Break

Hey guys,

 

As you may or may not have noticed – I have not been very active lately. I’m very sorry for this, and sorrier still that this may not be changing for a little while.

My family just moved – and the culture shock has not … let’s just say it has not been kind to me. I’ve been struggling to adjust and keep my head up above the water, and while things are better now than they were a month ago, I still need some time before I will be able to have enough energy to blog on a regular basis.

Don’t worry! I’m still reading and enjoying, and I won’t forget to pop back in to share my favorites, I am just taking a short break. 🙂

 

Keep reading and remember to love yourself

-S.

Cover Reveal: Avishi by Saiswaroopa Iyer

 Ta Da! Look at this gorgeous cover! Isn’t it so pretty?

Long before the times of Draupadi and Sita

Immortalised in the hymns of the Rig Veda

But largely forgotten to the memory of India

Is the Warrior Queen with an iron leg, Vishpala

Brought up in the pristine forest school of Naimisha, Avishi reaches the republic of Ashtagani in search of her destiny. When Khela, the oppressive King of the neighbouring Vrishabhavati begins to overwhelm and invade Ashtagani, Avishi rises to protect her settlement. But peril pursues her everywhere.

Separated from her love, her settlement broken, with a brutal injury needing amputation of her leg, can Avishi overcome Khela?

 About the Author:

     Saiswaroopa is an IITian and a former investment analyst turned author. Her keen interest in ancient Indian history, literature and culture made her take to writing. Her debut novel Abhaya, set in the times of Mahabharata was published in 2015. Avishi, her second novel set in Vedic India explores the legend of India’s first mentioned female warrior queen Vishpala.

    She holds a certificate in Puranas from Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. She is also trained in Carnatic Classical music and has won a state level gold medal from Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams.

Website * Facebook * Twitter

This Cover Reveal is brought to you by Book Review Tours

Cover Reveal for Love, Murder, and Mayhem!!!

 

Love science fiction stories that all include elements of Love, Murder & Mayhem?

Then welcome to the latest anthology from Crazy 8 Press! This amazing collection from 15 all-star authors will delight you with superheros and supervillains. AIs, off-worlders, and space cruisers. We’ve also got private eyes, sleep surrogates, time travelers, aliens and monsters—and one DuckBob!

With tales ranging from wild and wacky to dark and gritty to heartbreaking and fun, take the deadly leap with authors Meriah Crawford, Paige Daniels, Peter David, Mary Fan, Michael Jan Friedman, Robert Greenberger, Glenn Hauman Paul Kupperberg, Karissa Laurel, Kelly Meding, Aaron Rosenberg, Hildy Silverman, Lois Spangler, Patrick Thomas, and editor Russ Colchamiro.

You’ll never look at Love, Murder & Mayhem the same way again—and that’s just the way we like it.

Goodreads

About the Editor

 

Russ Colchamiro is the author of the rollicking space adventure, Crossline, the hilarious sci-fi backpacking comedy series, Finders Keepers, Genius de Milo, and Astropalooza, and is editor of the new anthology, Love, Murder & Mayhem, all with Crazy 8 Press.

Russ lives in New Jersey with his wife, two children, and crazy dog, Simon, who may in fact be an alien himself. Russ has also contributed to several other anthologies, including Tales of the Crimson Keep, Pangaea, and Altered States of the Union, and TV Gods 2. He is now at work on a top-secret project, and a Finders Keepers spin-off.

As a matter of full disclosure, readers should not be surprised if Russ spontaneously teleports in a blast of white light followed by screaming fluorescent color and the feeling of being sucked through a tornado. It’s just how he gets around — windier than the bus, for sure, but much quicker.

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

 

Blog Tour: Breathing Two Worlds by Ruchira Khanna

I cannot tell you how excited I am about this book. I. Cannot.

As someone who speaks from personal experience, the struggle to maintain and keep you heritage alive while still embracing the culture you live in is real. And there are not nearly enough books that explore this concept. Because of this, whenever I do find a book or a movie or a TV show that explores this and is authentic, I jump on it. So enjoy and … have some more details. 🙂

Neena Arya, a Delhi-born goes abroad for further studies and decides to settle down there. Determined to be a ‘somebody’ from a ‘nobody’ she blends with the Americans via the accent and their mannerisms while having a live-in relationship with her European boyfriend, Adan Somoza.

When illness hits home, Neena rushes to meet her ailing dad. Tragedy strikes and amidst the mingling with relatives and  friends, she finds herself suffocated with the two different cultures that she has been breathing since she moved to the United States. How will she strike a balance between both the cultures as she continues to support her widowed mother? Will she be able to do justice to her personal and professional life after the loss?

Amidst the adjusting she bonds with an ally and learns about ties beyond blood. On what grounds will she be able to form an invisible thread that she has longed for since childhood?

