Love a little stronger by Preeti Shenoy

Go star gazing! Like right now, if you're reading this post at night.

Spot the brightest star of the day, and the stars near it.

Do you find a pattern?

If you look more intently, you will soon connect the dots and be amazed how spectacular they look, up the heavens so high.

Did it happen over night? Or did it take billions of years to shine?

Do they still shine or have they stopped shining?

We can say the stars are time travellers, as something that happened a billions of years ago, took exactly a billion years to reach us. So, what now, do we know what has happened to it in those billion years. Maybe in some billion years we might find out what happened.

But the stars still look amazing and we love them.

Life is just like the stars, and we the time travellers. In some remote part of our neurological system, resides our memories, some memorable and some mundane, but safe in its vaults.

There are life lessons, fear, rejection, frustration, smiles, anxeity, adrenalin rush, the first day at school, hide and seeks, learning to swim in the rivers and what not. Thanks for keeping it safe “BRAIN.”

Preeti Shenoy has just opened her vault sharing her wonderful memories with the readers. I just loved each and every part of it.

One of the many things I loved in the book are

when kids have nothing to complain, they can say “Mom, he is breathing my air.” I had a great laugh and “Real spies don't wash their babies' underwear.” Seriously dude!

These light hearted moments, just reminds us that life can always take a detour and present you with something that will startle you, but in a good way. Life is these moments woven, together like a fabric where each thread depends on the other.

Some serious conversations converted into a light hearted one, just because someone said something and still didn't understand what went wrong.

Kids, work, learning to ride a bike, silly mistakes and what not the author has shared will just keep you engrossed in the book and the subtle remarks by the author, will make you chuckle. Like you can related it to your own life and how some similar moments unfolded for you.

What were you doing when it happened?

Where were you then?

Such precious moments, I believe have to be documented. These are like gem stones, one very different from the other but still sparkles like a diamond. My life can be different from Preeti's, even your too will be different from that of me and your friend.

Get those moments documented! May be someday your life can inspire and motivate us.

Wow! This is what, the effect of Preeti's book can have on you once you have read it.

Grab a copy of yours from the nearest book store and share your thoughts!

Lonely Me!

Its been a while since I have posted something on my blog of my own.

Like take for instance I have done a lot of book reviews, book release day posts and the list goes on. And also did write contents for various websites and earned a lot of money. But Honestly speaking blogging has been the only thing constant since last 8 years. But whats more to it.

How do I improve myself and become best at it.

At times I feel lonely because of the work that I had undertaken, was completely out of the box or I was the only one doing it with no one in the vicinity to understand what I'm doing.

Blogging

Yes, there are thousands of bloggers in the country and even more in the world. But back in 2010, I was the only blogger among all of my friends. Did get in touch with a senior in Engineering, who was blogging. But to say we both were the only bloggers in the college, working on two very different blogging world. He was into technology and stuffs. I was into creative writing, book reviews, motivation and a lot many posts basically mostly on literature.

I did try writing about technological stuffs and was rewarded with a good amount of money, but didn't continue it for long.

Network Marketing (eBIZ.com Pvt. Ltd)

Wow! Its a wow world.

Everything I'm today and will be is because of Network Marketing. It was this world, where I could be myself, without the fear of the world outside of the meeting rooms and presentations.

Let the world do the talking, I had my achievements do all the talking. Yes, accepted I didn't work much, though still trying to become a full fledged Network Marketer forever.

I had my friends doing it, but eventually they left and even I wandered off into negativity and that had an impact on me. How come even after working so hard, motivating my downlines, all have quitted or didn't work after a year or two.

I was that kid who at the age of 18 earned his first cheque of Rs 1800 (deducting TDS).

Let me say you none of my family members, relatives, had any idea what I was doing. Felt so lonely then, I was like this kid who knew everything, but couldn't make anyone understand. People had their own prejudice over being elders and knowing everything. I assure you none of them, know anything about the beauty of Network Marketing and its Universe.

Again alone!

Believe me there are millions of Network Marketers in the world, but in India people are still after the 9 to 6 job. Get into a Government Job, do tuitions, become a clerk, atleast get a Bank PO (preferably Government Bank) and what not.

Please! For God's sake STOP!

I would love to challenge those elders try getting one for yourself and then advice. Else just carry on with your stupid life, but become best at something you would love to do for the rest of your life.

