Ekta R. Garg's Blog, page 4

Back from proofreading, and ready for another week!

Good evening, Write Edge readers! After spending last week on the proofreading of my new book, The Witch’s Apprentice and Other Stories (!!!), I’m back to chat with all of you this week. It’s so good to say that!

For today’s Monday Motivation, if you’re a writer and you’re looking for an incredibly affordable conference/retreat with a small cohort and lots of personal attention from instructors and literary agents, have I got the thing for you:

I’m so proud to be on the board of directors for Novel Bookcamp, and I’d love for you to join us this June in Racine, Wisconsin. For more details, check out the website now. The deadline for signing up is May 15, and we’ve only got a few spots left!

In the middle of the week, I’ll share my latest review with you. This Wednesday, I’ll let you know what I thought of the domestic thriller The Matchmaker by Aisha Saeed. While Saeed has written YA books before, this is her debut novel for adults. Was it a good read? Find out on The Write Edge Bookshelf!

I’ll go back to Instagram at the end of this week with a little tease of a special announcement. You won’t want to miss that as well as my other writing and nonwriting shenanigans. Missed previous posts? Find me on the app with my handle, @EktaRGarg, or go to my Facebook author page.

It’s great to be back, readers! Have a good week!

E.R.G.

Book review now up!

Hello, Write Edge readers! I’ve posted my latest book review for you. Today I share my thoughts on The Maid’s Secret by Nita Prose, the final book starring Molly the Maid. Here’s the opening to my review:

When the head maid at a fancy hotel realizes that a precious family heirloom has been stolen, she must scramble to figure out what to do next. Along the way, she’ll reconnect with her beloved grandmother and discover the true worth of love. Author Nita Prose brings her debut series to a close in this heartwarming novel that focuses much more on the past than it does the present in The Maid’s Secret.

Read the whole review now on The Write Edge Bookshelf!

Have a great evening, readers!

E.R.G.

We’ve swung into a springtime month! or It’s April!

Hello, Write Edge readers! It’s Monday and the first full week of April. I suppose, however, if I was trying to be subtle about it, I could mention more temperate weather, flowers blooming, eggs being hidden (plastic ones, anyway,) and more. But for a blog post, I think I’ll pitch the nuance.

Sometimes subtlety is what you need. Sometimes it isn’t. In today’s Monday Motivation, here’s a great article to help you decide where you should be more (or less) obvious in your writing.

https://chicagowrites.substack.com/p/the-subtle-art-of-subtext

In the middle of the week, I’ll give you my thoughts on the final book in the trilogy starring the intrepid Molly Gray from Nita Prose’s novels. How did The Maid’s Secret stand up to its predecessors? I’ll let you know this Wednesday on The Write Edge Bookshelf.

I realize I didn’t post on Instagram this past week, but I’ll do my level best to fix that this Friday. Sometimes the writing and non-writing shenanigans get the best of my time. If you’ve missed previous posts, you can check them out on the app with my handle, @EktaRGarg, or on my Facebook author page.

Have a great day and week, readers!

E.R.G.

Book review now up!

Hello, Write Edge readers! It’s been a rainy, sometimes stormy, day here in Central Illinois. A perfect day to read a good book if there ever was one!

Last week I shared in my #bookreviewpreview what I was reading for this week, and I just posted my review of Garbage Town by debut author Ravi Gupta. Here’s the opening to my post on this new book:

A group of teens stumble upon a terrible event and find themselves part of a mafia plot. As the friends try to navigate what happens next, they must decide whether they will do what’s right or bow to pressure. Ravi Gupta’s debut builds out a world so real readers may be able to follow the stench of the Fresh Kills landfill the book highlights in his book Garbage Town.

Read the whole review now on The Write Edge Bookshelf!

Have a great day, readers!

E.R.G.

Monday Motivation: Close third-person POV and more

Hello, Write Edge readers, and happy Monday! For my readers who are writers, in today’s Monday Motivation I have to share what I think is one of the best, if not the best, examples of close third-person POV I’ve come across in recent times: the Netflix limited series, “Adolescence.” This harrowing, four-episode drama goes into the story of a 13-year-old accused of murder. The story is completely fiction, but the universality of the emotions the characters express and feel are true to life. Check it out, and come back to let me know what you think of the unique style of shooting the show. To me, it visualizes close third-person POV like almost nothing else I’ve seen recently (if ever.)

