Romance Novel Giveaways - Freebies and Giveaways of All Things Romance Romance Novel Giveaways: Only Wheat not White by Varsha Dixit ♥ Book Tour & GIVEAWAY ♥ (Contemporary Romance)

Monday, November 23, 2015

Only Wheat not White by Varsha Dixit ♥ Book Tour & GIVEAWAY ♥ (Contemporary Romance)




What if following your heart means failing your family? Eila Sood leaves India for the U.S., hoping to unite her family and mend fences with her estranged older sister. She soon learns that her sister’s intercultural marriage, which outraged their parents, has hit rock bottom. To help pay the bills, Eila accepts an accounting job at a strip club, working for the fascinating yet infuriating Brett Wright. As their friendship and mutual desire builds, Eila chooses keeping family peace over following her heart. After Brett misinterprets her fears and accuses Eila of prejudice, his ex-girlfriend steps in to offer solace. Eila realizes that whichever choice she makes will rip her life apart. What will Eila choose? Love of her life or a life ruled by tradition? Fall in love with love, in this steamy saga from a best selling romance author.


Balancing life and writing


Balance is the center of everything proper, everything sane. Without balance nature, humans and societies do not flourish. Balance is important in every aspect of our lives be it professional or personal.
Balance is crucial in writing too. Broadly speaking, two kinds of balances influence writing – one is the balance in writing itself. This balance simply ensures that the story has a beginning, middle and an end. The end of the story usually balances the beginning and the middle takes the story forward.
The other balance is the one that the writers’ needs to exercise. For those who don’t know about me – I’m the author of four contemporary romance books. I have been penning contemporary romance for nearly a decade.
My debut book, Right Fit Wrong Shoe, the first part of a romantic trilogy was a best seller in India. I wrote my first two books back to back in a year and a half. I’m also the kind of author that edits my books at least seven to eight times before I send it to my publisher.
There is a reason why I shared little history about my writing habits and myself. The unbridled writing of two years, I just mentioned, literally dried up my overactive imagination. Story and plot ideas that usually ran amok in my head became eerily quiet. I love writing second to only living. Nothing scared me like the silence in my mind. I tried everything under the sun – meditation, excessive reading, excessive thinking, constant listening to music, taking long walks by myself– everything that usually had my mind exploding with new story ideas and new characters. However my imagination stayed silent.
Then, just a like a letter dropped in the post box, I woke up one morning with a plot in my head. Characters slowly tiptoed back in my mind and befriended me. The gratitude and relief I felt was immense. The kind that made me want to rush to my laptop and type pages and pages without taking break. Myriad plot ideas, story twists and character details! The operative words being, ‘want to’ not that ‘I did’.
My writing days were back but with a difference. That difference was I. This time I wrote with the same passion but I balanced my writing hours with hours where I left my writing to live and function normal. Voila! I wrote a writing schedule. I wrote from nine in the morning to two in the afternoon. Then rest of the day was about family, chores, some TV time and myself. Weekends I took off completely.
This time my mind did not shut down. Ideas kept flowing and characters continued frolicking in my head.
According to me, a good writer is blessed with imagination, an expressive vocabulary and the gift of observation. Gift of observation is an important tool for any writer. However the catch with this gift is that you need to move away from your writing so you can write better.
One area where I feel a break is of utmost importance for any writer is between edits. In my experience a break of minimum two weeks allows you to edit better and sees flaws you might have missed earlier.
In summary all I would say is be a writer but don’t function like a typewriter. Work hard to fulfill your dreams but don’t forget to take some time to dream some more.
I hope you enjoyed my take on balancing life and writing. If any of you have questions about writing fiction, please feel free to email me at varsha@varshadixit.com. I will try my best to answer them based on my own writing experiences of nearly a decade.




Eila exhaled and her shoulders slumped. Her head felt stiff with anxiety. She unlatched the perpetual hair clip at her nape. Her dark, voluminous hair broke free and cascaded down her back, swirling in gentle curves. Picking up her bag, she went to the door.

“Oh!” She jerked back as the door opened from the other side. It was Brett.

He could only stare at her. “Finally,” he voiced faintly, his expression tender.

“Wh-what?” Eila stammered, confused by his affectionate gaze. Brett advanced into the room and Eila retreated. Brett stopped close to her. His fingers gently caught her chin and raised her face to his. His touch froze Eila. Wordlessly, she stared deep into his eyes. Everything else just melted away. Eila’s breath lodged in her throat as Brett’s fingers roughly and then gently and then roughly again stroked her plump lower lip. His eyes were fixed on her lips. Brett’s own mouth parted in anticipation of a kiss.

Eila thought she would explode with desire. Brett’s spicy smell assailed her and the more she looked into Brett’s eyes the further removed she became from everything coherent. Eila’s eyes felt heavy. Sighing, she lowered her lashes as she swayed toward Brett.

His mouth lightly caressed her cheek. Eila blindly turned her face into Brett’s. She delicately shivered at the sensation Brett was causing as he nudged and rubbed under her ear.

Eila’s shiver drove Brett wild. His mind started imagining ways to make her shiver more. There was something very sacred about the way he touched her. Desire wasn’t far away, their hoarse breaths indicated.

There was a loud knock on the door and Judith called out loudly, “Brett, your cab is here!”

Shocked, Eila’s closed eyes sprung open and jerked away. Her mind was spinning.

Brett caught Eila’s arm and pulled her back close to him.

