Author Interview : Charu Aganpal

Author Interview : Charu Aganpal

Hello everyone,
Today I am going to introduce you to the author of 'Budding Thoughts'

Let's start!

1)Can you tell me a little bit about yourself ?
My name is Charu Aganpal born and brought up in Delhi. A psychologist by profession and writer by passion. I believe in the mantra that no hill is tough to climb so see you at the top.

2)When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer ?
Well, I used to be fascinated reading quotes and writer’s name along with it in my school days and that’s where I realized that may be one day I would want someone to go through my writings and be inspired to walk on the same path.

3)When did you start writing ?
I started to write in my school days, I initially started to write quotes, then poetry and finally tried my hand on writing short stories on life.

4)What is budding thought about ?
Budding Thoughts is a book on short tales if life. It is an amalgamation of different rushes of emotions like happiness, pain, ecstasy etc which teaches us to embrace them all. Above all this book will revive your faith in humanity.

5)What motivated you to write this book ?
Things that motivated to write this book are : firstly, to inspire people with my words , to make my identity visible and to spread a deep message about humanity.

6)Are all the stories in this book of same genre or different ?
The stories in the book put light on different emotions in a deep way be it happiness, pain, sadness, ecstasy, all are well highlighted in the book and the readers can connect to it naturally.

7)What is the best experience you’ve gained through writing ?
The best experience I believe any writer can gain through writing is putting forth one’s deep emotions on a piece of paper and giving it a life and a soul in a way that one can connect and identify  to all the characters .

8)How do you handle negative feedbacks ?
Well, I believe everybody has an opinion, so positive feedbacks are icing on cake , whereas negative feedbacks makes you understand where you can improve in your writing, until and unless they really mean to  convey the genuine improvements that are needed and not the hate messages or the trolling per say.

9)Who is  your favorite Indian and foreign author?
My all time favorite authors are : Robin Sharma (A Canadian author of Indian origin )for hois inspiring writings  and Paulo Coehlo for his super mesmerizing novels.

10)What are your future plans ?
Future plans are to do more justice to my career as a psychologist, grow further in my field of writing and successfully get on the path of self growth spreading love and humanity.

11)How soon can your readers except your next book ?
Hopefully, in a span of few months as my next book is on collection of poems and I believe with God’s grace I will present  my second book to my readers real soon.

12)Any message to all aspiring authors ?
Don’t calculate your writing, as emotions if calculated like mathematics  will loose it’s essence and purity, just pour your heart out on a piece of paper and the world will have an add on to the list of great writers. Wish all you aspiring writers Goodluck.

Thanks for reading.

Book Review : Victims for Sale

Book Review : Victims for Sale

Title - Victims For Sale
Author - Nish Amarnath
Publisher - Harpercollins
Genre - thriller/fiction
Pages - 324
Format - paperback
.
.
The story revolves around protagonist Sandhya Raman, stringer for the BBC, who lives as a paying guest with a decent  family, the Sawants. Everything appears normal but suddenly Sandy finds something mysterious and abnormal about the family members.  One thing leads to another and Sandy soon finds herself involved in an investigation which places her and her friends under the threat of losing their lives . Grab the book and read the nerve chilling mystery!
.
.
Review -
1) The cover of the book is eye catching and perfect.
2) The title of the book is totally relevant to the content.
3) The plot of the story is interesting and spectacular. It is a perfect blend of crime, suspense, thrill with lots of twist and turns.
4) The story is a perfect emotional drama and all the emotions have been beautifully narrated by the author.
5) The author has amazingly described the places and circumstances as the story is set in London.
6) The book is divided into 17 chapters  and is  reader-friendly.
7) Language used is simple and lucid.
8) The characters are well developed and described by the author. Sandy's character is portrayed well.
9) The flow of the book is fast paced which keeps the readers hooked till the end.
10) Overall, a page turner,  psychological thriller.
.
.
Rating - 4.3/5
.
.
I recommend this book to all, specially thriller lovers out there.

