Forget me not

                                                                  Courtesy

bloom withers

sooner or later –

scent lingers.

Written for Haiku Heights - Forget-me-not

The sweetest sound

                                                                    Courtesy

A child’s laugh

Dulcet

Tinkles like a wind chime

Unforced

Unbridled

Their laughter sings

Eyes half closed

With pure joy

A splendid moon-face

Sweet

Familiar

For it knows no pretense.

Laugh…

Laugh with the world

There is nothing more contagious.

– Vaishali

Written for The Think Tank Thursday #107 Sound

My own little world

                                                           Courtesy

Each day an outing

With

A winter of promises

and surprises.

While

we soar in liberty,

roll in love.

Where

love endangers hatred,

honesty cuts all vileness.

Hazards quit

when we hold hands

with miracles.

Written for Words Count With Mama Zen and Three Word Wednesday

Words Count with Mama Zen required us to write a poem on our own world in thirty-five words or less.

Three Word Wednesday required us to write a poem using three words: Cut, endanger and hazard.

My First Blog Award

Whoa! Such a pleasure this is! I check my blogger profile and the the next thing I know - there is a comment awaiting my attention. Not pertaining to a  blog post of mine but to a you-have-received-an-award message.

My first blog award! :)

I started Cosmuse almost a month back in mid-June while most at home were enjoying their vacations. This was my way of enjoyment. Writing! 

I didn’t know what my posts would consist of; I didn’t know if I’d be able to get any readership; I didn’t know if anyone would appreciate my efforts. All I knew was I had to give some more time to my passion. I had no writing schedule. Busy past midnight in all works but writing… it wasn’t really satisfying. 

But here I am! Learning new art forms; writing each day; thinking; observing and loving it all.

Thanks to Green Speck for considering me, a newcomer here, for this honor. SO kind of him. I never thought that Cosmuse would have an award so soon. Well, I am chuffed, so say the least.

Thank you!

There are certain rules one has to follow, and copying them from Green Speck's blog post, they are enumerated below:

1. If you are tagged/nominated, you have to post 11 facts abut yourself.
2. Then you answer the 11 questions the tagger has given you & make 11 questions for the people you are going to tag.
3. Tag 11 more Bloggers.
4. Tell the people you tagged that you did.
5. No tagging back.
6. The person you tag must have less than 200 followers.
   

Here goes:

 

11 Facts about me:

 

I am a clever procrastinator.

I work on my laptop for almost 15 hours a day.

I have no favorites. I like things but I can never pick one fave out of it.

I love to watch sitcoms.

I am almost six moths old to writing.

I fall in love with celebrities quite often… with artists actually.

I love to watch people play guitar or violin. Play it and I am your fan..

I suck at math.

I am a devourer of good poetry.

I want to go “Missing” for once.

I love the word, “Awesome!” :) Guess why!

Answers to Green Speck's questions:

1. If an alien visits you, what is the first thing you would like to know about it?

A. Assuming that the alien is a friendly creature, I’ll ask him about his life on the other planet… Might just get a good story for my novel. 

 2. If you have the power, to which three non-living objects would you like to grant the power of life?

A. My photo album; my fave novels and my pillow: it would be crazy actually but then, crazy is fun.

3. Do you like pets? Do you have one?

A. I like pets if they are not mine. :)

4. What super power you wish to possess?

A. Mind reading ability… just that I should know how to control what thoughts I take in.

5. Which is the most memorable gift you have received till date and from whom?

A. It was a card from a very small girl, who told herself to be my admirer. That was quite cute. :)

6. Do you like travelling? Which has been your favorite travelling spot?

A. I like traveling but there are MANY conditions that should complement it. I LOVE Mumbai.

7. What makes you smile when you feel low?

A. Good memories… or maybe a sitcom… or maybe a chat with a close friend… or maybe a good novel.

8. What is your favorite quote?

A.I’m a quote lover but when it comes to picking one or two… I just can’t.[Fact of my life.]

