Aisha Urooj's Blog - Posts Tagged "book"

If you have read my book My Dear Ellie (thank you!), you would have come across Cassie’s wonderful puppy Buddy. Actually Buddy might technically be Ellie’s, based on unfair puppy favoritism. Cassie knows this and has on occasion displayed slight jealousy in her naturally green eyes. She, however, quickly gets over it as Ellie helps her walk buddy early in the morning (Cassie is not a morning person at all!)

I chose Buddy to be a rescue puppy in the novel for a specific reason. I believe it is important to support your local animal shelters. There are wonderful cats, dogs, rabbits and all kinds of wonderful animals just waiting to find their forever homes and give all their love to their new owners. For buddy, it was love at first sight for both Ellie and Cassie. Perhaps you will have the same experience too 😊

In my second novel (a work currently in progress!), I will focus and highlight some of the animals Ellie encounters on her trip around the world. It would be great to see from her perspective as she is such a animal and nature lover. I can’t wait until the book is ready for readers to read! (Lol that was a tongue twister). Hope that you are having a good day, please remember to take good care of yourselves 💕

It is finally time, to reveal the cover and publication date for Eleanor’s Travels 🥰. I am happy to announce, that the second book is set to publish on Nov 21st, 2020!

You can pre-order the book at this link: mybook.to/Eleanors-Travels

(The paperback will be available to order, near publication date).

The book synopsis:

Ready to see the world? Twenty-one countries, Seven continents.

Eleanor’s Travels is the second book, in the Love and Friendship trilogy. Eleanor James embarks on a year long world trip, all in the hopes of being inspired, for her next big movie role. She has set her heart to see twenty-one countries, all at the tender age of twenty-one. What will she find? Adventure? Awe-inspiring places? Amazing people? Love?

In the first book, My Dear Ellie, the readers discovered that Eleanor (Ellie) had been keeping secrets from her best friend Cassandra (Cassie), her parents, and perhaps, even herself. The second book explores, what those secrets were.

The past must be revealed, before the readers discover, what lies ahead in Ellie’s fate.

I am excited to bring you today’s update. I hope that you all have a great day. Stay safe, and keep blessed! 😊

Here is the first chapter. Pre-order today
mybook.to/Eleanors_Travels

Chapter One: Big Plans

Passport? Check.
Tickets? Check.
Suitcases, packed and ready? Check.
Extra long, good bye hug with Best friend? Check, Check, and Check.

"Ellie", I said to myself, "You are finally ready, to explore the seven continents. Ready or not world, here I come!"

I am Eleanor Grace. World explorer extraordinaire, and Oscar-winning actress.

Ok ok, so I hadn't won an Oscar yet...but I planned to. You can do anything, if you just believed, right? As for world explorer, I would be after this trip. This trip around the world was exactly the inspiration I needed, as a rising superstar. Time to do some soul searching, greet new adventures, and maybe even learn a few things?

This trip around the world was my parents' gift to me, on my twenty-first birthday. Seems a little extravagant, for a twenty-one year old? Don't blame them. I was the one who asked for it.

You see that my parents were top-notch successful lawyers, who made up for their absences with lavish gifts, and unfortunately, even more lavish excuses. In a lawyer's world, time was money, and every minute was worth many $$$, so they had very little time to spare. Luckily for me, the bigger their absence, the greater went up my price tag. Unfair of me, you might say? Well, to be fair, I was their only daughter. I might add...I also inherited the gift of strong negotiation, and intense bargaining, from them.

How did I do it? You should know that almost everything in life, is negotiable. The secret is how to ask for it. My strategy went by understanding what the other side wanted. Next, I figured out how to get what I wanted, and made it seem like the other side was winning. Lastly, I was ready to walk away, and at this vulnerable point, the other side would most likely strike a bargain. To be extra successful: Rinse and repeat, until you emerged victorious from your battle.

I knew that my parents didn't mind, in fact, they encouraged my take charge attitude. It made them proud, when I stood my ground... even brought a tear of joy, to their normally, steely and unreadable, eyes. I would grow up to be just like them, maybe even a magnified version of them, if it weren't for Cassie.