Stock Market

Take my words for granted “Blogging and Network Marketing are the only two platforms where you can create a WIN- WIN situation.” Nowhere else in the world does any opportunity has the power to change human lives once and for all.

Yeah! Stocks have existed since a very log time. But believe me I'm the only one talking about Stocks and stuff in my family or friends alike.

There are some millions and millions of people trading in stocks every single day but let me ask you, how many people you know are trading in stocks.

Very less! May be none too. Its a risky business to be in, but still then India's market depends on it very existence.

Again lonely!

Accepted you will earn a lot, but again, it is you who will earn a lot alone. Lonely you, earning or loosing. Alone how long will you survive. Yes, you might teach a few to learn about it, but will they invest or atleast try to be different.

The answer is NO! They will wake up in the morning again and get ready for their 9 hours job. Will come back home, cook, play with kids or dogs, go for a movie, plan for a weekend getaway- cancel it, watch some stupid TV Series drink, smoke, will go to night clubs and come back home and sleep.

Even before they understand what happened, they wake up to a new tomorrow Monday! Hell Monday!

Is this what life is all about?

Then again I wasn't writing this blog to talk about life, I was writing about the things I did that I had no idea of it in the first place, but invested my time in it but was alone as I took a path less travelled.

Robert Frost's poem might inspire you to take the road less taken but it doesn't says about its vulnerability and how intimidating it can be.

Believe me life will never be the same again once you have taken the risk of going on the path less travelled. It has its own adventures, frustration, achievements, thrill, fear and a lot more. I just wish I had someone experienced to help me in the journey.

Or atleast have somebody to understand what I'm doing. To share without being judged.

Will I ever find the one who can understand or atleast listen to what I have to say?

Thought provoking though!

The Unity Game

About the Book:

WHAT IF THE EARTH YOU KNEW WAS JUST THE BEGINNING?

A New York banker is descending into madness. 




A being from an advanced civilization is racing to stay alive. 




A dead man must unlock the secrets of an unknown dimension to save his loved ones. 




From the visions of Socrates in ancient Athens, to the birth of free will aboard a spaceship headed to Earth, The Unity Game tells a story of hope and redemption in a universe more ingenious and surprising than you ever thought possible. 




Metaphysical thriller and interstellar mystery, this is a 'complex, ambitious and thought-provoking novel' from an exciting and original new voice in fiction.




Book Links:

Goodreads * Amazon

Meet the Characters:

The Setting: Earth





New York City. The 1990s. One of the world’s leading investment banks.




The Setting: Space




A distant planet. A dry surface orbited by three red moons and circling a distant sun. An advanced civilization living in underground chambers.




The Setting: Death




An open door. A library. A room of knowledge. A garden of dazzling color. The answers to every question that has ever been asked on Earth.






Meet David




A brilliant scientist and wildly ambitious, David abandoned an academic path to follow the glow of Wall Street money. From a small town in Canada, he is now determined to make the riches he has given up his scientific talents for. He is always on edge, he must prove he is better than the other bankers, he has to win the best deals. However, he is easy pickings for the multi-million dollar bosses who see how they can use a greedy, naïve young man for their own purposes. David falls further into risk, mistakes and desperation, clutching at anything around him as his dreams and world falls apart.






Meet Noe-bouk




Dry dust. Three red moons. A member of one of the most advanced civilizations in the universe, taught to believe that all the answers come naturally from the incontrovertible logic of the greatest good. Now, facing death, Noe-bouk decides to find out if there is something more than what he has been taught. Accepting a place on a space ship, the further he gets from the moons of Home Planet the more he understands that he knows nothing at all…






Meet Alisdair




A respected lawyer. An adoring grandfather. Alisdair collapses outside his law offices in London and finds himself standing beside his unmoving corpse. He feels wonderful! He spots some wide open doors and bounds through them to discover a library, a garden, and his dead wife. All his life he has burned with the questions of the universe: what is the purpose of existence? What is good and evil? How far does the infinite stretch? With an afterworld guide and his wife at his side, his only limits now are to come up with new questions as all of his horizons expand beyond imagination…




Meet Elspeth




Beautiful, young, angry. Apart from her beloved grandfather Alisdair, Elspeth has been let down by everyone in her life. She’s rejected her parents and their easy choices, she sees no meaning in the structures of society. She has always felt lost, and now the death of her grandfather is forcing her to make choices. With some money he has left her, she decides to follow a feeling and go on an adventure.




