Preethi Venugopala's Blog, page 16

Cover Reveal: Avishi by Saiswaroopa Iyer

~ Cover Reveal ~Avishi by Saiswaroopa Iyer12th July, 2017

Long before the times of Draupadi and SitaImmortalised in the hymns of the Rig VedaBut largely forgotten to the memory of IndiaIs the Warrior Queen with an iron leg, Vishpala
Brought up in the pristine forest school of Naimisha, Avishi reaches the republic of Ashtagani in search of her destiny. When Khela, the oppressive King of the neighbouring Vrishabhavati begins to overwhelm and invade Ashtagani, Avishi rises to protect her settlement. But peril pursues her everywhere.
Separated from her love, her settlement broken, with a brutal injury needing amputation of her leg, can Avishi overcome Khela?
About the Author:
Saiswaroopa is an IITian and a former investment analyst turned author. Her keen interest in ancient Indian history, literature, and culture made her take to writing. Her debut novel Abhaya, set in the times of Mahabharata was published in 2015.
Avishi, her second novel set in Vedic India explores the legend of India’s first mentioned female warrior queen Vishpala.
She holds a certificate in Puranas from Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. She is also trained in Carnatic Classical music and has won a state level gold medal from Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams. 
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Dream Home with Home Canvas

Every couple envisions a dream home. They paint their home canvas in the shades that reflect their tastes and personalities. Every décor item should tell a story. Each accessory should help transform the house into a home.
Yet, the trouble begins when you walk into a home décor shop. It is an uphill task to find the exact piece of

Sandeep Sridhar and Radhika braved these challenges during the quest for finding the perfect décor for their home. They pondered as to how to make the experience happier for other couples. This gave birth to Home Canvas, an online discovery platform for the best in furniture and décor.
The Home Canvas experts curate stores, suppliers, and artisans from all over the country.  You can choose furniture, furnishings, and accessories across styles, materials, and price from this online store.
According to Sridhar, Home Canvas is a one-stop destination to help you discover furniture collections, styles that resonate with your tastes and lead you on to finding products in the easiest and most convenient manner possible.  (Liked this? Check out more from HERE)

It will provide a hassle-free experience whether you are doing up a single room or setting up your new home. They have combed the length and breadth of the country and curated the most exquisite and lust-worthy products. You will have fun discovering furniture collections that you would never have been able to find before.
From the comfort of your home, discover that pretty rug from a store in Jaipur, distinctively upholstered chairs from a Delhi label, or fun study tables for your kids’ room via Home Canvas. As the experts at Home Canvas collects only distinctive products, your home décor is bound to become a unique masterpiece of your own.
The number of stores registered at the site is growing every day promising to create unique design stories for homeowners around the world. 
(Liked this? Check out more from HERE)
So, what are you waiting for?
Head to Home Canvas.com right away and start designing your dream home.







Declaration: This is a sponsored post. The photos are of products from the online store and are used with the permission of the sponsor.

Did I really do that?

