It would be great if you can add this book to your TBR
The city bred Amit and the village-born Radhika fall in love at first sight, getting married three years later.
Looking forward to a wonderful life with her husband and family in Delhi, Radhika begins her new journey with stars in her eyes…
…only for things to come crashing when Amit’s mother Shanti ill-treats her. Hating her small-town daughter-in-law, Shanti is determined to break her son’s marriage from Day One.
And it looks like she has succeeded when Radhika leaves her husband one fine day, apparently giving him no explanation for her action.
While Radhika waits for her husband to pacify her and take her back, Amit is too hurt and upset to even contact her.
Will the heartbroken couple ever get back together? Especially after being separated for nearly two years? And even if they did, will Shanti let them live in peace?
Sundari Venkatraman is an indie author with forty-six titles to her credit, which have sold more than 1.75 lakh copies around the world. Her books consistently feature in the Top 100 Bestseller Lists on Amazon in both Romance and Asian Drama categories. Her latest romance novels have all been on the #1 Bestseller slot in Amazon India for over a month.
As a child, Sundari loved to read books with ‘lived happily ever after’ endings. They were all about good triumphing over evil. As a teenager, her favourite books were romance novels from Mills & Boon. She was fascinated by them, so much so that she began to visualise the stories set in India.
Sundari was forty when she began her writing journey, completing the first draft of her first novel in thirty-five days. She has not looked back since.
A DIARY OF CRIME STORIES: GUT-WRENCHING STORIES OF COLOURFUL CHARACTERS AND SHOCKING TWISTS by Sonia Rao
Blurb
• Did or didn’t a 5-year-old boy, who cannot hear or speak, witness a murder? And if he did, how dangerous can it become for him? • CCTV cameras prove that a robbery was committed by a young analyst. But if she didn’t, then who did it? • Love brings together hearts, true! But did you know it could destroy lives too? What is a diary? It can be described as a personal book or even a safe space in which one can record one’s experiences, thoughts and ideas of both one’s outer and inner worlds. What is around us affects us. One aspect of outer world includes crime. This can take many forms: assault of all types, murder, and even fraud. Be it a differently-abled child or a woman undergoing domestic abuse, obsessive love that can lead to fraud and breakup of lifelong friendships or then honour killing – because you are not allowed to decide whom you can love and marry. Be it a modern world, urban or rural, every crime story affects us collectively. This Diary Of Crime Stories is a collection of 3 gut-wrenching crime-reads that will leave you on the edge of your seat, with their colourful characters and shocking twists & turns, asking for more.
“Sonia Rao is a writer, editor, and award-winning blogger. Her fiction has appeared in many prestigious anthologies such as Voices Old & New and Jest Like That (edited by renowned editor-writer Shinie Anthony). As NaNoWriMo’s Municipal Liaison for all-India and founder of the Wrimo India group on Facebook, Sonia has motivated thousands of people in India to write a novel every November since 2011. She has also curated and edited the first Wrimo India Anthology, Vengeance—A Sting In Every Tale. Sonia likes to believe she is ‘high-minded’ but strangely, her fave hobby is thinking up torture devices for those autorickshawallahs who consider the roads to be their personal spittoon. Who knew?“
Feeling so blessed as the initial reviews for Editing Bootcamp start trickling in. Are you on the fence, wondering whether to give Editing Bootcamp a slice of your valuable time? Look at the reviews and decide for yourself:
A reader has highlighted the checklists on her Kindle because she is sure she’ll need them later on when she edits her book. Hey seabreeze, I don’t know who you are but if you email me, I’ll send you a PDF than you can print out and keep for your reference.
Ruch thinks I’ve “peeled the onion layer by layer.” Thanks, Ruch. I did try to be as detailed as I could within the word-count limit I had. Glad I could help!
Are you looking to self-publish on a low budget but can’t compromise on quality? Do you want to polish your book before querying an agent? Are you a newbie fiction editor wanting to learn developmental editing?