Meet Socrates




Legendary philosopher, pion of bravery and morality, a figure so strong his ideas and presence pervade the centuries and the dimensions of time and space. Who else would Alisdair call upon in the afterworld to help his granddaughter Elspeth, than the man he has revered his entire life, and whose teachings guided him? Yes, Elspeth can be helped, but she must be brought together with another soul – one who has truly lost their path.

Reviews for The Unity Game

 “A complex, ambitious and thought-provoking novel.” ~ Kirkus Reviews




“Elegantly written, expertly crafted and a moving message. I found this book very hard to put down. Moving and poignant.” ~ Lilly, Amazon US reviewer





“An engrossing, unique, and totally bizarre tale! I could not stop reading it once I started. Such a beautiful take on the afterlife, and its connection to those still living. A unity game, indeed!”~ Brenna, Goodreads reviewer

About the Author:

Leonora Meriel grew up in London and studied literature at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and Queen’s University in Canada. She worked at the United Nations in New York, and then for a multinational law firm.

In 2003 she moved from New York to Kyiv, where she founded and managed Ukraine’s largest Internet company. She studied at Kyiv Mohyla Business School and earned an MBA, which included a study trip around China and Taiwan, and climbing to the top of Hoverla, Ukraine’s highest peak and part of the Carpathian Mountains. She also served as President of the International Women’s Club of Kyiv, a major local charity.

During her years in Ukraine, she learned to speak Ukrainian and Russian, witnessed two revolutions and got to know an extraordinary country at a key period of its development.

In 2008, she decided to return to her dream of being a writer, and to dedicate her career to literature. In 2011, she completed The Woman Behind the Waterfall, set in a village in western Ukraine. While her first novel was with a London agent, Leonora completed her second novel The Unity Game, set in New York City and on a distant planet.

Leonora currently lives in Barcelona and London and has two children. She is working on her third novel.

Contact the Author:

Website * Facebook * Twitter

Book Review of The Brahmin

Lies, love, deceit when blended together cook up one good story that can ever be and to it add historical significance, you just have prepared just the most perfect story that will make it to the best sellers list. Research, analysis, proof reading there is so much to do before publishing a master piece, and Ravi has just done the perfect job with “The Brahmin.”

Kalinga (currently known as Odisha), has a very historical significance in the creation of Ashoka the Buddhist. But here in the story the author describes the pre-Kalinga war. The protagonist of the story being “A Brahmin”, is ordered by Ashoka to find the culprit behind killing one of his concubines. And he has a few days before his looses his head.

In a series of adventures and events that lead to the culprit, you will be amazed by the sheer audacity of the research the author has done while writing the book.

Mind blowing!

There is yet another historical reference in the novel, now this isn't particularly historical, its mythology. I was just amazed at the versatility of the author to have put so much information in one book. Might be he is planning on publishing the prequel of “The Brahmin.” I wish he does.

No spoilers here. So, just grab the book as soon as you can lay your hands on it.

“I received the book from writersmelon.com, in exchange for an honest review.”

Mango people in Banana Republic

The beginning is the end!

Life is so fragile, uncertain that you have to live it every day again and again, repeating the same work, every single day and when you think you had enough of it, it is at that very moment you see a silver lining that gives you the belief and hope that it's not the end.... Actually it's the beginning of a new life.... Like stock market, when you think you are going to lose, and at that very same time you can make profit too....

Keep doing things maybe you are doing a bad thing too. Be so very best at it that, when you are the apex leader you find the true meaning of continuing in that very path… And that life is going to be on a very different path that you were not aware of till this very moment.

So be the best in the business and life will find a way to show you the truth and it's ultimate reason for being with you... Supporting your causes. Giving you all that it needs to survive.

Rest assured, you will attain the freedom that you have been looking for since long.

But you have to Hold on! Till the very end...

Ravi the protagonist of the story is fed up with his life and does something, that forces him to quit the job he had. And he fled to his village to find a peace of life. He encounters India in it bare form, one devoid of water, politicans looting the country for votes and the list continues. But life has other plans for him, when he joins the a maoist group that in Dandakarnya. Eventually he seeks out on a desctructive mission which will take him to another protaginist in the story.

Anand Reddy a former physicist, seeks out in a spiritual quest, where he want to find peace and the true menaing of life. Anand learns the trick of the trade, in the search of one's true self.

