Preeti Shenoy's blog.

Last Tuesday, I had started hosting a  "Tea for two (and a piece of cake) Tuesdays" as part of promos for my third book 'Tea for two and a piece of cake' which is up for pre-order. (All pre-ordered copies of the above book, ordered from Flipkart will be signed by me.) So many of you took part (a big thank you)  and I did enjoy reading all the posts. Very nicely done! If you want to take part in this Tuesday meme, it's simple. All you have to do is answer the creative prompt in your blog and leave a link here. That's it! (Please link only the specific post and not your whole blog. All irrelevant links will be deleted) If you include my banner (given above), I would be delighted :) Here is the prompt for this Tuesday. " The table is set perfectly, for 'tea for two'. (and the piece of cake is ready too).  I am really looking forward to this. There is still a good half an hour left for my guest to arrive as per the  text  I just g

Starting today, I am hosting a Tea-for-two (and a piece of cake) Tuesdays. It will run till the end of February. Every Tuesday, there will be a creative prompt. What do you have to do to take part? You just have to answer the prompt on your blogs and leave a link, linking the specific post where you have answered the prompt in your blog, in the gadget below. That's it! Simple isn't it? :) Of course, I would be delighted if you are kind enough to include my new Banner too in your posts, which I put up below: The creative prompt for today is "If I could invite anybody for 'tea for two' today it would undoubtedly be .................................."  Use as many words as you want! Say as much or as little as you want. If you are participating, you can let all of us know by leaving a link. (do not link your whole blog, just link the specific post). In the 'Link Title' field, use either your name or the name of your blog, whatever

Tea for two and a piece of cake.  Click, then right click (view image) and click again to enlarge. Here it is finally! My baby which I mentioned in the previous post :) Pre-orders are now open! You can place your order here and you can pay cash on delivery. All the pre-ordered copies from Flipkart will be signed by me! _______________________________________________________________________ For more sizzling hot updates and to read the reader reactions on the pre-order, follow my Facebook page ! :)

A lot of people write to me asking me where I get the ideas from to write a book. Also,  Satish did a post yesterday which spoke about what it means to be married to an author which generated a lot of interest. So I thought I would do a post on  what it involves to write a book.(giving you a view from my side) Writing a book is really like giving birth to a baby. At first there is the inception of an idea. Then you carry it around. Then there is labour and finally you give birth (with all the accompanying labour pains) and lo behold--a book is born! After that it is not yours anymore. It is out there. For all to see. For me, for an idea to take inception,it has to be something which I feel  really enthusiastic about. For all those who have read my books and my blog, you would know that I always do something different. "34 bubblegums and candies" was  a non-fiction book. It was, to be precise, creative non-fiction. It was a first book straight from the heart. It wa

What is it like to be married to an Author. A behind the scenes account  By Satish Shenoy  I am an avid reader and collect every book of certain authors whom I like reading. It’s great when an author is recognized and the book becomes a national or international best seller. So when people ask me what does it feel like to be married to an author (a best-selling one at that) there is a lot I have to say. There’s an awful lot that takes place behind the scenes before a book comes out in print. It seems quite simple and straight forward to a layman - write a book, get it published, make a name and earn some money too. Simple eh?!! Not sure why it takes so much time for books to get published.  Any idea what it takes to write a book? My dark side, the one which suffers in silence, would probably say “A lot of effort, stress and work for the spouse and family”. My other side (the sane one – which is well disguised and does not show up too often) would highlight a few key points w

Read about paper quilling in this post . This is part two of the same. Here are two more cards I made for good friends. This one I sent to Sachin . It;s my own design. I started making it and it kind of grew! This one was for Ramesh Paper quilling is a truly wonderful art and for me it is a huge stress buster.   Exciting times are ahead for me. My third book is in the final stages and I have been working non-stop for the past twenty hours. I am exhausted, tired, ready to collapse but there is this huge grin of satisfaction on my face. The book will be out on Feb 14th ! :) Yeah, it's a valentine's day gift to my readers :) The book will be published by Random House (India). There is a nice little element of surprise in my third book. But to know what it  is, you will have to be a little bit more patient! Shall announce closer to the date of release. Meanwhile I totally need to de-stress and I am going to quill loads this week-end. Happy weekend to you

