Preethi Venugopala's Blog, page 29

Lessons from my father: Lesson 1

My father during the trip to Taj Mahal
March is a difficult month. It just drags on and bombards me with memories of loss. Five years ago, a cruel March took away my father from me. Even after all these years, the wound is still raw.This year I am honoring his life by sharing life lessons that I have learned from him. Lesson 1: Ignore haters, but learn the lesson they teach:
This particular incident happened when I was in the third standard. I hated studies. It was always games and story books versus mugging up my textbooks. No prizes for guessing which side won. But still, I managed to pass with decent marks in every exam until that one time. I failed in the midterm exams. That day, the girl whom I considered as my friend refused to give me company.“You are a loser. I don’t want to be seen in your company. Go away,” she screamed at me. Other kids, who were watching, giggled and began to follow her lead. When my father came to pick me, I ran to him with tear-filled eyes and declared that I would never study in the same school again. He asked what happened and I told him everything. I told him he should go and beat that girl.“Yes, I will. But first let us eat something,” he said. I happily went with him. At the restaurant, while I ate, he told me a story from his life. The story of a mysterious letter.One day, he received a letter written in the Kannada language with no return address. He was baffled because he didn’t know anyone who was from Karnataka where the language is spoken. Letters and postcards were rare and important pieces of communication in those days. Why would someone send him a letter in a strange language? What did it say? He was curious but he had his doubts.So he went straight to a bookstore and purchased two books; ‘learn Kannada in 30 days’ and a Kannada -Malayalam dictionary. He devoted himself to learning the language. When he mastered reading the language, he took out his letter and read. The letter began with the salutation, 'To the donkey of Kunhimangalam' (our village). Rest of it contained details as to why he qualified for the coveted post. After reading, he quietly burned it.He then went to the person who he suspected as the sender of the letter. He was someone who worked in his hospital and whom he had caught red-handed stealing medicines from the hospital store. This person hailed from a village which was on the Kerala-Karnataka border and hence well versed in Kannada. His intention when he sent the letter to my father was to publicly humiliate him.Obviously, he would go to someone who knew Kannada and would get embarrassed when another person read it out to him and explained the meaning.He told the person about the mysterious letter. He said he was very thankful to the person who wrote it because it made him learn Kannada, a language he always wanted to learn. While the other person turned red with shame, he walked away with his head held high.“So my dear, it is always important that we learn our lesson even when it comes disguised as an insult. The best revenge always is to prove your haters wrong, to get benefited from their hatred. I learned a new language because of that man’s hatred. You will prove to her that you are better than her in studies. You are capable of doing that, aren’t you?”I nodded vigorously and smiled up at him.That year, I studied doubly hard and emerged as the topper of my class. My proud father gifted me several comics and sweets.

Cover Reveal: His Christmas Delight by Summerita Rhayne

Today I am hosting the cover reveal of Summerita Rhayne's new book, 
His Christmas Delight.
So are you ready?

Here it comes...


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2



3


   Ta..da...


Blurb:  Caught by Santa!For Myra, Christmas means supporting her friends. They rallied round getting her back on her feet after she lost Pete, her husband, so she's always ready to help any of them. No matter to what lengths the challenge makes her go. Only she didn't expect to find Santa almost catching her in her wrongdoings. Then she finds that the handsome Santa is Jay, her old high school friend. Now he's changed from a gangly geek to an attractive stranger. After missing out on the dating scene for a long time after losing Pete, she feels the first stirring of desire. But Jay is playing hot and cold, refusing to admit the attraction sizzling between them.
He’s back in Goa just for ChristmasJay knew Myra as his best friend's girl. Now Pete is gone, but Jay is finding difficult to let go of the scars he picked up in Coast Guard service. He’s home only to help revive his brother’s toy shop. When he finds himself making excuses to stay, he knows he’s crossing the limits he’d set himself. What’s the purpose in taking this further when he knows he cannot be the one to give her the happiness she deserves?  But no matter how hard he tries, the scorching flames of wanting only seem to get stronger. How can he keep on denying the attraction between them when she insists on coming close?
……..Book Link at Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/His-Christmas-D... link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29...