Cassie was the only one who humbled me, stopped me from being a spoiled, entitled diva, and brought me back down to earth. She kept me balanced.

Cassandra Grace, or Cassie as I called her with love, was my best friend, in the entire world. My opposite in every sense of the word, and I wouldn't have changed her for anything, or anyone. It was especially hard saying goodbye to her, seeing that I wouldn't see her in person for about a year, as I went on my big trip. We were also roommates, living in the same apartment for a few years, ever since we both dropped out of High School together.

Yes, you heard right. We both dropped out of High School together, deliberately. My negotiation skills almost came to a breaking point, but I managed to convince both our parents, to let us take charge of the direction of our lives, as independent (almost) adults, for a few years. I mean we were only seventeen then. "What if we failed spectacularly?", our parents asked. "Then, we would go back to schooling, and university", I said.

I wouldn't had been so brave, if Cassie wasn't there by my side. Cassie didn't realize this, but I couldn't have done it alone. You see, she saw me as invincible, and always 100% sure, of my path. Her believing it so, made it true, and gave me that strength.

In terms of our outer appearance, we looked quite different. I was blonde and fair with blue eyes, while she had mysterious green eyes, and even more captivating dark, wavy tresses. It was hard to get many sentences out of her, but when she did say something, it was poetry...it was Shakespeare...it was a siren's song...it was eloquant, and spell-binding. The great irony was that she remained unaware of her powers. I am sure there will be a time in the future, when she will recognize her divinely given gift of words, and mesmerize the world as a writer.

Right now, she didn't even know what she wanted to do. I mean it was so obvious to everyone else! Sigh. I love her to bits.

You would never find me stuck in analysis paralysis, and overthinking, once I made a choice. I knew my choices wouldn't always be perfect, but I also knew, that I would be ok, with whatever happened. Risk was a part of life, and without it, you can't spell adventure. That was a bit poetic, wasn't it? I guess all that poetry from Cassie was rubbing off on me, though I can confidently say, that her most daring adventures, were confined to the pages of the books she reads.

Anyways, moving on to the story, so why did I decide to go on this crazy adventure? Although, I had managed to snag a few acting roles here and there, I hadn't come across major, critically acclaimed, level roles. I wanted to be known as more than the pretty girl in the soda ad, or the one time hit, action movie star. I was grateful for the success that I had experienced so far, but I wanted directors to take me seriously, and consider me for challenging roles. I think that being a world-class traveller, would help get me that edge, that gravitas, and certain je ne se quoi, non?

Did I tell you that I have a talent for languages? On my bucket list for this trip, was to learn more languages, especially hone up on my spanish...in Spain, and Mexico, Italian in Italy, a little French would be good....as well as Japanese? Pinch me, I feel like I must be dreaming. This is exciting! I truly couldn't wait to start this trip....

Hi everyone! 😊

I wanted to share some exciting updates with you this week.

Eleanor’s Travels is now available worldwide here: books2read.com/ELT

This is my contemporary romance, world adventure story. It is the second book in the Love and Friendship trilogy, which can be read as a standalone, where Eleanor goes on an epic trip around the world. She goes to twenty one countries, seven continents. It is a story of self-discovery as well as celebration of the wonderful cultures and people of our world.

Another exciting news (something I spend this week learning), this blog is now available in podcast format. I am slowly transferring my back catalogue of blog posts to this format. You can check it out here: anchor.fm/aisha-urooj

The podcast will be on Spotify, Google podcast, Radiopublic, Breaker, and many other podcast show distributors.

Thank you for reading 😊 I hope you have a wonderful day.

When I joined Twitter nearly a year ago, I learned about #IndieApril. During the month of April, many readers vow to read more books by Indie authors (writers who might be self-published, or work with smaller, independent publishers).

I remember how supported I felt then as a newly published author when other people gave my books a chance 🥰 I am also grateful for all the authors in the writing community who took interest in my books or shared my tweets.