Sometimes a scent, a song or a name is enough to take us on a trip down the memory lane.
This week, #ThankfulThursdays is asking us to go on a journey to those colorful days of childhood where the world was full of wonder, every second a discovery and everything pure and bright.
We hardly remember stuff from the years when we were very young, like incidents that happened when we were below the age of five. Yet, those are the things that get discussed most during family get-togethers. Stuff we deny vehemently yet the others insist they are living proofs! 
Image Source
I am rumored to have played certain roles during my drunken era in life.Let me list a few roles which come back to haunt me regularly during family dinners or functions.
The Drama Queen:
According to my mother, one day I returned from the nursery vowing never to step into the place ever again. Never had I faced such an insult and my parents were to blame. Curious, my mother asked what happened. I asked her how she could send me to nursery carrying a tattered umbrella which had such a big hole that I had to use a finger to hide it from the world. She opened the umbrella to inspect. After searching for one whole minute she gave up. She couldn’t find anything. When she declared that, I scowled at her and asked her to examine properly. We stood together under the umbrella when she opened it under a beam of light. And lo, there it was, a pinprick of light coming through the tiniest hole in the cloth. And I pointed it out to her with disgust.
That tiny hole still taunts me!
The Scientist:
One day my brother, who is five years older than me, became the center of attraction (much to my displeasure) when he was describing one amazing experiment they had done in the school lab. They had produced hydrogen artificially and filled it into a balloon. The balloon had grown to the size of a big apple. Immediately I sniggered, looking down upon my nose at him. Obviously, the same experiment had been done in our kindergarten and the balloon had grown as big as a jackfruit. (See, a bigger fruit!) I couldn’t understand why everyone laughed. They immediately wanted to see it. How could they when the balloon had accidentally flown off and had burst after getting pricked by the thorny branches of the nearby tree. When they wanted to climb the tree to collect the pieces of the balloon, I told them not to bother. The kids from the neighborhood had already picked them up.
Totally possible. I still don’t understand why they didn’t believe that!
The Zoo Keeper:
I was always my father’s pet. Whatever be the breakfast at home, my father customized it for me in a special way by mixing honey, banana, jaggery, milk, ghee etc. Puttu, Upma, Chapathi, Avil… everything transformed into tasty round balls that I could easily pop into my mouth.
 But, to my horror, I had two jealous elder siblings who were experts in stealing from my plate. Their favorite game was pretending to be the ‘Tiger’ and the ‘Lion’ respectively. When I was about to eat, the Tiger and the Lion would materialize near the plate, roaring, demanding to be fed. If I didn’t, they might just eat me instead. Bawling, I would feed them until my father came and shooed away the hungry cats.
They still tease me saying what a scaredy cat I was!
Yet these incidents have become special in their own special way. I am convinced they are the reason why I became a storyteller! That was my training period, you see!

I am thankful that these memories still make people smile. 
This post is part of #ThankfulThursdays being hosted by Amrita, Deepa, Mayuri and Tina.

Eternal Dance of Love..

Photoshop art


Unable to forget, Unable to move on;
 I live like a zombie,
Chained to the past,
 By your slowly rusting memories...


You were my last thought before I slept.
You haunted my dreams,
I woke up to myriad memories of you.


 In them I was with you; 
Your face crinkling into a smile,
my heart drumming, 
Our eyes speaking a million things...


 Sadness engulfs me,
I feel it in every inch of me, 
An overwhelming pain that threatens my sanity,
A constant ache to remind me, of you.


 Your silence hurts ,
Your disdain taunts,
Weren't you the one who vowed,
You are mine, forever?!!


 Maybe from a past life,
we have promises broken,
Perchance, an unrequited love.

 We will meet again,
If not in this, in another age.
Our souls will dance eternally till the music ends,
To keep those ancient promises alive.

Rest not till we fulfill them,
Dance to the same tunes,
Till we master the dance,
 Rest not till we fulfill the vows.

Come to me beloved,
I am tired of this dance...
I will forget the pain you gave,
Do forget the ones I gave.
And while we forget, let this music end,
Let us begin our dance anew,
With no promises or vows,
Just you, me and love galore....

--- Preethi Venugopala-----

List of Indian Book Bloggers (Book Reviewers)

Book reviewers are the most sought after group of bloggers when an author launches his/her book. They help in giving the book a digital presence, boosts the confidence of the author (in most cases) and spread the word about the book through social media. 



Here is a list for the benefit of those seeking active, dedicated Indian bloggers who are open to review books. You can find their contact details on their website which I have mentioned next to their name. The genres they prefer are also listed.

I have interacted with these bloggers online, via their blogs or social media. 
Also included in the list is a dear friend, Jean Spraker, who is a US-based writer and blogger who supports Indian writers whenever possible. I feel she is more Indian than many of us. Being an editor herself, her reviews are mostly detailed and constructive. 
1) Aayesha Hakim ( Website )Genres:  Romance, Crime, Mystery, Nonfiction, Motivational.
2) Adarsh Rathour ( Website ) Contact: adarshrathour1994 at gmail dot comGenres: Any
3) Anamika Annu ( Website )Genres: Romance
4) Anmol Rawat (Website )Genres: Young Adult, Dystopian/Fantasy and Stephen King
5) Amrita Misra ( Website ) ( Review Policy )
6) Arvind Passey ( Website )Genre: Mainly fiction. Prefers historical thrillers, and thrillers. Also Autobiographies and Biographies.
7) Banaja Prakash ( Website )Genres: Any
8) Carlos Luis ( Website )Genres: Fiction: Crime, Nonfiction: self-help
9) Debdatta D. Sahay ( Website )  Contact: dds at ddsreviews dot inGenre: Mystery, Thriller, Fantasy, Contemporary
10) Deepti Menon ( Website ) Genres: All with a preference for Thrillers
11) Dimple Singh ( Website ) Contact: dimplebloom45 at gmail dot comGenres: Any