Her Warrior

Image Source: Magpie Tales


The dawn seemed darker,Her heart cried louder,The Birdsong was melancholy,The other side of her bed was empty.
Her warrior had leftHe walked away while she slept,Dreaming happy dreams,Leaving behind lingering memories.
Answering the call of his motherland,His new bride he had left behind,The waves would take him far,To guard the shores afar.
She ran to the shore,The waves clamored ashore,Clad in his coat,Her eyes seeking his boat.
The horizon was blank,Her heart sank,The waves confessed to her feet,I will return him to you with his smile bright.
The wind murmured,The swallows chorused,Your warrior shall return,On yet another morn.
Do not shed any tears,They multiply your fears,Wait for that dawn,Never again will you be alone.

Linking this to Magpie Tales 305

Newbie Corner: Aravind Sampath

Today on Newbie Corner, we have the talented young author, Aravind Sampath.


Hello Aravind, tell us a little about yourself. How did you begin writing?
Hi, Preethi ma’am. I’m a student pursuing mechanical engineering. I’m in my third year now. As to how I began to write, I’d have to have a little recap from my childhood. I was (still am) a great follower of my grandfather’s poems right from the ninth grade. He was my greatest inspiration. And then, I wrote a poem on parents that got published in my school magazine. Then, I didn’t write for a long time. I had some novel ideas in eleventh, but it didn’t get materialized as you know, twelfth got underway. And then when I joined engineering I tried my hand at short stories. I got enrolled in a social short story contest organized by Notionpress. As I was canvassing and promoting my story online, I met a lot of writer friends who were like minded. One was Ayan Pal. I met him through that contest. Since then till now he has been helping me out with my writing. Then, he told me about Readomania and another short story contest. Through Readomania, I met some really great friends who are still in touch. I got to meet another amazing gem of a person, Deepti Menon, who also helped me in pointing out the mistakes that I made in writing. I got my first story published in 2014. I had two more of my stories published in 2015. Looking forward to what 2016 has in store. It has been a good journey so far. *smiles*
What is your favorite genre in writing?
I like to experiment between genres and I love it. My stories that got published are, two sport-dramas and one romance, but I really wouldn’t want to confine myself to one genre. Considering all that, if I have to say one genre that stands out, that would be historical fiction and period-centric stories. I absolutely loved writing Love Through Ages (the one in A Little Chorus of Love) that is set in both pre and post independent India.
Who inspires you most and to whom would you dedicate your creative growth?
Like I said previously, my grandfather is my greatest inspiration to writing, and yes, Deepti Menon and Ayan Pal, the two wonderful writers, and my mentors.  Also, I get inspired when I read Jeffrey Archer’s, Sidney Sheldon’s, Mario Puzo’s, and J. R. R. Tolkien’s works. As to whom I would dedicate my creative growth, it’s first and foremost, my parents, all the aforementioned writers and also my peers, namely Shyam, Kalvin, Srimathi, Purnima, Akshita, Niranjan, et al. It’s a really long list. *smiles*
What kind of a writer are you? Do you plot the entire novel/story or make it up as you write?
I’m a writer who is not biased to any genre. I’d love to be known as an ambitious writer than a romance writer or mythology writer. I don’t have the habit of plotting the entire novel/story beforehand. I’d have a vague idea as to how to carry the story forward and the story unravels itself as I write.Do you have a favorite place to write or a scheduled time to write every day?
My favorite place to write is on the balcony of my house, A cup of steaming hot coffee, my diary and my childhood days parker pen, I’m all set to write. (smiles) I didn’t use to have a scheduled time allocated for writing. But recently, I’ve allocated my writing time in the late night, leaving the thoughts to wander from my head, pass through my hands and onto the screen (laughs). An Engineer by day and writer by night, that’s the story of my life and I wouldn’t want it altered in any way. *smiles*Who are your favorite authors and what is the genre that you like reading most?
I need an extra sheet to make a complete list (laughs), but here’s my limited list in no particular order. I love reading Jeffrey Archer, Dan Brown, John Grisham, Suzanne Collins, John Green, Sidney Sheldon, J. R. R. Tolkien, Nicholas Sparks and Mario Puzo from the foreign side. R. K. Narayan, Vikram Seth, Amish Tripathi, Ravi Subramanian, Kirthi Jayakumar,  Ashay Abbhi, Ayan Pal and Deepti Menon. As you can see from the list, I’m not genre-specific in reading as well. I love good literature.
Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years?
I have a set of ideas for books as of now, just about a bunch of ideas. I’d like to see them all materialized as books ten years down the line. Of course, I wish I had nothing else to do but write. It is impossible, but I think it’s worth a try.
Is there one subject you would never write about as an author? What is it?
There’s not a genre that I detest writing about, but though I like to try and experiment with many different genres, I think I would never write about vampires and werewolves.
How much important do you think marketing is for the success of a book?
Marketing is as important and necessary as quality writing. I think the quality of writing, as well as marketing strategies, decide the success rate of a book.
What is the message that you want to convey to the readers through your writing?
I’d like to address the innumerable societal problems and convey what I think would be the best possible solution to it, in a non-preachy and yet not so subtle way.
Thank You Aravind! That was pretty interesting. All the best to all your future endeavors.
Aravind's Book links:
1)       Chronicles of Urban Nomads: Buy it from Amazon by clicking here