9. Who is your idol?

A. My mother.

10. Do you prefer reading, or writing?

A. Reading, actually. I can read anytime but I need ‘my’ ambience to write.

11. When did you start blogging?

A. I started blogging on 14^th June 2012. A month old here. :D

11 questions from me:

1]   'Checkered blue n white' or 'black'?

2]   Curtains or no curtains?

3]   Hardcover, paperback or ebooks?

4]   What's your ambiance while writing?

5]   Do you plan to publish a novel?

6]   Do you like to make a gift for your loved one or do you rather buy?

7]   Which is the most beautiful color according to you?

8]   What’s your mantra in life?

9]   Have you ever thought of becoming a soldier in your life?

10] Do you have stage fear?

11] ‘Mickey mouse/ Aladin/Duck Tales’ or ‘ Shin Chan/ Doraemon/ Kitretsu’?

The 11 Awesome bloggers I tag:

 

Locomente

Sonia 

Anupam

Sohini

Sharla

 Laxmi

 Sreeja

 Avanish

Annette 

V. Shelatkar

Jaskiran

I hope you enjoy the award, friends. :)

Falling For Rain - Book Review

Name: Falling for Rain

My Rating: 9/10

Genre: Romance

My thoughts about the book: I loved each page of this book and felt happy to have picked this one to read. Though I was really busy one weekend, I still gave my eight hours to this beautiful book. That should count something in its favor, shouldn’t it? The only negative I could find in this book was a few grammatical errors and typos.[read: very, very few]

Falling for Rain is the story of two childhood friends Raymond Storm and Emily Alexander; they choose to address each other as Rain and Em. Isn’t Rain Storm a name absolutely adorable? I loved it from the very start but as the novel progressed, I didn’t even realize that I had already fallen in love with this man – for his name, yes, but more so, for his character. 

Rain Storm is your gorgeous, tall man aged almost 33 at the start of the novel, with a fantastic build, blonde hair, silky voice and deep blue eyes. His love for Emily will make any girl think again about her Prince Charming. His emotions – love, humor, regret, desire, anger – seem to be very romantic and masculine at the same time.

Emily is the tall, beautiful, successful architect aged 28 at the beginning of the novel; she has dark hair and dark eyes, all which suit her personality, whether she’s the joyous Em or the business-like, sarcastic Emily Alexander. She loves Rain, no doubt, but wants to prove to him that she’s always been superior to him and was right to leave the farm after her mother’s death in an accident. The accident plays an important part in the novel.

She comes from her busy world of Toronto to the farm, which once was her life until that fateful accident took place. Her brief visit is to inform Rain that she’ll sell the farm and will bury her past, in short, get rid of him and that place forever. Little did she know that the three days would change her life. Rain’s charm pulls her towards him but she pushes his attraction away, harder. 

I won’t give any more of the amazing novel away. There are many twists and turns that will keep you guessing. You’ll find yourself pleading Emily to let bygones be bygones and start a new chapter of her life. You’ll find yourself pleading Rain to try harder and no matter what, never let Em go. You’ll find yourself: scowling at Jonathon, cheering Lee, respecting Martin Wright and liking Jessica. You’ll find yourself smiling, blushing and smiling again; a few pages that might moisten your eyes… a few that will broaden your smile. Above all, you’ll want to fall in love again. 

This book has been written beautifully in 3^rd person POV. You’ll love every character in this novel; that’s one of the aspects of Falling for Rain that I truly liked. Besides Rain and Emily, you’ll even love the characters that show up just for a chapter or even so short a part as two pages - Jennifer, Lee, Martin Wright and even the ancestor Emily.

There is just one character you’ll love to hate – it’s Jonathon! I don’t exactly remember which cartoon character it was, that always wore suit, had wicked features and slicked his hair behind in a ponytail, but I pictured Jonathon as that.

The use of the words ‘rain’ and ‘storm’ as not just Rain Storm’s name, but in different contexts was intelligent.

It’s a book that’s hard to keep down once you’ve started it. Congrats to co-authors  Gina Buonaguro and Janice Kirk. I look forward to reading their other books.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. I’m not a romance lover, never wrote a book in that genre; but, when a novel keeps me awake till five in the morning just because I can’t stop wondering what would happen next and WANT to know till the very end, I consider it to be a book worth recommending.