Breathing Two Worlds ventures into cultures and ethnicity allowing Neena to ponder upon her foundation and priorities.

Available on Amazon

Excerpt:

 

“Oh!” the Mom answered, but could not contain her curiosity with one hand holding the hyper toddler and the other on her hip she could not resist, “You two don’t look like brother-sister, hmmm. So, what is your relationship?” she inquired with a slight smile in a soft voice but without any inhibition. A handful of seniors sitting in the same room observed all the drama and nodded to each other while their fingers were moving on the Tulsi neck beads.

 

Neena rolled her eyes and thought to herself, “Jeez! We Indians are always darn inquisitive.”

Nikhil immediately got up and started walking towards the dining area. This was happening to them for the umpteenth time, and he was now tired of clarifying things. He had lived in this country for half a decade now and still he could never understand the fascination Indians had for marriage and children. 

 

Neena was confused at first because it was unlike Nikhil to be so rude. On the contrary, sometimes Neena referred to him on lessons in patience but today it was different. But then she didn’t have a choice; she felt it was rude to walk away from the young mother leaving the conversation unanswered. Moreover given Indian mentality in all possibility, she might even follow them till she had a convincing answer to her question. 

 

 

About the Author:

      Ruchira Khanna, a biochemist turned writer, left her homeland of India to study in America, where she obtained her Master’s degree in Biochemistry from SJSU and a degree in Technical Writing from UC Berkeley.

      After finishing her studies, Ruchira worked as a biochemist at a Silicon Valley startup for five years. After the birth of her son, Ruchira took a job as a technical writer, so that she could
work from home. Soon, she began doing freelance writing work as well.

     Her love of writing grew and she started
working on her own books. After four years of freelancing, Ruchira published her first book, a fiction novel for adults called Choices.

    Then came the children’s book The Adventures of Alex and Angelo: The Mystery of the Missing Iguana. She got a thumb’s up review from Kirkus Reviews.

     In January 2016, she has published her second fictional novel Voyagers into the Unknown. It talks about the quest for happiness as the heavy hearted tourists travel miles from different parts of the world to Raj Touristry in Agra, India. Return to their respective home with a healed heart. This book talks about their journey

     In Breathing Two Worlds, Ruchira talks about ethnicity and cultures, and helps to strike a balance via a fiction-drama novel as her characters breathe two worlds. 

     In addition to writing books, she is a holistic healer associated with Stanford Healing Partners and also maintains a blog of daily mantras on Blogspot, called Abracabadra. Ruchira currently resides in California with her family.

 

Find her on: Website Blog

 

BookCon: Survival Guide

So, as many of you probably already know, I’m going to BookCon tomorrow!!!!!!

Since this is my first time attending – and because I am very Type A – I have been obsessively scouring the web for information on what exactly I should expect. The amount of information out there is overwhelming. So I thought I would compile it here for both your benefit and mine.

When I began my research, the very first place I consulted was the BookCon Website itself, which contained a very helpful overview of the process.  Using this as my base, I have added and modified until I have assembled the final product that I will now present to you, in a very logical and organized fashion.

Step 1: Registration

Activating Your Badge

BookCon actually has a couple of registration process that you may have to go through. the first and only required one is Activating Your Badge. BookCon has a through description of this process and why it is necessary here.

Autographing Area

This is a process that is new to this year. Basically some of the more popular authors have signings in the Autographing Area. To be able to get into these signings you had to order tickets online from the Autographing Ticket page on the BookCon website. This is closed now, but don’t worry. All extra tickets are kept at the Registration Desk on Level 2 of the Javits Center, so if you’re browsing the website and see an author with a signing in the A.A you still have a chance at getting your book signed.

Step 2: Planning and Using Your Resources

As I said before, I am a very Type A person, so this is something I always do. But even if you aren’t an organizer you should at least glance over the following lists and places so you have a dim idea of the things that are happening and the events you don’t want to miss.

The BookCon Website

As you can probably tell from the links scattered throughout this article – I find this site pure gold. It isn’t the best site I’ve ever navigated, but it has information, and a lot of it.

The BookCon App

Available on the Android and Apple Appstores, this app not only has a list of all the events, panels, and exhibitors, but also have a devout community of readers, many of whom have gone to BookCon before and are happy to answer any questions you may have.

Social Media

This is a BIG one. Not only should you look at this the day before, but also the day of as many publishers post information about exclusive swag or ARC drops only in these places. Some publishers also have secret pass codes posted as well. But never fear! Rather than having to wade through hundreds and hundreds of tweets, the awesome Chi-Chi Millaway has done it for us and made a ginormous spreadsheet! See it here.

