Meet the Characters: WHEN OUR WORLDS COLLIDE by Aniesha Brahma

About the Book:

Akriti has led a pretty much sheltered life. 

Zayn has been shuttled from city to city when he was growing up. 

She is comfortable watching her life from the sidelines. 

He wants to feel rooted to a place he can call ‘home’. 

They meet each other quite by chance. 

And both seize the chance to be someone they both need in their lives: 

For Zayn, it’s a 'Partner-In-Crime'. 

For Akriti, someone who just knows how to be there for her… 

When their worlds collide, 

It is not what either of them expected it to be. 

Zayn has a steady girlfriend. And Akriti has a crush on him. 

What happens when these two become friends? 

The biggest adventure of their lives? Or the road to heartbreak? 

What happens when two completely different people collide? 

Do they become friends? Or, is their friendship doomed from the start? 

'When Our Worlds Collide' is the story of two twenty-three-year olds, Who are finally growing up and finding their feet in the world. 

A tale of friendship and love, crushes and betrayals, messes and second chances, Marriage and divorce… and the elusive happily ever after! 

Book Links:

Goodreads I Amazon

Meet (Most of) the Characters of When Our Worlds Collide 

- Akriti – The 23-year-old protagonist who runs her mother’s little café. She lives a lonely existence because she is too afraid of letting people get close to her, for she fears they would leave her and cause unbearable pain.

- Zayn – He is Akriti’s ex-classmate, Nimmi’s boyfriend, who comes into her life pretty much by accident. He forces Akriti to come out of her shell, and is pretty much one of her only friends.

- Ayoub – He is a 21-year-old, who helps Akriti run the café. He likes her but knows that he shouldn’t act on those feelings…yet.

- Akriti’s Mother – In order to save Akriti from a very bitter truth, her mother alienates her from her life.

- Akriti’s Father – He had left his family for another woman when Akriti was 13 years old.

- Gia – Ayoub’s cousin, who happens to come into Akriti’s café a lot.

- Esha – Gia’s best friend. She also harbors a crazy crush on Ayoub.

- Ryan – Gia and Esha’s friend and classmate.

- Nancy – Akriti’s father’s fiancée.

- Riley – Nancy’s son from her previous marriage.

About the Author:

Aniesha Brahma knew she wanted to be a writer since she was six years old. She was schooled in Dolna Day School and went on to pursue B.A., M.A., and M.Phil in Comparative Literature from Jadavpur Univeristy. She currently lives in Kolkata, with her family and five pet cats. The Secret Proposal was her debut novel, followed by The Guitar Girl. She was a contributing author with her story The Difference, in the anthology: Voices, Old & New. When Our Worlds Collide is her third work of fiction, and first novella.

Stalk Links:

Facebook Page * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Website * GoodReads

Book Release: FAITH OF THE NINE by Sachin Dev

About the Book:

The Third Yuga is slowly drawing to a close. Nam – the greatest Empire on Janani – is going to face some fierce winds of change. Seers foresee omens of death and destruction in the return of the Banished One – A God who will claim the ashes of this world as revenge. While out in the streets, rumours abound - of older forgotten powers stirring.
Caught in this maelstrom of a power struggle between Gods are three ordinary lives: General Fateh, the most celebrated soldier in Nam who starts to question his faith, Ishan – a gifted orphan who struggles to comprehend his destiny and Abhaya – a young monk in search of truths about this world. Their choices and actions will shape the destiny of this scarred world that becomes the playground for vindictive Gods.
In a world where Rakshasas arise out of left-over traces of Maaya and twilight forms the portal to countless worlds around us for Daityas and Yakshis to dance through, a God is only as powerful as those who believe.And when Gods rise, faith of men will be tested…And broken.

Buy Links:

Paperback: Flipkart * LandmarkOntheNet * Infibeam * Pustak Mandi

eBook: Newshunt * Google Play

Fantasy for Adults

When you usually ask around for recommendations for Fantasy for adults, you end with Game of Thrones at the top of the list. Followed perhaps by scores of Shannara books. (Which by the way
are still coming out! Terry Brooks is a phenomenal author!)

Because for most of us ( especially more so in a country like India) we are wary of being found reading a book whose cover looks like Chandrakanta the old Doordarshan series we used to watch as kids. So we still get by with the Harry Potter series and sometimes don’t think much beyond.

