Sunday, October 26, 2014

Blog Tour: MEET THE CREATOR "YAMINI VIJENDRAN" of Full Circle Fame

Meet the Creator of FULL CIRCLE

Yamini Vijendran
(Pic Courtesy: www.indireads.com)
Hello Yamini Vijendran, welcome to my blog. I enjoyed reading your book Full Circle. I must say that it’s a very quaint romance and it needs a mature mind to create the book. 

Sundari: How much of the book is from real life and how much is from your imagination?

Yamini: First of all, thanks for hosting me on your blog Sundari. You are one of the authors in the blogosphere and ‘authorosphere’ whom I admire and respect a lot. It is a pleasure to be interacting with you.

Well, yes, parts of this book are from real life. Malini has shades of me, my aunts and my mother. The setting is very similar to a retirement home I have visited in Pollachi, Coimbatore. But the story that weaves through these real entities is imaginary.

Sundari: Thank you for saying that about me Yamini. That’s really big of you. I think you are an excellent writer too. To continue... usually the protagonists of romantic novels range from age 14-40. How did you land up writing about senior citizens?

Yamini: I did not really start with a specific intention to explore that demography. However, I have always wondered how it would be if I were to meet my youthful crush after many years, how we would interact, and what feelings would run through us. So that and the song from Aandhi, “Tere bina zindagi se koyi”, were my biggest influences in conceptualising Full Circle.

Sundari: That's truly interesting! And who do you think is the target audience for your novel?

Yamini: I think because of the demography Full Circle explores, it will find patronage among an entire range of people. Whether you are in your twenties or your sixties, Full Circle is a story that offers something for everyone. Although it is not fast paced and steamy the way young adults would like it nowadays, it has that rustic charm that many will find attractive.

Sundari: I agree with what you say about the rustic charm. You have set the story in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu with a lot of detailing. Incidentally, it is my place of birth and helped me connect with the story. How did you do the research?

Yamini: I have relatives in Kumbakonam who helped me with the setting, information about the temples and the life in the agraharam. My own paternal aunt has lived in one such agraharam, so her experiences and inputs helped. And as always, the internet is ever present as the biggest tool for research, so what I did not find anywhere else, I found on the web.

Sundari: I agree with you completely about the internet. I do most of my research there too. Now, imagine yourself in Rumi’s place. What would have been your reaction if it had been your Grandmother who had found the love of her life at 60?

Yamini: To tell you the truth, it would be a bit difficult to digest, not because I have anything against my grandmother or love, but because of the way we have been brought up and the way we have conditioned our minds to think. It would probably take time, but I would like to think that I would eventually be able to accept it. My Rumi is what I would aspire to be in such a situation.

Sundari: And hopefully you are creating more Rumis out there in the world as people read your book. I could not but admire her character. It has been a little more than a year since Full Circle was published. When should we expect your next? Can you tell us something about it?

Yamini: I have been working on a couple of scripts, progressing a bit and fizzling out mid way. So I am not sweating it out to churn out books fast. I take my time as a writer and am confident that whatever I write, even if it just one more, will be something that will leave a mark of its own. 

Bravo Yamini! With that we come to the end of our little chat session with the Creator of the lovely romance novella Full Circle. If you like to read a soft love story in a small town setting, then you will surely love this one folks! Go for it. 

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Blog Tour: FULL CIRCLE by Yamini Vijendran


My Review

Malini is 60 plus and lives with her son, daughter-in-law and teenage granddaughter in the city of Chennai. She’s been widowed since two years and feels a strong urge to visit her roots at Kumbakonam. Much against her family’s wishes, Malini shifts to a Retirement Home there. Is fate calling out to her?

I am amazed at Yamini coming up with a 60-year-old heroine for a romance novella. But the author has proved that she can write a convincing story and how! Beautiful story, well-written making for a thoroughly enjoyable read.

There were at least two situations where I could not help shedding tears. Congratulations, Yamini Vijendran! Considering this is her maiden venture, the author is bound to get better and better. It really makes me look forward to more from her.

Full Circle 
by 
Yamini Vijendran




The Blurb
 Outwardly, Malini is a contented, sixty-something grandmother with a loving family and everything a person could wish for. But Malini has lived her entire life with a secret confined to the deepest recesses of her heart.

