...shoOOonya...

Book Review   The Bestseller She Wrote by Ravi Subramanian   My rating: 4 of 5 stars When you red through the story, you realise that this is definitely different from the books Ravi has written earlier. And it seems predictable and even slow in first half. The story is seemingly coming to a conclusion midway in the book and you then get confused. And once you cross the half way mark, suddenly things begin to happen. The story gathers pace and you suddenly realise that Ravi almost fooled you into thinking that this story was going to be slower than his usual thrillers. Ravi makes up for the pace in second half and you start realising that there is an undercurrent of mystery. People are not what they seem to be and you begin to realise that there are numerous random things that Ravi has thrown around in the story. In the climax, Ravi wraps up all those random loose ends and puts the complete jigsaw puzzle in front of you .. revealing the 'real' picture. It m

Eyes on the Prize   Very Short Story (VSS) 027   He was dazzled by her hair.   And by the way she carried herself with poise.     He was completely focused on her.   He noticed everything - every crease in her short dress, every movement of her small golden clutch, every expression on her face and even the frown that appeared out of nowhere.   His eyes never left her   He had learnt his lessons, not in the school, but in real life. He got trained on-the-job with no retakes.   As a pick-pocketer aiming for specialization in ladies handbags; his number one learning was 'Eyes on the Prize'   -------------   This story was interesting to write. I started out with a one-sided romantic angle in mind with a shy guy infatuated with a beautiful girl. But as you can see, right in the end, the story took an unexpected turn and became something else altogether. Its fun and satisfying to write such a story. Amusing to see such

Book Review  Encrypted by Carolyn McCray My rating: 4 of 5 stars Imagine Lara Croft and give her computer hacking skills. And also give her a FBI agent lover with whom, unfortunately, she can only play a game of cat and mouse since they are both on different sides of the law. The book is essentially an action thriller with a lot of interesting electronic gadgetry supporting james Bond like escapades and hacks. The background story is that of a vicious group trying to spread the black plague once again to wipe out majority of the human population. While there are lots of things in the story/plot that don't make sense, it is a nice action thriller read. View all my reviews  on GoodReads.com

Thank You   Very Short Story (VSS) 026   He watched the kids play in the garden. Everyday. He never joined them though. They came with their toys, cycles, balls, frisbees and numerous other games. He had none.   He was my maid’s kid and I noticed him. Asked my maid and learnt about his hesitation. My Child’s old bicycle was lying unused. Got it repaired, polished and ready for him at his house next day. My neighbor asked why I did it secretly. Not even a Thank you in return. The child’s dumbstruck happy expression was more than the mere ‘Thank you’. Go ahead. Do some Good. --------------------- As promised in my last VSS, I pick up 'Thank You' as the title. When I began writing the story, i had the end in mind, where the child would say Thank you. When i wrote that, i realised that it was not enough. Had I been in the position of cycle-giver; the Thank You would have been nothing. i would be looking forward to the smile on the kid's f

Silver Jubilee   Very Short Story (VSS) 025   Silver Jubilee – a celebration of 25   With time, patience and longevity, both have gone down. Even the silver jubilee celebrations have come down from years to months to weeks to days.   And strangely, while the Silver does become Golden (50), the cases of things NOT going beyond are on a rise. Sad.   25 years of married life 25 weeks of a movie running in theatres 25 months of being in the same job 25 days of being engaged 25 hours of going without junk food 25 minutes of being away from social media   Living a sliver of fickle life ----------------------------------------------------------------- The title wrote itself this time around. It is my 25th VSS and it is a reason for celebration since it is half of my annual goal of 50 stories. 20 days and 3 stories behind schedule but quickly catching up. So here is the silver jubilee story with a tinge of philosophical mus

Letters and Papers   Very Short Story (VSS) 024   Corporate life is very stressful and the annual vacation is a much sought after time … to relax and cool off. But this year is different. With down-sizing and cost-cutting news in the air; no one dare take a leave. The moment your boss realizes that the organization can survive without your presence, even for a single day; you go from indispensable to ‘dispensed’. I gave my whole and soul to the job. Worked hard, slogged nights. Missed birthdays, anniversaries and kid’s performance in school. It paid off. Got my Promotion letter today.   Also the divorce papers too. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 'ing ong' series discontinued since I ran out of words. if you can think of any, feel free to suggest. I might pick them up for a future story.  In this story, I take a serious turn, touching upon the elusive work-life balance and strenuous

Ping Pong   Very Short Story (VSS) 023     He was always fixated on Table Tennis; making the ping pong ball dance to his wishes. Literally.   There was no one who could make the ping pong ball fly the way he did. It was almost magical.   The Principal was confident he would go on to play for the country. And win Gold.   And just before the inter-school championship, his right arm got paralyzed permanently in an accident. Doctors said he could play no more.   Seven year later, I was happy to see him win the Gold for the country yesterday, playing table tennis … with his left arm.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 'ing ong' series continues. In this case, the title 'Ping Pong' had a clear meaning so I had to wrap the story around the ping pong ball. As the story climaxed, it transformed into an inspirational message of sorts. Quick Note : Very Short Stories are max. 99 wo