So I’ve been reading only fantasy (or broadly speculative fiction that counts Fantasy as one of the main streams – Sci-fi & Horror being the other mainstay besides countless sub-genres) for the last fifteen years now. Ever since I picked up LOTR & Dune ( by Frank Herbert. Masterpiece! ) in college. I’ve suffered looks of disdain by colleagues/ fellow travellers as I was nose-deep in some fantasy western (Namely – Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. Yes. He writes stuff outside of horror too!) But I cared less than the backside of a rodent for such. I was living in a different world and I was loving it.

So this, is an attempt to list down some fantastic gems I discovered during this journey of mine and to let the broader world be aware that Fantasy has come a long way from the tales of a young farm boy setting out to find his destiny (which involved throwing a beautiful ring into the volcanic fires of Mordor!) I will also try and slot them into different sub genres as I know them. Makes it easier for recommending, right?

Epic fantasy.  Magic that will leave you spell bound. Political manoeuvrings. Tricky backstabbing. Adventure. Kingdoms or worlds at stake. All this and more!

Mistborn Trilogy & the on-going Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson. The on-going series is a massive ten part magnum opus and it reflects all things great and fun about the genre. Cannot recommend enough of this guy. He is prolific when it comes to writing. Churning out at least 1-2 books every year. Year after year.
Promise of Blood ( Powder Mage trilogy # 1) by Brian McClellan. Sometimes called Flintlock fantasy This guy is setting the fire to the keg with this explosive debut novel in this series that deserves to be read more.

Gentlemen Bastards series by Scott Lynch – Chronicling the life and adventures of a thief and petty crook, Lock Lamora and his friends, this is also one stunning piece of work that any lover of mayhem and adventure should definitely be getting his hands on.
Lies of Lock Lamora sets up the rollicking pace of this series and it’s on book-3 now – with the rest of the books eagerly awaited. You should jump onto this ship. 

Grim Dark Fantasy. This is modern fantasy with a lot of writers jumping into bandwagon. Brutal, gritty, splashed with blood and gore – and darker themes explored.

Malazan Book of the Fallen – 10 book series that is COMPLETE and mind blowing by Steven Eriksen.

Any book by Joe Abercrombie. This guy is truly the emperor of this sub-genre with his brilliant books setting out to explore darker spaces within a man’s mind.

Broken Empire by Mark Lawrence. Be warned, this books may be a bit too intense but are shining example of what a writer can do to twist the readers into his dark worlds. It features a 11-year old sociopath who sets out to conquer the world.

Prince of Nothing trilogy by R Scott Bakker. If you like your fantasy philosophical, dark and heavy this is your one stop. His second trilogy is incomplete and eagerly awaited.

Military fantasy.  Yes, there is something like this. And Myke Cole’s first trilogy starting off with Control Point is a wonderfully accessible entry point into such worlds. Combining the best of military fiction with fantasy worlds.

Silk Road Fantasy. Again a recent phenomenon of readers getting bored of medieval European settings for their fantasy tales. Notable books are Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay,  Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed, The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu.

There are multiple other books that are genre-benders mashing up the good things in one genre with another. It’s a gold mine out there and I would urge all readers who ultimately like a good story to
keep exploring beyond the walls and gates of Hogwarts. 

  

About the Author:

Sachin discovered Tolkien in his teens, alternative rock as a new adult and digital marketing in pretty much his late twenties. These still form a large wedge in his circle of life. Travel, radio and theatre have also figured in that ever-expanding and diminishing circle.
On perhaps a more prosaic note, he is an engineer from BITS Pilani and holds an MBA from Indian School of Business. Attribute the love for numbers and pie-charts to this. He is currently based in Bangalore and happily married to Harini. He spends an inordinately large amount of time chasing after his two dogs (who love the free life a bit too much) when he is not busy dreaming up fantasy worlds full of monsters. And beautiful Yakshis, of course.
He can usually be found ranting on twitter under the handle @xenosach, devouring books and talking about them on his blog. You can always stalk him online at his official website.

Book Release: SOUL WARRIOR by Falguni Kothari

About the Book:

Twisted myths. Discretion advised. 

Fight fate, or succumb to destiny?
In the dark Age of Kali, the Soul Warrior alone stands guard over the Human Realm, protecting its denizens from evil-willed asuras or demons. When a trick of fate appoints him guru to a motley crew of godlings, he agrees to train them as demon hunters against his better judgment. Suddenly, Lord Karna is not only battling the usual asuras with sinister agendas, but also rebellious students and a fault-ridden past.
Spanning the cosmic realms of mythic India, here is a tale of a band of supernatural warriors who come together over a singular purpose: the salvation of Karna’s secret child.


Book Links:

Kobo * iBooks * Amazon US * Amazon UK * Amazon Canada

Read an Excerpt:

CHAPTER ZERO

DWANDA-YUDDHA: THE DUEL

The Himalayan Mountains.
Five thousand years ago.