12) Floryie ( Website )
Genres: Romance, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller, Adventure, YA
13) Geeta Nair ( Website )Genres: Thrillers, Fantasy, Mythological, Historical, Motivational, Humour, Romance.
14) Inderpreet Kaur Uppal  ( Website )Genres: Loves Romance, thrillers, and mystery. Any fiction and nonfiction expect horror.
15) Ishieta Chopra (Website )Genres: Espionage, Mysteries, Paranormal, Biographies, Autobiographies, Travelogues, Poetry
16) Jean Spraker ( Website )Genres: Any genre except Romance and Horror
17) Kritika Rajat Sharma ( Website )Genre: Romance, Thrillers, Crime, Mystery, Nonfiction, Fantasy.
18) Mahesh Sowani ( Website )Genres: Crime fiction, Memoirs, Short stories and Self help
19) Maitreyi ( Website: English Malayalam )Genres: Any
20) Mayuri Nidigallu ( Website ) Contact:  mayurisharrma at gmail dot comGenre: Prefers Fiction but accepts anything well written and interesting
21) Namrata Kumari  ( Website )Genres: Fiction with a liking towards YA
22) Nehali Lalwani ( Website )Genres: Any genre in Fiction
23) Nidhi ( Website )Genres: Fiction, prefers Romance featuring Real-life stories
24) Nikita Jhanglani ( Website )Genres: Any except horror!
25) Nilima Mohite ( Website )Genres: Any except dark, paranormal or horror.
26) Poornima Kulkarni ( Website ) Genres: Picture Books
27) Puspanjalee Das Datta ( Website ) Genres: Historical Fiction, Mythological Fiction, Nonfiction, YA series and Children's books.
28) Ragini Puri ( Website )Genres: Not specified
29) Rajan Mogha ( Website )Genres: Not Specified
30) Ramya Abhinand ( Website )Genre: Any
31) Reema Michelle D'souza ( Website )Genre: Fiction- Crime, Mystery, Fantasy, and Romance
32) Shravya Gunipudi ( Website )Genre: Any
33) Srilakshmi Indrasenen ( Website )Genre: Any genre (loves thrillers) except Nonfiction

34) Tarang Sinha ( Website )
Genre: Women Centric Stories. Romance, Women Fiction, Mythology, Psychological Thrillers.
35) Vasantha Vivek  ( Website )Genre: Fiction, Short Stories, Motivational and Children’s picture books.
36) Vinay R ( Website ) Genre: Any (with a blurb that catches his interest)

P.S: This list will be updated regularly.

Are you an Indian Book Reviewer? If you wish to be listed here, tell me so in the comments.

List of Professional and Freelance Book Editors in India

A published book is a cherished dream for many. Editing makes your manuscript publishing worthy. Almost every other blogger is an aspiring writer in India.
Yet, trouble begins when you begin searching for a professional editor. Unless you have good contacts within the publishing industry, you might have to run to your English teacher from school/college. 

This blog post aims to lessen the hassle by listing the most dedicated editors who have been recommended to me.
Most of the vanity publishers these days offer editing packages. I am focussing more on individual editors in this post. But first, let me list a few agencies which came with excellent references.