2)      As a Beginner for a Beginning: Buy it from Amazon by clicking here

3)      A Little Chorus of Love: Buy it from Amazon by clicking here
Do buy the books from this talented author. 
That is all for now.
Much love,

You, my hurricane

Image Source: Magpie Tales


I entered that lane,My heart humming a tuneI didn’t know the plan of fate,No one told me it was insane.
You smiled, I was dazed,You approached, nodding a greetingYour sparkling eyes,That weightless gaze,Was it a whirlpool or a hurricane?
I twirled and whirled at your behestYour warm voice swept me away,Your fingers danced through my hair,Your lips kissed away my fear.
And when I had lost myself in you,You vanished leaving me,my shattered soul and battered body.While you had rushed past,You crushed what was whole,A heart that loved love.


Linking this with Magpie Tales 303

Newbie Corner: Nilabh Verma

Today on Newbie corner we have for the first time, a Hindi author.Please welcome Nilabh Verma who debuted as an author with a beautiful mythological tale,  Swayamwar .
Connect with Nilabh at his

Blog: http://nilabhverma.blogspot.in
Swayamwar Tag: SwayamwarWebsite: www.dharmsansar.com

Tell us a little about yourself. How did you begin writing?
I am an Engineer by profession and working in the IT industry since a decade. I am basically from Bihar and currently live in Hyderabad. Writing was an accident. Actually, my sister Tarang is also a writer and she often discuss her ideas with me. She always used to tell me to write something as my hold on Hindi language and Mythology is sound but because of my tight job schedule, I was not able to do it. One fine day, I lost my job and got enough time to complete my novel. See! Sometimes bad things give you an opportunity to do good things.
What is your favorite genre in writing?
Mythology; without any doubt. I grew up reading all Hindi mythological books and it’s in my blood. I don’t find any other topic more interesting than that. It not only motivates me but I also learn more about our history, culture and traditions.

Who inspires you most and to whom would you dedicate your creative growth?
My family, especially my sister Tarang. Fortunately, I belong to a family where we all are fond of reading. We had a kind of small library when I was a kid and still have plenty of good books to read.
What kind of a writer are you? Do you plot the entire novel/story or make it up as you write?
 I have written just one book (Swayamwar
Do you have a favorite place to write or a scheduled time to write every day?Not exactly. I don’t write every day. But yes, I prefer to be alone at home when writing.
Who are your favorite authors and what is the genre that you like reading most?
Once again, I love reading Mythological books, especially Hindu mythology. I’m interested in Greek mythology but it has some limitations in terms of language. However, if I don’t have anything, I can read any book. Premchand is my favourite! I also like reading Narendra Kohli, Hajari Prasad Dwivedi, and Acharya Chatursen.

Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years?
At a senior position in IT industry. As an Author, I don’t have any position to achieve. I have only one goal as an Author which is to create a difference in Hindi writing and help Hindi literature to get its previous position and dignity.

Is there one subject you would never write about as an author? What is it?

Anything on self-motivation. We have a long list of writers and books who try to teach us how to live. I don’t understand how anyone can teach you what to do and what not do in your life as everyone has their own version of life. I believe life is very simple and we should accept it as it is without having any set rules.
How much important do you think marketing is for the success of a book?
Earlier it was 10% but now a days it’s 90%. I have always believed that a strong content and interesting writing style can lead your book until my book got published and failed. Forget about your content and writing. The main goal is to make the readers know about your book. I’m sorry, but there are so many best sellers which don’t deserve to be as popular as they become. And on other hand, some good books and authors are completely ignored. Here marketing makes a difference. However, I personally think it’s not good for the future of Literature.

What is the message that you want to convey to the readers through your writing?
Be yourself. I write exactly what I think or what I would have done if I was at that particular place. Pretence is not good and shouldn’t be practiced. If you are genuine, the outcome will also be genuine and readers will like it for sure.
Thank You Nilabh! It was very interesting. I wish you all success.

My pleasure!  To be featured on such a nice blog that values new writers. Thanks!
About his Book: Buy Swayamvar fromDiamond Books: Diamond BooksFlipkart: FlipkartAmazon: Amazon
Do pick up his book, folks.

That is all for now.Have a great weekend.
Much Love,

5 don'ts for every writer

( Quote from my book
Liked it: Buy the book from Amazon by clicking HERE )

What are the things that impact your growth as a writer? Have you thought about this?Why do many aspiring authors remain just that even after years and years of trying? Here are some of the things that affect your creative writing career. Here are some of the ‘don’ts’ that you need to give attention.
1.       Don’t allow the stress of  your day job to kill your creativity:
We all have bills to pay and need a day job to help us do that. If you’re lucky enough you might start early in your life and become a bestselling author raking in money, your books being made into films and so on. In that case, you can forget about your day job and become a full-time writer. But even if you work on a day job, you can set aside a little time every day dedicated to your passion, which is writing. Write whenever possible. Treat it as your method to relax, to get out of the tensions created by your day job.
2.       Don’t fall in love with your words : Editing is mighty important. When you fall in love with whatever you have written you hesitate to ruthlessly edit out passages or paragraphs. We have to look at our work through the eyes of a reader. We have to edit out words that make our writing wordy or lazy. The concise your writing, the more power it has to touch the heart of your reader. The trick to edit your own work better is to leave it for a while, maybe a few days or weeks, and come back and read it with a fresh, critical eye. You will find plenty to cut and edit.
3.       Don’t bury your work: Another worry that plagues any writer is the fear of acceptance. Will my work be liked or will it be rejected? Is it the worst story ever written? Such fears stop you from sending a query letter to a publisher. It makes you hesitate and turn back from submitting your work to a story writing contest. But if you want to get published you have to show more confidence in your work. You have to send it out into the world.
4.       Don’t be afraid of rejections: It is probable that your work will face rejections. If you face multiple rejections, there might be something you can do to improve it. Create some friends in the creative writing field. Ask them for help with your manuscript and work on it. Ask for advice that would help improve your writing.  Making the right connections often helps in getting your manuscript noticed. A friend’s friend might be a publisher and your friend might put in a word about you to him/her. Don’t be shy to ask for help.
5.       Don’t take negative feedbacks to heart . This is very important. Once you start querying or once your writing gets published, you will start receiving all sorts of feedback. Both positive and negative.  Know whose suggestions to trust and what to discard. You cannot please one and all with your writing. Every writer has his own audience.I hope these are not some of the things you are doing. If they are, it is time to change them.All the best!