One look at him and I knew I would never ever be the same again. He stirred in me emotions so raw, it hurt to even tear away my thoughts. He evoked in me, a love so strong, a love that legends are made of. When I was with him, nothing else mattered at all—not even my husband. I simply did not care. I was delirious with joy, mad with happiness. If insanity was fire, I was happy to burn in it. The early years with him were the most memorable. He changed me in ways I never thought possible. I juggled everything around his schedule, just so I could be with him, his every waking hour. I cooked, I cleaned and did all my mundane chores during the time he was occupied, so that anytime he beckoned I could rush to him. Heck, I even  stayed at home, just so I could squeeze in those extra moments with him. I changed my entire life to suit his. My husband learnt to slowly accept what he meant to me. He saw how happy it made me.  It has been fourteen years now and the relationship has

Sometime back I had read the book 'Losing my virginity and other dumb ideas by Madhuri Banerjee'. I totally admired the bold writing style and  the dogged determined way in which the protagonist  of the book pursues what she wants.  Since I do not watch Television at all, I did find a few scenes in the book which involves reality TV, fascinating. It was a nice peep into a world which I had never given much thought to. Also the sex scenes in the book were the stuff that every woman dreams of doing but very few do :) Madhuri Banerjee  Later, I became friends with   Madhuri who is also a a national award winning documentary film maker, apart from being a IBN Blogger, Asian age Columnist and a wonderfully warm person and needless to say, a  gorgeous looking woman! :) She also has her own production house and writes movie scripts too. We discovered that we indeed have many things in common like the love of Art and love of writing. Today we had a very interesting

One thing that is fuel for my soul is creating stuff and of late, my soul seems to be getting a lot of fuel :) This morning I made some book-marks. It was a spur of the moment thing, when I was clearing my desk. I saw this wrapping paper which you probably have lying  at home if you have been to Crossword book store recently. ( I do love their wrapping paper and I always read all that is written on it!) I also had some book-marks (which have those ugly ads printed on them) which Crossword hands out generously when you buy books. I decided to surprise my children (they both are very avid readers as is Satish) and Satish with some personalized bookmarks. Here is what I made from the above stuff: This one I made for Satish. :-) He is watching some televised sport at the moment, as I type this :) (Yeah I am cheeky..I know :) ) I made this one for my son. He loves Calvin and Hobbes and I too am a big big fan of Bill Watterson . I think he is  sheer genius. Th

Paper quilling is an art that was started in Europe in the 15th or 16th century. It was started by the French and Italian Nuns and monks who used the gilded strips of paper that adorned religious books. It again became popular in the 18th century and later spread all over the world. Today there are lots of enthusiasts for this form of art. I became interested in this recently and started researching a lot about it on the Internet. I picked up a few techniques and then over the last few days, I have been creating stuff. All you need for paper quilling is quilling strips, glue, a quilling tool (this makes it easier to roll the paper). You also need lots of patience! I find it a superb way to de-stress and I can sit for hours, creating quilled pieces of art. Here are a few cards that I created for my closest friends. All the cards come with matching envelopes too :)  Honestly, after I finished them, I had half  a mind to put them on E-bay and

Dear 2012, Much has been said about you. For someone barely a day old, a lot indeed :)  Including a mention in the ancient Mayan Calendar about the world ending and all that. (That too on my birthday--didn't I tell you in an earlier post that my birthdays are always rather special? :)) Well, I will tell you something now and I will say it just once. So pay attention. Now that the drunken revelries and general bonhomie of wishing everybody, their aunt and their dog a very happy new year (fuelled more by vodka/whiskey or whatever be the alcoholic drink that has been ingested) whether one means it or not (thanks to social networks where people upload stolen photos and tag everybody including the aforesaid mentioned aunt and dog) is finally over (well I do hope it is), let us get down to business, shall we? Throw what you want at me, dear 2012, but I am quietly going to LIVE each day. Not merely exist, but live . Even in the worst possible day where the worst possible things t