Blog Tour: GUEST POST by Rubina Ramesh

Rubina Ramesh

I knew Rubina Ramesh first as a story teller and only later as a marketeer. Many people know her as the face of THE BOOK CLUB but first and foremost, Rubina can sure weave a tale that pulls the reader in with the way she builds her characters and sentences, many a time leaving the reader wondering what had hit them. Today, I bring you Rubina Ramesh, Indie author of Knitted Tales: A Collection of Emotions. This book is an anthology of short stories that bring you the varied shades of human thoughts and behaviours. Recently, she’s also published her first romance novel called Finding the Angel that would remind one of the Mills & Boons of the 70s & 80s – the best ever. Yes, I became her fan first and I am glad that today I am a friend too.

My question to the author is this:

There’s young Jaspreet who’s undergoing tremendous pressure in the exam hall. I found your description of her feelings so real and amazing. And then there’s the sexy siren Lolita of many layers. It can’t get more divergent than the two. It’s amazing that both were born from the same author’s pen. Can you throw some light on how these came about?

And here's Rubina Ramesh’s answer:

Dear Sundari,

Coming from you I will take that as a HUGE compliment for pleasing you is never easy. Thank you.

I have a few advantages over life.

1. I am a writer with an overactive imagination.

2. I am a woman writer with an overactive imagination.

3. I am a mother and a woman writer with an overactive imagination.

Now as you can see with every role my imagination is stretching a bit more. :D Knitted Tales was written over a period of time. The days I was happy, a peppy story popped up for the prompt put up in Wrimo India. Having a teenage daughter, whose mother has a hormonal imbalance, can be a catalyst to an overdriven imagination. Every examination after you give a pep talk to your daughter, you are left with an empty gaping hole of self-doubt about the way you are bringing up your kid in this rat race. We had it easy compared to our kids. But we cannot show it or they latch on to our weaknesses. My daughter is a wonderful artist but like every parent we dream of her becoming a doctor or an engineer. Movies like 3 Idiots scream about the injustice that we do to our kids. But such messages are appreciated when it happens to our neighbors or our friend's kid. Out of that feeling, Jaspreet was born.

Jia Khan's death left a very strong feeling of dread in me. A young life snuffed out so early and such a senseless death. Lolita, though not a takeoff from her life, but it’s more about the emotion that I felt when I read the news. What makes a person commit suicide at the peak of their lives? What did her soul come to learn? Did she depart once she had learned it? Such questions, as you know dear Sundari, always fascinate me. Lolita, which I am planning a full-fledged novel on, is my quest for those answers.

Thank you, Sundari for this opportunity to express myself. 

Click on the picture to buy Rubina Ramesh's books

Blog Tour: GUEST POST by Devika Fernando, author of SAVED IN SRI LANKA

Saved In Sri Lanka 

by 

Devika Fernando

Some People Are Destined To Meet 

GUEST POST

Question: Congratulations Devika on publishing another lovely romance! I know you are from Sri Lanka and so creating Sepalika and the Sri Lankan tour wouldn't have been so difficult. But how did you manage to create Daniel from Ireland? I must say that he's mighty fascinating.

Thank you for finding Daniel fascinating – I can’t help but agree. ;-) Interestingly, he’s my favourite hero so far, although I automatically create all my heroes in a way that makes me fall for them.

I knew from the beginning that I wanted a European hero for my Sri Lankan heroine because it would match her rather modern character and also highlight how exotic the country is and how many differences and hurdles there are in a multicultural / interracial relationship. Ireland seemed the perfect choice because I had always found the country fascinating and wanted to portray an Irish hero.

I researched typical names and collected information on where I wanted Daniel to live, and because he’s a history lecturer I also delved deeper into some parts of the Irish history and culture. I really wanted Daniel to come alive, so I also searched online for Irish words and phrases. I verified them and some of his English mannerisms with an Irish Facebook friend of mine during my final rounds of edits. 

Usually I don’t have a real ‘role model’ for my characters, although some heroes might loosely be inspired by a famous person. This time, however, two particular men were in my head all the time while writing Daniel: My favourite actors, Tom Hiddleston from England and Michael Fassbender from Ireland, served as inspiration for Daniel’s looks and a little of his character. I hope I’ve done them justice… :D

You have obviously created Daniel with a lot of love and some intense research. No wonder your heroine Sepalika finds him irresistible. Wish you all the best with this book Devika Fernando. It's your best so far :D

Blurb 

Some people are destined to meet.

It sure feels that way when Sri Lankan tour guide Sepalika meets Daniel. The mysterious tourist from Ireland steals his way into her heart and makes her question everything her life is built upon. Instant attraction turns to love – but does he feel the same? And what about the secret she’s hiding from him?
Follow the two on their quest for a happy ending amid the beauty and wonders of the tropical island paradise of Sri Lanka.

