Awesome day when I went for a walk. Its awesome because I felt like the need to exercise and its awesome because I actually walked the walk. Also the sky looked b-eau-ti-ful. 

I missed my heavy duty camera but my blackberry did some pretty good job. Don't you think?

 My walking path

 The setting sun

 My way home (its pretty empty all the time)

 Loved the patterns 

 Its as if God is experimenting with his painting brushes

And so I say goodbye, 

When all I can see is tears in your eyes

and hopes so high

The Lost Symbol - A Book Review

Synopsis: As the story opens, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned unexpectedly to deliver an evening lecture in the U.S. Capitol Building. Within minutes of his arrival, however, the night takes a bizarre turn. A disturbing object--artfully encoded with five symbols--is discovered in the Capitol Building. Langdon recognizes the object as an ancient invitation . . . one meant to usher its recipient into a long-lost world of esoteric wisdom.


My Take: 


If you loved Da Vinci Code and Angles And Demons then i am sure The Lost Symbol must be your next buy of the month.


Dan Brown always manages to get a strong reaction from me. Being an avid romance reader he must be the first thriller writer that got me hooked to him. Series by series I hunt for his books like a hungry tiger looking for a bait. 
Speaking of baits, The Lost Symbol is a dynamic combination of malice, secrets, secret society and some very interesting facts (as claimed by the author himself) about freemasonry, a secret society of men who hold very prestigious place at Washington DC. 


The story begins with Robert Langdon being invited to Washington by Peter Solomon's assistant. Peter being a very close and respected friend of Robert, he rushed to find himself being duped into a conspiracy of something greater than what it seems. Symbols of freemasonry has to be interpreted and a pyramid had to be recovered from the very basement of the US capitol. 


In the background we find his sister Katherine Solomon who is a scientist in Neotic sciences is under the impression that her brother had been seeing a psychiatrist. 
Mal'akh is the main antogonist of the novel and it is only because of him that we are on our edges. His character has been portrayed so very well that we know him more than the other characters of the novel. His life and the changes he faces to become what he was is simply outstanding. You picture him as a huge, bald, monster who wants to obtain the ultimate power. Perhaps to be become God. Its would be unjust for me to tell you more about him because reading this book is well wroth the money spent.
Of course Dan Brown goes into details here revealing more about Freemasonry than perhaps he was given permission to. But then isn't he just famous of controversy? and book without controversy is just words in print, nothing else. And this book needs you attention as well. Its not a casual reading you would do one Sunday afternoon. 


I did find the end a bit prolonged because with the end of Mal'akh, the novel didn't hold the appeal any more. Of course there is the sense of adventure that becomes intense when so many loose their lives in saving the  secret of one lost word. To understand in detail I had to go online and do research myself or else it was just reading and forgetting the symbols and their meanings. The symbols were too for me to handle and I wish I had a symbologist to interpret Dan Brown's attempt to show off the deep research on the subject. 


The Lost Symbol is the book for you if you like mysticism of the secret societies and unveiling them actually has a different kind of excitement.


Rating: 5/5 (just because I am prejudiced about Dam Brown's extent of research)

Really Reality Bites: How to create believable characters?

One of the best days of my life is when I am all up with ideas about the plot, the characters and then (if I am very lucky) the climax.

How I make my characters?

It is very easy to create a make-believe person but to convince an audience about that person you have to make a personality to go with it. So, to begin with always think about your hero and the heroine with strong believable names that is easy to pronounce (not like those that is very difficult to remember) and make them have jobs, families and hang-ups like everyone else. Baby names websites are the best place to search for names. They also got this interesting description that could help you build a character as well.

They should have a place they come from and of course the place they were born too. They have hobbies, fears and tempers like everyone. So make a workable sheet for you. It doesn’t have to be long but long enough for you remember.

How to make a character?

Make a little biography of the protagonist and if you got the time, make a little background for the minor characters as well. So that you don’t forget why this exist.

I know it all sounds like a lot of work but if this isn’t there in that little notebook that you always carry around then you cannot simply come to writing the story. You will have your little uncertain passages and you simply cannot go back and refer all the time where the hero came from. Use colourful stick ups around the place you write and voila not even the “writers block” can stop you. Only you (your laziness) can.

Note: Also published on readersencalve authors portal

What goes inside Plot making?

Plot is perhaps the easiest part of writing a novel. All you got to do is to brain storm a few ideas, think about the story you want to pen down and then make a very basic flow chart of what you want to achieve in the end.

Ask yourself questions. This is not your school classroom where you are hesitant to ask. Here you are the boss, you are the student and you are the reader. So ask away.

• What (is my novel about?)
• Why ( am I writing this?)
• When (are my characters going to find themselves?)
• How (will I make the perfect ending?”

This way you make a list of questions and have it safely tucked away knowing that you always have a back-up.

Make sure you have who your main protagonist is and whether your novel is going to be in first point of view, second point of view or multiple POV.

After deciding on your characters, your story begins with deciding a genre. Do you want to write a romance, mystery, thriller? Once that’s decided, make sure that you have an interesting mix of reality into fiction. Since writing LOVE ME IN THE END, I have found that romance in real is very different from the one in the pages. You have to have two people in love who despite hating each other also want to be with each other. When you have the reasons all jot down on a list of paper it becomes easy for you to use their dislike for each other as conflict. Another important part of a plot of conflict but then I will explain that in detail later.