Haunted by the past, she travels to Kumbakonam, her native town, which she had left years ago. There, she comes face-to-face with her long-lost love.

After forty years, will Malini be able to reclaim her own life, when love comes knocking at her door once again?


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Meet the Author





Yamini Vijendran (@saimini) is the author of ‘Full Circle’, a romance novella published by Indireads. After being a Software Professional for 7 years, Yamini has been freelancing from home for the past 3 years. She loves to dabble in fiction and romance and drama are her favorite genres. Her short stories have been published in ‘Love Stories That Touched My Heart’, an Anthology published by Penguin India, New Asian Writing and Six Sentences. Yamini also likes to pen poems when inspiration strikes, and her poetry has been published in The Indian Review, Contemporary Literary Review of India and ‘A World Rediscovered’ a poetry Anthology by Cyberwit Publications. Yamini draws material for her stories and poems from the world around her. When she is not converting her experiences to stories or poems, Yamini reads, plays with her toddler, and fools around her laboratory, that is, the kitchen. 




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Saturday, October 18, 2014

Sharing: LITOMANIA 2014 DAY 2

L-R: Christopher Doyle, Shubha Vilas Das, Meghna Pant, Anand Neelakantan & Shatrujeet Nath

On the second day, I decided to go to Litomania only in the afternoon. Luckily for me, I remembered to take my camera. I had expected the shows to run late like the earlier day. But they were only late by a few minutes. I went to Does mythology need a twist? By Christopher Doyle, Shubha Vilas Das, Shatrujeet Nath and Anand Neelakantan. The moderator was Meghna Pant. I have to mention here that she was excellent, asking the right questions and being an intelligent listener. 

I am familiar with Anand Neelakantan’s writing as I am reading his book Ajaya in which Duryodhana is the protagonist. Author Anand Neelakantan is well known for his contrarian views as he takes the sides of the ‘supposed’ villains from mythology. His first book is Asura which tells the story from Ravana’s view point. 

After attending this programme, I am keen to read Christopher Doyle’s books too. Swami Shuba Vilas Das spoke really well and it was fascinating listening to him. 

Meghna Pant & Anand Neelakantan

The last part of the programme was just Anand Neelakantan and Meghna Pant as they spoke about the author’s latest book – The Rise of Kali – that continues with Duryodhanan’s story. The author explained why he felt the need to tell the story from what people considered the ‘villain’s’ view point. Amazing!

L-R: Vikram Sathaye, Parul Sharma, Sorabh Pant & Rishi Piparaiya

The next programme was Do happy people make great humour writers? I must say that this was the best one that I attended. I was sitting in the second row and laughed non-stop, almost falling out of my seat a few times, for the whole hour.  It was Sorabh Pant, Parul Sharma and Rishi Piparaiya – all authors – with Vikram Sathaye playing moderator. While Parul is quietly humorous, Rishi spoke very little. It was Sorabh who stole the show along with Vikram. Every time Sorabh opened his mouth, the audience were in splits. He was simply howlarious! And so was Vikram with his jokes on the cricket team. While making people laugh, Sorabh Pant also had many intelligent things to share – like how ‘chaos’ and ‘adrenaline rush’ make him what he is – a very successful stand-up comedian. It was the most awesome one-hour session. Loved it!

L-R: Shoma Narayanan, Leena Varghese, Sudeep Nagarkar & Sachin Garg

I crashed midway into Are Romance Novels just a Happy Bubble? Does reality often burst it? In conversation with Shoma Narayanan, Sudeep Nagarkar, Leena Varghese and Sachin Garg. The discussion was kind of tanda after that humour session. I liked a number of things I heard from Leena Varghese. Very mature stuff about how relationships depend on accepting the other for what he/she is. Very valid points indeed! What surprised me was the number of male romance authors that I came upon during the lit fest. After Ravinder Singh the earlier day, it was Sudeep Nagarkar and Sachin Garg on the second day. And believe me, they are all super successful. Sudeep has done his engineering, not enjoying it at all. It was only after he received the printed copy of his first book that his family got to know about his becoming a published author. The three-book old Sachin Garg also happens to own a publishing house. Impressive! 

