Can I Help You?

"How are you feeling?" Jane inquired with an earnest tone. 

No response.

There was an awkward pause, but Jane was persistent. She knew her cousin could go in her shell whenever adversity would strike, thus kept on inquiring and this time, she tried to put her hand over her shoulder while whispering some words of comfort.

Sharon's reaction was instantaneous. She got up from her chair while pushing her hand away, "I don't need any help from you. Go away!" her sharp pitch pierced through Jane's heart as Sharon walked away without any remorse or compassion. 

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write about offering to help someone. What’s their situation? What’s yours? Do they think they need help? How is it received? Could you be misinterpreted? Join in the fun at CarrotRanch

Book Blitz: I DON'T WEAR SUNSCREEN by Kavipriya Moorthy

Book Blitz

I Don't Wear Sunscreen
by

Kavipriya Moorthy

Blurb

For Laksha, life is a gift wrapped in red ribbon. But that's all shattered when she falls for a misogamist. His ambivalence and vacillation always keeps her at bay, turning her into a neurotic. She gets betrayed by the most credible, loses her job, feels devastated and dejected as incidents crowd upon her corrupting her naivete.

Enigmas unfold revealing every glitch. Who will clear her blurred skies? What invigorates her career and life? Will she ever forgive her beloved? And how will Laksha survive?

The story also revolves around her rapport with Pallavi, a childhood friend and the relationship she has with her silver-tongued mom. Focusing on how experiences change perception of little things, this contemporary tale gives a better meaning to friendships, relationships, solitude, pain, compassion and success.

More often than not, Life drags you down to the adversities and thrusts outward to shine. It is your grit that truly matters when you reach rock bottom, and left with no choice other than to pick yourself up and leap forward, however arduous it may be!

Grab your copy on 

 

About the Author

Kavipriya Moorthy is based out of Chennai, India. She is an avid reader, writer and blogger who blogs at http://kavipriyamoorthy.wordpress.com. She scored an MBA degree and worked in IT organizations before she just answered her call for passion and started off with polishing her writing skills. She is known for being broad minded and is established as a high morale person with a sweet family and good bunch of friends supporting her writing spirit. I don’t wear sunscreen is her debut in the literary world.

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Book Blitz of With you I Dance by Aarti V Raman

Book Blitz

With You I Dance
by

Aarti V Raman

Blurb

Meera Sagar had everything—the perfect job as a principal ballerina (for a prestigious New York ballet company) and a man who loved her as much as she loved him. But tragedy struck on the night
before her biggest performance, forcing her to do the one thing she never wanted to do—come back home. To Mumbai.

Now, a year later, Meera is still trying to pick up the pieces, while fending off marriage proposals from her well-meaning but traditional Gujarati family, and figure life out all over again. By starting a ballet school in Mumbai. But she has two problems. One, she doesn’t know anything about running a business. And two, she can’t dance. Not anymore.

Enter . . .
Abeer Goswami. Hotshot junior partner at a South Bombay law firm and a man nursing a broken heart. When he meets Meera again, the woman who left him, he tries his hardest to be her friend, to help her . . . and not let the past get in the way.

And then . . .
There is the sexy Zoya Sehgal. Meera’s only friend in the city and the woman Abeer is currently seeing. They say triangles have pointy edges, for a reason. Will Meera find a new dream in her ballet school? Can Abeer and Meera find their way back to each other again? And, most important, has Meera danced for the last time?

With you I dance is a warm, funny, at times heart-rending, love story of second chances, true love, and finding yourself when your dearest dream has vanished.

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About the Author

Aarti V Raman is an established novelist in the romantic thriller genre (White Knight, Kingdom Come) with her third book, a contemporary romance titled “With You I Dance” out soon with Fingerprint Publishing.

29 years old, she graduated from Mumbai University in 2007 with a degree in Mass Media focused on Journalism, which provided her the perfect background for conducting sound research on any project. She then went on to study Creative and Professional Writing at Deakin University in Melbourne for post-graduation in 2008. It was there that she learned to hone her craft and lifelong ambition of writing romances that had strong characters and stronger stories that remained etched in the reader's minds.

While waiting for her big break, Aarti pursued commercial writing and gained a vast amount of knowledge (from fishing tackle to soft toys) that she claims have helped her with molding better stories. Her first novel "White Knight" was published by Leadstart in 2012 and gave her the impetus to continue writing. In 2013, her work was excerpted in the Tamil Edition of Mills and Boon novels. And in 2014, her short story "Post-Coital Cigarette" was chosen to be part of the Rupa Romance Anthology "An Atlas of Love" curated by bestselling author Anuja Chauhan.

Her latest novel "Kingdom Come" (Harlequin MIRA) has enjoyed a brief stay at the bestseller lists in Amazon India. Her work is represented by Red Ink Literary Agency, Delhi. And very recently, she was a speaker and panellist at the Goa Arts and Literary Fest 2014, Vth Edition.

She is currently expanding her skill set to include copy editing, content marketing, and creative writing workshop that help her explore the wonderful world of words in various forms.

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Sense and Sensibility!

As the Learned say that, Education is one investment that will never go waste. 

But, I wonder how much education is enough to make you a literate and cultured enough to stand in a crowd and yet be confident of the decisions you made?

 Although, a man should be open to learning at any age, but should he be earning degree after degree to get the label of a wise man?

There are people with degrees stacked up, and still not have the fundamental sense of living or dealing with pesky neighbors or relatives or any practical matter.