Watch the Trailer

Buy @

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Meet the Author

Almost as soon as Devika Fernando could write, she imagined stories and poems. After finishing her education in Germany and returning to her roots in Sri Lanka, she got a chance to turn her passion into her profession. Having lived in Germany and in Sri Lanka with her husband has made her experience the best (and the worst) of two totally different worlds – something that influences her writing. Her trademark are sweet, yet deeply emotional romance stories where the characters actually fall in love instead of merely falling in lust. She draws inspiration from everyone and everything in life. Besides being a romance novel author, she works as a self-employed German web content writer, as a translator, and as a faithful servant to all the cats, dogs, fish and birds in her home. What she loves most about being an author is the chance to create new worlds and send her protagonists on a journey full of ups and downs that will leave them changed. When she’s not writing, she’s reading or thinking about writing.

  You can stalk her @

        

        

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Guest Post: ADITE BANERJIE on ALPHA VS BETA HEROES

Adite Banerjie is the author of two best-selling Harlequin Mills & Boon romances. I had a question for her and she has answered it on this guest post. Check out what she has to say about creating a male protagonist. 

Adite, you have two published books to your credit. Both your heroes are alpha males. Please share your thoughts on creating a Beta male. I hear that they are getting quite popular these days.

Hi Sundari! Thanks for your question about creating Alpha Vs Beta Heroes. 

When I was writing Book #1 (The Indian Tycoon’s Marriage Deal) I was obsessed with creating an Alpha hero--the tall, dark and handsome heroes who were arrogant, independent, all-powerful and protective. They had the world at their feet and which heroine could resist their potent charm?  As Annie West, romance author explains: “The Alpha Hero will stand by the Heroine when she needs him, he will be a loving, loyal partner. And if the road to happiness is a little rocky to begin with, all the better. After all, we want our romances with a little spice, don’t we?”

But I ran into a bit of a problem while creating the typical—some would call it stereotypical!—Alpha  Hero. My book was targeted at an Indian audience. And no matter how ‘alpha’, an Indian Hero would value family over independence.  His loyalties with the Heroine would to a certain degree be shared by his responsibility for his family. A trait that would be easier to find in a Beta Hero. So Krish Dev in The Indian Tycoon definitely had a bit of beta in him. 

A Beta Hero is one who is more of a follower than a leader. He is more self-aware, more sociable than the reclusive Alpha; harbours self-doubt whereas the Alpha is supremely self-confident. The Beta’s most endearing quality is his sense of humour.  In my second book, Trouble Has a New Name, the Hero, Neel, starts off as a typical, arrogant Alpha-type but as the book progresses, we get to see his Beta like qualities: his insecurities, his self-awareness, his quirky sense of humour.  

Ultimately it’s for every author to decide how alpha or beta your hero is. As Nicola Marsh, a veteran of many romances, says, “Your hero will be unique. He may turn out to be more Beta than Alpha or vice-versa. Whatever you do, make your man the sexiest hero possible, the kind of guy we can't close the pages on until the last, satisfying scene.”

Thank you so much Adite Banerjie for sharing your thoughts with my blog audience.

Blog Tour: INDERPREET KAUR UPPAL reviews MEGHNA

Inderpreet Kaur Uppal

I got meet Inderpreet Kaur Uppal through Write Tribe thanks to Corinne Rodrigues. Inderpreet is now also part of The Book Club. She was enthusiastic enough to do a review and Guest Post on her blog for my book Meghna’s blog tour. Thank you so much Inderpreet for all your time and effort.

About Inderpreet:

Inderpreet Kaur Uppal is a Freelance Writer, Blogger, Editor and Lecturer. She has a Masters Degree in Human Resources Management and loves to read, travel, discuss and write. Writing comes to her naturally as a gift from her parents whose love of the English language and correct expression has become a way of life for her. She writes about what moves the heart and awakens the mind and celebrates beauty in everyday life. She can be contacted for writing and editing assignments, book reviews, blog posts and articles. What you have in mind will be on the paper. She likes demystifying the dynamics of excellent expressions with simple sentences for all your writing wrangles. 

You can read more of her writing at http://www.inderpreetkaur.blogspot.in  

Inderpreet’s review:

As I turned the last page the love story of #Meghna, it left me with a smile – the secretive, funny smile we readers of romance get when we find a truly mushy, well written, romance novel with just the right mix of love, real life and drama.

Click Here to read the complete review.

Guest Post on Inderpreet’s blog:

As you all know that since I talk a lot about women on my blog I asked Sundari if she could share her views on the heroines of her novels and what goes in her mind when she develops their personalities. What is her inspiration for the leading ladies that she writes about? The strong willed, positive and confident heroines and how they are like today's women.

Click Here to read the full post.

