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Showing posts from April, 2019

Author Highlight: Saugata Chakraborty Discusses his New Book ‘They Go To Sleep’ and Stories from his Life

We are back with another author interview. Today, with us, we have Saugata Chakraborty– the author of ‘They Go To Sleep’. In this interview, Saugata talks about his writing aspirations, the route to getting his book published, and his inclination towards fiction and books. Stay on...while we chat with him. What inspired you to write this book? Any tales to tell? Lots! After ‘They Go to Sleep’ went to the press, I started penning down the real life events that inspired each of the stories. These backgrounders are now available as a Kindle book ‘The Insider Account’. What motivates you to write? It’s difficult to pinpoint a particular motive. Sometimes, it’s a newspaper report that nobody gave a second thought, sometimes it’s a conversation with friends or an absolute stranger. I am aware that a story idea can hit me anytime. If you find a sub plot in my stories, those are invariably something that I have experienced for myself. How do you handle the response to thi

Book Review: The Rule Breakers by Preeti Shenoy

Preeti Shenoy is a name that resonates well when we talk about contemporary Indian fiction and literature. If you are an ardent fan of her novels and books, you must have realized that her story frames or templates are more or less common and banal. They are stereotype in their own essence. For instance, the story will be featured around a girl who is about to get married or in second scenario is already married, then god knows what happens she turns rebellious. Go out and become addicted to her life's important craving like good partner, freedom, finance, travel, desires and so on. More like Bollywood movies - sad that she has yet not scored any contract with the producers. Her latest book - The Rule Breakers – as name suggests is coming straight from her stereotype templates. However, what binds her stories with mass women is the real enigma. No doubt, she writes for women mass, except a few stories. This is a story of Veda - a girl from a small hilly town. Sh

Author Highlight: Vaishnavi Sanoj Discusses her New Book ‘Sidereal Destiny’ and Stories from her Life

We are back with another author interview. Today, with us, we have Vaishnavi Sanoj – the author of ‘Sidereal Destiny’. In this interview, Vaishnavi talks about her writing aspirations, and the route to getting her books published. Stay on...while we chat with her. What inspired you to write this book? Any tales to tell… Well, I have personally seen a lot of people undergo similar experiences as mentioned in the novel, or even worse. It is not just the illiterate who are after victim to many superstitions, but even the educated elite are prey to these.   And I wanted to shout out to the world- ‘Wake up.’ What message would you like to convey through this book? People should realize the psychological trap woven by many fake and half-baked fortune-tellers; and so-called Gurus. What else drives you other than writing fiction? Writing, regardless of genre, is something that drives me, heals me and helps me explore myself and the world around. Second to writing is r

Author Highlight: Chirasree Bose Discusses her New Book ‘Done With Her’ and Stories from her Life

We are back with another author interview. Today, with us, we have Chirasree – the author of ‘Done With Her’ . In this interview, Chirasree talks about her writing aspirations, the route to getting her book published, and her inclination towards crime and suspense thrillers. Stay on...while we chat with her. What inspired you to write this book? Any tales to tell? My inspiration behind writing this book was the message that it conveys. For a long time, I’d wanted to write a powerful story on this phenomenon. There were numerous news and articles which sort of upset me. As a writer, I believe I have the power to raise my voice against anything wrong through my write-ups. What motivates you to write? I am highly self-motivated when it comes to writing. It’s kind of a meditation for me. And, I ensure I never miss my writing schedule. How do you handle the response to this book, especially from your friends and colleagues? Response from friends and colleagues are

Book Review: Sidereal Destiny (If Fate Unfolds Beforehand) by Vaishnavi Sanoj

Destiny plays an important role in shaping up our lives and the decisions we take. But, how do you know what is backing up your life and destiny – it could be luck, support, astrology, self-belief, and so on. Among all factors, in India astrology plays a major role in deciding life decisions, and marriages are no exception. Now, the question is what happens to love marriages or people who marry someone outside their caste or religion or country. Are they doomed? What happens to astrological compatibility then? Of course, this is quite a debatable topic and views differ from one person to another. On the similar lines and commotion, Vaishnavi Sanoj has sketched an interesting story where some lovers, in full defiance, cross the line, which is otherwise forbidden by their stars and zodiac signs and horoscope prediction. The novel is – Sidereal Destiny. Its tagline says – If Fate Unfolds Beforehand. Well, in the novel you will get the answer – “when fate unfolds its story, we

Book Review: I Want To Run Away by Deepa Iyyer

Romance genre is one of the most popular genres across the world. People prefer reading it for intense characterization and a farrago of emotions. In a romance novel, it is always tough to tag the emotions, as readers easily find themselves swaying up and down with the tide of emotions. Well, this novella ‘I Want to Run Away’ by Deepa Iyyer is slightly offbeat and different in its semblance. It’s a romance novel, but differs in its intensity and other elements. This novella is based around Aashika – a young girl from a small village called Valayapuri , located somewhere in the interior part of South India. She is a college student, but at the same time very ambitious about her love choice, career choice, and not to leave out freedom in her lifestyle. Dreaming big is not a sin – however it may be in her village where people are still quite remote by the way of life, and technology has very marginal intervention and women are reckoned nothing more than slaves. If you read th

Author Highlight: Binary Discusses his Debut Book ‘Six, Five’ and Stories from his Life