About the Author

Nish Amarnath debuted as an author at eighteen with The Voyage to Excellence, a critically acclaimed business biography. She has received awards for her short stories from Scholastic and Infosys, among others. Amarnath was managing editor at Euromoney Institutional Investor and a senior journalist at S&P Global, formerly McGraw Hill Financial, where she was nominated for the Alerian MLP Awards [AMMYS] in 2017. She previously led a public diplomacy mandate for the UK Government on behalf of an affiliate of French multinational, Publicis Groupe. Her articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Street, International Business Times, India Today, The Hindu, The New Indian Express and Times of India's city supplements, among others. She holds post-graduate degrees in media communications and journalism from The London School of Economics and Columbia University, where she was a James W. Robins reporting fellow. Her enterprise story, 'Citi and its Scuffle with the Watchdogs', originally a Master's thesis for Columbia University reviewed by Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind, was published separately as a book in 2014. A former Londoner, she now lives in New York City.

Thanks for reading.

Author Interview : Sambit Daspatnaik

Author Interview : Sambit Daspatnaik

Hello everyone,
Today I am going to introduce you to the author of 'The Last War'.

Let's start!

1)Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
Sambit: I started writing at a young age. I used to experiment writing on a broad range of genres. As I grew up, I was attracted more towards science fiction. In science fiction, my writing interests are in ancient aliens, mythology and space travel. I am also a painter and love photography.
I did my schooling from St. Francis De-Sales (SFS) Higher Secondary school, Nagpur. I completed Electronics Engineering from Nagpur University and Post Graduate in Business Management from Symbiosis, Pune. I am an IT software professional currently residing in Hyderabad, India.
My debut book “The Last War & Other Stories” is a mythological science fiction story. The book also includes many short science fiction stories in different genres of thriller, mystery and suspense.

2)When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
Sambit: It was way back in my childhood when I wrote a mystery story that got appreciation in my circle. My first science fiction story was printed by my uncle Mr. A.K Hazra in the yearly Durga Puja souvenir. I was in school then, and at that time, getting a story in print form was a big thing. I was excited. And like it happens, that further grew my motivation into writing.

3)When did you start writing?
Sambit: I took writing seriously during the professional phase of my life. I had shared a few sample stories with my friends and relatives who really liked it and motivated me to get them published. Due to my professional and personal commitments, I would write whenever I got time. Finally I decided to publish my first book last year. That’s when my family and especially my sister Mrs Sunya and my wife Ishita stood by me and helped me with the proof reading and editing.

4)What is 'The Last War and Other Stories ' about?
Sambit: I recently launched my debut book ‘The Last War & Other Stories’. The book has a main story (It’s more of a Novella) ‘The Last War’ which is a mythological science fiction war thriller. The rest of the stories are short science fiction stories dealing with different concepts such as spirituality, space travel, infinite energy and resurrection of a dying star. I wrote these stories at different periods of my life. The reason to publish them together was to give my readers a variety of genres to explore with.
I self-published my book with the help of my publisher Evincepub publishing (https://evincepub.com/).  Special thanks to my publisher (Aashi, Vikram and Neha) for making my book launch a success.

5)What motivated you to write this book?
Sambit: We have a spiritual environment in our family. I grew up listening to mythological stories from my grandmother Bishnupriya, my mother Alaka and my father Santanu. At the same time, my inclination has always been towards science and future technologies. So, my main story ‘The Last War’ reflects on a scientific touch to mythology. For that matter, the story ‘The Holy Temple of Eula’ has a deep spiritual message. The story ‘Blink’ was influenced by my wondering ‘what if’ humans had feline eyes.

