Dreams Galore

Ever felt a book was bad? Why do you think it was bad? It had spelling errors. It had grammatical errors. The characters acted weird all of a sudden. The plot had holes. The story jumped its way to the end.  The location/profession/etc. was absolutely nonsensical.  A few of the many reasons why readers shun a book, and finally an author.  If you want your book to sell well, remembering this one thing would help you write better: My Readers Are Not Stupid. They Pay For My Book Because They Think It's Worth It.  Prove it.  Make full use of the spell & grammar checker. Hire a professional proofreader/editor. Talk to your characters. Make them real with real reactions. Get your book beta-read to identify plot holes that you might have missed.  Do your research. Talk to people. Don't just google. Last but not the least, revise it as many times as possible till it has the same quality that your favorite book ha...

Courtesy:Radial Direct Of late, I have come across a lot of digital short stories and anthologies over various forums. Authors are excited about this new phenomenon where each story range typically from 8K-10K word count. I have never bought a short story yet but I have enjoyed quite a few as giveaways. I know a lot others who feel the same way and prefer the longer versions of a story. Yet, there is no smoke without fire. If they are being written with much enthusiasm, there is an audience too. Hence, it piqued my interest and I went about doing my little research. After reading through readers and authors experience with these digital bite sized stories, I concluded there are two ways to look at the short story reading/selling phenomena. Direct Sales - Selling Short Stories - Single or series There are authors who make a living just by writing and selling short stories. Yes, they do. In fact, Amazon has a dedicated page for shorts known as Kindle Singles . That definitel...

What happens when you fall for the perfect guy...twice...in one day? Brenna Blixen spent her freshman year homeschooling in Denmark; now that she's back in the States, she's determined to make her sophomore year unforgettable. And by unforgettable, she imagined awesome classes, fun friendships, and maybe a little romance. What she got was a whole lot of romance, and all at once. The same day that dark, brooding Saxon Maclean charmed her with his killer good looks and whip-smart wit, Jake Kelly stole her breath away with his heart-wrenching smile and intelligent, thoughtful focus. But Saxon is a proud player who makes it clear that he doesn't know why he can't get Brenna off of his mind and out of his system, and Jake's sweet and humble attitude hides a secret past life that might be darker and more complex than Brenna is willing to deal with. Complicating the matter is the fact that Saxon and Jake were once best friends and are now arch-enemies...and the more B...

At some point or the other, almost all of you must have wondered - what is more important? Character or the story? A valid question and my answer has always been my characters.  Whenever I have thought of books, stories to write, it has spurned from a character. The situation they are in their lives, the actions that they perform, the decisions that they make is what makes a story for me. Hence, I give a lot of importance to building characters in my story. But how to build characters that can stay with your readers?  Here are some of the tricks that I have learnt through research and from my friends: 1. Research Your Characters : Your character is a cop? Research the ways of cop, their profession, the hardships, or perks. Research exhaustively to reflect the life of a cop. This would ensure that your character's reaction to situation are as real-life as possible. Don't underestimate your reader when it comes to research. They often know much more than you because...

I have often wondered what makes one buy a book. The times that gets me thinking about this is when I discover a gem that no one talks about much. They lie at the corners of the bookstore, alone, shunned while other books shine brightly to our eyes. Fortunately, through fate or unavoidable circumstances, we stumble upon these undiscovered gems and wonder, why didn't I pick this before? I thought of a few reasons: 1. Blurb: The blurb at the back page. That is my guide to the book and the right hook there makes me pick it. And writers, well, they do a great job at it! 2. Cover page: Don't judge a book by its cover? But we do judge them, don't we? It is sad, but our visual sense is so much more dominating that our reason.  3. Visibility: There are a lot of people talking about it. In a good way. And sometimes, if they trash it too much, even that gets me itch to read that book. (I know, weird!). Visibility, of course, is directly linked to promotions.  4. ...

