Simran Silva's Blog

My Review

The Last Dance of the Debutante
by Julia Kelly (Goodreads Author)

Wow, talk about a fascinating read! I couldn’t put this book down once I started reading it. There were a couple of unexpected events that were jaw-dropping, which made me stop for a quick minute, and sit back in my chair in disbelief. Julia has an amazing style of writing, which brings history to life.

The characters Julia creates are complex and relatable. She brilliantly weaves their story and brings you into a world at the time of royalty, and high society, but also at a time when the era of debutantes is ending. Following the main character Lily and her friends, who are also debutants being presented to Queen Elizabeth, we come to understand the London aristocracy, and the length to which some will go to be at the top of it all. Dark secrets rear their ugly heads, turning lives upside down, leaving them and the reader wondering the outcome of it all. The story is captivating and keeps you carefully savoring every page so as not to miss anything, until the end when all is revealed.

Hello all. I’m just stopping in with a quick but exciting update. Originally, The Ties That Bind Us was a single novel. However, it is morphing beautifully into a four-book series, titled the same, where each book will have its own unique title that captures the theme’s essence.

More details will be forthcoming very soon. Happy reading!

Oh My Goodness, look at what just arrived in the mail!!! My dear friend Renu Bhundia from CreativeKrafts surprised me with these exquisite hand-painted gifts!! You can see the textured bookmarks, both their fronts and backs with gem tassels. She even hand-painted the gift box they came in! Then there’s the coaster with my business/website logo, which fits under one of my favorite mugs perfectly! WOW!! All the work that was put into these pieces is amazing! Check out Renu’s FB page CreativeKrafts to see and purchase her awesome, intricate artwork. I love the tagline – “Where tradition inspires modern art.”

On July 11, 2021, a dear friend and colleague lost her life due to a car accident the week before. Today, was her memorial service, which was heartbreakingly beautiful. Meeta was a beautiful soul and would do everything in her power to support others.

In Meeta’s memory, family and friends are continuing to support others as Meeta did, by raising funds to benefit kidney patients at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust including dialysis patients at the Hamilton Unit in Leicester, which was very close to her heart. Please consider donating if you can. Thank you in advance. Meeta Madhani Fundraising/Donation Page

I can’t believe how much has been added to this manuscript in just a brief time. Perhaps it was because it hadn’t been announced, so procrastination set in. It’s easy to procrastinate when no one else knows about what you’ve been writing…or not in this case.

For me, I think the push to work on and finish the manuscript was a little thing called accountability. Once I broadcast to my readers that a new novel was on the way, complete with title and description, and the positive response came back to me, the feeling of accountability to them lit the fire. Excitement also got the creativeness flowing, and it made me feel good about writing it again.

So, from many pages of research notes, ideas, and only a few chapters completed, as of today, there are ten finished chapters, and four still being worked on. Three of those chapters go in between the finished ones, and one is the last chapter. There are two additional chapters I haven’t started on yet. There may end up being a couple more, we’ll have to see how things play out. Sometimes as you work on one chapter, it gives you an idea for another one.

I love the historical pieces that are interwoven, some were already known, others came to me while researching. I’m hoping you will enjoy them too. As always, there is the armchair travelling experience with at least five countries which you’ll be taken to in this novel.

Here’s hoping it will be finished and ready for publication very soon. Updates will be forthcoming as they happen.

Thank you so much for your interest in my writing. Have a wonderful day and happy reading!!

I can’t believe how much has been added to this manuscript in just a short time. Maybe it was because it hadn’t been announced, so procrastination set in. It’s easy to procrastinate when no one else knows about what you’ve been writing…or not in this case.

For me, I think the push to work on and finish the manuscript, was a little thing called accountability. Once broadcast to my readers that a new novel was on the way, complete with title and description, and the positive response came back to me, the feeling of accountability to them lit the fire. Excitement also got the creativeness flowing, and it made me feel good about writing it again.

So, from many pages of research notes, ideas, and only a few chapters completed, as of today, there are ten finished chapters, and four still being worked on. Three of those chapters go in between the finished ones, and one is the last chapter. There are two additional chapters I haven’t started on yet. There may end up being a couple more, we’ll have to see how things play out. Sometimes as you work on one chapter, it gives you an idea for another one.