Absolute darkness shrouded the Human Realm, and had for three days and three nights. Some believed the occurrence was prophetic, like the prolonged amavasya or new moon night that had heralded the Great Kuru War two thousand years ago. The war had given birth to the dark Age of Kali, the age of asura. In contrast, hope was ripe that this event would trigger the Age of Light. But the Bard wasn’t here to succumb to superstition. 
The first day without the sun’s light had spread confusion and chaos across the realm. The second day had brought desperation in the breasts of humans and fear in the belly of Celestials. The third day—today—was a feast for the asuras. Death lay everywhere. 
The human world burned without its sun. How soon before the Heavens went up in flames?
The Bard’s troubled eyes reread the last line. Then he deliberately scratched it off, lifting his long, pointed talon from the parchment made of dry palm leaf. With a sigh, he rested his aching hand on his trembling thigh. He would spare a moment to ease his body, and his mind from the strain of observation and due recordkeeping. If he didn’t, he’d forget his duty as Witness of the Cosmos, and begin to question fate. 
Despite the fire that crackled close to his right knee, and the feathered form of his upper body, he was cold. An icy wind had settled around the Pinnacle of Pinnacles, where he sat cross-legged on a seat made of rock and snow. He’d chosen this perch because it gave him an impartial view of the events happening in the world. He was the Bard, entrusted with keeping the Canons of the Age of Kali, just as the Soul Warrior was entrusted with keeping the Human Realm safe from asuras. Would they both fail in their duty today?
The Bard shook off the heavy despair the darkness had brought into the world. He mustn’t judge. He shouldn’t question. He would sharpen the talon on his forefinger, dip it into the vessel of ink kept warm by the fire, and write this tale. That was all he could do. Be the witness to history.
So he raised his feathered hand and began to write again while his eyes, sparked with power, knowledge and magic, saw clearly events unfolding from great distances. A thousand kilometers to his right, Indra, the God of War and Thunder, fought the Dragon. Indra did not fare well. But that didn’t concern the Bard as much as the clash between the Soul Warrior and the Stone Demon. Over and over, his eagle eyes were drawn to the duel taking place in the heart of the world, not only because it was a magnificent battle to behold, for it was, but because its outcome would decide mankind’s destiny.
The Soul Warrior was more than a great warrior. Karna was a great soul. Fair, honorable, brave and resilient, he was the perfect protector of the Human Realm. Of course, there were other reasons he’d been chosen to fill the office of Soul Warrior—there always were when Gods and demons were involved. But Karna’s existence was a testament to righteous action and if anyone could bring back the day, it would be him. 
But how did one vanquish stone, the Bard wondered?
Avarice and cruelty, two nefarious desires, had made Vrtra and Vala attack the Human Realm. Three days ago the Dragon had swallowed the Seven Rivers in the north, and the Stone Demon had imprisoned the Sun God, his daughter, and all the cattle of the region in his cave.
The Bard paused his writing as a thin vein of lightning winked across the skies, but without the accompanying roar. Indra’s strength waned. His thunderbolt hadn’t left Vrtra screaming in pain this time. The Bard spared a moment’s attention on the duel, just enough to note that the Maruts, the Celestial Storm-gods, waited in the clouds to rescue their god-king in case of a calamity. Indra would survive even in defeat. Of that, the Bard was sure.
But Karna had no one at his back. His might and god-powers had depleted without the sun’s healing warmth and light. His divine astras, weapons, had not slowed the Stone Demon down, at all. Only the conviction that he could not fail his godsire, his sister, and the innocents under his protection drove him now. His birth family had once abandoned him to his fate, but he would not abandon them to theirs—such was the greatness of Karna.
The Bard crossed out the last observation. No questions. No judgment. No praise, either. The canons would be free of all emotion. He wasn’t here to embellish history or glorify the history-makers, as some bards were wont to do. 
It wasn’t embellishment to write that the foothills of Cedi were drenched in the Soul Warrior’s blood. Or observe the gushing wounds on his body, despite his armor, that would make the hardiest of warriors bellow in agony, but not him. It wasn’t embellishment to write that the Heavens were empty for the Celestials had come to Earth to watch the battle, firelight cupped in their palms to light the warrior’s way. 
The Naga, the Serpent People, also looked on, hissing from the mouth of the portal that led to their underground realm beneath the hills. The Serpent King will not choose a side. Vrtra and Vala were half Naga, after all. All across the Human Realm, demons roamed free, taking advantage of the darkness and preying on human flesh and human souls. It was a terrible moment in history. The asuras had the upper hand in the eponymous age of Demon Kali.
Vala did not have arms and half a leg, but still he came at Karna. He had an ace up his sleeve. There were plenty of creatures about, an entire mountain close at hand. He began to chant the spell of soul transference. It was the darkest of all magic, the possession of another’s soul. Soon, he would be whole again and stronger than before.
Battered and bleeding, the Soul Warrior veered away from the Stone Demon. He leapt over boulders and charred vegetation. The onlookers called him a coward. Had he forfeit the duel? Has he forsaken mankind? 
Karna dove for Manav-astra, the spear of mankind, he’d thrown aside yesterday after his bow, Vijaya, had shattered under repeated use. In one smooth motion, he rolled, picked up the astra, coming up in the spear-thrower’s stretch. His tattered lower garment billowed about him as a gust of wind shot through the air. His muscled torso glistened with blood and sweat, tightened as he pulled the arm holding the spear back. 
He meant to throw Manav-astra at Vala. A futile attempt, to be sure? As long as Vala was made of stone, broken or not, his body was impregnable. Karna should have waited for Vala to transfer his soul to an onlooker. Then Karna should have vanquished the possessed creature. 
Taunting laughter reverberated through the foothills of Cedi. Vala had reached the same conclusion. The Celestials looked at each other in angry silence, unable to interfere. A dwanda-yuddha duel was fought between two opponents of equal size and strength alone. The humans hadn’t stopped screaming in three days, the din simply background noise now. 
The Bard scribbled the observations onto the parchment in no particular order. He wished he was a painter, for surely this was a picture worth a thousand words.
The demon hobbled toward the warrior, who stood still as stone with his arm drawn taught behind him. Then finally, with a roaring chant the Soul Warrior shifted his weight from his back leg to his front and let fly Manav-astra at the Stone Demon with all his remaining might. 
Karna didn’t wait to see the ramifications of his action. And there were plenty to come. He ran into the mountain cave to free Vala’s hostages. Within moments the rock face rent in half, and bright streams of light speared through the terrible darkness. A new day had dawned on the Human Realm after three days of perpetual night.
The sun’s power was too bright, too full of hope. Yet, the Bard looked on pensively, wondering if the Soul Warrior knew this wasn’t a victory. It was merely a reprieve.