This year (and hopefully from now onwards), I want to dedicate my April blog posts to reviewing Indie books. My first book is going to be The Long View by Mark Hurst.

I chose The Long View because I was captivated by the book description and I loved the mysterious cover. So what is the book about?

They say the Dead don’t tell tales, but it depends on who’s doing the listening. Ever since Sophie Lydon was a little girl she’s been able to speak with the dead, a gift she inherited from her late mother and grandmother. Now it’s just Sophie and her dad, looking after her uncle and the family funeral business.

She tries to carry on her mother’s work, the tradition of guiding lost souls into the afterlife, but it’s hard and sometimes scary without her mother’s guidance. And the latest crop of arrivals in the mortuary have something new to say, bringing her disturbing messages from the place between living and dying, the vast hinterland across which all souls must walk. A killer has been awoken in the town of High Towers, where Sophie lives. A killer with links to Sophie’s past, a killer known to the voice of The Long View… and it’s coming for Sophie..

I have a confession to make… I spook easily and I had no idea how grim this book will get. I hope I don’t get nightmares 😱

I had no preconceived ideas on where the story will head but The Long View surprised me at every turn… and the killer? You could guess who it was but still be surprised.

I liked that the characters in the books are all flawed, struggling, and ordinary, in the best sense, as they are relatable. There are no caped heroes… just ordinary folks with courageous hearts or lost souls trying to make sense of what is wrong or right.

The Long View (where the souls go after death) is a barren, dark place that will have you mesmerized. It is surreal and imaginative; a nightmare too real caught by the writer and stuffed into the pages of this book.

As always, I won’t give away the ending. I hope I have intrigued you enough to give this book a chance. Please consider supporting an Indie author especially during the month of April. There are many gems you will discover. 📚

Thank you for reading! 😊 I hope you have a great day!

My Twitter handle is @Aisha__Urooj (if you want to follow me there too).

This blog can be found as a podcast at anchor.fm/aisha-urooj

My Dear Ellie has been selected for the Books2Read Reading List promotion, The Pocket Garden!

My Dear Ellie will be featured under the Feel-Good & Heart-Warming Fiction section.

I’m excited to announce that my book, My Dear Ellie, is part of a Books2Read Promotion, along with several other great authors!

You can find the promo here: https://books2read.com/rl/pocketgarden

And if you wouldn’t mind, it would help me and the other authors out a lot if you’d share this promotion with your friends and family. Just forward this link to anyone you think would love to find their next favorite book!

Thanks so much for your help and support.

😊📚

This promotion was a happy surprise. I will post my regular blog post over the weekend (featuring another Indie book for Indie April). Stay tuned for that post!

Thank you for reading 😊

Hi everyone,

I was glad that my Indie April blog posts were productive and that I was able to review many great Indie books last month. Since it has been a while, I wanted to update you all on where I am in my writing, and what my goals are for the coming months.

Book review goals:

I would love to get more ratings/reviews. It is always a thrill to hear back from readers (and to know that they are enjoying my books). The Stone Mermaid has received a few reviews since its February release, which is wonderful. I hope that more readers will give my romance fantasy a chance, and add it to their reading list ❤

Book marketing/promotion/ads:

This still remains a elusive, magical unicorn to a mere mortal like me 🥺 The ultimate dream is to have people buy my books because of word of mouth and others readers’ recommendations. I will continue working hard. I won’t stop until I can write a book that is emotionally resonant and that moves your hearts. I promise you this 😊

My current WIP (work in progress):

Sleeping Beauty No More will release in mid July. Each book that I write seem to have different writing challenges. I went through a dull phase while writing, which thankfully has passed. I feel like this book will be better shorter, but we will see. I was feeling meh about this book until I added a Romeo/Juliet side arc. I will also pay homage to other scenes that I feel are the most romantic in literature. The book became more exciting by adding a dragon 😆🐉

Writers write about writer’s block (😅) but there is another challenge that I face: When the ideas/thoughts rushes in like a flash flood. In those crazy moments of crashing thoughts, I get paralyzed and can’t type/write fast enough. I know that some writers use dictating programs to record their ideas. Maybe I will look into this, but I hesitate as I will have to get used to hearing myself recording, lol. I have lost a few great ideas/dialogues/scenes because I couldn’t write them down, and then I forget them when I sat to write 😔

These are all the thoughts for today 😊Thank you for reading this blog post and for following me on my writing journey.