I’m loving the historical pieces that are interwoven, some were already known, others came to me while researching. I’m hoping you will enjoy them too. As always, there is the armchair traveling experience with at least five countries which you’ll be taken to in this novel.

Here’s hoping it will be finished and ready for publication very soon. Updates will be forthcoming as they happen.

Thank you so much for your interest in my writing. Have a great day and happy reading!!

I can’t believe how much has been added to this book in just a short time. Maybe it was because it hadn’t been announced, so procrastination set in. It’s easy to procrastinate when no one else knows about what you’ve been writing…or not in this case.

For me, I think the push to work on and finish the manuscript, was a little thing called accountability. Once broadcast to my readers that a new novel was on the way, complete with title and description, and the positive response came back to me, the feeling of accountability to them lit the fire. Excitement also got the creativeness flowing, and it made me feel good about writing it again.

So, from many pages of research notes, ideas, and only a few chapters completed, as of today, there are ten finished chapters, and four still being worked on. Three of those chapters go in between the finished ones, and one is the last chapter. There are two additional chapters I haven’t started on yet. There may end up being a couple more, we’ll have to see how things play out. Sometimes as you work on one chapter, it gives you an idea for another one.

I’m loving the historical pieces that are interwoven, some were already known, others came to me while researching. I’m hoping you will enjoy them too. As always, there is the armchair traveling experience with at least five countries which you’ll be taken to in this novel.

Here’s hoping it will be finished and ready for publication very soon. Updates will be forthcoming as they happen.

Thank you so much for your interest in my writing. Have a great day and happy reading!!

What was your favorite book as a child?

This is the very first book I have memories of my mom reading to me. Many years later, she found a copy and bought it for me, along with a model of the same kind of car, a little yellow Volksey (Volkswagen). I still have and cherish them both.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen

Good evening my dear readers. I just thought I would stop in and post before going to sleep (as it is after 1 AM). It’s just a quick update on my newest historical fiction novel.

You can check out the details here. I’d love to know what you think of the title and the description. Once I get the ideas for the cover, I’ll be posting them to get your votes on which one I should use. So, stay tuned. Have a great evening, and as always, Happy Reading!

I can not believe this was 3 years ago today!! Oh, to be back in London!!!

Thursday – 6/21/18  After a day of work (after getting up at 4 AM), I was on my way to Logan Airport in Boston to take flight across the pond to London, for a weekend I would not soon forget. Without mentioning the airlines, I failed to realize that my 7-hour flight (starting at 9:20/21:20) did not include any sleep as part of the itinerary. Apparently, the flight attendants had their clocks mixed up and thought it was 9:20 AM rather than PM and talked and laughed all night long.

Friday – 6/22/18 Arriving at Gatwick Airport at 8:30 AM, the various modes of transportation were about to begin. (Good thing I bought my Oyster Visitor Card ahead of time.) I quickly found the Gatwick Express train to London Victoria Station. From there, I entered the underground (tube system) and took this very crowded means to London Paddington Station where I retrieved my TEP unit, a.k.a. Mobile Wi-Fi Internet, so that I could “remain connected on my trip while avoiding all those ugly roaming charges”. So glad I had this with me the entire time, as it also included a proper charger which I could use for my cell phone and tablet.

I then got on another train, and at the correct stop, I would find the bus that would take me to my hotel around Hayes called ‘Grapes’! (I don’t know why they call it that, but I will find out.)  

I arrived 2 hours early but thankfully the room was ready. Time to shower and take a nap before getting ready for the event I had traveled there for … Navin Kundra’s first ever U.K. concert Voice of Legends! Ok, so I was too wound up to sleep at this point. Instead, I would iron the sari and pray that I would wrap it correctly. Because I don’t wear a sari often (only for special occasions), it took watching several videos and a few hours before I got it “almost right”. I seriously considered wearing something else at this point, but later was glad I didn’t give up. (I think, lol)

Fast forward to 6 PM (1800 hours) when my friends Amita and Vijay, who were also going to the concert, arrived and we were on our way to Beck Theatre for the SOLD OUT (600 seats) event! Vijay took this photo of Amita and me.

