Give me 10 Seconds, and I’ll give you the Stars!
ORDER NOW from AMAZON!
Did you read Swimming Through Clouds?
Did you try Seeing Through Stones?
Want to go Soaring Through Stars??
Leggo! BOOK THREE of the Swimming Through Clouds Trilogy!
Released April 23rd
JUST wanted to share the News!!
Best,
-Raj
p.s. My Talented Niece, Deepa Paulus, designed the cover!
So I’ve been blogging here and there and feels like everywhere some days, but I didn’t want you to think I quit writing or anything. Here are a few places you can find me, reviews on my books and the occasional interview that was posted in the last couple of months. Thanks, always, for reading and telling your friends about my crazy Masala-marinated YA world.
On USA TODAY, Serena Chase reviewed Swimming Through Clouds, calling it “Must Read YA,” saying, “It is no wonder this novel has received so many award nominations and has garnered praise from critics, bestselling authors, and readers, alike. It is a work of art.” Serena is a YA Author herself so her opinion is valued and valuable!
At Brown Girl Magazine, I did a little ditty on my writerly life and the crazy Cinderella life I lead.
On MasalaMommas, I wrote about a special moment when my seven year old blew me away with her celebration of the family. Through a fashion show. 🙂
And Masalamommas shared the recent blog with HUFF-POST Canada Living on Top Ten Ways to be a Contagious Parent. Thanks to my seven year old who keeps giving me material!
At The Write Conversation, I guest-posted a Ten Step, Crash Course on how to navigate Instagram, hoping to trend #MaryPoppinsLeap by the end of the week, so pop on over and post yours!
My young blogger friend, Saloni of My Fantabulous Bookshelf, who I met at YAFest, recently posted an author interview and fun VLOG-review of her May Reads which included a sweet shout-out to Talia, Jesse, and Lagan!
Oh, another little Instagram post for authors and readers over at Kim Vandel’s blog.
This Girl Reads A Lot (aka Jazmen) wrote up a pretty dizzying review on Swimming Through Clouds and added a fun little Instagram love too.
AND there are more, but I thought this would suffice for now.
What else? I’ve been enjoying a book club chat here and there and I love having the face to face about my books with readers. The conversation invariably starts with the daring first question, “How did you come up with such a cu-razy story?”
To which I answer, “Yeah. I’m still taking meds to recover from chapter two of Swimming Through Clouds. Kidding. But ya know, sometimes I wonder if I should get my head checked out.”
AND… kinda fun, okay BLOW-MY-MIND-AWAY fun to have two interactions this week with people of influence. For someone who feels like I’ve been one or two degrees of separation from someone famous for the last couple of years, it’s nice to make real contact with real people. The first came from a surprise email from a gentleman who works for Amazon. Sure, no big deal, right. Except that he was searching for a success story of a self-pub’d author and the reviews on Swimming Through Clouds made him stop and skim. Then he kept reading. And reading. And finished the book! Next he emailed me to chat and at first, I wasn’t sure if he was legit or just a salesman trying to get me to buy some expensive marketing product. To my surprise, he was legit. And we’ll see what comes of that.
The second was a shot in the air. Like a fishergirl, I throw out my line here and there and everywhere and wonder if anyone will bite. Yep. I’m the girl that mailed First Lady Michelle Obama my book. Ya never know, right? And she actually sent me a post card to say, “Thank you for the gift.” I hope she reads it. But the fun news of today was a tweet from the Executive Assistant to the Editor-in-Chief (say that five times fast) of Seventeen Magazine, requesting a copy of my book. Yes, I asked. A week or so ago. But when I didn’t hear back, I assumed my request got swallowed in the Bermuda Triangle of tweets. So I popped it into the mail and, once again, we’ll see what will come of that.
Little by Little. That’s how it seems to work. Like so much of life, and I’m okay with that. More than okay.
Happy Swimming, all. And Seeing too.
Best,
Raj
FOUR MORE DAYS!!