I got out at the tail end of the programme as it was question time and I was getting quite late. I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the 2-day Litomania lit fest organised by Think WhyNot. Kudos guys! 


Friday, October 17, 2014

Sharing: LITOMANIA 2014 DAY 1

Pic Courtesy: Litomania FB page
I was pretty excited when I saw the listing for Litomania in Mumbai Mirror. Having never attended a lit fest ever, I decided to go for this one as it was held quite close to home. I registered immediately online for it and chalked out the programmes I wanted to attend. Preeti Arora – we used to work together at Buzz18 – called to tell me about Litomania and we both decided to meet there.

The first day – October 11, 2014 – inauguration, etc., began late and all the shows were subsequently late.

Without meaning to, I attended the inauguration and after that came the programme – What is India reading? It was a discussion by Amish Tripathi, Ashwin Sanghi, Ravi Subramanian and Ravinder Singh. I have read Amish’s Shiva Trilogy; The Rozabal Line, Chanakya Chants & The Krishna Key by Ashwin Sanghi; If God is a Banker & Devil in Pinstripes by Ravi Subramanian. I got to know that day that Ravinder Singh is a romance author and has written a few books that are very popular with the younger generation. Click Here to know more about this author.

Author Ravinder Singh Pic Courtesy: http://www.thenational.ae/
It was an interesting discussion on how Modern India is keener to read Indian authors who write about Indian characters unlike the older generation who grew up on Western authors. I must say it was a very interesting and absorbing group discussion with all the four authors participating in equal measures.

The next programme I attended was a group discussion on the Romance Genre and I was sure I would find a lot of useful inputs here. The participants were Author Madhuri Banerjee; Author Bhaavna Arora and Author-Publisher Amrita Chowdhury with moderator Rachel Lopez. Topic was Is India exploring the 50 shades?

Author Madhuri Banerjee Pic Courtesy: http://www.fuccha.in/
Only after sitting for some time I realised that this was only about writing explicit scenes in romances. I haven’t read the Fifty Shades series and that obviously was the reason for my gaffe. When the discussion got to the stage of writing about same sex relationship and relationship with animals (yep, you read right), Preeti and I had had enough and left the hall.

Chef Sanjeev Kapoor Pic Courtesy: http://zoinkmediablog.files.wordpress.com/
Preeti had an invite to Ravi Subramanian’s Masterclass on How to write a book and get it published. I checked at the reception if I could attend and as they had no objection, we both went to the hall allotted for the lecture immediately after lunch. Without meaning to we landed at Chef Sanjeev Kapoor’s India’s obsession with gastronomy along with Pooja Dhingra and Shipra Khanna. I must say that Sanjeev Kapoor held the audience’s attention as he spoke about his career growth from learning to be a chef, his culinary show on Doordarshan to penning his first recipe book. Today, he has sold more than two and a half million copies of his books. Amazing!

Author Ravi Subramanian Pic Courtesy: http://iyatingupta.com/ 
Next was Ravi Subramanian’s class. He held the audience spell bound as he took us through the session first talking about how to write and then how to get your work published. I liked it when he said that a writer must write every day and should make time for it maybe by giving up on TV time or even sleep. It was sound advice and I have decided to follow it – to write every day. So far so good!

I went to meet the author and introduced myself, congratulating him on his awesome books. I was pretty thrilled when he recognised my name when I told him that I had sent him his book reviews on my blog. Ravi S did promise to help me with the print publishing of my books. Let’s see.

The last class I attended that day was on When writing mythology, does the writing change the writer? Participants were Amish Tripathi and Ashwin Sanghi while the moderator was Rachel Lopez. I had missed half the discussion as the earlier programme had got delayed. But I still found the discussion very interesting.

What a day!

More info on Day 2 in the next blog


Blog Tour: AGAINST ALL RULES by Summerita Rhayne


Against All Rules
By 
Summerita Rhayne




MY REVIEW

Against All Rules is all about the sexual tension between Tahir and his secretary Samara. I loved the names of the protagonists. Tahir is recently divorced and Samara is torn between feeling sad for his broken relationship and being glad that he is free to be pursued as she’s been in love with him since a long time. After a lot of back and forth they get together in the end.