Talking about the impact it has on you, as you turn the pages of the book, you too are in the journey of the spiritual quest along with Anand and you too will discover the truths of life. And I believe it will make an impact on your life and will change you for good.

The pace of the story is just awesome, it doen't forces you to move fast or too slow. You will enjoy reading the story. I noticed that the story catches its pace once the two protagonists meet. You will be overwhelmed by the end of the story, as you understand its just the circle of life, that plays over and over again. You can always be grateful to it and nothing else.

Thanks Vishak and WritersMelon for sharing the wonderful book with me. Loved it!

I received a copy of the book, in exchange of an honest review from writersmelon.com

The Woman Behind the Waterfall by Leonora

About the Book:

Heartbreak and
transformation in the beauty of a Ukrainian village.

For
seven-year old Angela, happiness is exploring the lush countryside around her
home in western Ukraine. Her wild imagination takes her into birds and flowers,
and into the waters of the river.

All that
changes when, one morning, she sees her mother crying. As she tries to find out
why, she is drawn on an extraordinary journey into the secrets of her family,
and her mother's fateful choices.

Can Angela
lead her mother back to happiness before her innocence is destroyed by the
shadows of a dark past?

Beautiful,
poetic and richly sensory, this is a tale that will haunt and lift its readers.

Book Links:

Goodreads * Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Meet the Characters:

The Setting

Ukraine, a village deep in the countryside. A picturesque, verdant landscape. The houses are beautiful but have few amenities: water is gathered from the well, clothes are washed by hand, and the “outhouse” toilet is in the garden. Life is hard work here, and close to nature.

The Language

There are many Ukrainian words in the novel, especially emphasizing the names of endearment Ukrainian people give to each other. Lastivka is “little swallow”; zaika is ‘little rabbit”; harnenka is “my beautiful one.”

Meet Lyudmilla

Lyuda is a beautiful woman in her early twenties who has suffered some hard knocks early on. Pregnant at just sixteen, she left school and the child’s father moved into their house in the village. Her father died, and her mother soon after, and Lyuda found herself a teenager loaded down with the pressures of a baby, looking after a house, and a man who expected her to cook for him and be the light-hearted girl he fell in love with. Eventually, the situation grows intolerable for him and he abandons her. At seventeen, she is entirely alone with a small baby. She falls into a deep cycle of depression and self-blame, feeling that her life is over and that she is at fault. She doesn’t let anyone close to her.

It is only when her daughter Angela is a little older – aged seven – that she starts to notice how sad her mother is.  She decides to do something about it.

Meet Angela

Seven-year-old girl Angela has been left alone to do as she likes for most of her life. Her mother makes sure her dresses are clean and her hair is untangled, but she is free to play as she wishes. She has a wild imagination and she sees no boundaries between her thoughts and the world around her: she flies in the body of a bird, she becomes the wind, she enters a storm – she is pure spirit and possibility.

When she starts to notice her mother crying every time she is alone, Angela is determined to find out why, and to help her mother regain the happiness she herself feels. At the heart of her investigation are questions that now begin to haunt her: Where is her father? Why does no one come to the house? Why does her mother cry when she thinks no one can see her?

When Angela meets the spirit of her grandmother, they come up with a plan to help Lyuda.

Meet Zoryana

The name Zoryana, which comes from the Ukrainian root zorya, means star, dawn, youth, day or spring. Zoryana has returned to the Earth in spirit form after seeing the unhappiness of her daughter and her failure to move past her teenage mistakes.

Zoryana feels that she did not prepare her daughter enough for the real world before she died, and she sees her struggling and unhappy. She wants to show her that life has highs and lows and that she must choose a new path for herself. She connects with her granddaughter Angela, who is not daunted by meeting the spirit of a relative, and together they help Lyuda to understand and see the joy in her life.

Meet Kolya

Nicolai, or Kolya, lives next door to Lyuda and brews home-made vodka in his shed. He sells it to her and catches rabbits for her to eat. He was a childhood friend of her mother, Zoryana, and he hates to see her so unhappy. He’d love to help her, but she pushes him away. When he finally makes a terrible mistake, there is a high price to pay.

