The Grave: Next chapter

Happy New Year. I hope this year all our ghosts of the past year are shooed away 🙂

Two things I have learnt about myself. One, I write for two minutes if I stop myself from reading fanfiction for two minutes. Two, I write better feminism during PMS.

I know I have dawdled with this chapter. I wrote, deleted rewrote. In the end I decided upon a chapter with the little things of life and those little things adding up to make Sookie’s life at the temple better than she had before. Having a steady job, earning your own money, cooking your own food, having people to talk to even if it is through the wall and the like. I hope I delivered the things I was trying to deliver. Comments and reviews are much appreciated 🙂 …

Click to get to Chapter 7

The Grave: Chapter Update

Hello Dear Readers…

I hope all of you are doing well and holding up as best as you can in these trying times. One side effect of constantly being on edge is that my anxiety is coming out in the form of chapters for my ongoing stories. But I wish for the world to get better soon and find it’s way through the sickness going around.

About the update – This chapter is an introduction of the Ancient Pythoness in the story, and her first interaction with Sookie. It is a little short but I conducted thorough research into the things I wrote about Greek mythology and the site of the Ancient Temple of Apollo. Let me know if I got something wrong and I will be eternally grateful 🙂 I am going to treat The Ancient Pythoness’s story arc with respect and try not to relegate her to a token character. To make it so, I welcome comments and suggestions…

Click the link to get to the chapter- Chapter 6

Dead and alive – last chapter.

I started Dead and Alive with a plan of writing one or two chapters as a quick one shot and just reunite Sookie and Eric and feel all good and satisfied. When I actually started writing, I realized my size of issues with True Blood won’t fit into a one shot and I needed more chapter. Then one more. Then another. Add more characters to kill. And basically I just went on a merry ride with Eric and Sookie for years while life happened and the muse ran away.

But it circled back to me and I am so happy to say that I am finishing Dead and Alive today. It’s a longish chapter. I hope you guys like it and derive some measure of enjoyment from this story. I know the end could seem a little sudden but I am finishing it at a point where things are resolved for the main players. I am open to writing an epilogue if prodded. So if you have any ideas or requests on an epilogue or a loose thread, let me know and I’ll try doing it justice.

I love every one of my readers who stuck with me on this story. Stay happy and keep dreaming.  

Click on the picture to start reading –

 

Running Barefoot by Amy Harmon: A book review

Blurb:When Josie Jensen, an awkward 13-year-old musical prodigy crashes headlong into new-comer Samuel Yazzie, an 18-year-old Navajo boy full of anger and confusion, an unlikely friendship blooms. Josie teaches Samuel about words, music and friendship, and along the way finds a kindred spirit. Upon graduation, Samuel abandons the sleepy, small town in search of a future and a life, leaving his young friend behind. Many years go by and Samuel returns, finding Josie in need of the very things she offered him years before. Their roles reversed, Samuel teaches Josie about life, love, and letting go. Deeply romantic and poignant, Running Barefoot is the story of a small town girl and a Native American boy, the ties that bind them to their homes and families, and the love that gives them wings.

 

Running Barefoot is an amalgamation of all my favorite romantic themes in books. Slow burn romance with a clear promise on the endgame? Check. Second chance at a relationship when the characters are more equipped to deal with it? Check. Hard working, sensible, loyal main characters? Check. Uncontrollable crying while reading? Check. Meaningful classic romance book references? Check. I mean their conversation started with that love letter from Persuasion that is the be all and end all of literary love letters for me.

A book I couldn’t put away? Check.

I went into Running Barefoot with zero expectations, without reading the summary. I can’t say what made me pick this one up. But I am so glad I did. It was an experience in technical brilliance and emotional character building…continue reading review

Running for time: Story and lockdown updates.

Me, trying to shave legs after a couple weeks.

Me, busted by the toddler who will keep banging the shower enclosure because she needs mommy now now now.

The husband, interrupts the meltdown and helpfully takes the kid away, puts on a cartoon and settles the tiny human with a lolly, hopefully for the next ten minutes.

Le me, wondering at the luxury of shaving legs and the five extra minutes I’ll have to condition hair.

Le husband, comes back, grins and locks the door behind him.

Le sigh…there goes conditioning and half of left leg hair!