Don’t worry, I’ve got your back. Learn the art of Self-Editing and purchase your copy of Editing Bootcamp here: mybook.to/EditingBootcamp
When Sanat Kumara usurps the job that Naavya Batra has been coveting for a long time, her instantaneous attraction towards him turns to intense dislike.
But soon, she’s all in admiration for the man. When she finally decides to give herself to him, Sanat insists on telling Naavya something about her…
…something she has absolutely no memory of.
What does Sanat know about Naavya that she herself isn’t aware of? And what secrets are her cousins holding back from her?
Read this tale of fantasy which takes you to three different realms on the earth, to find out if Sanat Kumara is really what he appears to be on the surface. But what about Naavya? Will her love for Sanat hold up under the circumstances?
It would be great if you can add this book to your TBR
Sundari Venkatraman is an indie author with forty-plus titles to her credit, which have sold more than 1.5 lakh copies around the world. Her books consistently feature in the Top 100 Bestseller Lists on Amazon in both Romance and Asian Drama categories. Her latest romance novels have all been on the #1 Bestseller slot in Amazon India for over a month.
As a child, Sundari loved to read books with ‘lived happily ever after’ endings. They were all about good triumphing over evil. As a teenager, her favourite books were romance novels from Mills & Boon. She was fascinated by them, so much so that she began to visualise the stories set in India.
Sundari was forty when she began her writing journey, completing the first draft of her first novel in thirty-five days. She has not looked back since.
Looking to self-publish on a low budget but can’t compromise on quality? Want to polish your book before querying an agent? Are you a newbie fiction editor wanting to learn developmental editing?
Don’t worry, I’ve got your back.
Lots of books teach the craft of writing but not many focus on reworking, polishing, or self-editing. Learning editing skills shouldn’t be restricted to a privileged few. All writers should have access to strategies that can change a crude first draft into a polished work of art.
Editing Bootcamp will demystify the editing process by showing you how to spot and avoid common pitfalls, and correct the mistakes.
Inside you’ll find: •Actionable steps for all stages of editing. •Seven fiction elements including structure, point of view, characters, dialogue and more. •Handy editing checklists.
Buy the book here and take your writing to the next level with this concise how-to guide. Edit yourself into print.
Join my newsletter for editing tips and future deals. Instantly download a free booklet Self-Edit your Fiction Like a Pro.
Effective story endings don’t merely satisfy the reader. It awes them. An unforgettable ending will immediately make the reader want to re-read the book from the beginning. It will leave the reader chewing on the last scene long after closing the book. If your ending is effective, it will hook the reader into buying and reading your next book.
So, how do you create such an ending? What are the types of endings you can weave into your story? Let’s discuss.
Types of Story Endings:
The Happily Every After
In this ending, the author explains what happens to the characters in the future by following their lives. It is a way to tie up loose ends. These endings can sometimes feel rushed, so remember to foreshadow each character’s story arc.
Also, it doesn’t mean the ending has to be happy. Even if you’re leaving the reader heartbroken with a bittersweet ending, remember that it has to ‘feel’ right.
The Surprise
In this type of ending, the author switches up the story and take the readers by surprise. These ending are especially popular in Mystery or Thriller genres and are sometimes referred to as the ‘twist.’
Remember that though these endings are unexpected, they must make sense upon reflection. Again, there should be plenty of foreshadowing throughout the story for the twist to make sense.
The Cliffhanger
This ending is used when an author doesn’t want to reveal everything about the character because they have a sequel in mind. It seems like the close of a chapter and gets the reader excited about the next.
But these are also the most controversial of all endings, especially because they are so hard to do well. If you are not careful, you’ll make the reader feel cheated instead of satisfied, especially more so if you’re a new writer and the reader doesn’t know when (or if) you’ll write the sequel!
The best way to create a cliffhanger ending is to tidy up all the plot points so the reader is satisfied, but let them know that a lot more is coming the character’s way.
The Perfect Loop
This type of ending brings the reader back to the opening line/scene and feels like their journey has come full circle. This ending requires planning and editing to feel authentic instead of forced.