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

5 Websites for Writers

Begin Small

Writing is a craft. Like any other craft it can be learned. There are some basic things that every newbie writer should learn. Once you recognize or choose the category of creative writing to adopt as your own, you should dedicate time to learning the craft. As in every craft, practice and study makes it perfect.
Literature itself is divided into many genres. Comedy, Drama, Realistic fiction, Non-fiction, Romance novel, Satire, Tragedy and Tragicomedy are some major genres. Find the one which attracts you most. The trick is to go for the genre that you like to read most. So, if you are a romance fan, it is quite possible that you will be able to write a good romance.
If you aim to write poetry, there are many varieties of poetry that you can try to express your thoughts in. You can choose from over 50 different types of poetry. They are categorized based on the number of lines, words in the poem, whether it rhymes or not, and what it is about. Some popular ones are Haiku, Sonnets, Ballads, Name poems, Cinquains and Epic Poems.
If you are venturing on writing a novel, start small. Start writing short stories first to get a grip on the dialogue structure, plotting, and the flow of narration. Writing a short story helps you to create and develop a character and to take a plot from beginning to end in a limited number of pages. Once you become an expert in writing short stories, you become adequately prepared to venture to the next level; writing a novel. I treat each chapter of a novel I am writing like a short story. I know what will happen in each chapter, how it begins and where it should end. That is exactly like writing a short story. Doesn’t that seem simple?
There are many basic guidelines in every genre that help writers take their writing to a higher level. I wish to list some websites that have guided me in times of doubt. Some provide peppy advice that sounds like music to my ears.
Here are my favorite websites:
1)    Daily Writing Tips
If you are looking for inspiration to write and writing tips, this is the perfect site for you. It contains articles about grammar, punctuation, spelling, usage and vocabulary.
2)      Live Write Thrive
This is my favorite website when it comes to articles that help to improve the quality of my writing. The owner of this site C.S. Lakin is a famous author and editor and walks you through the essentials of quality writing, plotting and writing your novel.
3)    Grammar Girl
This website helps you boost your confidence by helping you become thorough with the basics of grammar and writing through the use of quick and easy tips. If you search the archives, you can find answer to almost all the common questions or doubts that arise when you write.
4)    Write to Done
This site contains articles that deal with every aspect of writing. Be it blogging, short story writing or novel writing. A must visit for any aspiring writer.
5)    Romance University
I write romance and I love this website. This site contains articles written by experts in the field of literature and romance authors. Though the archives of this site has plenty to offer to romance authors, even other genre writers will find plenty of useful articles that focus on plotting and writing your story/ novel.