6)Are all the stories in this book of same genre or different?
Sambit: My book deals with different genres within science fiction. The main story ‘The Last War’ is a ‘mythological science fiction’ that deals with our ancient past from a scientific perspective. It suggests possibilities of us humans, being constantly guided by the Sky Gods and being advanced spiritually and scientifically. As far as a war is concerned, even the Gods take the decision on wars after pondering a lot over it. In Mahabharata, Lord Krishna tried his best to manage a truce between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. War was the last resort to protect dharma (righteousness). After the Mahabharata war was over, it led to pain, agony due to the loss of near and dear ones. There was a dark age for a generation since most of the kingdoms across Bharata were without a king to lead and rule their people. There is a special mention of Arjuna going across the land on the advice of Lord Krishna to re-establish the kingdoms.
My story ‘The Holy Temple of Eula’ has a deep spiritual message that makes the reader realize that true answers lie within, irrespective of how far we travel in the universe. My story ‘Blink’ raises the hope of every individual to think beyond the situational crisis that life offers at times, be it even in the midst of a space travel. There are other short science fiction stories like the ‘Genesis’ and ‘Resurrection’, which makes the readers to explore different possibilities and question ‘What if’. I experimented on the amalgamation of various genres within science fiction realm to provide the readers with a lot of variety. 

7)What's the best experience you've gained through writing?
Sambit: I think the best experience through writing has been to reach out to the readers through this medium to share knowledge, learning and experience through the stories. I personally believe that we can share wisdom and learning subtly through storytelling, as it helps connect more with the readers. I love the interactions that I am having with my readers.

8)How do you handle negative feedbacks?
Sambit: In life we get feedbacks from our parents, guardians, mentors and seniors in both personal and professional life. That helps us to improve ourselves as an individual and as a professional. So, it’s important for us to learn especially from negative feedbacks too. My book has received a lot of positive feedback. There have been a few negative constructive feedbacks from my readers. I thank them for that. In fact, I am humbled with the negative feedbacks as it helps me reflect on what can I do better in my next piece of work. Also, we must appreciate the fact that every individual has his/her own perspective.

9) Who are your favorite Indian and foreign authors?
Sambit: I read more of non-fictions compared to fictions. Also, I do not restrict myself to any specific genre.
Paulo Coehlo (The Alchemist is my all-time favorite), Rhonda Byrne (The Secret), Dr. Brian Weiss (his series of books on past life regression therapies), Devdutt Pattanaik (on mythology) are some of my favorites. I also loved the book Outliers by Malcom Gladwell.

10) What are your future plans?
Sambit: Of all my science fiction genres, I enjoyed writing on the mythological and spiritual genres. So stay tuned for more on this.

11) How soon can your readers expect your next book?
Sambit: Many of my readers have approached me on this subject as they are eager to read more, especially on ‘mythological science fiction’. I write whenever I get time from my hectic work schedule and family priorities. Nevertheless I love writing. I hope to come out with my next mythological science fiction probably in a year’s time.

12) Any message to all aspiring authors?
Sambit: The message I want to put across to the readers and authors is to read a lot of books early in their lives. Writing is a beautiful medium to let your ideas and inner voice take shape. Keep writing and you never realize when you are ready to publish your book. If you are keen on mythological or historical fantasies, you need to research a lot. As far as writing science fiction thriller is concerned, explore the unexplored and continuously question “what if?” … and most importantly, stay humble.

Thanks for reading.

Links to buy - 

Amazon - https://www.amazon.in/dp/9389774721

Flipkart - https://www.flipkart.com/last-war-other-stories/p/itm237afb272ca2f?

Book Review : A Chase for evermore

Book Review :  A Chase for evermore

Title - A Chase for Evermore
Author - Alvin Joseph k
Genre - romance/thriller
Pages - 101
Format - kindle
.
.
Jerry and Hima are young lovers who live in the same apartment complex. Call it destiny or coincidence, their love story takes a turn when their lives get intertwined with another couple and they get pulled into the vortex of something big, the gravity of which neither of these couples understands.
From the pen of Alvin Joseph K, the author of What day is Someday, A Chase for Evermore is a fast-paced thriller, set in the backdrop of Kochi, packed with suspense that will make you finish it in one sitting.
The story revolves around young lovers Hima and Jerry who lives in same apartment complex. One day their love story takes a turn when they coincidently get intertwined with another couple Nila and Roy.
To know what are the turns?
What are the coincidences?
And what happens next?
Grab and read the book.
.
.
Review -