Summerita Rhayne’s language is good, though a stronger hand at proofing would have been a help. 

The story line could have been stronger. It’s all about sexual innuendoes over the first half of the book till the reader begins to wonder why can't they just get on with it and let us be at peace. There’s a little bit about Tahir’s relationship with his father. But I can’t see where it fits with the story line. It’s a separate issue altogether. 

I will go with three stars for this book for the author’s writing style, the titillating content and the wonder of weaving a story around lust. 

All the best to Summerita Rhayne on her writing and self-publishing venture as there’s one thing I can promise about her book – Against All Rules will sell. 

Disclaimer: I received a PDF of Against All Rules by Summerita Rhayne from The Book Club in return for my honest review for their Blog Tour




The Blurb
 The efficient PA out of her depth...
Samara knows getting attracted to Tahir is like asking for trouble. Not only is he her boss but he’s got divorced recently and has sworn off any commitment. Short term is not on her list but temptation has never been stronger.

The man who doesn’t have faith in rainbows anymore...

Tahir doesn’t believe in enforcing a code of conduct he cannot follow. But Samara might just make him make an exception! An affair at the office might seem a solution to his troubles but how can he avoid treading uncharted territory…?

Against All Rules

when fire is set, it’s hard to avoid the blaze


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Meet the Author






Summerita Rhayne loves to write sensual and emotional romance. There's no knowing when some quirky - or sometimes even not so quirky - happening in daily life might trigger her right brain and then she's off craving a new story. She loves writing characters who learn and grow and find their way out of their troubles and emotional hang-ups. Hot, sensual heroes and sassy but sweet heroines mostly fit the bill in her stories. She also believes that a touch of humor never goes amiss in a book.

She divides her time between family, job and writing - and loves winding down with music, movies and the internet!




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Sunday, October 12, 2014

Cover Reveal: LEMON GIRL by Jyoti Arora


Cover Reveal: Lemon Girl 
by Jyoti Arora 

The She....


The He...


The Author


Jyoti Arora

Jyoti Arora is a Post Graduate in English Literature and Applied Psychology. Her writing achievements include two novels, three blogs, several wins in national level blog competitions, over five years of freelance writing experience, developing books for kids and abridging 24 famous English novels like Jane Eyre, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn etc. 

Jyoti's first novel, Dream's Sake, was published in 2011 by V&S Publishers. It received great reviews and much appreciation from readers.Books have always been Jyoti’s best friends. In fact, books so fascinated her from early childhood that she learnt reading, by herself, even before she started going to school. And she considers herself most fortunate that she is able to pursue her dream of being a novelist and work at what she loves best.

However, if books are Jyoti’s first love, and she’s still very devoted to them, the thrilling and steadily advancing world of technology also fascinates her. As a result, one of Jyoti’s blog is a technological blog called Techn0Treats. In 2011, a post in this blog won her the title of Samsung Mobile when Samsung made her a part of the team of the twenty bloggers chosen from all over India through a blogging competition. In this team of twenty bloggers, she was the only woman and perhaps the only one who had studied literature instead of science. As a Samsung Mobiler, Jyoti acted as the promoter and ambassador of Samsung.

Jyoti is a patient of Thalassemia Major which forced her to stop going to school after class seventh. After that, she continued her studies on her own through correspondence courses. Her zest to overcome her medical problems and made her an inspiration for many.

So are you curious now ?????????

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Thursday, October 9, 2014

Film Review: BANG BANG


You can watch Bang Bang for the mind-blowing action 

Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif, Jimmy Shergill, Jaaved Jaffrey, Danny Denzongpa, Pawan Malhotra
Director: Siddharth Anand

Even though Bang Bang didn’t receive raving reviews, Venkat and I were keen to see it and went to Cinemax for the Sunday evening show. How could we miss the Hrithik-Katrina starrer! We did not regret it.