The Moral
Sometimes, the last paragraph or the last line sums up what the author wanted to convey to the reader all along. Remember not to sound preachy though!
Now, let’s discuss how to craft a satisfying ending that ‘wows’ the reader.
How to Write Effective Story Endings.
Effective Story Endings are Born from the Story’s Conflict.
The conflict gives readers the reason to keep turning the pages of the book. In the end, the readers expect a payoff. They want to know the answer to the question you have been asking.
Effective Story Endings are a Result of the Character’s Actions.
Yup. Your character’s actions. Things you described in the beginning and middle of your story. Not hand of God. No deus ex machina, which, by the way, is the topic I will cover for X.
Endings are much more satisfying if the character makes them happen. The character faces the conflict head-on and a battle ensues. Maybe they’ll win or maybe they won’t. Either way, the reader is there to cheer them on. Now, wouldn’t they feel cheated if the fight were ‘fixed?’
Satisfying Story Endings Make the Reader Feel.
Happy. Heartbroken. Pensive. Thrilled.
If you bring your characters and the conflict to life between the pages, the readers will care.
Dialogues in fiction writing is a vast topic. So much so, that whole books have been written on this topic. It would’ve been a folly to cover everything about dialogues in a single blog post, so I thought of giving you a handy checklist instead–something you can use every time you sit down with your red pen to edit dialogues in your fiction manuscript. Here it is:
Dialogue in Fiction: A Checklist
Dialogue in fiction has three purposes: increase tension, advance plot, and reveal character. If your dialogue doesn’t do either of these, cut it off.
Use dialogue to miscommunicate. Have characters lie. What is left unsaid or hinted at increases conflict.
Give your characters different voices. Have them chose different words, and speak with varying rhythms and styles. Make sure not all the characters in your book sound alike. Use appropriate words for your character, for example kids speak differently than adults.
Don’t explain everything. Dialogue isn’t like real world conversation.
Dialogue isn’t fluff; it’s important communication between characters.
Avoid repetition of character names after each uttered sentence. What’s being said should be distinct enough to leave no doubt as to who’s speaking. That said, if the dialogues go on for some length, use character names here and there so as not to leave your reader confused.
Keep your dialogues tight. In real life, people hesitate, use words like ums and ers. In fiction, skip these pointless words.
Allow characters to speak over one another, cutting off each other’s words. Just like it happens in real life.
Limit dialogue tags to the basics of said and asked.
Don’t have pages and pages of dialogue. Alternate it with action, description, and narration. Don’t permit characters to speak at length without interruption, whether it’s by another character or an action or some description. Give the characters some actions while they speak.
Don’t use dialogue to preach your pet message.
And, Punctuate dialogue correctly.
Here’s an infographic that you can download to help you remember correct punctuation for dialogues.
A comma splice is an error. It is a sentence in which a comma is incorrectly used to separate independent clauses in a compound sentence. A comma can be used to create a compound sentence, but such a sentence would need more than just a comma to be correct.
For example: Your report is late, we were depending on you. Fish travel in schools, whales travel in pods.
To confirm there is a coma splice, check if you can replace the comma with a period. Since the above comma splices can be divided into two sentences, it confirms that the original sentences are indeed compound sentences.
Your report is late. We were depending on you. Fish travel in schools. Whales travel in pods.
The above examples are simple. A comma splice can get confusing in a long sentence when there are other commas present.
For example: When I was sixteen, my mother gave me a pretty, milky-white pearl necklace, it belonged to Lady Ashley Lamb, an ancestor who married beneath her social status.
The third comma in the above sentence is creating a comma splice and is incorrect, but the other commas are correctly used. The sentence can be easily fixed thus:
When I was sixteen, my mother gave me a pretty, milky-white pearl necklace. It belonged to Lady Ashley Lamb, an ancestor who married beneath her social status.
Correcting a Comma Splice
Here are some common ways to fix a comma splice:
1. Separate the comma splice into two sentences using a period. But be careful of overdoing this because this results in short, choppy sentences–not something that is always desirable. Long comma splices are good candidates for this correction method.
