing look at the reality of a writer’s life from Laura Kemp!

Portobello Book Blog

                    

I’m delighted to be joined by author Laura Kemp. I read and very much enjoyed The Late Blossoming of Frankie Green last year – you can read my review here. Her latest book Whatever Happened to Vicky Hope’s Back-Up Man?, was published by Aria on 1st January – buying links are at the bottom of this post. Laura is sharing eight things she thinks you need to know about being an author. Read on to find out more!

Eight Things You Need To Know About Being An Author…

You Have To Grow Rhino Skin – Not only for the initial search for an agent but in the quest for a deal and when your book is published. Knock backs are horrible – rejection is never nice. We all go through it in life. In terms of books, it can…

View original post 724 more words

Filed under: Opinion Tagged: Laura Kemp author, Portobello Book Blog, publishing, writer's life, writing

TEA FOR THREE … and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

THE THREE INDIA TEA NOVELS are keeping each other company in the Amazon bestseller charts, as we go into the New Year ….

[image error]

The India Tea Series – UK

The India Tea Series – Amazon.com

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!

 

Filed under: New Publications, News Tagged: Amazon Kindle, Assam, British Raj, Edinburgh, Edwardian tea trade, Himalayas, India, India Tea Series, Lahore, Newcastle upon Tyne, Punjab, Simla, tea, The Girl from the Tea Garden, the tea planter's bride, The tea planter's daughter

ROLLING PILLARS

Fabulous architecture of Southern India …

Enchanted Forests

I had given a mere glimpse of this incredible and relatively unknown beauty set in Rural Karnataka near Mysore in India in an earlier blog titled WATER IS LIFE.

This is the region irrigated by the Mythical and Revered River of Southern India, River Kaveri.

Behold and see Nature set in Stone in The Keshava Temple , Somnathapura, Karnataka, India.

Ancient Majesty

The Signature Architecture of the Hoysala Dynasty who ruled over 1200 years ago, are the Rolling Pillars you see in the picture below.

Rolling Pillars 

Nature set in Stone surrounds each deity of the temple both inside and outside.

Nature in Stone

Do observe the rich greenery including the Sky reaching Coconut Trees that encompass this overpowering and magical temple set  in Stone.

View original post

Filed under: News, Opinion Tagged: architecture, Enchanted Forests blog, Karnataka, River Kaveri, Southern India

Tea in India proving popular!

Very excited that the three India tea novels are keeping each other company on Women’s Historical Fiction bestseller list today…. 1, 2 and 4!

[image error]

Filed under: News Tagged: Amazon bestsellers, India Tea Series, The Girl from the Tea Garden, the tea planter's bride, The tea planter's daughter

The Urbane Book Club unwrapped (@urbanepub)

An interesting selling model from a new publisher – a year’s subscription to all their titles. ‘Urbane’ looks intriguing. Something for reading groups to consider perhaps …?

Jill's Book Cafe

For anyone who hasn’t yet seen or heard me banging on about it (where have you been?), this month I became a member of the newly instituted Urbane Book Club. Now anyone who knows me will know I do not part with my money at the drop of a hat unless I think it’s good value. Trust me, this club represents excellent value. At £99.99 (say it quickly) I acknowledge it might not be your average impulse purchase, I know it’s certainly not mine. But having looked at what’s on offer I conceded I’d be daft not too – and it is nearly Christmas, so Merry Christmas to me!

So first of all, before the what do I get, who exactly is Urbane Publications? Urbane was founded by Matthew Smith in February 2014 and he’s come a long way in a relatively short space of time. You can read Matthew’s…

View original post 1,409 more words

Filed under: News, Opinion Tagged: book bloggers, book subscription, new books, Reading Groups, Urbane publisher