Personal – Page 3 – soniasmusings

Diary, Deceit and Death travels the country with its author

2024 is the year when I visited Purulia, Ayodhya Hills, Lucknow, Agra, Vizag, and Gopalpur in the last 3 months.

Since Diary, Deceit and Death released in September 2024, the book has travelled with me to all these places.

Here’s my father holding the book at a picturesque location chosen by my husband while my son clicked the picture. They along with my in-laws are the reason I shifted careers to pursue what I always loved doing – writing. It’s overwhelming to see them feel happy and proud of me.

For the next couple of days, there will be some major announcements – the year end surprises I have planned for my readers and friends.

Until then, if you haven’t placed an order for the book, it’s time you do it as a year end gift to yourself or your loved ones. Here’s the link –

Amazon link

Book signing on Maha Sasthi at our Durga Puja pandal

Thank you, Debashree, for capturing this moment and making the book signing an extra special moment for me, that too at our own UCC Durga Puja mandap on the day of Maha Sasthi.

I hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I loved writing it.

Thank you for sending this pic after receiving the book

Link to order

Link to purchase

A random Saturday evening for myself

An evening of calmness and peace

After some hectic months of working on the book in the pre-publication stage and the kid’s first semester exams, I finally had an evening for myself. Here’s a picture of the absolute sukoon(peace) I felt while reading a thriller, savoring home-made snacks and drinking tea last evening.

Comfort items (the bookmark is made by the kid)

I hope you have a wonderful day full of happiness and peace.

Celebrating my birthday on the 29th of May

The last couple of weeks have been way too hectic. My second book is getting ready for launch, and I’m excited about the cover image that landed in my inbox this week (I can’t wait to share it with the world now). As the book goes for printing in another couple of weeks, I’ve started proofreading my third book, which should be ready in a few months. Hopefully, the third book will be released in the first quarter of 2025.

This is what juggling work and family commitments look like

Amidst all the chaos and my son’s upcoming first-semester exams this month, I’m worried about how I’ll deal with everything happening together. But that didn’t deter us from celebrating my birthday last month on the twenty-ninth.

With the cake-cutting at midnight followed by opening the gifts from my in-laws, Baba, the husband, and my darling son, I had a lot of fun throughout the day.

After sending the last of the final drafts to the publisher

I have been missing from the blogging world for over a few weeks. When I started this blog, it was my conscious choice to never let a month pass without any post. I’m glad I could do it though the frequency of posts has been on the lower side.

However, it’s not like I have not been writing. In fact, I have been only writing and editing chasing a crazy deadline. So, the second book of Detective Raya Ray has been polished well enough by the editor and last evening, I sent the last of the final drafts (fingers crossed!) to my publisher.

Hopefully, the book will be out soon in the world for everyone to read and relish. But today, I decided to keep everything away, put up a personal post here, and spend the day listening to music and reading the latest thriller from one of my favorite authors. Relax, until the kid returns from school in the afternoon.

The boy has been unbelievably supportive and understanding during this stressful period. I’ll surprise him with some homemade cheese burst pizza this evening. Let’s see how it turns out to be. But that is a post for another day.

Sending some good music and positive vibes to everyone reading this post. Hope you have a wonderful week!

Scenes at home with the beginning of IPL 2024

Now that IPL 2024 began today, here are a couple of pictures that gives an idea about why I should start practicing meditation seriously.

Pic 1 – the eternal dilemma of a kid when his favorites Virat and Dhoni play against each other. Who do I support – he wonders!

Pic 2 – the boy refuses to sit just in case he’s needed in the field.

Pic 3 – the indomitable child picks up the bat stating what if I’m needed by CSK soon. On the verge of starting his practice at 11 while I’m at my wits end.

And that’s how I know this is just the beginning of my patience testing time.

A little time for me and the kid

The kid started his session break after his final exams got over last week. We’ve been driving through the city, exploring new places for books and food, and playing both indoor and outdoor sports like cricket.

It’s been a hectic period for both of us. I was dealing with my writing as well as helping him prepare for his exams, while he was focusing on his studies.

I’m glad we are getting to spend a lot of time this month, traveling for a beach vacation soon, and discovering new books and restaurants.

Driving through the greener part of the city

The old-world charm of Kolkata mornings

Kolkata mornings

“Calcutta is like a work of modern art that neither makes sense nor has utility, but exists for some esoteric aesthetic reason.” – Amit Chaudhuri

Somewhere between living and dreaming, there’s Kolkata.

Happy Saraswati Puja 2024

My father and son carrying on the annual rituals of Saraswati Puja at home as the husband and I lurk around, waiting for pushpanjali and the bhog after puja.

Hoping the year is full of knowledge, wisdom, and books for all of us.

The official announcement of my upcoming book in the Detective Raya Ray series

A couple of years have passed since I released my debut thriller introducing Detective Raya Ray. While I started writing the next in the series soon after and was signed on by one of India’s leading literary agencies, The Book Bakers, I wanted to create a puzzle to challenge Raya and also the reader’s crime-solving skills. Dissatisfied with two manuscripts, I decided to move away from the book and enrolled for my third master’s, MFA in creative writing, in Nov 2019. Post-completion of the course, I had a fresh perspective of looking at a new Raya Ray story.

‘Diary, Deceit, and Death – Raya Ray Returns’ took shape in the form of a manuscript, which The Book Bakers successfully placed to one of the country’s top publishers Vishwakarma Publications.