1) The cover of the book is eye catchy and the title of the book is mysterious.
2) The plot of this novella is interesting and it is a perfect blend of romance, mystery, thrill with lots of twist and turns.
3) The story is set up in the backdrop of Kochi and description is nicely done.
4) This short novella is divided into 23 chapters which is readers friendly.
5) Language used is simple and flowing.
6) Characters are well developed and described by the author.
7) It is a fast paced thriller which keeps the readers hooked till the end.
8) Overall, an amazing read. Awaiting it's sequel.
.
.
Rating - 4.2/5
.
.
I recommend this book to all adventure and suspense lovers.

Thanks for reading.

Author Interview : Krishanu Banerjee

Author Interview : Krishanu Banerjee

Hello everyone,
Today I am going to introduce you to the author of 'Offsprings'.

Let's start!

1)Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

Ans- I am a school teacher by profession. I make my daily bread by teaching little children. They are my friends who bring a gust of cold wind in my summer life. Apart from this nowadays I spend a lot of time by engaging my brain in the work of poetry writing. In a brief I am a very common man by appearance but unique in nature. Unique in the sense that whatever others like to do, like to believe, like to love I simply go to the opposite direction. I love to love and I hate to hate. In a nutshell I am a peculiar fellow.

2) When did you start writing and what do you think attracted you to poetry?  

Ans- When I was a student I was very poor in my writing skill. Up to class 9 I have never managed to secure respectable marks in English writing skill but in spite of this I always tried to write myself with broken vocabulary, poor grammar. Then When I admitted to class XI I tried to write short essays both in my mother tongue and English language. Thus my writing was progressing but truly speaking I have never thought of being a poet. It was 18months ago when I had wrote my first ever poem irrespective of English and Bengali language. The poem was in English.

   Poetry is the best genre of literature. It is like a fairy lady who attracts them who are the true disciples of beauty and literature. Nowadays none likes to read poetry. I want to make them read poetry again by providing poems written in simple and rhyming language. To me poetry is the best medium through which I can express myself. Hence I’m attracted to poetry.

3) When did you think you were a poet?  

Ans- When I was able to compose my poetry in proper rhyme scheme and when my poems were critically appreciated and criticised by all.

4) What poets did you enjoy reading as a child?  

Ans- As a child I haven’t read poetry but at teenage I had read a lot. I am a student of Bengali medium school. So I have not read the English poems so much. But I have read a lot of Bengali poems from the greats. Rabindranath Tagore is my most favourite poet. I enjoyed and enjoy a lot reading his poems. Apart from him Kazi Najrul Islam and Sukanta Bhattacharya are the two poets whose poetry I really enjoyed and still enjoy. As I have told earlier I had little scope to read English poetry in my teenage but in that little scope I enjoyed reading poetry of William Wordsworth. He is the poet who attracted me to English literature.

5) What motivated you to go on to focus on a career in writing?

Ans- I don’t want to go on to focus on my writing career. I like to write. That’s why I write. I am motivated only by myself.

6) Tell me something about your book 'Offsprings'.

Ans- The book 'Offsprings' is an English poetry book which consists of 70 different poems covering the themes of society, love, nature, death, grief, art etc. Each and every poem, excluding three poems, is rhythmic and different from each other. All poems (excluding one) are short in length which will make the readers enjoyable and doesn't let them feel bore. I have chosen easy language to convert my emotions in poetic forms so that each person of the society can read and recite and enjoy this book. I have named it 'Offsprings' because each poem to me is like my own child, own offspring. Hence my effort and care to let them appear on the lap of literature is perhaps quite admirable. As this is a poetry book you cannot find typical characters in it but if you read it carefully then you can easily identify metaphorical characters in it like Nature, Love, Death, A flower, the setting sun etc. If you want to find a protagonist and antagonist in these poems, you will find that too but metaphorically. You will read a poem where protagonist is a tree and antagonist is human beings. You will read another poem where the protagonist is the human beings and antagonist is the society. You can find a poem where life is the protagonist and lovelessness is its antagonist. So if it is read, one can easily make out that it is quite charming to read. Sometimes poetry creates difficulties to understand and realize but with this book experience will be different.