Step 3: Packing

Here is a simple list of the things you should bring with you to BookCon

• Badge
• Autographing Area Tickets
• Rubber Bands
  • To roll up any posters you might get and lessen the risk of folds!
• Ziplocs
  • To protect your ARCs/Galleys/Swag
• Battery Pack
  • Lines are going to be long and outlets far away. If you don’t want your phone to die bring a battery pack. Of course, even if your phone does die, you’ll be surrounded by many many fellow book lovers, so you’ll never get bored.
• Charger
• Money
  • Some booths only accept cash, others only credit, so bring both!
• Snacks/Lunch
  • The Javits Center allows outside food to be brought inside, so I would suggest you do so, especially because the food there is known to be mediocre and overpriced
• Luggage
  • You can’t bring wheeled bags onto the Showroom floor, but you can check them into the coat check! This way, when you have tons of books you need to unload, simply go to your luggage and do so!

I think that’s everything. Have Fun Guys!

A Court of Wings and Ruin: Initial Impressions

Squeeee!!!!! I got my copy of ACOWAR in the mail yesterday, and I’ll tell you right now – I read that sucker in 3 hours flat. It was so good. I am still an incoherent mess 12 hours later.

First Impressions? SJM outdid herself. She really truly did. While ACOMAF will always hold a special place in my heart, ACOWAR is quite possibly on that pedestal with it. I’m not sure yet, because I need to reread, absord, and just come to terms with just how good that book really was.

But. The feels. 

Ahem. I will be posting a full review later, probably not this week or the next, because they’re AP Exam Weeks, but definitely soon after that. I will try to pop in and out a little during these weeks, but I’ll be a sleep deprived incoherent mess. 🙂

4 DAYS UNTIL ACOWAR

Sorry I wasn’t here yesterday, WordPress was having some issues. But I’m back! And in a SJM coma. For those of you that haven’t already seen this, Overdrive just released a 8 chapter sample of ACOWAR, including a prologue in Rhgsand’s POV!! 

Read it here.

ACOWAR Countdown: 6 Days Left

Only 6 more days left. That’s it. I can’t wait before I finally have the book in my hands, and can inhale that smell unique to a great books, feel the weight of it in my palm . . .
Sorry got lost there for a second. But. I have excellent news for you!

 Sarah J. Maas finally released her ACOWAR excerpt! It’s over here. Go check it out now!

7 Days Until A Court of Wings and Ruin

So. I don’t know if you guys have noticed, but I’m a HUGE Sarah J. Maas fan. She, for those unfortunate souls who have not been introduced to her work, is a goddess who is … I can’t think of a single adjective that will do adequate justice to the beauty that is her.

Let me try to describe her.

Most authors have a weak point, world building, character development, the story arcs, something. Sarah J. Maas doesn’t have this issue. Everything she writes is just about perfect. That isn’t to say that she doesn’t make mistakes, she does, but the pure awesomeness of the rest of her work outweighs the small, tiny really, blunders she makes.

This is seen nowhere better than in her plot twists. The littlest of things the smallest of details, they change ENOURMOUS things. I swear, she could have one of her characters dye her hair and have it be a secret message, a trap, and a disguise all while you think it’s just for vanity. And the reveal will come at the moment you least expect it and leave you just gaping

All of this is just my opinion of course, but, I dare you to read her works and not feel the way I do, or at least something close.

To prepare for the third book in Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorn and Roses series, j will be rereading the first two books and posting my reviews here. These reviews, unlike what I normally post, will be full of spoilers, and theories for ACOWAR.

Let the reading begin!

Release Day Spotlight: Darkstorm

Hey guys, sorry I’ve been neglecting you for a while. 😦 I promise I’ll try to do better in the future.

I’m here today to tell you about a new masterpiece being released today. Introducing …

Faced with an imminent cataclysm that will destroy the magical heritage of their people, a conspiracy of darkmages resolves to open the gateway to Hell. The only mages who stand a chance of opposing them are Sephana Clemley and her acolyte, Merris Bryar, along with their protectors, Braden and Quin Reis: two brothers with a turbulent past and a caustic relationship.

Will Braden and Quin be able to protect Sephana and Merris long enough to prevent the unsealing of the Well of Tears? Or will they fall victim to manipulation and become darkmages themselves?

 

Grab a copy from Amazon today!

Author Bio:

M.L. Spencer grew up on the works of Steven R. Donaldson, Stephen King and Frank Herbert. She wrote her first novel-length manuscript at thirteen. Her debut novel Darkmage won the 2012 IndieReader Discovery Award for Fantasy. She was also awarded 1st Place Prose in in the San Bernardino County Writing Celebration.

Ms. Spencer lives in Southern California. By day she works as a biology teacher; by night she sweats over a beaten-up keyboard. She is now in the process of expanding the Rhenwars Saga into a trilogy.

Visit her at:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Amazon

 

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