~ Cover Reveal ~ Avishi by Saiswaroopa Iyer Long before the times of Draupadi and Sita Immortalised in the hymns of the Rig Veda But largely forgotten to the memory of India Is the Warrior Queen with an iron leg, Vishpala Brought up in the pristine forest school of Naimisha, Avishi reaches the republic of Ashtagani in search of her destiny. When Khela, the oppressive King of the neighbouring Vrishabhavati begins to overwhelm and invade Ashtagani, Avishi rises to protect her settlement. But peril pursues her everywhere. Separated from her love, her settlement broken, with a brutal injury needing amputation of her leg, can Avishi overcome Khela? About the Author:   Saiswaroopa is an IITian and a former investment analyst turned author. Her keen interest in ancient Indian history, literature and culture made her take to writing. Her debut novel Abhaya, set in the times of Mahabharata was published in 2015. Avishi, her second novel set in Vedic India

Ting Tong   Very Short Story (VSS) 022     The doorbell startled her. The first thought after overcoming the initial ‘shock’ was the question – ‘When was the last time someone had rung her bell?’   The answer was Never. Well, not actually Never. She had heard it 25 years ago when it was installed and tested by the electrician. But never after that.   That evening her family had gone for the movie and met with an accident while returning. No one had ever rung the bell ever since.   She missed her family and never understood why she was left behind.   Being a lonely ghost was no fun.   ------------------- I continue with the 'ing ong' series .... using Ting Tong this time, the ubiquotous sound of the doorbell. I find this an interesting way of writing a very short story, starting with the title and then building the story on it. A challenge in itself but the best part is the sense of amusement and wonder I experience after completely the

Sing Song   Very Short Story (VSS) 021     I no longer sing   I used to sing   I used to sing pretty well I must say   I used to sing for her   And she sang with me   Together we were unstoppable   We sang everywhere – in the bus, in the train, on the plane, in the rain   Heads turned when we sang – some in annoyance, some in appreciation   Then she was gone   And I lost my voice   More than that, I lost my zing to sing   Every song reminds me of her   Songs evoke happy memories, which cause pain   Singing choke me   I no longer sing ---------------- The title of this story is not random. It was inspired by the title of my previous story (Ding Dong) and in this particular case, the story came out of the title rather than the  other way round. I had no story or a thought when I created the Sing Song title from Ding Dong. After I wrote that title, the words began to flow. Quick Note : Very Short Stories ar

Ding Dong   Very Short Story (VSS) 020     The young chap asked me if I could exchange seats with him since his friend was sitting next to me. I had a window seat and he had a center seat (neither window nor aisle) elsewhere in the plane. I hate being squashed between 2 passengers fighting for armrest space; but I agreed.   I regretted my decision as soon as he told me I had to move from row 12 to row 47.   Later during the flight, on the way to the washroom at the back, he saw me squeezed between two sexy European girls and cursed his luck.    --------------- This one is not just based on True Story; it is a True Story. Not only did it happen to me; I was the one who accepted the change of seat and got the middle seat :) And before you ask me about the title of the story - It was random words i wrote before starting the story. When I finished the story, i couldnt think of another title and somehow liked this meaningless, musical title and 

Book Review: Married to the Mossad by Shalva Hessel   Spoiler alert - Although, I do not reveal secrets and actual spoilers; I do make a comment on how the story progressed which I personally feel is spoiler alert worthy enough.   The title was promising. My first impression was that the tale would be about the wife of a spy and her struggles with life as she tries to make sense of her husband’s suspicious job and its requirements. As the book progressed, I realized that this was true for only one chapter. In the very next chapter, the secret was revealed to the lady and she embraced it. In fact, she, more than embraced it. She became a part of the job and voluntary inducted herself into her husband’s mission, helping him achieve his objective. And that is when she comes across a person who had helped her once … and was now seemingly being duped by another person, who had duped someone the lady knew. She wants to warn him but can’t for fear of blowing up her c

Book Review: Love, Murder & Mayhem – An Anthology edited by Russ Colchamiro       The tagline on the cover - ‘Cosmic Tales of the Heart gone Deadly Wrong’ - sets the mood of the stories wrapped inside this anthology bundle. Also, the stories live up to the book title and give you a generous helping of love, murder and mayhem / chaos. This collection with stories from 15 authors has super-heroes and super-villains; in diverse sci-fi futuristic worlds with other world creatures, artificial intelligence and space as well as time travel thrown in to complicate things further. The stories are wild, wacky, dark, gritty, heartbreaking, fun – in short, an entire bouquet. Authors who have contributed to this mélange of sci-fi jumble: Meriah Crawford, Paige Daniels, Peter David, Mary Fan, Michael Jan Friedman, Robert Greenberger, Glenn Hauman Paul Kupperberg, Karissa Laurel, Kelly Meding, Aaron Rosenberg, Hildy Silverman, Lois Spangler, Patrick Thomas, Editor: Rus