The Beck Theatre is beautiful and everyone in their colorful outfits made it even more so. I soon met Navin’s beautiful family (who, at the heart of his supportive team, put this event together and worked tirelessly to make it a huge success), his close friends and the NKVIPs, all for the first time.

The next thing I knew, I was asked to do the honors of going on stage just before intermission to present Navin with flowers. What? Who me? I was absolutely blown away and humbled by this request, as I had no idea anything like this had been planned. Now, all I had to do is hope I would not come unraveled (literally, as a thread from my sari did get caught and wrapped on one of the dancers sequins backstage, or mentally lol) or fall as I walked ever so slowly across the stage whispering “don’t trip” all the way until I presented them to Navin and walked back behind the curtains without looking out to the 599 people in the audience who were watching … mission successfully accomplished! Although, in my nervous state, I forgot to take the flowers out of the box. OOPS!

NamastePresenting Navin Flowers

The concert was brilliant, one-of-a-kind like I had never experienced before. I say experienced because that is exactly what happened. It was a show where everyone was part of it. For three and a half hours we laughed, we cried, we sang, we danced, we cheered, and created wonderful memories! The evergreen songs were by the legends of Bollywood music – Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh, Asha Bhosle, and Jagjit Singh, brought to life in a way that you’ve never heard before, emotionally and beautifully sung by Navin and Ambika Jois, with special guest star singers Ketan Kansara, and Shin DCS, set to the music of the 515 Crew and graced by the dancers from the Shiamak London Dance Academy. Navin also sang one of his #1 (for 12 weeks) love songs, ‘Tere Liye’ (‘For You’) and his brand new love song, ‘Ishq Humara’ (‘Our Love’). The latter being accompanied by an amazing choreographed dance by the Shiamak team.

Navin not only set that stage on fire but also raised the bar on what a genuinely great musical show should be! What made this musical experience so incredibly special is not only his talent but his uniqueness and passion for music and his goal to touch people’s lives and hearts with it! He drew us into the experience and took us along on his journey.

Navin singing passionately from his heart as always – Chithhi Na Koi Sandesh

Everything was so beautiful from the songs to the sets, the band, singers, and the dancers! He pulled out all the stops to create such an amazing night that everyone who was privileged to attend will cherish forever!  When the finale concluded to a standing ovation, we all wished the show was just starting so that we could immerse ourselves in it all over again.

A meet and greet session followed the show, and we were able to get Navin’s autograph and have photos taken with him.

Navin and Me at his very 1st Voice of Legends 2018

The after party was quiet and consisted of family and a close circle of friends, so it was nice to get to meet and speak with everyone. By the time I arrived back at my hotel to crash, the birds were singing …. 4:30 AM!!!! (exactly 48 and a half hours, since I had gotten any sleep and boy did I need it!)

6/23/18 Saturday was a rest day, to say the least. Although I would have loved to go out and see the sights, the furthest I managed to “travel” was the Beefeaters restaurant next door for lunch and the shopping center across the street for some gluten-free items, once it got cooler. So much for being adventurous.

6/24/18 Sunday was the day to travel to Amita and Vijay’s house. Amita took me on a beautiful walk in the unusually hot weather for London (record heatwave actually), and we toured the historic Harrow Museum.

We drove to and walked around Trafalgar Square, felt the cool breeze from the Thames River with its many boats, saw the NEW Scotland Yards (only from the outside lol), the famous red telephone booths, and the London Eye. We traveled across the statuesque Tower Bridge (not to be confused with the London Bridge which is a half mile upstream), twice no less. We just missed touring the London Tower, as it was closing when we arrived. We walked through town, and after striking out at being able to dine at the Bombay-style cafe Dishoom (due to an exceptionally long wait), we ate at NANDOS!! Finally, I was able to try the only heard of Peri Peri sauce! What a nice late-night treat before we went back to their house for the night!

6/25/18 Monday came too fast, as the weekend was gone, and it was time to make my way via fewer modes of transportation this time (only car and bus) to Gatwick to travel back to the U.S. with beautiful memories and gifts that I will cherish forever.

Voice of Legends Photos Courtesy of Hiten Ondhia Photography & Pardesi Photo

Here are mine and Navin’s posts about the concert.

I can’t wait to be back there for Voice of Legends (VOL3) concert in the future!!