6) What do you like to do when you are not writing?

Ans- Ahh! Reading poetry, thinking of my upcoming poem or watching Hollywood films.

7) What's the best experience you've gained through your writing?

Ans- What should I say? Well, My writing career is a baby till now. So I have not gained any remarkable experience.

8) How did you get started as a poet? How do your poems develop? Please guide us through the stages of a poem.

Ans- I only write when I am too much happy or sad. My feelings of ecstasy or sadness form some beautiful words and then they make a garland of poetry with the thread of rhymes. I like rhymes. Without rhymes I don’t feel poetry as‘poetry’.

9) Tell us about your process: pen and paper, computer, notebooks...how do you write?  

Ans- I always write on my Mobile phone. I use your quote app as my writing desk and diary. It will be incomplete if I don’t mention your quote app. Practically this app has created my poetic self. I am very very very grateful to it.

10) What do you see as the role of poet in modern day society? Any message for your readers?

Ans- Difficult to answer but as we all know that literature reflects society, it is our moral duty to present the situation of modern day society to all and sundry. As pen is mightier than sword, hence our writings should reflect any injustice as well as appreciate any noble cause. I believe a poet is beyond any religious or political self. His or her identity is that he or she is a poet, only a poet who should worship only the truth. Hence when we shall know our proper role in the society, then a true society will be created.

   I am too young to give any kind of messages to my readers. I can only request them to read my works heartily and criticise them as much as possible.

Thanks for reading 

Book Review : Secrets of the Seers,Book -2(Silver of Shiva)

Book Review : Secrets of the Seers, Book -2( Silver of Shiva)

Title - Secrets of the Seers  Book-2 Silver of Shiva 

Author - Tina Sadhwani 

Publisher - Notion press 

Genre - mythology/fiction

Pages - 292

Format - kindle

Blurb -

Suka—the Initiated One—has entered a new sphere of training in the yogic crafts. To become an adept monk, he must learn how to master the mysterious Time-Trix—the Kaalchakra.

However, a series of supernatural phenomena invades the School of Yog, unleashing powerful beings and astonishing secrets that are thousands of years old.

The ancient civilization of the yogis is threatened with enslavement, Suka loses his magical abilities and the Wheel of Timebegins to spin out of control.

Yet, the fate of the world still rests in the hands of the Initiated One.

Will Suka master the Kaalchakra before it is too late? Will he summon the higher powers of Mahakaal? Will he gain the Supreme Force?

This book is the second part of the series after 'Secrets of the seers : Book 1 veil of Shakti. The ancient civilization of the yogis is threatened with enslavement, Suka loses his magical abilities and the wheel of time begins to spin out of control. Yet the fate of the world still rests in the hands of the initiated one, Suka. Grab the book and read the amazing journey in the new sphere of training in the yogic crafts.
.
.
The plot is unique and a prefect blend of mythology, sci-fi, mystery and adventure. The book has also highlighted on the vedic culture and spirituality. This story is more mysterious than first part. The author has beautifully narrated about the Time -trix - the Kaalchakra. It is divided into four chapters which is further divided into many subchapters. At the end of the book glossary is provided which is readers friendly. The flow of the story is well paced. This is really a masterpiece in terms of writing and imagination.
The characters in the book have a story presence and are wonderfully portrayed by the author whose style is unique and gripping. Overall, an adventurous read.

Rating - 4.6/5

I recommend this book to all.