About the Author:

Falguni Kothari is a New York-based South Asian author and an amateur Latin and Ballroom dance silver medalist with a semi-professional background in Indian Classical dance. She’s published in India in contemporary romance with global e-book availability; Bootie and the Beast (Harlequin Mills and Boon) and It’s Your Move, Wordfreak! (Rupa & Co.), and launches a mythic fantasy series with Soul Warrior (The Age of Kali, #1)

I’m embarrassed to admit how many social media accounts I own:
Website * Blog * Twitter * Facebook * Goodreads * Pinterest

Giveaway

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NaNoWriMo Infographic - a survey of 2000 Wrimo's

Source of study and infographic: http://www.stopprocrastinatingapp.com/nanowrimo/

Cover Reveal: MICHAEL'S MYSTERY by Linzé Brandon

This is a SPECIAL AUTOGRAPHED EDITION - only the first 100 books bought will have the autograph inside. Enjoy the third book of the Nations of Peace!

Buy link @ Smashwords

Book Feature: START TO WRITE by Christine Royse Niles

About the Book

Start to Write began a few years ago as a talk for new interns in a storytelling development program called “Eight Things I Wish I Knew When I Started As A Writer.” After sharing the talk a couple times, one of the organization’s staff writers suggested the book. Author Christine Royse Niles had worked on books for a many other authors, but had never finished or published one of her own, and the first edition was born.

Synopsis

In Start to Write, Niles shares eight lessons she learned in her first years of being a writer, and offers eight steps to help overcome the most common fears and barriers facing growing writers. She addresses questions every writer asks, including “Will anyone will ever read what I’m writing?” “What if this has already been said?” and “How can I find a mentor to guide me?”

Start to Write will help the reader recognize—maybe even articulate for the first time—something that’s been holding them back from growing as a writer. Maybe it’s the myth that writers need a formal education or the fear that each word must be perfect before it’s set down on paper or through the keyboard. Whatever it is, by seeing it, naming it, and facing it down, each writer can start to write.

Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IX5GUPS/

Christine Royse Niles

About the Author

Christine Royse Niles is a corporate refugee from Fort Wayne, Indiana where she and her husband are raising two teenage girls adopted from Ukraine. She likes to make up stories before the crack of dawn, and she works with growing writers to publish and launch books by the light of day. She has coached apprentice and staff writers for a non-profit, managed book launch and online course development for a bestselling author, and she moderates the My 500 Words Facebook group.