Last week in my #bookreviewpreview, I shared that I #amreading Garbage Town by Ravi Gupta for this week’s review. Find out on Wednesday what I thought of this new release. You’ll get that review on Wednesday on The Write Edge Bookshelf.

Finally, on Friday, it’s back to Instagram and all my shenanigans in my writing and non-writing routines. Missed previous posts? Find them now on the app with my handle, @EktaRGarg, or on my Facebook author page.

Have a great night, readers!

E.R.G.

Instagram posts now up!

Hello, Write Edge readers, from blustery Illinois! If you want to know what that word, “blustery,” means, all you have to do is come to the Midwest on a day like this. We’re talking “knock-me-over” conditions out there!

Fortunately I’m inside and in my cozy writing studio where I can chat with all of you. I’ve posted my latest posts on Instagram for you. Check out what I #amreading in my #bookreviewpreview for next week, a recommendation for fellow writers, and more. Find me on the app with my handle, @EktaRGarg, or on my Facebook author page.

Have a great weekend, readers!

E.R.G.

Book review now up!

Hello, Write Edge readers! Last week in my #bookreviewpreview, I shared that I would give you my thoughts on the YA romantasy novel The Forest Grimm by Kathryn Purdie. I’ve just posted my review, and here’s the opening to that post:

A teenager braves the dangerous forest close to her village so she can try to save her mother and the other villagers who have gotten lost. As she does her best to fight the unlikeliest of monsters, she’ll also have to navigate complicated friendships and a budding romance even as the forest tries to keep its secrets to itself. Seasoned author Kathryn Purdie celebrates all things beloved about fairy tales while creating her own in the excellent book The Forest Grimm.

Read the whole review now on The Write Edge Bookshelf!

Have a great day, readers!

E.R.G.

Monday Motivation: An alternative to the hero’s journey and more for this week

Hello, Write Edge readers! I’m back from the Let’s Just Write conference by the Chicago Writers Association. What a fantastic time! I’m excited and doubly committed to my craft and my future as an author, and I’m so pleased I get to share that with all of you!

First, though, today’s Monday Motivation (is that what I’m going to call it from now on? Not sure yet, but I do like a good alliterative phrase) for any writers who follow me. If you’ve been writing for a while and have studied the craft in any capacity, you’ve definitely heard of “the hero’s journey,” or the Monomyth, and what it means for creating a story. Yet the brass tacks of the journey don’t always work for every plot we’re trying to build. Today I want to share a cool article about an alternative to the Monomyth: the Unitive Myth. Writing expert and teacher K.M. Weiland let guest Oliver Fox take over her blog to explain this one. Check it out here, and then let me know what you think of it.

For the readers who follow my blog, last week on Instagram in my #bookreviewpreview I shared that I was reviewing The Forest Grimm by Kathryn Purdie this week. This YA original fairy tale with familiar characters releases in paperback tomorrow, just in time for the sequel to release too. Find out what I thought of the book on The Write Edge Bookshelf.

Finally, on Friday, we go back to Instagram for my writing and non-writing shenanigans. You all know how much I love to share them! Find previous posts with my handle, @EktaRGarg.

Have a great week, readers!

E.R.G.

Instagram posts now up!

Hello, Write Edge readers! I’ve posted my latest pictures on Instagram. Check out what I #amreading in my #bookreviewpreview, where I’m going this weekend, and more! You can find me on the app with my handle, @EktaRGarg, or on my Facebook author page.

Have a great weekend, readers!

E.R.G.

Book review now up!

Hello, Write Edge readers! I’m typing this on a blustery day as the wind gusts past the windows of my wonderful little writing studio. It’s the perfect day to read and write, and here I am talking about both. This past Friday I shared my #bookreviewpreview. Today I’m giving you my thoughts on Broken Country, the newest novel (and a Reese’s Book Club pick) by Clare Leslie Hall. Here’s the opening to my post on this historical romantic mystery:

An English farmwife must face her past when her first love returns to town. As she grapples with what she has now and what could have been, she’s torn between the memories of youth and her steady, quiet husband. Author Clare Leslie Hall brings to life the happenings of a small town in vibrant descriptions of the English countryside with a plot that is only so-so in her latest book Broken Country.

Read the whole review now on The Write Edge Bookshelf!

Have a great day, readers!

E.R.G.