THE STORY

Viren Nanda (Jimmy Shergill) is an army officer who goes to London to get terrorist Omar Zafar (Danny Denzongpa) extradited to India. Omar’s associate Hamid Gul (Jaaved Jaffrey) storms the London prison to help the former escape. Omar kills Viren on the spot. Omar and Hamid decide to terrorise India by getting someone to steal the Kohinoor Diamond from London. Enter Rajveer (Hrithik Roshan) who manages to do the impossible by stealing the diamond. But he refuses to hand it over to Omar’s goons as they act tough. On the run, he meets Harleen (Katrina Kaif) in Shimla. Harleen doesn’t have a boyfriend and likes Rajveer when she meets him, unaware that he is a jewel thief. Rajveer drugs her and takes her along with him as he runs around the globe, away from both the police and Omar’s men. Why would he want the Kohinoor Diamond if not to sell it to Omar? Is he what he appears to be? Will Harleen be able to get together with Rajveer? You need to watch the film to find out.

MY PERCEPTION

The film is a copy of Tom Cruise-Cameron Diaz starrer Knight and Day and is an out and out masala flick. Leave your brain back at home and just enjoy it for the fun and frolic along with intense action. 

Hrithik Roshan looks handsome with fantastic eight-pack abs. But he does look old and tired. That could be the result of his surgery and intense working out. Felt quite sorry for the guy actually.

Katrina Kaif as Harleen is pure eye-candy with not much scope for acting. She’s sailed through the film. 

Danny Dengzongpa, Jimmy Shergill, Pawan Malhotra and the others have good roles and have all performed well. 

Jaaved Jaafrey looks awesome with a tattoo on his throat and makes an excellent villain as Hamid Gul. Kudos!

I am still not able to wrap my head around the story that says Rajveer drugs Harleen and takes her around the world right from the spot where he meets her. Isn’t there something called the ‘Passport’ and then the ‘Visa’ for someone to travel out of the country? This is why I told you to leave your brain at home. No one warned me and I had taken mine along to the film. 

VERDICT: You can watch Bang Bang for the mind-blowing action 



*Silly
**Shaky
***Smart
****Snazzy
*****Super

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Blog Tour: THE RUNAWAY BRIDEGROOM by Sundari Venkatraman by The Book Club




THE RUNAWAY BRIDEGROOM
by
Sundari Venkatraman





Blurb

Chanda Maheshwari’s family is shaken when her thirteen-year-old bridegroom Veerendra runs away immediately after the wedding. The eight-year-old child doesn’t even understand the impact on her life. Unable to face their neighbours and friends, the Maheshwaris move from their village to Jaipur and begin a new life in the city.

Fourteen years later, Chanda is studying in a Delhi College. She takes up a temporary job at RS Software Pvt. Ltd. and falls head-over-heels for the boss of the operation. But what about  Ranveer Singh? Is he interested in her?

Ranveer’s secretary Shikha is desperate to make him fall for her. All she wants is life-long security with a rich man. But it’s nerd Abhimanyu who keeps getting in the way. Abhi is Ranveer’s second-in-command and Shikha isn’t keen on him as she’s eyeing the main chance. 

When Ranveer appears to show interest in Chanda, she’s faced with a new problem. Astrologer Vidyasagar insists that she would get back with her husband Veerendra. Does anyone want to know what she wants? 

Chanda feels torn between the man she has fallen for and the family values that have been instilled in her. Will she ever find happiness? 

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Meet the Author


Sundari Venkatraman has authored four ebooks so far, The Runaway Bridegroom being the latest. Three of her books, namely, The Malhotra Bride; Meghna and The Runaway Bridegroom have all been self-published on Amazon under the banner of Flaming Sun. All three books are regularly seen on Amazon’s Top 100 Bestsellers’ Contemporary Romances list. 

A great fan of Mills & Boon romances over the past four decades, Sundari has always believed in ‘Happily Ever Afters’ and all her books promise happy endings. 

The Runaway Bridegroom talks about ‘Child Marriage’, an evil perpetrated even in the 21st century in a country like India. While a large number of the country’s population live in the cities and lead modern lives, there are many who follow old customs unaware of the negative impact on the lives of the younger generation. 

The book is a work of fiction and of course does not preach. The author has but made an attempt to bring this ancient custom to the eyes of the modern public around the world while bringing a simple solution to the protagonists, the victims of child marriage. 

“I hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I loved writing it,” says Sundari Venkatraman. 

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