She is the author of The Step-by-Step Guides for Growing Writers and the forthcoming Jennifer Hughes thriller series under the pen name CM Niles. Her fiction isn't for everyone. If you are offended by bad words and want the world to be populated with unicorns, she wishes you well. But if you don't mind slipping down into the dark parts of humanity for a few hours at a time, her stories might just be perfect for you.

When she's not writing, she loves to travel around the world, always finding great hiding places for bodies whether she's in the city or the wilderness.

Follow Christine online:

Tools, tips, and tricks for growing writers: riverofthoughts.com

Edgy fiction: nileswriter.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CRoyseNiles

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristineRoyseNiles

35 Day Blog Challenge - Day 35: A Writer's Journey

While writing a post for this challenge, a few days ago, I reached a total word count of 1.8 million words. I was quite surprised when I updated my word count spreadsheet to see that it had actually happened. One moment I was a few thousand words short, the next moment...there it was.

It is something I started about two years ago after a Facebook friend mentioned her lifetime word count. Since I still had every manuscript I had written on my backup drive (I changed computers a few times over the years) it was purely a matter of opening each file and recording the word count on the spreadsheet.

While I include the word count of blog posts (it is creative writing after all), it accounts for less than ten percent of the total number of words.

In the overall scheme of things, this number of 1.8 million doesn't mean anything. What keeping track does show me, is how many words I write per day, on average. Right at the beginning I was still feeling my way around at creative writing and have only been a serious writer for the past four years. This is evident in my daily average number of words that have more than doubled from where I had started fifteen years ago.

I personally believe that it is not only the number of words that I have written over the years, that has helped me improve as a writer. What stands out to me is that it has become a daily necessity to me, to write. A habit has been established, and it is the habit that grows my word count.

Of course, doing 50,000 words in one month makes a significant contribution, but if it is only 50k in one year, there is no real habit, no real growth. At least not for me.

Anyone can write 1667 words per day for 30 days. The true test comes if you can write 500 words per day for 365 days. It is not the 500 words that is the issue but establishing the discipline of writing each day.

My daily average this year is 740 words per day. During NaNoWriMo months, the average goes higher, but that is temporary and I don't worry about it.

At 740 words per day, I can write 270,000 in a year. This translates to 30,000 words for blog posts (+/- 300 words twice per week) and two full-length novels of 120k words each.

Just looking at these numbers is enough to make my pants shake, and yet that is what I do.

I don't see a huge mountain of words rising before me, I read the numbers as they fall behind me. Because, like any other goal, I take it one step - or rather one sentence at a time.

This has been 35 days of sharing some of the things that I have learned on my journey as a writer. Thank you for being on this blog challenge journey with me. Until next time!

35 Day Blog Challenge - Day 34: The Last Word - Back Matter

About the Author

This may be the last paragraph in your book, but do not disregard its importance. The About the Author paragraph (or two) provides your reader a personal view into the person whose book they have just finished reading.

What should this paragraph entail? It is entirely up to you, but here are a few pointers to help you decide how to word your Author Bio:

1. Don't lie about yourself. This does not mean that you have tell all, but don't say things that are not true to make yourself sound more important or more educated.
2. Don't brag. It is all good and well that you have a PhD, but you can word it in such a way that people won't feel inferior to you when they read it. You want to come across as someone that your readers can relate to, PhD notwithstanding.
3. Share something that you are interested in. A hobby or two, or something that you like to do with your family.
4. Keep the bedroom door closed. While the sex lives of celebrities might be fascinating to the tabloids, you do not want to air your bed sheets in public. It is bad enough that the perception exists that any and all sex scenes in books are based on the writer's own experiences. It is not true for the majority of writers, but even if it is the truth in your case, refrain from mentioning that.
5. Since you are a writer, don't forget to mention something about how you got started, or what made you write your first story.
6. Keep it short. This is not the time for colourful prose and literary thoughts. Keep it under 200 words as far as possible.
7. Social media contact details. Add you four (maximum) best social media profile links of which one should be your blog or website. 

For print books a photograph can be added, but check the ebook requirements as some platforms may not allow another graphic aside from the cover to be part of the published files.