We are back with another author interview. Today, with us, we have Binary – the author of ‘Six, Five’. In this interview, Binary talks about his writing aspirations, and the route to getting his book published, and his love for detective fiction. Stay on...while we chat with him. What inspired you to write this book? Any tales to tell… I’ve always been a fan Sherlock Holmes, be it the novels, the movies or the Tv show. This novel was simply an attempt to bring that ‘detective vibe’ into a more relatable setting, i.e, a college love story. Would you decode the title – Six, Five in short for our readers? It’s just a wordplay using the novel’s two main leads, Violet and Victor. They call each other ‘Vi’, and ‘V’, which are the roman letters for ‘Six’ and ‘Five’. Are you more inclined towards detective fiction? How did you develop the backdrop for this book? Like I said, I’ve always been a fan of the Sherlock Holmes novels. And I suppose you could say that I’m mor

Book Review: They Go To Sleep by Saugata Chakraborty

Be it any day, reading short stories is delight to heart. In summer, you feel as the breeze is raving your heart, in rain you feel the drizzling over your head, and in winter you get groped in the mist. So, for a heart that has not picked up anthology since a long, may be because of some reasons, and now looking for a salubrious experience, go nowhere and pick up this – “They Go To Sleep” by Saugata Chakraborty. “They Go To Sleep” by Saugata Chakraborty is a collection of twelve short stories. All stories are contemporary with modern-day backdrop, of course locations differing from one place to another. Glad, that the author has not nailed all stories at one place, like Ruskin Bond does in the foothills of the Himalaya. Some collections are plain, while some have a web of experience and imagination – well this collection belongs to the latter category. “They Go To Sleep” is the title story, since the word ‘Other Stories’ is missing, at first impression the book sounded

Author Highlight: Deepak Thomas Discusses his New Book ‘The Epic of Kautilya’ and Stories from his Life

We are back with another author interview. Today, with us, we have Deepak Thomas – the author of ‘The Epic of Kautilya’. In this interview, Deepak talks about his writing aspirations, the route to getting his book published, and his inclination towards fantasy genre. Stay on...while we chat with him. What inspired you to write this book? Any tales to tell? I have always wanted to write a story that had the scale of Lord of the Rings and colourful characters like anime.   Many ideas had come and gone but it was Kautilya and her story which pushed me past the tipping point. The setting came first. The world takes its inspiration from Indian mythology but at the same time, it is steeped in its own lore. Here the magic is real and small actions can have huge consequences and there is so much yet to be discovered.    The idea of the young general Kautilya occurred to me later. This was while I was at IIM Calcutta. I was watching the movie Red Cliff when I realized not

Press Release: ‘Done With Her’ is a Terrific Murder Mystery by the Debut Author Chirasree Bose

Mumbai (April 8, 219) – Debut author Chirasree Bose’s first novel ‘Done With Her’ – a murder mystery – is out in the market, available in both formats: Kindle and Paperback. “It is a terrific murder mystery – it has been a rarity where the motive becomes the cynosure – chaser, killer, avenger, victim, even the protagonist.” About the Book: Like most of the great crime thrillers, when the story starts, it doesn’t make much sense to the readers, things are in vague. Nothing is clear. That’s goes like a cardinal rule for crime and suspense thriller novels – if you don’t believe refer to Colin Dexter or Daniel Silva. The story’s backdrop is simple but as it advances with a slew of intriguing characters, the intensity becomes unavoidable. People with affinity for crime and suspense novels will surely find it as delightful read, all the more, it’s a short novel. One of the Unique Selling Points of the book is that it’s fast-paced, imagine a book of about 50 pages, but still

Author Highlight: Priya Das Discusses her New Book ‘Fly With Me’ and Stories from her Life

We are back with another author interview. Today, with us, we have Priya – the author of ‘Fly With Me’ . In this interview, Priya talks about her writing aspirations and the route to getting her book published, and her love for romance genre. Stay on...while we chat with her. What inspired you to write this book? Any tales to tell… I had a ligament surgery. I was in bed for 3 months. Couldn’t go to college and had to skip a year. Reading was the only thing that gave me any peace at that point of time. And then there was a contest in a national newspaper where people were asked to write dedications for their mothers for a Mother’s Day feature. I wrote something and sent it across. And I came first and got loads of prizes. That’s when my mom said I should try and write something for myself. And since I am always reading, she thought I could be a writer as well. That’s when I thought of giving it a go. I was sitting at home and wallowing in self-pity. I had nothing else to d

Book Review: Fly With Me by Priya Das

‘Fly With Me’ by Priya Das is a fascinating contemporary fiction about a young girl who goes emotionally astray because of love. Is love dangerous in life? Does it bring perilous effects on someone’s mind and heart over a period of time? This short novel tries to answer these questions through the voice of Snigdha – the protagonist. While reading this short novel, you may feel that love isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and at the same time Indian society isn’t receptive towards it. As the novel starts, we see that Snigdha is a silent lecturer in a college and leads a monotonous life. Using the flashback technique, the author takes us into her past life. In college, where she has had immense passion for dance and falls for a guy named Abir Sen. In fact, they both were brilliant at dancing. Dancing was Snigdha’s passion. But why did she leave it and for what reasons? Technically, she was in love with Abir or say vice versa. However, things didn’t go as per their imagination and