Guest Post: NEO MARKETING by Rubina Ramesh

Rubina Ramesh

It was a blessed day when I met Rubina Ramesh on social media a little more than a year ago. She has been a friend, guide, philosopher and a lot more to me. If I am a self-published author who is also successful today, I will give full credit to Rubina. She’s like a Tornado who works 24/7. Living on the other side of the planet, I don’t quite know how she manages to stay up most of the night to be in touch with us members of The Book Club. 

Incidentally, this is my third blog tour with them and I have to mention that the past two tours have been supremely successful. I am quite confident of the outcome of the present one for Meghna as well. 

I can’t think of a better person who can write about promoting Indie authors through Blog Tours which is what The Book Club has been doing since its inception. And here we have Rubina Ramesh writing about NEO MARKETING. Thank you so much for the Guest Post, Rubina! 

CLICK HERE to check out Rubina Ramesh's blog...

NEO MARKETING

Thank you Sundari Venkatraman for giving me this opportunity to talk about Neo Marketing! Here I take the liberty of using the 1999 cliché of marketing Cluetrain Manifesto, ‘Marketing is Conversation”. When I first entered this field by accident, (another cliché), the first thing I noticed is to write a book is damn tough. It takes hours and months and years of planning, plotting, characterization and visualization. In my words, “Years of labor pain”. And then comes a part when your book is either rejected by the publishers or they are lost in the sea of books published. We can’t blame the Almighty publishers too… they have a company to run and our public is damn fickle-minded.  Who would have thought a few years ago that Modern India will lap up Amish Tripathi’s Shiva Trilogy, especially when Avengers and Gladiators were in vogue? 

But more than writing a book, the pain is felt when you market your book. How many of us are born marketers? So, many stories are lost is the digital world - some of them due to lack of marketing and some due to lack of editing. But who is at the loser’s end? Of course - the Writers. Some of them, or rather most of them don’t even see .01 percent royalty. So, how do we do this? Is writing after all worth the pain?

But then, even in an overpopulated India, we plan our kids ;). How can our stories be any different? They are born within us. We have to deliver. Here are some of the things I have learnt after we started The Book Club. I don’t mind sharing them with you. (Okay... I am preening in my knowledge and want to boast about it.)

YOU HAVE TO BE HEARD!

If you have written the book for yourself, by all means close your lappy and sip your cup of tea. But if it is meant for your readers, before the publicist picks up your book, it becomes your duty to shout about your book in ALL social media.

YOU HAVE TO BE SEEN!

Maintaining anonymity if you write erotica or you have a political and religious reasoning is understandable. But to hide under a pseudonym just to create a mysterious aura is foolishness. I am sorry if I sound blunt. A reader wants a face of the author. Why? No idea. Victoria Gordon hid behind a pseudonym but there is a difference. He (yes it is a ‘he’) created a whole new personality with that name. You cannot hide behind a profile pic of flowers and cartoons. In the erotica world yes… anonymity is the essence. But every other genre needs a personality. Create one.

YOU HAVE TO BE TALKED ABOUT! 

The more the media and the blogging world talk about you, the better. Check out some of the latest books on the stand. Are they all selling because of the stories? Or does marketing play a huge role? I really wish I could take some names but I am not earning enough to pay the bail, if arrested. :D 

Get reviews and spread those reviews. The review world works in a very quirky fashion. The bloggers need to be heard too, if they are spreading your word. Help them to spread your word by posting the links when they review your book. Good or bad. Any publicity is a good publicity. 

YOU HAVE FREE SOCIAL MEDIA AT YOUR DISPOSAL - USE IT! 

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Flickr and many more are there. They are free. Use them. 

START YOUR OWN SCREAM TEAM!

This is mainly for authors who have already written a few books. Have your very own Scream team. (Will write an article about that later)

GIVE AND TAKE POLICY!

You want everything free? Then help others to spread the word. If you promote other authors, they will promote you too. Their audience will see your work. There are more readers in this world than books. So, spreading the word helps.

IF YOU CAN’T – HIRE THE BOOK CLUB!

BE AS SHAMELESS AS ME  :D

About Rubina Ramesh:

   Rubina Ramesh is by profession a Homemaker. After completing her MBA from The Liverpool University, she had dreams to take the corporate world by storm. But two little bundles of joy entered her life and she settled down to enjoy domesticity. But life had other plans for her and she found herself going around the world with her two kids and DH. She does not regret any moment of her constant travels, though many feel that she leads a bohemian lifestyle. 
   She was introduced to the blogging world by her brother and after that she has never looked back. Writing short stories, reviewing books in every genre gave her the much need individuality. She is currently working on her two manuscripts. One story deals with reality and the other mythology. Hopefully, they will be published soon. 
Her published works include:
   ‘Home is where Love is' a short story in the anthology Writings from the Heart. Ed. by Beth Ann Masarik
   ‘You Stole My Heart’ and ‘Let me Go’. Short stories as a part of the anthology ‘Long and Short of It’ by Indireads.