Sometimes, common sense and being in the right place at the right moment can do wonders for some.

Luck also plays a prominent role for those who aim high.

Examples are many that literally a site has been dedicated for college dropouts who have dared to touch the sky.

Now, I am not encouraging anyone to drop out of college just to test drive their luck.

But, with the increasing costs of everything, there is no harm in introspecting the courses one has registered into and finding his worth, passion or his future?  

Nothing comes for free, thus taking loans to get a degree that will be the pride of your glass cabinet while you stress day in and out to work towards the payment of the credit makes no sense! 

Thus, next time when you get an enrollment form for a particular course; dig within and find something that we all have in common, which is actually not that common since we hardly use it, but it prevails!

Common Sense!

If We only had the real sense that enables judgement in practical matters, it will give us the capability to be savvy and street smart.

Research has indicated that it is within all, but seldom do we tweet within and try to learn from our experiences and combine it with the wisdom we have attained from a mere degree!

Mantra for today: Common sense is not common, but it would make a lot of sense if understood.


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This has been a Finish the Sentence Friday post. Your hosts are, as always, me, Kristi from Finding Ninee and this week’s sentence-thinker-upper, Deirdre from Deirdre’s Daily Dose.

Review of The Reengineers by Indu Muralidharan

The Reengineers

by 

Indu Muralidharan

A Harper Collins Publications( Harper Element)

Blurb 

Chinmay Narayan is plotting to kill himself. He is a misfit at school, his parents are about to divorce and the love of his life doesn’t know he exists. It seems pointless to go on with such a dysfunctional life. But before he gets anywhere with that plan, Chinmay and his friends, Anu and Sabi, stumble into the eerie world of Conchpore through a portal in Uncle RK’s library.They find themselves in The Seeker’s School, where you can buy spiritual courses that will bring you enlightenment. While the seekers seem unaware that there is anything amiss, Chinmay and his friends stumble upon a strange and sinister plot that the teachers and students are caught up in. The three youngsters suddenly find themselves in danger, and their only hope is the charismatic Siddharth, an old student of the school who has come to visit. Chinmay discovers that Siddharth is seeking catharsis from his dark past by writing a book—a book with Chinmay as the protagonist. He realizes that his own story is a mirror image of Siddharth’s, which leads to a moment of reckoning for him: can he become the author of his own life?

Set in Madras in the early nineties, The Reengineers dispels the boundaries between fiction and reality to tell a tale that is as much a coming-of-age story as it is an inspiring narrative of self-empowerment and spiritual growth. 

Review

The Reengineers is a book that has covered many issues such as Depression yet being mindful towards and aiming for holistic health of body and mind while seeking the truth of one's soul.

The story is set in Madras and begins with a teenage boy, Chinmay preparing for his tenth-grade exams along with his besties Anu and Sabi in the library of his aunt. When suddenly a journey unfolds when a particular door opens, and they land in a Seeker's School in Conchpure. The setting seems real with how the author shows a group of people chanting away while the confused students try to make sense of their surroundings. The adventure develops from here onwards...

Govind, the antagonist, is developed well, and he sure did make an impression on the reader's mind. Siddharth's Letters to a Hero were mind blowing, but I was surprised to see a transformation happen in Chinmay so soon especially since he had been battling with depression and had plans of suicide after his board exams given the current family problems between his mom and dad. The narration of the downfall of the Seeker's School was slow, but it ended well with the professor concluding to take to the mountains while dissolving his staff. No doubt characters such as Govind and Roshan did not take it well, and repercussions were shown that was satisfying as a reader. Eventually, the children returned 'home', but with a wider outlook and yet the satisfaction to be near their closed ones. They finished their exams and enjoyed their summer with Charu Bhabhi, the newest member of their family. Also liked the matured and happy go lucky attitude of Chinmay towards his parents and their present situation between their relationship. 

Biggest turnaround in the story: Chinmay shining from this new journey and ready to 'write his future' as suggested by Siddharth. His perception towards life had changed, as he said adios to his days of despair. 

The language was flawless with a couple of twists. But the pace was slow thus, making the reader in me hold the reins towards some action. I liked the notion of how depression is woven into unearthliness and eventually Chinmay is pulled out of it. However, there are some buts and ifs that I could not digest. Dialogue such as, "Be Happy!" "Brother" Sister" sounded a little cheeky as a reader. 

Need I add that the above twist reminded me of the Magic Tree House Series where the children would enter a new place and get into adventure and then return home with a new perspective and dimension in their lives thus, giving the young readers a take home lesson. 

The Reengineers not only rewired the minds of these young teenagers but also helped them take charge of their future by enabling them to write one for themselves, thus leaving on a positive note for the reader!

Grab your Copy @

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Wordless Wednesday #125

Rains Soak

Frogs Croak

Bees Hum

Pollen Far and Wide

Plants all around

Snails, Slugs Enjoy

Achoo's are heard far and wide

Spring is here!


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The Relatives

Katie peeked through the hole of her bedroom door. 

She was fed up with the company of her relatives and scoffed at their jokes as their voices could be heard within her four walls. At first, she plugged in her ear plugs with music blasting in her ears but had to give in when they got numb. 

Time was ticking, but those folks refused to leave.

Restless and agitated she swirled around the room imitating and loathing at their laughter.

Finally, she could hear the byes. That thrilled and roused her to empty her cupboard and throw clothes around. 


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In 99 words (no more, no less) write a response to an agoraphobic moment.  Join in the Fun at CarrotRanch