Blogchatter – Page 6 – soniasmusings

Link to download my first e-book ‘Deal of Death’ for free (limited period only)

In my last post, I wrote about my journey of writing my first novella ‘Deal of Death.’ The e-book was finally published on May 22nd by Blogchatter. As a debutante, I had been trying to get my friends and acquaintances interested in this detective thriller through the cover release, trailer release and intermittent posts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. However, nothing could prepare me for the overwhelming response that l have been received for this book so far.

Even before the book was officially launched by Blogchatter on Twitter, there had been close to 80 downloads.

Deal of Death - 80 download — 80 downloads before official launch

Within the next three hours, I had to request the team to restock my book as 182 of the initial stock of 200 had already been downloaded. The stock was increased to 350 soon after.

Deal of Death - 182 download — Day 1 at 182 downloads

With my announcement about the launch on various social media platforms, even the second day garnered huge response. I closed the day at 300 plus downloads with a request to restock again.

Deal of Death - 307 download — 300 plus downloads by second day end

As I enter the fourth day after release today, it is a heartening sight to see 420 downloads.

Deal of Death - 420 download — Present statistics

The e-book is available for free download only for a limited period, so get your copy NOW. Presenting the blurb and the link to download the book –

Blurb –

Munshiganj is a quaint town with a rich historical background. It’s biggest attraction has been a temple and mosque co-existing within the same premises along with the tomb of Nawab Rehamat Khan. Recently though, the peace of this little town has been affected by the paranormal – the temple bell rings by itself daily at midnight.

Raya Ray, an ex-marketing honcho had been dealing with loss when a chance to help her Banker husband, Krishanu, marked her debut as a private investigator. Detective Raya Ray lands in Munshiganj in response to a call for help from Sharmila – the sister of her house- help Sutapa. Sharmila suspects foul play when the doctors at the town hospital tell her she delivered a stillborn child and detective Ray steps in to assist.

Raya steps into a field of landmines after the body of Dr. Sonam Misra from the same hospital is discovered on the deck of a steamer and she chances upon a secret safeguarded for ages inside the temple. With the help of local rickshaw-puller Habul, Raya starts unraveling the mystery, unaware of the danger lurking over her as a pair of blue eyes trail her every move.

As she puts the pieces together, detective Ray realizes that nothing and no one are what they appear to be.

Link to download the book –

https://www.theblogchatter.com/download/deal-of-death-by-sonia-chatterjee/

I would love to hear your thoughts about this book, so feel free to leave your comments here.

Trailer and journey of my first E-Book ‘Deal of Death’

It’s been quite a while that I shared my thoughts on the blog. While April was filled with daily activities owing to the A2Z challenge, May started with a reflection post related to my experience of the challenge. And then the much awaited Blogchatter Ebook carnival was launched. I started working on my blog posts related to ‘A dollop of Bengal’ to make them befit a book. After channeling my efforts on it for almost a week, the outcome of my labor looked incomplete. Bengal has such multiple aspects that the range that my book managed to capture could at best be described as a personal selection. I decided to continue working on it for the next couple of months before bringing it out as a book. And thus I chose to bow out of the carnival.

The deadline for the carnival was initially announced as 13th May. As I saw fellow bloggers confirming their submission 11th onwards, there was a sense of restlessness and unhappiness in me. When I chose to make writing my full-time profession, I had promised never to compromise in my commitment towards the new job. So, 11th evening onwards, I started writing a fiction novella in the genre of Detective thrillers.

Like the saying goes, fortune favors the brave. The last date for submission was extended to 17th May and in six days, my first e-book ‘Deal of Death’ was completed.

As I await the launch of the e-book in less than 24hrs, here’s a trailer giving an idea about the story. The first book for a new author is always very special, but in my case the crazy story of determination behind it makes it a little extra special.

I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on the video and cover design related to the e-book, so please feel free to leave your comments here.

A dollop of Bengal – Darjeeling & Durga Puja

Quite a few friends of mine were confident about D for Dacres Lane – another old world food paradise housing Chittoda’s famous Mutton Stew to be the featured header today. Few other options that came up were Dalhousie – the office para in Kolkata, the historic Dakshineswar Ma Kali Temple, Bengalis favorite beach honeymoon destination Digha and wildlife rich tropical forest covered hills Dooars/Duars in North Bengal. But the two subjects that make it to my coveted list today are topics extremely close to my heart – Darjeeling and Durga Puja.

Darjeeling –

The queen of Hills has an appeal unmatched to any other hill station. Home to the third largest mountain Kanchenjunga, the city can reached from New Jalpaiguri station/ Siliguri by rented car or the Himalayan range Toy train.While the view of sunrise at Tiger Hills is something beyond the world, the city also has the famous LLyod’s Botanical Garden and Zoo that is home to quite a few endangered species like the Red Panda. The mix of people from Bengali, Chinese, Anglo-Indians, Nepali to Tibetan brings about a unique mix in the cuisine. Noodles, Momos, Thupkas and butter tea are few of the famous dishes here. A speciality of this is place is Alu mimi which is basically Wai wai sprinkled over dum aloo. Darjeeling tea is famous all over the world. The open area mall has a number of shops delighting the tourists. The local market has an amazing collection of woolen clothes which are of great quality yet affordable. The place has the Government tourist lodge along with budget to luxury resorts as stay options. An ideal day at Darjeeling should begin with breakfast at Keventers, lunch at Kunga and dinner at Glenary’s.

Durga Puja –

Continue reading “A dollop of Bengal – Darjeeling & Durga Puja”

Theme Reveal A2Z challenge with Blogchatter

The A2Z blogging challenge with Blogchatter is all about blogging on every single day through April except on Sundays. So essentially there’s an alphabet associated with every single day. A on the first day, B on the second and so on until it’s Z on the twenty-sixth day. When I took up this challenge, I had already been posting two to four blog posts every week. However it looked like a Herculean task to post every single day and that too on the basis an alphabet. I felt challenged and there’s no best way to overcome the fear than to face it. So, here I go with my theme reveal of my first ever A2Z challenge.

A dollop of Bengal.jpg — *Theme reveal of A2Z Blogchatter Challenge – A DOLLOP OF BENGAL*

Through a series of twenty-six posts, I am going to help the readers enjoy a journey down my state West Bengal through ‘A dollop of Bengal’. My blog belongs to a multi-niche category and through this theme, I intend to cover cities, places, food, restaurants, personalities, characters, festivals and a lot more that define this state. So that looks like a huge list right?

Wait, there’s a twist! Among the multiple options in various categories starting with any particular alphabet, I am going to choose and write only about the one that has a connection to my life. Stay tuned to know who makes it to the list and what is their significance in my journey.

I am waiting to make this my biggest project till date. Can’t wait for you to come sooner, April to get this started.