Giveaway ends April 30, 2014.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Happy Monday Morning, everyone. I know many of you have been losing sleep over the cut on my knee from the other day, just dying to know what happened? Well the wait is over! Read the deets over at Nomi Network and be prepared to take another walk around the block of my u-turn directional life. I don’t know about you, but when life keeps U-turning me to the same message, something tells me I need to wake up and pay attention. Just sayin…
***
And in other news…
More about Nomi Network!
A MegaGiveaway that is still Brewing!
Swimming Through Clouds still the best deal in town for only $2.99 at Amazon!
***
Someone, anyone, wanna come over and rake some leaves with me? Leaf Pile pics are calling my name. It’s that time of year when I need to decide just how criminal I’m gonna get in the name of tradition. 🙂
My favorite season of the year is fall. Not summer with her hot sun and trips to the beach. Not winter with her sled rides and snow angels. Not spring with her rainy days and scent of blossoms.
But fall. With her reds and yellows and oranges swaying on and off branches. Sparkles of floating embers from bonfires in the evenings. And the crunch of leaves beneath my boots on early morning walks. Okay, afternoon walks. You know I’m not a morning person. 🙂
Talia and Lagan, the main characters in Swimming Through Clouds, met in the fall of their senior year in high school. To celebrate their unforgettably sticky, Post-it love story, I’m declaring fall as the best time to fall in love. 🙂 And no better way to celebrate than with a MEGA-Giveaway with lots of Fun Fall Prizes including a $50 Amazon Gift Card!
Fifteen Winners will win over $150 worth in prizes. You could be one of them! So whatcha waitin’ for? The Swimming Through Clouds family invites you to jump into our pile of prizes and find plenty of ways to rack up your chances to be a winner. See you in November when the Lucky 15 will be announced! Happy Swimming, all!
Hugs,
Raj
CLICK ON a Rafflecopter giveaway
To JUMP Into a PILE Of Prizes you won’t want to LEAVE behind!
**NOTE: Open to U.S. and Canadian Residents only.
**AMAZON $50 Gift Card Reserved for one Lucky Amazon Reviewer. Because I want to say thank you for sharing your honest take on my first book. AND your questions and concerns are actively shaping the sequel!! 🙂
***
Have you read Swimming Through Clouds? Have you told your neighbors? Facebook Friends? Mother, sister, BFFs, and teenagers at the park? They say #wordofmouth is still the best way to spread good news!! 🙂
Details BELOW: MAKE SURE TO ENTER on THE RAFFLECOPTER
UP TO 50 Chances to Put Your Name in the Hat!
All times are in Eastern Time (US & Canada).
The Lovely Tosca Lee!
Almost a week ago, I nearly chip my bubblegum pink nail polish as I fiddle with my nails on the drive to the airport. Nothing like battling NYC traffic on the LIE while running late to a flight to get your fingers a’biting and knees a’shaking. Hug and two smooches later, Hubby drives off and I’m asking Airport security if I can be escorted to the front of the line. My plane takes off in half an hour.
“Do you have Special Business Class Priority Check-in Status?” The lady in uniform asks me something like that.
“Umm. No.”
“You have plenty of time,” she says. Meaning, get in line with the rest of the world and wait it out.
Flip-flops slipped on, jacket tucked under suitcase handle, laptop on my shoulder, I race down Terminal D to find the Delta flight to Indianapolis leaving in now fifteen minutes. Except that I read the screen wrong. Not arriving flights! Departing! Backtrack to the fork and now I’m jogging with luggage in tow down Terminal C. And it would have to be C29, the furthest possible gate from where I was on take one.
And then it happens. Continue reading
And what they’re saying about Clouds.
Just thought I’d share a few links to Book Reviews on Swimming Through Clouds that Readers have so graciously offered to post after they read my first novel.
At Talking Cranes:
As more reviews come in, I’ll add to this list. Thanks so much to all the Reviewers and their encouraging feedback on my little girl BIG Dream!
Convinced yet? Take a swim then. Swimming Through Clouds, that is!
