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Writings and Readings Blog

Madhu Bazaz Wangu

Web Tour Continues: Day 4

Posted on June 4, 2015
in Being in Nature
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The first week of my web book tour is flying by! Today, I want to share my experience of virtually visiting I Heart Giveaways, Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. Take a peek at the reviews for Chance Meetings at the following links: I Heart Giveaways Amazon All I can tell you is that I will be going back to re read many if not most of these time and again. There is much to be learned about life and how you should live it no matter the religion you follow! Goodreads The book made me realize how one single person can change the lives of the people he meets and the world where he lives. If you are fond of inspirational stories, then Chance Meetings is something that you should get hold of. Trust...

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Web Tour Continues: Mamma Natty’s Raves & Reviews and Life As Leels

Posted on June 3, 2015
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Today is Day 3 of the web book tour. I am visiting Mamma Natty's Raves and Reviews!  Over the past three days, I am filled with joy to share the stories and lessons from Chance Meetings with other passionate readers and writers. I encourage you to visit this blog and share it with others. Thank you, Natalie, for sharing such a beautiful review of my book. Every story is well written and full of magic that will give you goosebumps and leave you uplifted and satisfied that we are all in the exact place we need to be in our life. I loved learning more about the beautiful Indian culture and liked very much how little bits of it were added to the stories. Such a beautiful collection of short stories, one I want...

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Vintage suitcase and traveling gear

Web Book Tour Begins: Miki’s Hope book review

Posted on June 1, 2015
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Today, I begin Day 1 of a web book tour. This will be my first tour and I will be virtually visiting England and the United States until June 15.  Over this period, I will visit 15 websites for interviews and reviews. I am excited to have so many opportunities to entertain, inform and enlighten new readers about art, spirituality, and the evil and good in all of us. Throughout the tour, I will share stories from this experience. I encourage you to visit these blogs and websites I am touring, and to share them with others. Each of these writers and readers has a unique perspective to share with us. We begin the tour in Beck Valley, at Miki’s Hope: http://www.mikishope.com/2015/06/signed-book-ga-3-ww-chance-meetings.html.  Thank you, Miki’s Hope, for your thoughtful review of Chance Meetings!...

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Book club discussion questions for Chance Meetings

Posted on April 21, 2015
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For book clubs who would like to read and discuss Chance Meetings, I've put together discussion questions. You can download the guide here: Chance Meetings book club guide If you haven't read the stories yet, these questions might reveal too much! But if you have read the book, I would be delighted to know your reactions and responses to the discussion questions. If you would like me to speak to your book club, please contact me. I can visit in person within the Pittsburgh area, or connect via Skype or phone elsewhere....

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CHANCE MEETINGS is published!

Posted on April 7, 2015
in Being in Nature
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Chance Meetings: Stories About Cross-Cultural Karmic Collisions and Compassion is inspired by my life as an artist, a professor of Indian art history and a dilettante commentator of Asian scriptures. The diverse tracks that I had followed until my early-fifties coalesced and stimulated these stories. Some stories were sparked from my life as an artist. “Gauri’s Freedom” is one such story. Its protagonist, Gauri, an aspiring artist faces colossal obstacles. She struggles to pacify and overcome rebuff from her family but in vain. In “The Blackened Mirror,” the fame and fortune a painter dreams about becomes a reality only to reveal its destructive side. Jealousy and competitiveness is the dominant emotion in “Cadmium and Crimson.” My youngest brother was killed in an automobile accident in India when I was in my thirties....

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Praise for CHANCE MEETINGS: A Collection of Stories

Posted on April 2, 2015
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I'm so pleased to share with you a few lovely comments made about my short story collection, Chance Meetings: Stories About Cross-Cultural Karmic Collisions and Compassion! Beautiful, lush, lyrical stories and rhythmic language transports and transforms — each story is an unforgettable journey. Kathleen Shoop, IPPY Award-Winning Author of The Last Letter and After the Fog A skilled practitioner, Madhu B. Wangu, writes from the marrow of her bones. In her collection, she conjures dream-like motifs of goodness, guidance, and the human condition. Her writing, infused with echoes of Hindu and Buddhist myths, is deeply satisfying and transformative. Gwyn Cready, RITA Award Winning Author Chance Meetings is an evocative and thought-provoking collection: A delicious blending of cultures, delicately rendered and rich with sensory detail. Meredith Mileti, Author of Aftertaste And here is the blurb for the book, to...

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An Excerpt from “Gauri’s Freedom”

Posted on April 1, 2015
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Here’s another excerpt from my upcoming collection of stories, CHANCE MEETINGS. This is from the story, “Gauri’s Freedom,” and it’s about when Gauri met Ramji… Bansi Pandit, the matchmaker had come to Gauri’s home with a marriage proposal. He had found a suitable boy for her named Ramji Raina. Ramji, an architect turned businessman, was from a well-respected family originally from the valley of Kashmir. A self-made man, he managed a successful business importing Kashmiri jewelry, clothing, and crafts to the United States, where he now lived. “He lives in Amreekah?” asked Gauri’s mother, Maji, who sat next to her husband. “Yes, Amreekah! If he agrees to this match, she’d be a lucky girl!” Bansi said. “What about his family? Where do they live?” Gauri’s father, Molaji, said. “They live in Amreekah. Here! Here in...

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An Excerpt from Chance Meetings Collection

Posted on March 31, 2015
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Are you curious about the characters in my new book of short stories? Let me introduce the protagonist from “Cadmium and Crimson.” Meet Valakya, the sculptor. “He lived at the edge of the town in a mud hut roofed with cornhusk thatch. People knew him simply as the sage. Each morning, he strolled to his workplace on an unpaved path flanked by mango trees. Sounds of a waterfall and the rustling of leaves, sap green on one side and copper on the other, greeted him as he entered a clearing sheltered by woven palm leaves supported on four banana trunks. Here, he had arranged his workbench, a storage trunk, and an earthenware vessel with a few cups on the floor. Two wooden stools flanked the trunk. A piece of mahogany awaited the sage...

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Women Writers/Women Readers: A Gathering

Posted on March 6, 2015
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On March 29, please join me at the Andrew Carnegie Music Hall in Carnegie, Pa to celebrate Women Read/Women Write Book Festival with forty national and regional authors.  “Women Read/Women Write is Pittsburgh’s largest literary festival and is taking place on Sunday, March 29, from 11:30 am to 5 pm, at the Andrew Carnegie Music Hall in Carnegie, Pa. Forty authors are gathering to sign books, talk to readers, and debate literary happenings relevant to women. I will be one of the speakers at one of the panels to discuss “Outside Looking In: Harnessing and Cherishing the Non-Mainstream Viewpoint in Literature.” We’ll discuss what challenges do writers with non-mainstream points-of-view face? What value does the ethnic point-of-view bring to storytelling and why should we cherish it? “Women Read/Women Write celebrates the books women love,”...

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