When I was sixteen, my mother gave me a pretty, milky-white pearl necklace. It belonged to Lady Ashley Lamb, an ancestor who married beneath her social status.
2. Follow the comma with and, but, or, or another coordinating conjunction. This is the most common method of fixing a comma splice.
Fish travel in schools, but whales travel in pods.
3. Replace the comma with a semicolon. This method works best when you think the sentence doesn’t sound right with a coordinating conjunction.
Your report is late; we were depending on you.
Summary
A comma splice occurs when only a comma is used to separate two independent clauses.
To confirm there is a comma splice, see if you can replace the comma with a period. If so, the sentence is indeed a comma splice and should be fixed.
To correct a comma spice you can (1) use a period to break the two sentences, (2) separate the two parts using a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction, or (3) use a semicolon to separate the parts.
Have you written a comma splice before without knowing what it was? Do you think you will be able to recognize one and fix it after reading this? Do you have a question regarding comma splices? Let me know in the comments.
Blurbs sell books. That’s their primary function—to get your
books in the hands of readers. Its goal is not to give away your story but to
compel the reader to pick up the book. You might know of it as a book
description that is printed on the back cover of the book or appears on the
description field of retailers like Amazon.
In this blog post, I’ll show you what to include in a blurb and
help you deconstruct a blurb of a self-published bestselling novel to put
things in perspective.
Parts of a Blurb
Tagline:
This is your hook, your chance to grab the reader by their throat.
Make it short and make it punchy.
Most authors do not use a tagline, which is a mistake in this
mobile age where almost everyone is browsing on their cell phones and only a
few lines of the description text is displayed. This is your chance to make the
reader click on the Read More button to read the rest of the blurb. Put it in
bold—make it stand out.
Main Character & their Primary Conflict:
You might have a great story, but the primary reason a reader will pick up a book is if they care enough for your main character. This is the paragraph where you need to introduce your main character. Tell us in a sentence who they are and what they want.
Make the next sentence about their conflict—the challenge they are facing to get their goal. In the third sentence, raise the stakes. Tell the reader what your character stands to lose. Their job? Their sanity? The love of their life? How about their world and everyone in it? The higher the stakes the better. Without consequences, a conflict lacks drama. Some authors also like to add a dramatic question in this paragraph to establish what’s at stake.
Add some paragraphs, some white space here so the reader doesn’t have to look at a big blob of text.
Selling Paragraph:
In this paragraph, show the reader why this book is for them. It’s also an opportunity to let them
know what genre the book is, if it is part of a series etc. Identify a
bestselling book or an author or a famous main character that shares the market
of your book and mention it in this paragraph, so that you have an opportunity
to let their fans know that your book is what they have been looking for.
Call to Action:
Most authors end their blurb
with a synopsis and hope the reader will scroll up and buy. The CTA asks the
reader to do it, which much improves the chances of it happening.
Deconstructing a blurb:
Let’s see a blurb in action. This blurb is from Mark Dawson’s The Cleaner. Mark Dawson is a million-selling author and ranks among the Top 100 authors on amazon dot com.
—
MI6 created him. Now they want him dead. //Punchy tagline.
John Milton is an assassin for the British government, but he’s old and tired and wants to quit. Unfortunately, that’s impossible. Milton knows too much. The only way out of his job is in a box – there are no exceptions. //Main Character.
Milton goes on the run and meets a young mother who needs his help. Her son has been tempted by a life with a glamorous gang and the charismatic criminal who leads it. Milton must get the boy out of trouble – before it’s too late. //The Conflict.
And when his old agency sends another agent after him, the odds against him are stacked even higher. //Rising Stakes.
If you like Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp, and Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne, you won’t be able to put down the compulsively addictive John Milton series. //Selling Paragraph.
Scroll up and click Look Inside or Buy NOW. //CTA.
—
Notice how long the blurb is? Only 150 words. You may take a few more, but short is your best friend here. Normally, 150-250 words is the sweet spot you want to hit.