*Hugs*
Raj
Got Post-its? Then, Stick someone with a note. And tell ‘em how much you *heart* them. Or just want to say, “Hi!” or that you Miss ‘em. Or want to say, “Thanks” for this or that. Or just want to tell them that you’re thinking about ‘em. Or other. The options, really are endless. Besides the small space confining you to a limited number of legible words on a little square sheet, you can tell someone just about anything. Really.
Six Easy Steps to #PostitLove Success:
Step One: Pull out your Post-it pad. Yellow, Blue, Pink or Purple. Think of someone you want to send out a surprise message to. It’s like sending a letter without the stamps, trip to the Post office or three-day wait time to see it got there.
Or Peach!!
Step Two: Find a writing device. Pen, pencil, marker. Crayon will do. I know, I know, with all the typing and tapping, sweeping and swiping, writing on paper is almost a lost art. But I know you have something to write with, somewhere under a pile of unchecked mail. Find it!
Step Three: Write a word or two. Doodle a drawing. Scribble and scribe. Keep it simple. Share a smile. Spread the love.
Step Four: Photograph your post-it. Nearly every digital device out there has your basic camera function, so snap a shot, and..
Step Five: You thought I was gonna say, “Share” didn’t you? But one Final detail: Tag the person you’re sending the note to [kind of like putting an address on it so the person finds out you wrote them a note. You do want them to know, don’t you?] and then:
Step Six: SHARE. Share. share.
This is a sort of selfish venture, since I’m “collecting” Post-it messages for a Tumbler project I’m working on that connects to my first Young Adult novel, Swimming Through Clouds, in which a Post-it sparks a sticky romance between two unlikely friends.
To say Thank You for jumping on my sticky note adventure with me, I have something for you, yes I do!
The first twenty-five, 25, yes, 25 people to post some Post-it love with Hashtags #PostitLove and #swimmingthroughclouds @rajdeeppaulus, either on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook get a book of POST-its in the mail! Snail-mail, stamps and all. 🙂 **If you don’t @rajdeeppaulus, I won’t know and it will be really hard to find you.
And if you’re looking for that summer read that I think will Stick with you long after summer’s gone, hop over to Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Smashwords. Read a few chapters free online, peruse the reviews and then take a swim. Swimming Through Clouds, that is. 🙂
No substitutions. Restricted to U.S. residents.
And if you want to know more about the crazy girl who wrote this cu-razy story, Melissa Tagg posted a fun interview with a FAB intro video! Commenters have a chance to enter for an E-copy GIVEAWAY of the book, too. And Playlist Fiction is also doing a super fun, SUMMER Gift Bag full of fun stuff GIVEAWAY all July with unlimited entries! So whatcha waitin for?!?
Starting a #SwimmingThroughClouds Post-it Drive to promote the idea that one small act, even in the form of a note, can make a BIG difference, even change someone’s world. Because, in the words of my Agent, Chip MacGregor, words have the power to move you, and leave you changed. Forever.
***
And you? Do you use sticky notes to remind you of things you have to do? Great ideas you don’t want to forget? Or to doodle to pass the time while on a long-winded conference call? Do you have a favorite Post-it color? Mine is lilac. Yep. Love me some Lilac-scented Post-its. What do you mean they don’t smell like Lilacs? Because they should. Just sayin.
Looking for more YAFiction by Rajdeep Paulus?
Take a Swim over to her Tumbler and check out her WIPz (works in progress.)
More to come! Summer tides are rolling in, and so will some deleted scenes from Swimming Through Clouds and a sneak peek at the beginning of Seeing Through Stones. The anticipated sequel to Swimming. So stay tuned, and have a happy and safe summer, all!
Extra squeezy hugs to all who have read, are currently reading or will soon be reading Swimming Through Clouds. You’ve all made my first book experience so much more amazing then I had ever imagined it would be.
Grace, Grace,
Raj
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NOTE: U.S. and Canadian Residents ONLY