Indian Agencies offering editing services:
1) Book Bakers Literary Agency
Contact Book Bakers on Facebook
The Book Bakers is a literary services company which serves as a catalyst for authors & publishers to bring their ideas to fruition by offering a full menu of services under one roof to assist them in having their stories and manuscripts published.The Book Bakers' range of editing services includes editing, proofreading, and content development to make manuscripts read better.
2) Happy Self Publishing 
Website
Founded by Amazon bestselling writer Jyotsna Ramachandran, they provide various literary services like angel writing, editing, book covers, formatting etc. They have a talented bunch of professional editors.For more details, contact the page where the team is online 24/7 to guide you through their various services.
3) Pen Paper and Coffee
Contact Pen, Paper, and Coffee on Facebook 
Pen paper and Coffee is an editing services company spearheaded by authors Neil D’Silva and Varun Prabhu. They provide proofreading, line editing, substantive editing, ghostwriting, rewriting and beta reading services. It is about mentoring more than it is about just editing. For pricing details, message the page.
4) DD Proofreading and Editing Inc.
Contact DD on Facebook
DD is a professional writer and Author. Besides writing fiction and non-fiction books, he also undertakes Content Writing, Proofreading and Editing projects from other professionals and corporate, globally.
Indian Editors
All of these editors listed were recommended by published authors and I am happy to introduce you to them. Listing them alphabetically.
1) Aarti V Raman  Website  Aarti is a writer-editor, a business journalist, a copy editor and a naptime enthusiast. In an alternate universe, all she does is read books and write them.
2) Dr. Amrita Basu Website Twitter: +Amrita Basu Misra 
Doctor, blogger, mompreneur and author of two books. Freelance editor. She accepts only select genres for editing and proofreading. Her preferred genres are: Nonfiction: Self-help, blogging, writing, entrepreneurship, gardening, home decor, most categories.Fiction: Murder mystery, Court room drama, Detective stories.She also provides book launching and marketing services for all genres.
3) Abha IyengarWebsite  Blog  Twitter: @abhaiyengar 
An award winning, internationally published poet, author, essayist, editor and British Council certified creative writing mentor. Her story, “The High Stool”, was nominated for the Story South Million Writers Award. Her poem-film “Parwaaz” won a special jury prize at Patras, Greece. She received the Lavanya Sankaran Fellowship 2009-10. Her work has been recently shortlisted for The Strands International Short Story Prize. Her published works are Yearnings, Flash Bites, Shrayan, Many Fish to Fry and The Gourd Seller and Other Stories.
4) Dagny  Website
Passionately devoted to the written word, she began her writing career with developing content for corporate training- initially for herself and later for other trainers. She has been writing professionally for over twenty-five years; ten of them on her blog (www.serenelyrapt.com). She has edited corporate documents, short stories and essays, and manuscripts for two books published in-house by a corporate house.

She accepts fiction manuscripts in any genre.


5) Dhivya Balaji 
Review Blog  Writing Blog: Partis Temporus
A reader, reviewer, writer, editor, and blogger. She has been reviewing books for more than four years and is also a freelance editor. She has edited various fiction and nonfiction books in different genres.A published author, she occasionally dabbles in poetry. She has edited historical thrillers, memoirs, romantic fiction, paranormal thrillers, political thrillers etc., and prefers to read and edit thrillers.


6) Dola Basu Singh Twitter @shiuli_dola  Facebook
Dola Basu Singh offers developmental, copyediting and proofreading services for fiction manuscripts in the Romance/Erotica, Crime/Mystery/Thrillers, and Horror genres. For novels belonging to other genres than those stated above, she offers only line editing and proofreading services.She also offers a sample edit of the first chapter of the MS to help a client determine whether to work with her or not.The best way to reach her at the moment is through her email: dolabsingh at gmail dot com.
Her website www.shiuli.com is currently under development. 
7) Harika Bantupalli  Website 