Then again, he knows all about legs and hair and oh well!

 

I wrote things and am feeling quite proud of myself-

The Grave: Next Chapter

The Boy I Met In the Room of Requirement: Topsy Turvy

Haircuts in the time of Coronavirus (and story updates)

Me: Spends half an hour cutting my husband’s longish step cut hair, going centimeter by centimeter, sweating bullets, this being my first time cutting hair.

Husband (after the haircut): Huh. Looks good. You saved me thirty five dollars. I’ll do something else with the money we earned. Lets get the daughter a new toy.

Husband runs off to order a remote control car toy from amazon. Matte black with skull and web drawings.

Car Arrives. Time is spent on wiping and disinfecting. Daughter doesn’t play with it as she is busy banging the dishes.

Husband: I’ll test out the features. See if it is safe for a toddler.

Me all day: Avoiding the zip zap zooming car around the house as I do chores and pick up the dishes my daughter is spreading around.

Life goes on…

The End

 

Yayyy…I found time to work on some stories. Here are the updates-

 

 

The Boy I met in the Room of Requirement – On popular demand (AO3 and FF), I am extending this one shot to a multi chapter extravaganza. The next chapter is called Integral Differentials. Click on the pretty banner to get to the chapter

 

 

 

 

Dead Or Alive – At last, I am finishing this story. The next chapter is The M Word. After this one, only one more chapter to go, maybe an epilogue, and then we are freeeee (of suspense) 😀

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy! Do share some reviews. And stay safe….

Stories of my Life

Lockdown conversations with a Toddler be like…

Three year old daughter – Mumma it’s not time to work. It’s time to play now.

Me, the mumma – Mumma needs to finish her work and then we’ll play.

Three year old – No mumma. We can play now.

Me (full of doom and gloom) – Sorry baby. I can’t play. I need to work so that we can keep eating food.

Daughter runs away, rummages in the kitchen, comes back with a box of cheerios.

Three year old – Yaayyy. We have cheerios! We can play now!

Me – We will need more when these are finished. So I will work and then I get money. Then we go to the supermarket and get more food with our money.

Three year old – We no have moneys now?

Me (face in the laptop) – Nope.

Daughter runs away, rummages around the house, comes back with two pennies.

Three year old – Yayyy. Look mumma, look mumma, I found moneys. We can play now. ‘S not time to work anymore.

The End

 

So here are a few story updates I worked on this week. Click on the story banners below to get to the chapters.

The Grave-

Story Summary – After the death of the last remaining Stackhouse, Sookie gives up her life in Bon Temps and goes to the Fae with Claudine. But that was not the family she was looking for. Battered, abused and even more lost than she was, Sookie attempts an escape and literally falls into the arms of more trouble than she was prepared for.

 

 

The Dragon-

Story Summary – Hermione Granger is on a mission and she will do everything to uncover the secrets of Draco Malfoy. Malfoy is going to cooperate whether he likes it or not. But the closer she gets to winning, the more she loses herself. Now the mission is not just a mission, Draco is not what he seems and all of Hermione’s forbidden teenage fantasies want to come out and play. [Dramione][PostWar]

New Muses, New and Old Fan-fiction, Greener Pastures…

I hit a life block. Then I had a kid, lost a parent, got a real adult job.

I took a sabbatical from writing or reading SVM/True Blood books and fanfic and read books very different from the one romance genre I had been stuck to. It did me good. So much so that when I eventually got back to reading romance (proud of it too), I read more into it, absorbed more, felt more. I have gotten back to shedding tears while reading too. That is very good. So I guess, the numb has thawed and my inspiration is back.

I have started on some new fandoms and am finishing up my older incomplete works. To the readers who have given me so much love and motivation over the years, I want to apologize for leaving you awesome people for a while and not being able to finish things I started. I am working to be a better writer and a better reader now. I hope I am at least successful in that.