Reviews for The Woman Behind the
Waterfall

“Readers looking for a
classic tale of love and loss will be rewarded with an intoxicating world” ~~ Kirkus Reviews

“The language is lyrical and
poetic and, in places, begs to be read repeatedly for the sheer joy of it… A
literary work of art.” ~~ Fiona Adams,
The Richmond Magazine

“Rich and poetic in detail,
it is an often dreamy, oneiric narrative rooted in an exaltation of nature… A
lovely novel.” ~~ IndieReader

About the Author:

Leonora Meriel grew
up in London and studied literature at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland
and Queen’s University in Canada. She worked at the United Nations in New York,
and then for a multinational law firm.

In 2003 she moved
from New York to Kyiv, where she founded and managed Ukraine’s largest Internet
company. She studied at Kyiv Mohyla Business School and earned an MBA, which
included a study trip around China and Taiwan, and climbing to the top of
Hoverla, Ukraine’s highest peak and part of the Carpathian Mountains. She also
served as President of the International Women’s Club of Kyiv, a major local
charity.

During her years in
Ukraine, she learned to speak Ukrainian and Russian, witnessed two revolutions
and got to know an extraordinary country at a key period of its development.

In 2008, she decided
to return to her dream of being a writer, and to dedicate her career to
literature. In 2011, she completed The Woman Behind the Waterfall, set in a
village in western Ukraine. While her first novel was with a London agent,
Leonora completed her second novel The Unity Game, set in New York City and on
a distant planet.

Leonora currently
lives in Barcelona and London and has two children. She is working on her third
novel.

Contact the Author:

Website * Facebook * Twitter

Skarlet Kiss by Elise Whyles

About the Book:

Can one who served the enemy find love in the arms of a condemned man?


Una has spent her life serving Amuliana, the goddess of immortals. Now she stands on the brink of a change, one that can her give back the life she lost to Amuliana's meddling. But the change that comes will shatter the peaceful existence she knows and give her a new understanding of love and life. Unbeknownst to Una, her ancestors were the Forsaken, immortals who were cast out for the crime of a jealous vampire general.


Liam, an outcast among the dragon clans, has spent centuries seeking the one who condemned him for a crime he did not commit. When he comes face to face with Una, he must make a difficult choice - seek revenge or save a pure heart from the darkness threatening their worlds.


The dragon warrior and the human girl will unite to face enemies they've never experienced as a fallen vampire general's army stalks them. As Una gains strength, her immortal gifts are returned and she becomes a threat to the imprisoned general who's seeking power over the immortal world. He can't afford to let Una survive, because her life will ultimately cost him his.


Together, Liam and Una must fight their way back to the vampire world and the safety offered by her sister. Can love survive amid the treachery and danger, or has Liam finally found his mate only to lose her to the evil plaguing their worlds?


Book Link:

Goodreads * Amazon


Read an Excerpt:

Thick, rolling clouds kept the air moist as Liam paced the confines of his home. Ice covered the stone walls, snow swirled and danced along the floor of the cave. He shivered, the rattle of scales music to his ears. After two hundred years, he was finally able to break out of the horrid humanoid form.

Padding to the mouth of his cave, he stared out. White clouds soared around the mountain's peak. Snow danced along the ledge, piling where it was easiest. The air was cold, crisp, sweet, much as it had been when he'd grown up in the Highlands.

He tapped his claws against the stone, his eyes searching through the mist, for what he did not know. The need to search, to find an answer to the elusive want had plagued him for days, disturbing his hunting, his rest. Nights were filled with the image of a female, her hair flowing over her shoulders, wide, trust filled eyes staring at him. Her hands outstretched, reaching toward him. The visage tickled at his memory of another woman, one dressed as a slave, following the footsteps of a vampire…one he'd feared.



Curling his tail around himself, he settled on his haunches, shoulders hunched against the chill as he stared out over the human realm. Faint, his hunger stirred. Soon he'd need to hunt, both for food and for the one who had done him ill. The sharp point of his tail beat a slow, steady rhythm against the floor as he tilted his head, listening to the howling winds, the bitter screams of the winter weather, and the elusive sound of a beating heart.

About the Author:

Born in Northern British Columbia, Elise is a small-town girl. She writes in a variety of genres including paranormal, contemporary suspense, m/m in various lengths. Currently, she lives in British Columbia with her husband and son, one dog, one cat, and a gecko. Elise enjoys reading as much as she does writing, with some of her favorite books being read until they fall apart. 

She is currently working on the next book in the Forsaken Series, Burning Rain. As well she has a new contemporary she’s working on. For more information on Elise, or to check out her books you can find her on Facebook, twitter, and her website.

Contact the Author:

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Goodreads