My second special guest is Emlyn Chand, author of Farsighted. This book is so hot today that people are lapping it up before you even blink. A multi-cultural, unique story that a lot of people are extremely happy about. I am very excited to read it too and will post a review soon. Emlyn is guest posting today and she has some great tips to share! Thank you Emlyn!   When did you have enough confidence in your abilities to officially call yourself a writer? For me, it was when I first received money for my work as a freelance columnist. For you, it may have been when you finished the first chapter of your first novel or won a prize for a short story. Maybe you never had any qualms about saddling yourself with this label. Maybe you still don’t consider yourself a “real writer.” Me? Now I know enough to see that I was a writer long before someone handed me that first paycheck. It’s kind of something you’re born with—like it or not. But being an author, that’s different. The te...

I have something special for you all today. About two special women. So, there are going to be two posts! My first special guest is Pavarti K Tyler, the author of series "Two Moons of Sera" and also the owner of her publishing venture "The Fighting Monkey Press". I have read the first in "Two Moons of Sera" and was spellbound by the unique world that she has created. It is a must read if you are in to fantasy novels. And guess what, it is just $0.99! Here are the links if you want to make a buy -   Amazon  and Smashwords.   Yes, I loved it enough to actually telling you to buy it! :) So, without wasting any more time, I present you Pavarti K. Tyler! Hello Pavarti! Please tell us something about your book. Two Moons of Sera takes place on a world where there are two species of people (so far anyway *wink*wink*).  The Sualwets are a water-borne people whose survival has depended on practicality.  Alternately the Erdlanders are more human-esque but ...

For my Monday Spotlight this week, I thought there was no better topic than NaNoWriMo. It is my first year at NaNoWriMo and I have had a good run till now. But miles to go before I sleep. Then, I met Sean, my writing buddy. His first year too and boy, he did his research! He is here today sharing with us all a bit of NaNoWriMo history and a lot of motivation that we all need for us to go through the month! Hope you enjoy the post as much as I did. For years I've known National Novel Writing Month was lurking out there, occasionally making itself known via friends who brazenly placed NaNoWriMo badges on their blogs, spouted off about writing a novel in a month, and so on. But, finally, after sitting on this for a few weeks, I decided late this past Saturday night that it was high time to sign up and commit myself — not to the loony bin, but to hashing out my own 50,000-word novel in the month of November. That's right, a novel in a month. On average, that amoun...

A lot of you must have observed that I haven't really posted much in the last couple of weeks. I have been caught up in lot of things at once and I am so lucky and grateful that I had some wonderful authors and books to keep you all entertained. But in spite of all the work I had, I have missed blogging. I missed blogging terribly because it is a wonderful way I get to share my thoughts and writing with you all. Add to it the fact that I haven't had much time to read as well. It was, in short, a dry spell in my life. Below are just a few things that got me off the blog: 1. Snowstorm in NJ - This has the biggest impact on my online life. We did not have power till this wednesday and it affected a lot in terms of my writing and blogging. It sucked but I am glad everything is back to normal now. My first snow fall indeed became quite memorable. Pun intended! 2. NaNoWriMo - Despite my decision to not participate, I ended up participating. This can be owed to a brainstorm I ...

Seventeen-year-old Kendra Irisavie is an ondine, a water elemental caught in the middle of an ancient war with the Aquidae, immortal dark demons who will stop at nothing to destroy the fragile balance of the Elemental world. Fierce and independent, Kendra has always played by her own rules. Gifted with the powerful magic of Virtue and trained to be a deadly fighter, she has spent her life breaking hearts and getting into trouble. When her life explodes one violent night in a northern California city, a dark stranger appears, promising answers to her mysterious past. Alone and with no one to trust, she must now navigate through a dangerous new world, face the temptations of a forbidden romance, and remain true to her duty and destiny. All while the Aquidae continue to hunt her down, in the hopes of eliminating her forever… Move aside Vampires. Ondines are here! Presenting you the author of this wonderful series, Emma Raveling who (surprise, surprise!) started her writing journey...