Meaning

 

Courtesy

a decade old...

this story has more pain

than love or care

the protagonist

tries to find meaning in

each passing breath

(Edited)

Written for Haiku Heights

The Mind Readers - Book Review

Title:  The Mind Readers

Author:  Lori Brighton

My Rating: 7/10

Series: Mind Readers # 1

Genre:  Fantasy/ Romance/ Young Adult

Courtesy: www.goodreads.com

Summary: Cameron Winters is a freak. Fortunately, no one but her family knows the truth …that Cameron can read minds. For years Cameron has hidden behind a facade of normalcy, warned that there are those who would do her harm. When gorgeous and mysterious Lewis Douglas arrives he destroys everything Cameron has ever believed and tempts her with possibilities of freedom. Determined to embrace her hidden talents, Cameron heads to a secret haven with Lewis; a place where she meets others like her, Mind Readers.

But as Cameron soon finds out some things are too good to be true. When the Mind Readers realize the extent of Cameron’s abilities, they want to use her powers for their own needs. Cameron suddenly finds herself involved in a war in which her idea of what is right and wrong is greatly tested. In the end she’ll be forced to make a choice that will not only threaten her relationship with Lewis, but her very life.

My thoughts about this book: The title piqued my interest so I gave this book a shot. Twilight-esque, eh? A nice, simple high-school girl meets a handsome hunk(who every girl ogles at) and they embark on a journey that will be challenging for their own love and life. 

Cameron Winters is a teenage girl with mind reading ability, but she feels more like a freak than special. Her grandmother doesn’t let her help people because she thinks they are both in danger and revealing their secret would only get them in a worse situation than they already are. Just a few months remain for Cam’s graduation and lethal activities happen around her, tightening the grip of fear and resentment for her present life. 

Lewis Douglas is a gorgeous, charming guy who joins her school then and they, as expected, fall for each other. Lewis is a mind reader too and better than Cam, since he has been trained by Aaron on improving his skills. This is when Cam decides that she’ll leave her grandmother and do something useful with her ability.

Lewis takes her to Aaron, who is rich and handsome and treats Cam like a daughter. She feels connected to him. Aaron teaches her many useful tactics using meditation as the tool. Aaron has been fighting against S.P.I and needs a strong force with himself to keep the mind readers safe. S.P.I is the organization that tortures the mind readers to get their works done. Maddox works for S.P.I and spies on Aaron’s territory and gets captured. Cam proves to be an asset when Aaron uses her power to break into Maddox’s memory and chunk out the part where he spied on the mind readers. She isn’t convinced.

She believes it’s wrong to break into Maddox’s memory and hurt him even when he would not leave a chance to hurt her had he got the power. This was the ‘Oh, come on!’ moment.  

You would look forward to suspense, which is there in quantum; but the story gets stuck when the revelations are about to happen. 

Cam’s decisions ring true only at the beginning of the book, but they are pretty questionable when she comes to know that she has more powers than the others at the residence. She might be right but you’ll be frustrated at her for being judgmental and overly sensitive. Things are hidden from her… there is suspense… there is an eerie feeling throughout the book, but you somehow can’t decide which side is the one you’d choose.[at least, not in the beginning, when it’s unclear about the happenings in the house, and she chooses to strike then.] There are instances which seem fictitious. Her doubts are proven correct in the end, but what was the real motif that carried her to draw those conclusions all this while is beyond me.

The beginning and ending are what I’d say, perfect; there are enough ingredients to keep one on the edge of the seat. I cared for Cam and Lewis and even Aaron for the first half of the book; then came a time I was no longer interested as to what happened with Cam, and wanted to finish the book only because I had started it. The ending made it worth a read. It was totally unexpected; at least I didn’t see that coming; it was something that would convince me to read the next book in the series.

Would I recommend it? If you loved Twilight, then you will like this book. This is a well-written book, but didn’t do the magic for me. Again, the ending was intelligent for a sequel. I’d recommend it to those who like reading books in this genre.