Ekta R. Garg's Blog, page 59

Into the first full week of October…

Hello, Write Edge readers, and happy Monday! We’re heading into our first full week of October, and this week (in addition to all the content we have here) I’m doing my last workshop of the year for our local library. It’s on Zoom on Wednesday at 7 p.m., Central time, is free, and anyone is welcome to join as I talk about how to start building concrete characters. Here’s the link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_W_yQYmYKSG-qIBXt-IMgjg

Even if you can’t attend on Wednesday, you can sign up and get the recording to watch later. So, writers, be sure to sign up and share with your friends!

Now, on to our regular weekly writing content. First, this week’s motivational quote. People read good books and are surprised, but they may not realize that writers get surprised too and love it as much as the readers do. Here’s an inkling into how that works:

“For me, writing is exploration; and most of the time, I’m surprised where the journey takes me.”—Jack Dann

Also, I’ve posted my short story for you for this week. The prompt caught my eye this morning, and I’ve been mulling it all day. Here’s an excerpt:

It was a breezy scarf, meant as an accessory and not for warmth. I remembered making a note of it, because the irony of the pairing struck me. She wore the sweater to stay warm, but she had to look all made up with the scarf.

Read the whole story now on The Write Edge Writing Workshop!

In the middle of the week, I’ll share my latest book review with you. On Wednesday find out what I thought of Ruth Ware’s newest thriller, One by One. Find that on The Write Edge Bookshelf on Wednesday!

And on Friday, it’s back to Insta posts and the latest visual pieces to light up my life. Check out older posts with my handle, @EktaRGarg, or on my Facebook author page at https://www.facebook.com/ReviewerEditorAuthorDreamer.

Stay safe, everyone. Please, wear a mask and stay socially distant. Bundle up if you’re in northern climes. It’s getting cooler.

Have a wonderful week, readers!

E.R.G.

New Instagram pics up!

Good evening, Write Edge readers! I’ve posted my latest Instagram pics for you. Tonight, find out what I’m not reading, a small something that made me happy, and more. Check it all out with my handle, @EktaRGarg, or by going to my Facebook author page at https://www.facebook.com/ReviewerEditorAuthorDreamer where you’ll find other cool stuff exclusive to FB.

Stay safe, stay socially distant, and wear a mask. Have a great weekend, readers!

E.R.G.

Book review up!

Hello, Write Edge readers! I’ve posted my latest book review for you. Today I share my thoughts on The White Coat Diaries by Madi Sinha. Here’s the opening to my post:

An intern learns the hard way about the realities of practicing medicine in the first year of her residency. When she and another resident find themselves in a moral dilemma, they face the toughest choices of their career. Author and physician Madi Sinha relies on her personal experience in medicine to give readers a novel that is factual but also fizzles out toward the end in her debut The White Coat Diaries.

Read the full review now on The Write Edge Bookshelf!

Stay safe, stay socially distant, and go and vote, readers!

E.R.G.

Gearing up for October

Hello, Write Edge readers! I know I say this every month, but can you believe it’s almost October?? Only three more months in the year. Here’s hoping they quiet down a little bit. The rest of 2020 has been a doozy!

The pandemic has challenged us to spend more time indoors and also more time in introspection. It’s easy, then, to go online and see how everyone else seems to be accomplishing all their dreams in a single tweet or post when we’re still plugging along. But everyone struggles, and everyone gets their 15 minutes of fame and then has to go back to doing the work. That’s what this week’s motivational quote is about:

“Don’t ask, Do I have a book inside me? Ask: Inside, am I a writer? If the answer is yes, write and don’t stop.”—James Scott Bell

Speaking of writing without stopping, it’s the last Monday of the month. That means our writers’ showcase. This month I’m sharing a fantastic science fiction piece I read along with a poem that resonated with me and a nonfiction piece about escaping the wildfires in California. For all of this month’s showcase stories, go to The Write Edge Writing Workshop!

Last week I promised you a review of The White Coat Diaries by physician-turned-author Madi Sinha, and that’s exactly what I have on deck for this Wednesday. Check out my review in the middle of the week on The Write Edge Bookshelf!

At the end of the week, I’ll share more Instagram posts. Want to see older pictures? Find me on Insta with my handle, @EktaRGarg, or on my Facebook author page where I also post other fun things exclusive to Facebook.

Lastly, I’m doing another workshop next week for our local library. It’s on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 7 p.m. Central time. This one is on character development. It’s free and virtual, so you can attend from anywhere in the world and any time zone. Be sure to sign up for the workshop here!

Stay safe, stay socially distant, and stay healthy, readers!

E.R.G.

Latest Growth Chart now up!

A happy (late) Friday to you, Write Edge readers! What a full, busy day. But I still managed to make time to record my latest parenting adventures for you. Here’s a quick excerpt:

Was I being a bad mom by not pushing my child to listen to my advice? Did pulling back on the editorial feedback mean I wasn’t doing all I could to help others as I had pledged to do so on my 40th birthday?

Was my child fated to spend her early writing years making the same mistakes I did?

Read the full post now on Growth Chart!