A graduate in Mass Communication and Journalism. Currently, she works as an English teacher at a School in Hyderabad teaching Cambridge Curriculum, and also works as a story editor at AkkarBakkar.comShe has been editing various kinds of content for the past three years, including articles, human interest story, features, poems, and books. She has edited more than 7 books (Including Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Anthologies).
She enjoys editing Chick Lit, Romance, Thriller, Mystery and Young Adult Fiction alike.
8) Indrani Ganguly 
LinkedIn Facebook
A manuscript editor with over 16 years of experience in all genres of editing, shifting gears from news, academic, Science-Technology-Medicine, lifestyle and law, though fiction remains her first love. 
She has done her graduation from St Xavier’s College (University of Calcutta) majoring in English Literature and her post-graduation in Journalism from Indian Institute of Mass Communication, specializing in Print Journalism. She started her career in the newsroom of leading national daily Hindustan Times where she was in charge of the International desk. She has edited high academic books for many well-known publishers like Oxford University Press, Palgrave Macmillan, Collins India, Lexis-Nexis, John Wiley to name a few. She was also the consulting editor of lifestyle magazine ThnkMkt and has contributed many articles for the same. 
She also had a brief stint in teaching language and composition to undergraduate students. She is the Managing Editor of Readomania and has edited many of their bestselling titles like The Madras Affair, The Curse of Nalanda, Cabbing All The Way, Confessions on an Island, In The Light of Darkness, Birds of Prey, In Search of Ram Rajya, Cantilevered Tales, Mock, Stalk & Quarrel and many more. She was also the editorial mentor for Defiant Dreams– Tales of Everyday Divas.

She accepts freelance non-fiction work on a regular basis.
9) Inderpreet Uppal    Website   Facebook  Twitter: @indywrites
Inderpreet edits manuscripts, writes for her love of writing and reads endlessly. She is a Masters in Human Resources Management and an Army brat, she now joins her adorable Army hubby across the country. Books, editing, reviews, freelance writing, sponsored posts, and blogging keep her busy whenever she gets a breather from mothering her ‘too tricky to handle son’.

She edits all genres except horror. Drop her a mail with your requirement or a sample for a quote and a free sample edit at inderpreetedits at gmail dot com
10) Meenu Mehrotra Website  
Writer, Poet, Certified Angel Card Reader Certified NLP Practitioner, Intuitive Reader/ CoachCertified Archetypal Consultant, editor, Meenu dons multiple hats. She prefers editing fiction books in the romance genre.


11) Prachi SharmaWebsite 
An author, blogger, editor, bookworm, content writer and book critic by night, and a pharmacist, medical writer and aspiring scientist by day. She also counts herself as a foodie, coffee freak, and experimental cook.Preferred genre: Crime, Fantasy, Slice of Life, Thriller
12) Rasana Atreya: Website     Twitter: @rasana_atreya
A self-publishing pioneer in India. In addition, she's a reporter, content writer and marketer, and editor. She also formats eBooks and print books. She accepts all genres except horror.
13) Reshmy Pillai Website  Twitter: @reshmypillai
A freelance editor based out of Mumbai. She loves stories in all forms and looks out for those special ones that will excite the reader in her. She believes only a good reader would know what to edit out.She is also a blogger, book critic, and writer.She accepts all genre manuscripts in fiction and ancient Indian history and mythology in the non-fiction category.
14) Srilakshmi Indrasenen Website 
A freelance content strategist, who does content management and creates content strategies for startups. She also edits website content, professional documents, and manuscripts. In her leisure, she blogs, writes stories, and travels. She has co-authored one full-fledged novel and has contributed to 2 anthologies.
She prefers to edit fiction books that fall under the genres of thriller and romance.

15) Varsha Naik
Website Twitter @varshanaik
After working in the US as a journalist and the Middle East as a copywriter with an advertising agency, Varsha has worked as a features journalist and copyeditor for DNA After Hrs. Soon after, she worked as an editor with Harlequin India and Bloody Good Book and currently do regular work with Pepperscript Publishing. She freelance as an editor, working directly with authors who are referred to her by writers whose books she has edited. She has found that many writers get stuck after writing their first draft and want to improve the manuscript but can't find a way to fix problem areas. She focuses on structural editing, providing detailed feedback on gaps in plot lines, character development and the general story arc that can enhance the writing. This is her core strength as an editor and she thinks it's most crucial to spend the maximum time on fine-tuning the story.
Being a voracious reader with the ability to read a book a day if, she has recently started writing book reviews for the Sunday edition of the Free Press Journal.

16) Vinita Praveen
 Twitter @vinitapraveen LinkedIn


A freelance writer since eighties, writing articles for various journals. Currently writing her own books, short stories, Haiku and recipes.
She accepts fiction and non-fiction manuscripts.
*****************************************************************
P.S: This list will be updated regularly. 