Thanks for reading.

Author Interview : Bidisha Ghosal

Author Interview : Bidisha Ghosal

Hello everyone,
Today I am going to introduce you to the author of 'The Rape Trial'

Let's start!

1)Tell me something about yourself.
I’m one of those authors who’s been writing since she could hold a pencil. I started off with Bengali poems, but once I learned English I fell in love and haven’t looked back. I love the language! I find it weird, eccentric, cheekily adaptive, with a bit of a dark history to boot. It has everything I love in a delicious novel.

2)What is 'The Rape Trial ' about?
It’s about three friends who cannot escape the fact that they know a rapist. Rhea, Amruta and Hitaishi decide to pull a Larsson on Rahul Satyabhagi –kidnapping and torturing him, and deliberately leaving him alive to prolong his suffering. But that tiny taste of blood opens up their darker side, and they go on a self-righteous hunt-the-rapist spree, one after another. Rahul was a prominent person in society, and DC Dixit is on the trail of his attackers, but the investigation gets muddled and delayed as different groups rear their heads to carry out similar attacks. Does he know what he’s really looking for? Do the girls know they’re being chased?

3) What prompted you to write about this burning issue?
It started out as an act of pure mental venting, honestly. At the time, my city Calcutta was seeing of a spate of rapes and attempted rapes, carried out with a shocking lack of fear of the authorities. I remember being intensely frightened and angry about it, and someone taunted me to write something about it if I was so affected. At the time I was struggling with another story. Shortly after the taunt I realised that that story wasn’t working out and I dropped it, and a few blank days later the first half of The Rape Trial came to me in a flash. I wrote it in a frenzy, only to see it for what it was – a mental venting – and that’s when the hard work of turning it into a solid novel began.

4) Describe 'The Rape Trial' in one line.
A feminist crime drama that’ll keep you turning the pages.

5) What is your writing process like?
I can only talk about this book because it’s the only novel I’ve written so far – very instinctive, relying heavily on what ‘comes’ and then working out the structure around that. As a result it was a very haphazard, nerve-wracking experience. I don’t think I want to write another book this way again. My biggest takeaway is to plan.

6) What do you like to do when you're not writing?
A lot of things actually. I’m heavily into energy work to take care of my physical and emotional well-being. I practise a lesser-known technique called Jin Shin Jyutsu. I also love making paper artwork. The technique I love best is paper quilling and some of my works are up on my Insta. I’m becoming more serious about it this year, let’s see where that takes me. My creative energy is a little all over the place, I love doing different things.

7) What does your family think of your writing?
My immediate family loves it! My parents and brother have been incredibly supportive and I have to first and foremost thank my mother for creating the necessary atmosphere at home. My dad who has probably never read a book in his life is reading mine and enjoying it thoroughly. They’re very openly proud of me for having become an author. My extended family is also excited. They’ve been very supportive. They’ve been my first customers and readers, so it really shows how much they mean their support.

8) Who is your favorite Indian and foreign author?
I haven’t read more than one or two works of any one Indian author, but I have enjoyed the works of Sudhir Kakar, Devdutt Pattnaik, and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. I’ve read foreign authors much, much more, and it’s hard to name any one. The list includes Stephen King, Oscar Wilde, Angela Carter, Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, O’Henry, and frankly speaking, many more.

9) What are your future plans? How soon can your readers expect your next book?
I don’t really have plans. I know I want to turn my paper quilling skills into something substantial. I also know I want to write about feminism and about the quirks of the English language. I do have many, many ideas for novels but I’d rather no one expect a second one from me. Too much pressure! One of the things I regret about The Rape Trial is telling people I was writing it.

10) What advice do you have for writers and readers?
Don’t attempt a good work of fiction unless the idea is really compelling. I’ve found the process extremely daunting and it was really the story that pulled me through by just not letting go of me. I felt quite dragged along by it, so… don’t attempt fiction unless you find the story is a bit of a compulsion.

Thanks for reading.