Stay safe, stay masked, stay socially distant, and enjoy the weekend, readers!

E.R.G.

Book review posted (with a surprise!)

Good morning, Write Edge readers! I’ve posted my latest book review for you, but, surprise! It’s not of White Coat Diaries as I said on Monday. I wanted to share another review with you today and will be giving you my thoughts on Madi Sinha’s newest novel next week.

Today’s book review is of Jodi Picoult’s latest novel, The Book of Two Ways. Here’s the opening to my post:

A woman gets a second chance to explore the career she left behind after a near-fatal accident. As she returns to the man and the field she loved, she begins to question everything she knows about life and death. Author Jodi Picoult returns with her trademark depth of story and character in her newest novel, The Book of Two Ways.

Read the full review now on The Write Edge Bookshelf!

Next week, White Coat Diaries, I promise. :>

Stay safe, stay masked, stay social distant. Have a great day, readers!

E.R.G.

Deep breaths, in and out

Hello, Write Edge readers! We’re in the last full week of September; can you believe it? The first part of this year limped along, and then we got into the taffy-stretchy days of summer. As fall officially begins tomorrow, we’re in the last stretch of 2020. Is anyone else letting out a slow exhale?

Be that as it may, there are still plenty of good things to look forward to for this last part of the year. It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? I mean, in a year that includes a pandemic and the deaths of civil rights leaders (among so many others) as well as a major economic downturn, you might be wondering where the good is.

Maybe, though, if we look for the good things, we’ll find them in unexpected places. Even an act of kindness, where a car lets you pass when it had the right of way, could be a good thing. This week’s motivational quote refers, in an indirect way, to the many efforts of people pursuing life passions. It might feel like you can’t get something right, but…

“Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be right once.”—Drew Houston

Speaking of good things, I’m doing another workshop for our local library. This time I’m talking about character development — what questions to ask and how to use those questions to write rich characters. Sign up for the Oct. 7 workshop on Zoom right here!

Speaking of characters, I went back to the prompt I’d chosen for last week’s short story and wrote it. All of the characters in this short piece made an impression on me. Here’s an excerpt:

His world changed on a Tuesday afternoon from a warm, muted place to one where the cold slapped him in the rear.

Sounds rushed at him from all sides; most he didn’t recognize. One he did. He wished he could get closer to that sound, but then it gained distance from him at a rapid pace. He sucked in a breath at the shock of it all and let loose a howl.

Read the whole story now on The Write Edge Writing Workshop!

In the middle of the week, I’ll come back with another book review. This time I’m sharing my thoughts on The White Coat Diaries by Madi Sinha. Come back this Wednesday to The Write Edge Bookshelf to find out what I thought about this new release!

And this Friday, on our last Friday of the month, I’m returning with new parenting adventures. Find out what the kids and I have been up to on Growth Chart!

Stay safe, stay social distant, and wear a mask. Have a fantast week, readers!

E.R.G.

Latest Insta posts up!

Hello, Write Edge readers! I’ve posted my latest pictures on Instagram. See what’s on my TBR list, check out a great resource for voting, and more! Find me on Instagram with my handle, @EktaRGarg, or check out the photos (and other fun stuff exclusive to FB) on my Facebook author page.

Stay safe, stay hydrated, and social distance, readers! Have a great weekend!

E.R.G.

New book review up!

Hello, Write Edge readers! I’ve posted my latest book review for you. Today I share my thoughts on Road Out of Winter by author Alison Stine. Here’s the opening to my post:

After winter sets in prematurely, a young woman embarks on a journey to find her mother. Along the way she meets others who feel just as lost as she does. As they fight the elements and humanity, they face choices that test their mettle. Literary author Alison Stine uses her incredible talent for prose in a book that doesn’t move far, plot wise, in her latest novel Road Out of Winter.

Read the full review now on The Write Edge Bookshelf!

Have a good day, readers!

E.R.G.

New addition to Notes on Tuesday!

Happy Tuesday, Write Edge readers! I know, strange to see me on a Tuesday. I apologize for not posting yesterday. It was a good day with a lot of tasks that got completed, but I couldn’t fit in the time to post my latest short story or this week’s motivational quote for you. Next week, I promise.

In the meantime, I wanted to share my latest addition to my semi-regular feature Notes on Tuesday. Last week I did another workshop for our local library, this time all about where to begin if you want to write short stories. Here are the abridged notes to the talk I did for you to read, study, and share. (They’re abridged only because I took out all of the chit-chat and some of the long examples I normally use in these workshops, for the sake of brevity.) If you’re interested in attending future workshops, let me know! I have another one coming up in next month on building characters, and if the library will have me back next year I’m sure I’ll do more for them.

Although my week has gotten off to a slow start here on the blog, I’m rolling full steam ahead for the rest of the week. That means a new book review tomorrow. I’ll be sharing my thoughts on Alison Stine’s literary novel Road Out of Winter. Be sure to check that out on The Write Edge Bookshelf!

Then on Friday it’s back to Instagram. Have you seen fall colors yet anywhere near you? I’ll try to scout some in and around town here in Central IL. We’ll find out together on Friday whether I was successful at finding anything!