Are you a book editor and wish to be included in this list? Tell me so in the comments. 

The Three Skills I Value Most

This Thursday the #ThankfulThursday prompt is to talk about the three skills that you value most.

Skills are valued everywhere. Hence it is important to hone and honor our skills.

Skills can be functional, personal or knowledge based. They might define us.
 They might be the fuel behind our earthly life or they might be the Zen that keeps us grounded. The three skills that I have developed over the years are:
  Portraiture and Painting
Art came to me very early on in life. But I have maintained a hate-love relation with it over the various periods in my life. 

Either I was completely in love with it or I hated it. Then it came back in 2011 with a bang. I couldn’t stop painting. 

Most of my art are not for public consumption. I rarely do commission art even though I get many requests. But I have a hard time accepting such work. I can only draw when it is born out of passion. 

I am extremely grateful that I am an artist. It is my way of relaxing.
Here are some samples of my work.

You can also see my works HERE on my blog. You can follow my art page on Facebook or my Instagram art page.
  Writing
I fell in love with writing quite late in life.

 I was a reader most of my life. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that one day I would have the author tag associated with me.

 But now, writing is my biggest passion. It is one skill that I spend the time to honor and hone daily. 

I invest time and money to hone my skills in this field. This is one gift that I am thankful for having.

You can find links to purchase my books right here on my blog. You can follow my Amazon Author page and Goodreads Author page for latest writing updates.
Editing
Editing is yet another skill I cherish and am thankful for. It helps me to edit my blog posts, my stories, and manuscripts. 

I take care to update myself about the various editing methods. Patience is a necessity when it comes to editing.

 I can go over the same page over and over again till it becomes error free. It earns me money as I work as a freelance editor.

 My only frustration is that it is very difficult to edit one’s own writing. 

Very difficult to kill one’s own darlings. But yes, I am working on it. I have two books published where I am proud to be one of the editors.

The Blank Space and A Little Chorus of Love
What are the three skills that you value most? Do tell me in the comments.



This post is written for #ThankfulThursdays hosted by Tina, Amrita, Mayuri and Deepa

Book Review: The Girl Who Loved a Pirate

The Girl Who Loved the Pirate

Blurb: The ‘Pirate of the World’ is locked up in a high-security jail in Malaysia. He is desperate to reunite with Dao-Ming, his girlfriend. Andy Karan, an undercover spy from India’s top-secret organization, ‘The List’, is on a mission to find his colleague’s murderer in Goa. He has a plan for the pirate. A plan that will kill two birds with one stone. Their playground is the high seas off the Indian coast. With the all-too-common rave parties in Goa, a new drug called ‘magic’ is altering the inter-gang dynamics. But can Andy trust the pirate? Or his own instincts in an unfamiliar terrain?
About the Author:
Kulpreet Yadav is a bestselling author, motivational speaker, startup mentor, and Founder-Editor of Open Road Review, the leading ‘Literature and Culture’ online magazine of South Asia. Kulpreet’s latest novel, The Girl Who Loved a Pirate, is India’s first thriller based on marine piracy & hijacking. Passionate about Creative Writing, Kulpreet also mentors aspiring writers at schools and colleges and has spoken at many literary festivals in India & abroad. An ex-armed forces officer, he lives in New Delhi. More at www.kulpreetyadav.com
My Review:
Andy Karan, an investigative journalist and an undercover agent belonging to India’s secret agency called ‘The List’, takes you with him through this book on an unforgettable adventure that plays out in Goa, Malacca, to the crime filled interiors of the drug mafia and the intriguing world of the Pirate of the world, Ba-Qat.
The author has weaved a memorable love story too into this action thriller between the beautiful Dao-Ming and iron-willed pirate Ba-Qat.
The prologue and the Epilogue gives a different touch to the writing style and throws light upon the character of Andy Karan and the backstory of Ba-Qat respectively.
‘The Girl who loved the Pirate’ is filled with action sequences. The part I liked most was where Ba-Qat captures the North Korean ship. The details the author has included makes sure you will have bitten off half your nails by the time you reach the end of the sequence.
The language is simple and hence the book is an easy read. The depth in the details is proof of the research that must have gone into the writing of this book.

