Ekta R. Garg's Blog, page 93
March 1, 2018
Starting the new month with a palette of colors!
Hello, Write Edge readers, and Happy Holi! In India people celebrate the color-filled holiday of Holi to signify the start of the spring season. We may not be experiencing spring quite yet here, but we’re getting closer. Hopefully this week’s content will help keep you warm.
It’s the start of a new month and a whole month since I’ve swung into our new posting routine here on the blog. Last year I would post my writers showcases at the end of the month. This year I’ve decided to change that up too (:>) and start the month with my writers showcases, and I’ve posted my latest one for you to read. Go now to The Write Edge Writing Workshop for the latest showcase!
I finished a new book in about three days, fast even for me, and I’ve written a review of it. Today I share my thoughts on the upcoming release The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth. Here’s the intro to my review:
When a woman moves to a new town, her arrival incites curiosity. As the neighbors get to know her, they must juggle their own challenges and secrets while trying to figure out how to save face in front of one another. Australian author Sally Hepworth gives readers a well-rounded look at small-town life in the warm yet slightly confusing novel The Family Next Door.
Check out the full review now on The Write Edge Bookshelf!
Lastly, I’ve posted my latest parenting adventure for you. Here’s a sneak peek:
“Keep trying,” my husband went on. “Someday they’ll get sick of you pestering them and say, ‘Okay, we’ll publish your story.’”
He said the last line in a half-joking sort of way, but Eleven just looked at him.
“I know how you feel,” I said. Oh, boy, do I know how you feel. “I’ve gotten several rejections too in the last year.”
Read the whole thing on Growth Chart now!
Thanks for all your support and patience, readers. Have an excellent week!
E.R.G.
February 22, 2018
Inspiration from a (TV) series and more
Hello once again, Write Edge readers! I’m back again. Another Thursday and a new week’s worth of content. If anyone has any strong feelings about the shakeup in the posting schedule, feel free to let me know. As for me, I’m starting to like it more and more.
I’ve posted this week’s short story. My husband and I are in the middle of watching the Amazon original series The Man in the High Castle, adapted from the 1960s novel of the same name, and I guess I still have that time period rolling around in my head. Here’s a snippet of my story:
“Second rule: if you ever get caught or killed, we don’t know ya. No one knows ya. No one goes to your mom and pop and tells ‘em what happened. No fancy funeral, no flowers, no headstone, nothin’. You just disappear.”
Read the whole story now on The Write Edge Writing Workshop!
My latest book review is also now live for you to check out. This week I share my thoughts on debut author Tom Hunt’s novel Killer Choice. Read the opening to my review here:
A man who needs money desperately for his dying wife receives an unbelievable offer. Someone is willing to give him all the funds. All he has to do is kill a person. The man must grapple with the ultimate struggle of conscience: save his wife or keep his morality intact. Author Tom Hunt presents an interesting question in an entertaining, albeit somewhat predictable, plot in his debut novel Killer Choice.
Find the full review now on The Write Edge Bookshelf!
I realize that I may have missed a Growth Chart last week. This new posting schedule is still challenging me, but I’ll get there. In the meantime, I have brand new Spurts for you. Check out this excerpt:
For a minute I thought she would blow me off, but instead she got really quiet. Little by little, I watched as she fought her anger back and used that energy to play instead. I wanted to do a fist pump that this could actually be working, but instead I made sure to compliment her on her good shots. I also used positive language to teach her how to use the paddle on the shots she missed.
Go read all the Spurts now on Growth Chart!
Thanks so much for your support and for reading, everyone. Have a great rest of the week!
E.R.G.
February 15, 2018
Back for another Thursday!
Hello, Write Edge readers! I’m still feeling my way around this new schedule, but I think I’m slowly finding a rhythm for it. It’s starting to free both my creativity and my time for other writing as well as what I want to accomplish here. I’d prefer to be able to post the week’s content first thing in the morning as I’ve done before, but I think I’ll get there. Here’s hoping. :>
In the meantime, on to this week.
I’ve taken a small diversion from my normal writing to try my hand at free verse poetry. (Maybe I was influenced by dynamite editor Rachel Thompson, a lover of lyric fiction and a writer of poetry.) I thought about some news I received recently of a friend who will be moving this summer, and I decided to take the situation and spin it out in something creative. Check out this small portion:
You finished your lunch and gave me a hug,
Telling me you loved me, that we should meet again.
I nodded and agreed, pushing away the hurt.
Read the whole free verse poem on The Write Edge Writing Workshop!
This week I share my thoughts on a new YA book. Here’s the opening to my post on This Is Not A Love Letter by Kim Purcell:
When a teen goes missing, his girlfriend refuses to believe he’s run away. Instead she focuses on the positive and begins documenting the search for him, hoping to share it with him when he returns. Author Kim Purcell recounts this tale for teens by using the unusual choice of second person point of view that ultimately weakens her novel This Is Not A Love Letter.
Read the whole review now on The Write Edge Bookshelf!
I’ve also put my latest parenting adventures for you. Find out what happened when my child came to me with a cogent, thoughtful argument on something she wanted and what happened next. Read this quick snippet:
“Mamma,” Nine said to me last week, “I need to talk to you about something.”
I stood at the stove making dinner, so I nodded at her. “Okay, go ahead.”
“No, not right now,” she said, “later, when you come to say good night.”
“Why can’t you talk right now?”
“Because it’s a secret. I don’t want anyone to hear, especially Di-Di or Daddy.”
Find out what happened next on Growth Chart!
Thank you, as always, for your support and continued kindness, readers. You motivate me to keep going. Have a wonderful week!
February 8, 2018
The experiment continues…
Good morning, Write Edge readers! I hope you’ve had a lovely week. I’m continuing my experiment of posting just once a week and offering you a whole week’s worth of posts in one day. Still deciding whether I like it. Some days I do; on others…well, old habits die hard, they say, and sometimes my breath catches in anxiety as I realize I haven’t posted for a whole seven days.
Still mulling over that one.
But, as I said, I’m back with new posts and new content. First, my story. This week’s short fiction got me thinking about another, much longer, project I’m working on. When I picked the prompt, I wanted to try something new. I’m writing in second person for the first time, as opposed to first or third. Here’s a quick excerpt for you:
It’s a shame, really, the whole thing. I certainly wish I could help. Oh, I know, feeding him is something, but you know what I mean. Help in a substantial way. It doesn’t seem right, him paying the price for someone else’s greed and insecurity.
Read the whole story now on The Write Edge Writing Workshop!
I’ve posted my newest book review for you. Today I share my thoughts on The Book of Pearl by Timothee De Fombelle. Here’s the opening to my review:
A young man gets sent to the world of ordinary humans, doomed to spend the rest of his life away from his one true love. He does everything he can to go home, but the enemy that chased him away wants him dead. Translators Sarah Ardizzone and Sam Gordon do their best to interpret French author Timothee de Fombelle’s book, The Book of Pearl, but ultimately can’t fill in the blanks of a loose story.
Read the whole review now on The Write Edge Bookshelf!
Lastly, this week’s parenting post, which, I’ll admit, is a little more somber in mood than most of them. This week I share three Spurts where we had some challenges. Here’s an excerpt:
Despite the scary incident, Nine still managed to end her memoir on a somewhat positive note. Her sadness mounted as she watched the truck tow our van away and she saw other people driving around our accident as if it didn’t matter. In the end, though, she said our safety mattered more than anything else.
Read all the Spurts now on Growth Chart!
Do let me know if you like the amended schedule, readers. I hope you enjoy everything I have lined up for you. Have a great week!
E.R.G.