This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

Navigation through the oceans of creativity as a blogger

Navigate the oceans of creativity as a blogger
In this age where the internet provides a platform for everyone to become a writer through blogs, blogging is the place where you should begin your journey of becoming a published author. It was where I began my writing journey. And yes, it is the easiest way to get published. I get enormous satisfaction every time I hit the publish button on my blog. You are published already. Not an aspiring writer. Yeah, you might still have long way to go before you get traditionally published. But you do not remain an aspiring writer anymore. You are now a writer, who is as passionate to his/her craft as any other published author.
 So what are the popular blogging platforms where you can start a blog?Let me help you navigate through the various options available if you want to begin blogging. My navigation skills are perfect, I assure you!There are many blogging platforms that allow you to create a blog for free. All you need is an email id.
The three most popular platforms among them are:
1)      Blogger:Blogger is a blog-publishing service that allows multi-user blogs currently owned by Google. Generally, the blogs are hosted by Google at a subdomain of blogspot.com. Blogs can also be hosted in the registered custom domain of the blogger (like www.example.com). So blogspot.com domain publishings will be redirected to the custom domain. It is user friendly and I have my blog on blogger.
2)      Wordpress:Wordpress is a blog-publishing service which was developed by the wordpress foundation in 2003. It is popular because it is easy to use, search engine and SEO friendly. It also allows you to reblog your own posts or another popular wordpress blog.
3)      Tumblr Blogging on Tumblr is an easy platform to start blogging. The way tumblr is setup is like a cross between Twitter and WordPress. It is a micro-blogging platform. You can blog just a sentence or a big rant about your lousy day. Many Tumblr blogs mainly focus on sharing (reblogging) photos on a specific theme.
There are many famous authors who were avid bloggers before they made it big in the publishing world. Some of them continue to blog even as they continue their successful run as bestselling authors. Their blogs are the place where they unwind after a tiresome day, a place where they meet and chat with their readers and also a place where they can promote their books effectively. Here is a list of authors blogs compiled by www.writerswrite.com. You can get an idea of how to start a blog or what to write by going through the archives of the blogs of these authors. You will get a glimpse of their own writing journey, their struggles, their successes and things that make them tick.
You can connect with other bloggers and authors when you become a blogger yourself. The internet has a strange magic and connects you with the right person or page when required.My first publishing opportunity also came through blogging when a fellow blogger announced a short story competition being conducted by a publishing house through a blog post which I happened to read. I sent my story and it was selected to be published in an anthology. So you never know! A publishing opportunity can arrive when you least expect it.  


This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

How blogging impacts your writing dreams

Buy my book from Amazon

For any aspiring writer, the easiest way to get an audience for your writing is via blogging. The benefits of blogging are many. Let me list a few of the things I felt has helped me to realize my dream of becoming a published author.
a)      Impacts the Quality of writing:
One major benefit I experienced through blogging is that my writing skills improved with each blog post that I wrote. The impact of positive feedbacks from my readers boosted my confidence. I learned to string words into sentences and pour out what was on my mind faster and with improved clarity, every time I wrote. It is also a great place to vent. If you don’t actively promote your blog content, practically no one will read it. And the provision for blogging anonymously is also available on every platform. You can perform myriad experiments with your writing, explore new avenues to test your creative writing skills and also churn out masterpieces in the form of short stories, poems or start posting your novel in a series of blog posts.
A word of caution : Internet is a place where plagiarism is common. People can easily copy your work and pass off as their own and you might not even know. So it will be better if you don’t post your complete work as blog posts. Before you even start querying, your novel might end up being published as an eBook if it ends up in the hands of a ruthless person. And most traditional publishers look for unpublished matter to be published. In case you have published some chapters on your blog, delete them once you have got feedback from your dedicated bunch of readers. Then start querying with renewed enthusiasm.
b)      Your blog becomes your writing portfolio:
It doesn’t matter whether you are a poet, a novelist, an essayist or a short story writer. Your blog becomes the showcase of your writing talent. A place where you can write and re-write your ideas, stories, poems or brag about your amazing day! You can treat it like your online journal or you can post snippets from your work-in-progress novella/ novel and look for reader feedback. It in a way becomes your creative world.
c)       Classify your writing
Another benefit from blogging is that you can classify your writing under various labels. By this way, you have various sections in your blog which will display the topics you have written about, the genres your blog posts fall under or the type of literature you excel in. So if you have written poems, by clicking on a label called poems will bring up all the post which falls under the category poems. You can classify your daily journal under a separate label called memoirs or give it a special name.
d)      Connect with other aspiring writers:
Most bloggers I know are either aspiring writers or are published authors. It is always nice to connect with similar minded people. We have many blogging communities like Indiblogger and Blogadda in India which helps bloggers to connect to each other. These platforms regularly conduct blogging competitions and also provide various writing prompts on a weekly basis. Blogadda conducted a novel writing competition for aspiring authors in 2014 called Game of Blogs which was won by the team of which I was a part of. The three top teams got a chance to get their novella published by a leading publishing house and the book 6 Degrees is now available to download on Amazon, Flipkart and other sites.




This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.