I hope that you have a wonderful day!

My upcoming book is available on Pre-order if you like to check it out: books2read.com/SBNM

This blog can be found as a podcast at anchor.fm/aisha-urooj

For this edition of Things You Might Not Have Seen, I will talk about the book The Successful Author Mindset: A Handbook For Surviving the Writer’s Journey by Joanna Penn.


A successful mindset is important in any career; it makes sense to be in writing too. Joanna Penn highlights problems that haunt authors, such as self-doubt and perfectionism. She also offers antidotes to these situations. Her best advice: Don’t let self-doubt stifle your creative spirit. Keep writing.

Joanna offers to the readers snippets from her journal, which adds a personal touch to the book. Her voice is clear and compassionate. She has been on the writing journey too and it can be lonely at times. For instance, Joanna shares how anxious she used to get before her early public speaking appearances, but onstage, she would mask her nerves with a smile. She talks about about uncreative she used to feel, and how she took ownership of her self-doubt by naming her podcast and blog as the ‘Creative’ Penn.

Joanna encourages writers to keep a journal to write out their thoughts and feelings when going through a really tough phase. She says that writing about your challenges can help you to become more objective about the situation and perhaps even find a solution. I think that keeping a journal is a successful habit that can help in other professions too.

I haven’t finished this book yet (because I am in the editing stages for my next book, soon to be released 😬) but I know that I will read Joanna’s book time and time again for all the wonderful advice and insights.

This is a great book to learn from if you are a writer, want to be a writer, or are just interested in reading about the creative challenges that writers go through.

I hope that you liked today’s blog post. Thank you for reading! 😊

You can also find this blog post as a podcast at anchor.fm/aisha-urooj

Hi everyone,



Today I wanted to update you all about my writing. My newest book, Sleeping Beauty No More, will release in a month (Eep!) on July 17th. I am in the final editing stages and it is going good.

Like my last fantasy book, this book is also action packed (Yes, there is a dragon). I really like the characters and their individual arcs. I will give you a sneak peek from a few pages of the upcoming book (pgs. 3, 13, & 14):

https://aishauroojbooks.wordpress.com...

Devon and Aurora’s first meeting is hilarious (she hates his guts). I can’t wait until you can read the entire novel. Sleeping Beauty No More is available as a preorder right now: books2read.com/SBNM

In other book related news, my romantic comedy, Midnight Prince, is now available as an audiobook worldwide. It is also available through Libby. I would love for all my audiobooks to be available in libraries, unfortunately, that is out of my current budget. I hope lots of readers discover my books, and then I will be able to do that 😊

I don’t ask this often, but please remember to leave a review. Reviews and word of mouth help books gain visibility, and are especially great for a small Indie author like me.

Thank you for reading today’s blog post. I hope that you have a wonderful day!

Eleanor’s Travels is at a special price for a limited time. Get your copy today, at all online retailers, for only $0.99.

Share this deal with your family, friends, and any or all the readers in your life. As an Indie author, you can help me a lot with visibility by spreading the word, and sharing this deal with others! 😊


Eleanor’s Travels is a sweet contemporary romance novel about traveling the world and finding love. It makes a great addition to your summer vacation read.

Note: When you get the ebook, you can get the audiobook at a discount price too. Jojo Parks did a fantastic job with the narration of the audiobook.

Amazon: http://mybook.to/Eleanors-Travels

Barnes and Noble: https://m.barnesandnoble.com/w/eleano...

Apple books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id155...

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/elea...

Google Play Books: https://books.google.ca/books/about?i...

All other vendors: http://books2read.com/ELT

🏖 Thank you for sharing! Have a great day ❤