Cover Reveal: SEEKING REDEMPTION by Madhu Vajpayee

Book Blurb:  Story of a girl Meera, who is unwittingly drawn into a conflict from where she finds it difficult to emerge unscathed. It's her journey from being a simple, medical graduate belonging to a middle class family to the uncharted territories of corruption and caste based politics. Her path is crossed by the two men, both compelling yet completely contrasting characters, who are forever going to change her life. If it is Aman who can challenge her ideals and defy her resolves, and makes her the person she finally becomes, it is Abhay's sublime love which enables her to go through the vicissitudes of life. It's also the story of her loss as well as triumph against her own demons to find her true self.

Pre-order from Amazon

About the Author:

Dr.Madhu Vajpayee- the writer was born somewhere in those hospital corridors where she has spent the last two decades of her life. Witnessing life at such close quarters pushed her to capture its enigma in her words and slowly it became her passion. After writing several scientific papers and chapters in books, this book is her first step in literary world.  

Having done her graduation, MBBS from King Georges Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow she went ahead to pursue her post-graduation, MD from AIIMS, New Delhi. She was a consultant at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi having been associated with management of patients living with HIV/AIDS. She is now settled in Melbourne, Australia with her family, where she is devoting most of her time to writing, the passion that she couldn’t pursue earlier because of the demands of medical profession and commitment it requires.

When not creating stories, Madhu enjoys reading and travelling.

Contact the Author:

Blog * Facebook Page * Twitter * Goodreads 

35 Day Blog Challenge – Day 33: Does the Front Matter?

Photograph by Linzé

The front matter in a book is everything listed before the book starts at Chapter 1, excluding the cover. We will look at print books and ebooks separately since the front matter of these are not exactly the same.

Let’s start with the ever popular ebook. The first virtual page after the cover deals with copyright, publication info and details about the book itself: the title and the name of the author.

There is usually also a space to mention other books or a link to other books by the same author. This link is useful for your reader to see that there are more books on offer if he or she likes your book. If you added a link, make sure it is working correctly and the link takes the reader directly to a place where the books are. People don’t have the time or patience to go around clicking to find something they thought would be there at the first click.

Then follows the Table of Contents (ToC) with links to each chapter and the all important About the Author details. Your reader can skip things like a Dedication page, or Note from the Author at the start, and click the link to get reading immediately.

Make sure the links are all there, in case your reader are interested and would like to read your dedications or notes too. If you are using these pages, make sure they are spell and grammar checked. Just because they are not part of the story, doesn’t mean that they are not also a showcase for your writing.

In a printed book, there is an extra page in the front that usually only contains the title, the author’s name and the publisher’s name at the bottom of the page. This is the page where you as the author will autograph the book for a reader.

Printed fiction books do not have a ToC for a single story. Multiple stories published in a single book could have a ToC, but that is not a rule with all publishers.

Of course, printed books cannot have active links to other books by the same author, but it could be listed if it is not too long. Usually, a printed list of other books by the same author is included as part of the front matter, for information.

Often this list is accompanied by short reviews of each book to inform the reader on what other people thought about the stories, and tickle their interest in purchasing those books as well.

You can do the same for an ebook, but add a link in the ToC to Reviews so that the reader has a choice to skip them.

Tomorrow we will have a look at the Back Matter.

35 Day Blog Challenge - Day 32: To Submit or Not to Try?

For some unknown reason, people are scared to enter writing competitions. I say why not? If you win you get all kinds of exposure, if not a publishing contract. And, it saves you the pain and sleepless nights of having to write a query letter, which seems to be worse than writing an actual novel. There is no pitching an agent or editor, or any of those worries about what they will think of you.

The competitions are judged anonymously, and you don't have to do anything except submit a story, long or short.

The downside is that most of the time they don't talk to you either, i.e. there is no feedback. Although there are competitions where feedback is provided, so even that one is no longer an excuse.

The only problem I have with submitting to writing competitions is timing. They always come at the worst times. Either because my next novel is not yet ready for a submission (not finished writing that is) or I don't have a short story on hand that fit the scope of the competition, or there isn't time to write a story, at least a decent one that is.

However, when the opportunity arises, there I go, boots and all! You never know what will happen. And if you don't submit, your chance of winning are zero. Yip, nothing. So grab that story, give it another edit, and submit it. You might be the next winner!

Pop around tomorrow for more mad mutterings on my Broomstick!

If you want to see what the other participants are blogging about, you can find their blogs here. Why not pop on over and leave a comment?

35 Day Blog Challenge - Day 31: Blogging a Book

In a chat group someone asked the other day how does one blog a book, or do you just write posts about the book for marketing purposes? Personally I think you can go either way, but as a writer, trying to establish yourself? Write a book.
It can be fiction or non-fiction, both can work wonderfully as a series of blog posts. Just one thing to remember: once posted it is considered published because it will be in the public domain. So no entering competitions where it explicitly states 'not published before'. Competitions can be funny that way, but the rules are the rules.
On the other hand, if people like your blog posts, ie your book very much, they will tell you. 