On to the fanfics then…

I am fairly new to the Harry Potter Fanfiction world, been swept up in it since a couple of months. I loved the books and read them years ago. What left me pleasantly surprised was the sheer possibilities with characters I used to think were one dimensional. I am working on a Draco Malfoy-Hermione Granger story (The Dragon) which has two chapters remaining till the end. I am also intrigued with the idea of Tom Riddle and Hermione Granger. In canon, there is so little interaction between Voldemort and Hermione but as students, they had so many things in common. I was intrigued enough to write The Boy I met In the Room Of Requirement, a Tomione romance. No time travel in this story on either end, but Tom and Hermione do meet as teens. What can I say? Hogwarts is a magical castle after all. It was a one-shot but I got a number of reader requests on AO3 to extend it, so I am working on that now.

Click on the Hogwarts Insignia to get to the Harry Potter Fanfics –

I also wrote two Star Wars fanfics, featuring Kylo Ren and Rey. The potential of these two characters is so off the charts. I cried out in rage when the last movie did what it did! Must makers always ruin fan favorite pairings like this? What’s the world come to !!! So I wrote fanfiction…Because I needed something happy and wholesome in my life…Because I was cheated of a happy ending some poor souls deserved…Because I may not own Star Wars but I can certainly write fan fiction…Thank the Maker for that. Also, Adam Driver!

Anyways, here are the links to the the Ben/Rey fanfics where I am giving them different endings and plots. Sue me JJ Abrams and Disney. I am not ashamed. Click on the gang to get to the stories –

With the coronavirus lockdowns all over the world, I hope people are doing as best as they can. We are all in this together. Things are very uncertain for now. I hope all of us can survive this crisis and that our friends and family stay healthy.

Try out the new work if it interests you and please share your thoughts/suggestions/critique. Until the next post then….

Warcross by Marie Lu: Book Review

Book Blurb:

For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down players who bet on the game illegally. But the bounty hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy. Needing to make some quick cash, Emika takes a risk and hacks into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships—only to accidentally glitch herself into the action and become an overnight sensation.

Convinced she’s going to be arrested, Emika is shocked when instead she gets a call from the game’s creator, the elusive young billionaire Hideo Tanaka, with an irresistible offer. He needs a spy on the inside of this year’s tournament in order to uncover a security problem . . . and he wants Emika for the job. With no time to lose, Emika’s whisked off to Tokyo and thrust into a world of fame and fortune that she’s only dreamed of. But soon her investigation uncovers a sinister plot, with major consequences for the entire Warcross empire.

 

Oh wow! What an unexpected surprise Warcross turned out to be. I will not summarize the plot here. After all, I went in blind too. And by blind, I mean I didn’t even read the blurb. I just jumped in. And I couldn’t jump out till I finished the whole damn book.

First, about the main characters.

Emika is an awesome protagonist; intelligent, street smart, independent, with a healthy sense of self preservation. The book is written in Emika’s point of view and captivates till the end. I developed a little girl crush on this girl, what with her hacking prowess and debugging abilities (I am a coder ha ha), though plot wise, things do work out for her a little too much. I don’t mind that. Emika is as far from a wilting violet heroine as can be. Which is great. There is a romance. This romance does not dictate her life and ideas. Which is refreshing!

Here’s a sample of her life process-

But sometimes, people kick you to the ground at recess because they think the shape of your eyes is funny. They lunge at you because they see a vulnerable body. Or a different skin color. Or a different name. Or a girl. They think that you won’t hit back – that you’ll just lower your eyes and hide. And sometimes, to protect yourself, to make it go away, you do.

But sometimes, you find yourself standing in exactly the right position, wielding exactly the right weapon to hit back.

See how more people (cough girls cough) need to think this way?

Read complete review here-

Click to read Warcross Book Review

My first spy thriller! Let Bhutto Eat Grass: Book Review

Without giving away spoilers (any more than I already have), I want to say that Let Bhutto Eat Grass blew me away and kept me coming back for more. The story flows seamlessly, sets a good pace and doesn’t slack whatsoever. The characters are well fleshed out, their progress natural. Once I started on the first chapter, I could not put the damn thing down. I read it while – brushing teeth, burning toast, doing the dishes, hopping on my feet to calm down a very cranky 2 month old followed by reading the story out loud to the same but considerably mellowed down two month old… etc etc… you get the picture. I loved Agarkhedkar’s dry sarcastic humor. It was the perfect voice to paint a picture of the sorry state of Indian politics in the seventies, and very realistically capture how relatively normal people might deal with the horrific.

Click to Get to the Review