      
       



Varsha Dixit is the best selling author of four successful contemporary romance books. Her debut book, Right Fit Wrong Shoe was a national bestseller for the year 2010. Varsha was a part of the Indian Television Industry and worked as an assistant director and online editor. She considers herself a dreamer who thinks deep but writes light. Even though creativity is gender free, Varsha feels blessed and enriched to be a woman. Currently, with her family, Varsha resides in CA, USA.



   


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@Varsha20 @GoddessFish http://goo.gl/QwO2nd pic.twitter.com/8CzYXmya3z

53 comments :

  1. Thank you for showcasing my book on your blog. A warm, fuzzy hello to all the readers of this blog. Hope they find the time to read my book that has stellar rating and positive reviews 😃. Thank you and good luck!

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  2. What is the funniest thing you have ever done or said?

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    1. Hi Mai,

      Thank you for asking a question that brought a sure smile to my face and who doesn't like a smile? :) Last year, while I was plotting Only Wheat Not White, I had walked up to a car that much resembled my ex-car, and I tried opening it by repeatedly inserting the key in the driver's side door. All the while its owner was taking things out from the passenger side. A few chosen expletives by her woke me up better than all the combined alarm clocks of the world. That incident was funny - but later, much later :)

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  3. I enjoyed the excerpt, thank you!

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    1. Hi Betty,

      Glad you enjoyed the excerpt :). Hope you find the time to read it. Would love to hear your thoughts. Have a gr8 week :) thanks.

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  4. Great excerpt, sounds like a good read.

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    1. Thank you Kylei. Hope you find the time to read it :)

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  5. Sounds like a wonderful read, thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thank you DanieX for your kind words. Hope you find the time to read a book which is getting very positive reviews. Have a great rest of the week. :))

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  6. Sounds like an amazing book..i loved the excerpt! Thanks for sharing :)

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    1. Thank you Victoria for to positivity & encouragement. The pleasure is all mine :) do you like to read contemporary romance?

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  7. Enjoyed the excerpt & guest post, sounds like a terrific read, thanks for sharing and Good Luck with the tour!

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    1. Thank you Eva for your warm wishes. Hope you find the time to read this work. Have a great rest of the week. :))

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  8. Replies
    1. Thank you Havebook will survive. I like the your handle. Mine would probably read 'Havebook have survived' Hope you find the time to read the book. Good luck and have an awesome week!

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  9. Hi Varsha! You are a new author for me. What is your favorite part of the writing process?

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  10. Hi Brooke,

    Like I'm a new author to you are my new reader so 'Namsate' (hello in Hindi) to you.. You asked a great question. I love writing the first draft of my story. For officially it means my story is on paper. How about you? Are you a writer as well? Thank you.

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  11. You new to me where should I start? ?? Thanks for the chance

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    1. Hi Barbara,

      'New' is good for it could mean 'new' friends and 'new' books :) if you are asking which one of mine should you read then I would say 'Only Wheat Not White'. The multicultural aspect of it is universal and another kind of good 'new' :) thank you for reaching out to me. Have a great rest of the week!

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  12. I enjoyed learning about the book and reading the excerpt! And thanks for the awesome giveaway!

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    1. Hi Judy,

      Thank you for your kinds words and it is my pleasure to sponsor the 'giveaway'. I hope the excerpt is engaging enough for you to read the book someday. Have an awesome rest of the week. :)

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  13. Like the author, I too believe creativity is gender free.

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    1. Thank you Katie, good to know we think alike! More power to you :)

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  14. Hello, great excerpt! Can I ask what inspired you or made you want to write this book?

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    1. Hi Sabrina, that's a great question. Thank you for asking. I wrote Only Wheat Not Wheat as an ode to where I'm from (India) and where I am (USA). Thank you.

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  15. Did you come up with the cover design all by yourself?

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    1. Hi Natalie, I was lucky to find a great designer. I have her some ideas as to what I wanted and then she worked around those. :)

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  16. Thank you so much for the giveaway!

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  17. Looks like an interesting book ;)

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  18. An intriguing milieu and a clash of cultures...that's a great start.

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  19. Thank you for sharing with us this excerpt, it made me more curious about this book.

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  20. Wow, prize amazon gc is fab. & splendid. 2 fingers snap. It is tight, fly & off the chain. Thank you for the awesomeness, the contest, and generosity. :) Pick me, pick me! Dear Santa: I’ve been nice. My X-Mas wish this year is to win this contest. Starving artist here desperately needs the gc to shop and eat. A life changing exp.

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  21. Love the excerpt! Sounds like a sweet story.

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  22. I liked the excerpt, and have added this book to my book wishlist.

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  23. I enjoyed the entire post. Thank you.

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  24. Very thoughtful post!

    --Trix

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  25. Nice to meet you, thanks for the giveaway!

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  26. Sounds like a great read. It's on my TBR list. Blessings and thanks for sharing.

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  27. This book is on my winter TBR. I stay indoors and read aall winter. I hate the cold.

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  28. How long did it take for you to write this novel?

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  29. do you ever get the giggles when you are trying to write a heated scene? lol :)

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  30. Are your characters inspired by real people?

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  31. Thanks for writing us an intriguing excerpt!! Can't wait to read it!!

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  32. Great post! I really enjoyed reading the excerpt and the guest post! This book sounds like such a fun, exciting, and interesting read! Totally looking forward to reading this book!

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