To give an example: Yip I have one of those on hand - my friend, Vanessa Wright, wrote a series of posts about her Muse. And they were not only very funny, people like them so much that they had been pestering her to publish them in a book.
And to keep things interesting, she added a few stories, not on her blog - now, that's the part that will sell the book. People have seen and loved her posts, and the book will give them more of that.
Well, the good news is she is busy with the final edits, the cover looks amazing, and hopefully soon I will be able to twist her arm to let me introduce her muse to you right here on the Broomstick.

My attempt to complete a non-fiction book has been done the same way. Using the 35 Day Author Blog Challenge I have written several posts to be included in the book. Some of the posts were edited before inclusion, simply because of the style, but others were used as is.
One or two posts were expanded because I don't like long-winded blog posts, but the topic required more detail before it would have worked for the book.

Whichever way you decide to use your blog to write a book, enjoy the process and may your readers enjoy the journey with you!

35 Day Blog Challenge - Day 30: Blogging to share

As I have taken part in this Author Blog Challenge, I have noticed that some of the blog sites cannot be shared. If I found a post interesting, I had to copy the link and then go to Google+ (where I prefer to share blog posts) to share the link there.

This posed two problems:

I had to this manually. I don't mind, but it could have saved time if I had the opportunity to just click, and the post would be shared automatically.

This brings me to the second problem: the blogger didn't know that I shared his or her post. Without the link on the blog, I would have to tag the blogger in the share to let them know what I did. Since some bloggers don't have their names visible on their blogs, or they don't have a profile on Google+, it was not possible for me to to that.

I have been fortunate that people shared my posts on social media sites, including Google+, but four days ago, a visitor made the comment that she couldn't reblog my post. This was a surprise, since I didn't know how to allow that by means of a app or widget to be clicked.

After a little research (and a very helpful blog) I learned that it was a little more complicated than activating an app to share my posts.

You have to understand that while I trained as an electronics engineer, programming and software code was never my strong point. So when the blog said, go HTML and edit that code, I went ice cold. Fiddling around with software code could create all kinds of havoc, which I simply do not have the patience or knowledge to fix.

But, I have to mention in my defence, I can read a mean instruction manual. Which I did. As holding my breath, thumbs, toes and a few unmentionables, I click save after adding the extra code.

There were no fireworks, or alarm bells screaming at me. Neither was there any smoke pouring out of the keyboard or flashing screens with all kinds of errors in my face.

So far so good. And then I tested it, again too anxious to rush into the process. Too weird! It worked!

It doesn't matter which platform your blog is hosted on, add those social media and reblog buttons, you never know who might want to share your words with the world.

This week is the last of days of the 35 Day Author Blog Challenge and I want to personally thank everyone taking part in the challenge for all the terrific posts you had written. I trust you will enjoy my last five posts too.

If you want to see what the other participants are blogging about, you can find their blogs here. Why not pop on over and leave a comment?

35 Day Blog Challenge - Day 29: Review Reality - do you dare to?

This is my third post on writing reviews, and this time we will have a look at reviewing non-fiction. Of all the genres, this has to be the most difficult simply because non-fiction is not the same as fiction. Non-fiction deals with real life, real situations and real problems. Before I start on the subject, let me clarify: for the sake of this post, academic and other educational books are excluded. The aim is to look as books available to the general public, you and me, via the normal book distribution channels.

To my mind there are three categories of non-fiction:

• Self-help books: yoga, weight-loss, books on religion and its topics, psychological issues, etc.
• Books to learn a skill: crafts, writing, art, cooking, meditation, etc.
• Books that inform or entertain you: wildlife, travel books, history books, biographies, etc.

There are probably more than what I can think of right now, and some of these books can be categorised in more than one way, depending on the contents and your intention of reading it. And that is the essence of reading non-fiction: do you intend to read it for information? Do you want to better yourself? Or are you a writer or subject guru who is doing research for your next book?

When writing a review about a non-fiction book, I am of the opinion that you should state the reason you read the book in the first place. It will explain to the reader of the review, be it the author or a potential buyer, where you are coming from.

If you are a subject expert, and you give the book a less than exalted review, but you didn't state your reason, people might get the wrong impression. If you are a novice, this book might just be the best thing that has happened to you.

The same applies to someone who is reading the book for information's sake. Was the topic covered sufficiently for you to get what you needed? Did you find it easy to read the text? If you used one of the references, was it useful in aiding your understanding of the subject?