For example from Love Me In The End:

“Of course I want to marry!” she contradicted, “Just not you in particular”.

“And the reason could be?” Arman narrowed his eyes.

“I don’t like you”.

“Fine! I don’t like you either”, turning back to the other woman who was smiling almost maliciously, “And there is nothing better than to get rid of you”.

Also make sure that you have a sub-plot going on since it becomes monotonous for the reader to keep on thinking about the problems of the hero. The sub plot could be more on a lighter side, perhaps adding the hero’s flirty brother who makes sure that the heroine goes for a date with him to make the hero jealous in turn bringing a passionate response from both sides.

Making points also help

1.       Father making decision to get a groom of his choice

2.       Daughter hopes to change his mind

3.       Hero torn between his career and impending marriage

4.       Hero and heroine meet and here comes an explosive chemistry

5.       Father feels uncertain and decides to call off the match

These are some of the points I made for my novel. And you need to keep on making it till the end even if you decide to change your mind in the end. This is the magic of a pen and lots of paper around.

Be bold when writing a story because if you don’t believe in what you write, no one else will.

Note: Also published on the website of Readersenclave arthor's portal

Some crazy moments of life when you have just lot of time, a bottle of nail polish and your creativeness stretched to the limit of making use of your imagination.
Here are a few clips of nail art (my way)

"Touch"

I twisted and turned

His grip was like vice

My shoulders ached

but secretly I loved this night

I had a premonition

I was going to feel this way

In his arms

In his bed

And this very moment

Our breaths mingling

and his tongue swirling

at the tip of my lips

and my heart aching

My hands made no noise

how could they?

when they felt so nice?

They slipped slyly on his back

and I slowly felt his soaring desire

We pushed each other

Hating yet wanting to be together

our touch just so natural

My eyes felt all but misty in this hot summer night

Why did I feel so lost 

In this man's arms?

It feels forbidden 

To feel so wanton

To make him mine

and me his, forever

So I twisted and turned

our breathing mingling again

His fingers doing the unthinkable

His lips on the nook of my neck

We lay together 

Feeling, making the most sweetest love ever...

"I stand Alone"

When I was a kid,
Life was the same,
I would get up and moan
think about school and groan.

College was the new trend,
where canteen and friends,
were my life.
I studied but not very hard,
all those nights were phone was my star

Caught up in a job,
I got used to my swirly chair and car
The friendly calls now all but business
I made my peace with everything
cause money became my life.

Loosing touch with people,
I once loved and cared,
I carried on with what i call life
making a whole new meaning out of this surprise

Such is my life
where money brings me happiness now
Friends have become so rare
I wait for no one to sit and share.

A book giveaway!!!

Hi guys I am feeling generous and this is a great opportunity for you to win a personally signed novel
LOVE ME IN THE END.

To win you have to do just two things:

1) Visit the page https://www.facebook.com/LoveMeInTheEnd and LIKE

2) Answer a simple question:

Would you marry the man your dad chooses for you? Why/Why not?

A winner will be chosen by me. Send your answers to soniakundrasingh@gmail.com.

I will announce a winner by September 30th 2011

Tandoori Chicken - The Recipe for all those who love good food

I always thought cooking Mugalai is one of the most difficult things to do. Thankfully, I have got a very reliable oven that has lately become my best friend. We discuss recipes and help each other is making marvelous dishes.

So, it was another Saturday night. The evening was young and I had my culinary buds craving for something exotic. No, I don't believe in just cooking and get the thing done. I love food and if it doesn't look good or taste good (even if its my favorite) I don't usually have it. 

To cut a long story short, I tried TANDOORI CHICKEN and it did come out well that I almost did not have it. Just how beautiful it looked!

Recipe:

Like some I don't use a hell lot of ingredients. So, its actually simple :)

Ingredients:

1 chicken (Cut the way you want it)

1 lemon

1 cup whisked curd

1 tble deghi mirch

1 tble garam masala

2 tsp olive oil

1 tble salt

1 small cup ginger/garlic paste

Red color (two drops mixed in milk)

Process:

Make two cuts on each chicken piece

Rub the lemon and ginger garlic paste all over the chicken pieces to make that weird smell go away.

Mix the curd, salt, red chilli powder, garam masala, olive oil, red color together and prepare the marinade.

Rub it all over the chicken.

IFB oven:

Preheat the oven for ten minutes

Baste the tray with melted butter

Lay the chicken pieces on the girll and place it on the tray

Put it in the oven and make it in the MIRCO-GIRLL mode for twenty minutes.

Note: For better results, do finish off the chicken by giving it a final touch on the stove.

Cravings

My experiments with my oven never ends and this happens every time me and my hubby have this clear idea of how much oil should we exactly use for a healthier 'us'.

So I wanted to have fries (as usual my craving never end) and he practically made me try the oven baked potatoes which I felt was an insult for the 'REAL' thing.

Surprisingly, it turned out all good. I didn't have to throw the contents in the bin. It was all retained and went right into my very hungry stomach.

Recipe: Potato Wedges

Ingredients: 1 potato (half boiled)

1 tsp salt

dried herbs

Process: Preheat the oven for five minutes. Make sure your potatoes are not soggy. Cut it into long stripes and toss it with salt and dried herbs. Put them on a girll and set the oven in 'micro-girll' for the next ten minutes (depends on how many potatoes you are using).

Voila! you have the fat-free, delicious fries look-alike