The book takes a bit of time to capture your attention initially, but once it does, it races to the finish line without a hiccup and you turn the last page with the satisfaction of having spent time reading something wonderful. 
Recommended to all thriller lovers.
Rating: 4/5 

This House Of Clay and Water by Faiqa Mansab

On 24th of May 2017, Penguin Random house India will bring you an intriguing story of forbidden love written by the beautiful and talented Faiqa Mansab. This House of Clay and Water  The lyrical title is taken from the first line from a verse of Shams Tabrez:In this house of clay and water,My heart lies waste without you…Faiqa feels Shams Tabrez wrote this verse for this very story she had to write hundreds of years later. She confesses she is a little mad about words and the connections they can make over time and space.


Follow Faiqa on: Twitter  Penguin  Website Instagram
Category: Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Random House India (forthcoming 24th May 2017)Set in Lahore, This House of Clay and Water explores the lives of two women. Nida, intelligent and lonely, has married into an affluent political family and is desperately searching for some meaning in her existence; and impulsive, lovely Sasha, from the ordinary middle-class, whose longing for designer labels and upmarket places is so frantic that she willingly consorts with rich men who can provide them. Nida and Sasha meet at the famous Daata Sahib dargah and connect—their need to understand why their worlds feel so alien and empty, bringing them together.On her frequent visits to the dargah, Nida meets the gentle, flute-playing hijra Bhanggi, who sits under a bargadh tree and yearns for acceptance and affection, but is invariably shunned. A friendship—fragile, tentative and tender—develops between the two, both exiles within their own lives; but it flies in the face of all convention and cannot be allowed.Faiqa Mansab’s accomplished and dazzling debut novel explores the themes of love, betrayal, and loss in the complex, changing world of today’s Pakistan.Want to read it right away? 
You will have to wait till the 24th of May 2017 to read it. 
But, you can preorder it from the below link.
FLIPKART: The House of Clay and Water

A Gratitude Note for May 2017

May 2017 has been happy from the beginning.
I had my mother giving me company at home, the kid had no school and the hectic blogging month of April was behind me.
 Reminiscing old memories, talking late into the nights and guiding each other in areas of our own expertise became our main pass time.
 While the kid and me introduced Amma to the magic of Google, Whatsapp and YouTube, she patiently corrected the mistakes I was making as a home maker. Teeny tiny tips brought in a world of difference.
Most importantly, I became more disciplined in her presence. Ordering food from outside was not to be heard of, home-made food, that too prepared from fresh ingredients became the norm.
I am grateful to her presence here and for the chance to be able to take care of her.
It became all the more happier day before yesterday when my short story ‘The Rumour’ got published on the Juggernaut App. It also happened to be my brother’s birthday. So, double happiness. Image Source

At Anitasattic, Anita Nair used to tell us how writers are like scavengers who dig through their pile of memories to create something memorable.
For writing this story, that was exactly what I did!
Many of my friends have contributed to this story unknowingly.
I am especially grateful,
1) To that batch with whom I went on a trip to Munnar as their guide while I was a guest lecturer at GCEK. The story has Munnar as backdrop and I have used memories from that trip to add colour to my story.
2) To that classmate who poured her heart out to me one summer afternoon. I shared the story with her and she loved it. She was happy to read her own experience becoming fodder to a story.
3) To all those fun days spent in ladies’ hostel.
4) To the never-ending laughter riots in the college bus.
5) To all those hours of Antaksharis in class!
Story Blurb:
Rohit broke Tara’s heart when they were in college. She’d sworn never to see him again. But years later they found themselves making a journey together. Herding a bunch of Engineering students in and around Munnar!
The forced teaming up seems like a disaster to Tara. Will it open a can of worms like it had happened years ago?
Intrigued? Read the book here:
The Rumour by Preethi Venugopala

Happy to note that it has become the topper of the charts on Juggernaut this week and the short story of the week.
Thank you Universe for all the blessings.
Linking this post with #ThankfulThursdays being hosted by Tina,  or Amrita, Mayuri and Deepa