While many people, writers included, use the Internet for research, I have found that some subjects should not be researched on our source-of-all-information. I am referring to sex. Before you block my blog and report me to the police, let me clarify.

I needed to understand more about tantra. I searched for books that explained the philosophy behind it, rather than the practical application which was not what I required for my book, We, the One. I needed something different, a new point of view if you like, to tackle this story where intimacy is the key problem between my main characters. Intimacy is more than physical, it has some emotional and spiritual connections too, and I wanted a fresh approach for my story, thus the research and the books.

I found three of them: the first was as dull as dishwater, the second was leaning more towards the physical, and the third explained the approach I was looking for.

Now all three books had merit, but not all of it was useful to me. The first would be a textbook for students of tantra, but it was way too philosophical and vague for what I needed. The second was too physical, as mentioned. The third had more of the information I was looking for, although I was not happy with some of the religious statements the author made in the text. So if I had to review any or all three of these books, I would need to tell you why I read them, otherwise you would have no idea why I would review them the way I did.

I am not going to review these three books, because it would serve no purpose to people who would buy these books. They are all being marketed as books to improve your sex life, and the characters in my book had a completely different need that I had to figure out.

So here is what I suggest for reviewing non-fiction books:

1. Tell your audience why your read the book - to improve yourself, learn something new or for information only.
2. If the first two of these reasons apply to you, then study the book, do the exercises and take the next step towards that which you want: to be a better person, or to learn how to crochet. Only then write the review so your audience can appreciate the reasons you gave it three stars, for example.
3. If you read the book for information only, then tell your audience if the information was useful and did the author fulfil your expectations for buying the book in the first place.

I bought my books online and had limited information available, therefor the two out of three booboo.

If you feel this post wasn't helpful, I won't blame you, since non-fiction reviews are not as easy and straight forward as reviews for fictional books. It is not just about liking or disliking the contents, it could be a life changing event to someone who reads your review.

35 Day Blog Challenge - Day 28: When a cold shower is not enough

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Erotica and erotic romance are two of the genres where people often overlook the essence of good writing. Sex sells, right? The more the better, right? Wrong!

I am going to tell you two stories - the first was relayed to me, the second I have experienced first hand.

A very good friend told me recently that she knows someone who buys erotic romance novels, and then reads everything except the sex scenes. My friend and I both went, what? Seriously? Either this person was lying, or she bought bad books. Because no book, erotic or not, should have any scenes in there that do not 1) move the plot forward or, 2) says or does something to help the reader understand the characters better, or 3) contributes to or resolves a conflict between the characters. Yes, this includes scenes where two or more people are having sex.

If you can read an erotic romance novel, still follow the plot and empathise with the characters' issues, without reading the sex scenes, then those scenes were superfluous to start off with.

My second story. I have recently read several erotic and erotic romance stories (and I am not going to mention any titles) where my first thought was: no, please just no! No characterisation, no plot (or almost a plot), and conflict? Non-existent. In my opinion the author should have been honest and upfront and called it porn. Stop trying to disguise it as erotica or worse, erotic romance. These have been some of the worst stories I have attempted to read in recent times.

The female characters especially, were weak minded, and never even think to say no, or slow down. The male characters were one dimensional, or was it one track minded? The plot had no substance and there were no scenes that didn't involve wanting sex, getting sex or more sex. Sound like porn? Well, it sure wasn't romantic in my opinion.

To review such stories can be difficult. The instances I mention above are the two extremes, and fairly easy to spot, but what about the 60-70% in-between the porn and the superfluous?

If you are a regular reader of the genre, you will probably have read the New York Times and USA Today Bestsellers too. Those authors make those bestseller lists because they are good writers. They understand the essentials of a good story, with or without burning up the bedsheets.

To be honest, the level of heat in the story is simply a choice the author makes when she or he wrote the book. The characters still need to be three dimensional, the plot still needs to be believable and draw the reader in, and the conflict driving the plot must still be the reason you keep reading until the end. And those bed sheet scenes need to be such a part of the story that if you skip over it, you have to frown and wonder: what had changed, or what did I miss?

Don't stare yourself blind against the sex scenes, but make sure to look at all the other aspects of the book too. If you are a not a writer, review the story around the characters. Was the hero more than tall, dark and sexy? Did you like him or her? Did you lose sleep because you couldn't wait to find out what happened at the end? And were you disappointed that the story ended, because you wanted more?

The advertising industry might have convinced the world that sex sells, but don't let bad writing fool you into buying a book just because there is steam coming out of the pages.

See you tomorrow with the third post on reviews: reviewing non-fiction.