Apostrophes are not that simple, no matter what people might
say. As English language has evolved, their use has become increasingly
complex. It doesn’t help that different style guides give contrasting advice
regarding its use. I am an editor and in my line of work, I see even
experienced writers getting confused when it comes to these little pests. If
you can get just this one thing right while self-editing, you’ll save your
editors a lot of time and effort. Believe me, they’ll love you for it.
Apostrophes are always the closing single quotation marks.
So, the first thing to remember is that the tail of the apostrophe always
points to the left—something to watch out for if you’re starting a word with an
apostrophe. For example: ’Twas dark outside. The reason we need to pay special
attention is that most writing programs like MS Word autocorrect the opening
apostrophe ’ to a single opening quotation mark ‘ like this. You’ll have to
manually change it back.
Apostrophes are mostly used for three purposes:
To specify contractions or omissions.
To indicate possession.
For plurals.
Let’s explore each of these one by one.
Contractions/Omissions
These are used to show that a letter (or more) has been left
out. To check if we’ve used the contraction correctly, you might need to expand
it and check. Here are some examples:
You’re late for dinner = You are late for dinner.
He’d like some ice cream = He would like some ice cream.
It’s a long walk home = It is a long walk home. It’s been a long night = It has been a long night.
Note: Be careful not to confuse it’s with its. The latter is a possessive pronoun (and a topic for another blog post) not a contraction, and so it doesn’t take an apostrophe. Did you know that it’s and its are among the most common confusing words?
Also note: The only case where we use two apostrophes if two
letters have been left out is when they are separated by another letter. For
example: rock ’n’ roll. And make sure both the tails are pointing left.
Possessive Apostrophes
When indicating possession, we add an apostrophe after the
thing that is doing the possessing.
Apostrophes for singular nouns is simple—just add an apostrophe
followed by an s. For example:
Tim’s shoes = The shoes of Tim.
This situation can get tricky if the name ends with an s
such as Rob Williams or Miley Cyrus (and this is where I see most authors
tripping up). To show possession, you need to add an apostrophe after the s. But
remember: There’s no fixed rule about adding another s after the apostrophe. You could drop the additional s if it causes
difficulty in pronunciation. Follow your instincts and write it as you’d speak
it. If you’re confused, read it aloud and see if how you wrote it makes sense. For
example:
“Did you see Miley Cyrus’s new video?” makes more sense than saying “Did you see Miley Cyrus’ new video?” But “Rob Williams’ new video” sounds better than “Rob Williams’s new video.”
But what if our noun was plural? In such cases, we need to
add the s first to make the word plural and then add the apostrophe. For example:
“The farmers’ market” means a market of many farmers. If we had written it as “The farmer’s market,” it would have meant the market of one farmer.
The same rule applies for family names too. Where you put
the apostrophe depends on whether you are talking about the whole family or
just one member.
In cases of plural names ending with an s, in case we want
to refer to the whole family, we need to make their name plural by adding -es and
then an apostrophe. For example:
The Woodses’ house is as pretty as they come.
If the house belonged to any one member, we would have said:
Mr. Woods’s house is as pretty as they come.
However, not all plurals are made by adding an s or an -es,
are they? There are irregular plurals (woman, but women) and to make their
possessives, we need to add the apostrophe and then an s. For example:
The women’s section has better choices.
Note: Possessive pronouns don’t take an apostrophe. Remember “its”? 😉
Plurals
To specify plurals of lower-case letters, use an apostrophe.
For example:
Do’s and don’ts of fiction writing. Because “dos and don’ts of fiction writing” won’t make much sense, would it?
To specify plurals of upper-case letters, you can safely
drop the apostrophe as there is no ambiguity as such. For example:
The students need their IDs to enter the building.
We are humans. We will make mistakes. So, don’t beat
yourself up if you misplace an apostrophe or two. And if you have a doubt or a
question, please feel free to comment and ask. 😊
Are you a pro when it comes to apostrophes or do you find them
confusing? Did this post help to put things in perspective? Let me know.
