Sunday 19 July 2020

#BookBlitz :: Ready for the World by @CgWriter

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About The Book Series
Check out the Book on Amazon

Ready For The World: Driver’s Education


Ready For The World: Driver’s Education follows the story of Brandon Delacruz, a fifteen-year-old Filipino American teenager trying to make his way through life during the late 1980s. What Brandon wants out of life is simple: a cool car, a chance to be one of the cool kids at school, and most of all, a cool girlfriend. But instead, all he has are his loving family and his lifelong friends, Josh and Ally, to help him get through the minefield of high school life. 


As he looks for ways to get the car and status, Brandon fails to realize that the girl he’s been searching for has been there all along. But before he and Ally can explore a new relationship, a tragedy occurs that changes their lives. And now Brandon will have to find a way to balance his deep friendship with the excitement, trepidation, and complexity that young love brings...all while trying to keep his grades up.



Check out the Book on Amazon

Ready For The World: Superstar


Things couldn’t be better for Brandon Delacruz. After a long and winding road, he finally has the girl of his dreams. To top it all off, he’s discovered his destiny. He’s going to write the next great novel. Not bad for someone who a few months shy of his sixteenth birthday.

But after a tumultuous start to the year, he finds himself stuck between two girls. On one side is Ally, his best friend since kindergarten who’s suddenly become more of a mystery. And on the other side is Rachel, a brilliant and strong-willed girl that isn’t afraid to speak her mind. As he sorts his feelings out, he’ll find that the world isn’t like the one he’s writing about in his book. Real-life is messy and perplexing, especially in high school. 

And Brandon will learn that life can offer true beauty and grace...and heartbreak.



Read an Excerpt from Ready For The World: Driver’s Education




AND THERE IT WAS. THE BRASS RING THAT HELD THE KEY TO MY FREEDOM, INCHES FROM MY GRASP. I grabbed Dad‘s keychain out of his fingers and turned the key in the ignition. The engine rumbled to life underneath my sweaty grip. 

It was the summer of 1986 and I was the proud owner of a driver‘s permit from the great state of California. Back then, once you passed a driver‘s education class, you could get behind the wheel. But in my life, there was a more powerful governing body that controlled my ability to drive: my parents. 

“Make sure that you keep both hands in the ten and two positions at all times, “Dad said. 

“But how am I supposed to hold my beer if both of my hands are on the wheel? “ I asked with a smile. 

Dad seared a hole into my head with his stare. “Don‘t even joke about that. Do you understand me? “

“I was kidding! “

 “I don’t care. “ 

I caught Mom’s reflection in the rearview mirror. She stopped going over the grocery store receipt to give me one of her looks. Eyebrows arched. Head tilted down. Chin to the left. It was a look I knew all too well. It was the “don’t dig yourself any further into this hole“look. 

My parents were pretty easy going and fair, as parents go anyway. Mom and Dad were always cool with my friends, let me go out at night within reason, and even let me have a telephone in my room. They moved to the United States in 1964 and luckily for me, weren‘t like the “typical“Filipino parents. They didn‘t make me practice the piano eight hours a day, seven days a week. They didn‘t frown at an A-minus on my report card and ask, “Why isn‘t it an A-plus?“ And they didn‘t demand that I only study medicine or law in college. They merely suggested all those things. It was a slight twist on the Asian parenting handbook. 

When I pushed to get more time behind the wheel, I knew what to expect. There would be lectures about how to be super-duper safe on the road. I‘d hear how to be wary of the other drivers. But more than anything else, they stressed that I was not to be an idiot in any way, shape, or form. 

“Watch your speed! “ Dad said. “You‘re only supposed to go twenty-five around here!

“Around here were the suburbs of San Diego. I grew up in a home like a lot of other homes with a yard like many other yards. My neighborhood was like a lot of other neighborhoods. I graduated from Pence Junior High School this past June. I would attend Howard McMillan High School in a few days. It was a little more than a mile from our house. 

“Dad, you know I‘m allowed to drive to school by myself with a permit,“ I said. I kept my hands at ten and two in hopes he‘d notice. I don’t know if he did. But I did hear him grunt. 

“Why don‘t you ride your bike to school? “ Mom asked. “It‘s about the same distance from home.

“To a guy without his own car, a mile was the distance between San Diego and the moon. It was 5,280 feet of rugged terrain with steep hills and deep valleys. But to my parents, it was a short bike ride.

 “I read the DMV manual and it says I’m allowed to drive, “I said. 

“We know the laws, “Dad said. “But you‘re not driving until we think you‘re ready.“

 “But I‘ll be the only one in my class not driving to school.“

“Then that makes you unique, “he said. “Be ready to make a right at the light. “

I couldn‘t believe it. My parents were oblivious to how ridiculous I’d look pulling up to school on a ten-speed bike. Or worse, they knew and didn‘t care. I slumped in my seat and jerked the wheel as I made the turn at the light.

Mom’s piercing scream rang in my ears. “BRANDON JACOB DELACRUZ! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND? “ 

I shook my head a bit and looked around. Had I hit someone? I looked down at the dashboard and checked my speed. Was I going too fast? “What happened? “ I asked.




About the Author:




Charmeljun Gallardo is a former Radiologist and author. His first book is  Ready For The World young adult book series. He graduated from San Francisco State University with a Creative Writing degree in 1996. He is a writer, photography enthusiast, sports fan, movie geek, stroke survivor, and an adventurous foodie. He lives in San Diego, California with his wife and son. 


Charmeljun on the Web:




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Friday 17 July 2020

#BookBlitz :: Gangs of Social Media by Vasimraja Bhavikatti - @VasimrajaAuthor

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About The Book
'Gangs of Social Media' is a mirror of our present situation all over the world. Our lives are taken over by Social Media and we are a slave to our apps. And one of the most poisonous side effects of social media is Fake News. 

The story reveals how India’s one and only Forensic Cyber Psychologist, Professor Fabulous is summoned by the National Cyber Defense of India to hunt down the mastermind behind a cyber-attack on social media users who intentionally or unintentionally spread fake news. 

In a desperate race against time, Professor Fabulous encounters online scammers, cyber hacktivist gangs, paid trolls, Social Media business executives, Politicians, Cybersecurity Start-ups, and a forgotten victim of fake news before the mastermind reveals his motive behind the cyber-attack.

Will this be the end of fake news or the end of social media itself? 

Synopsis


Gangs of Social Media is a crime mystery thriller set-in present-day India. The story is of 12 hours when Mr. RAJPUT, Deputy National Cyber Defense Chief teams up with PROFESSOR FABLUOS who is India’s only Forensic Cyber Psychologist to hunt down the MASTERMIND of the worst cyber-attack of all time on SOCIAL MEDIA users who often indulge in spreading FAKE NEWS.

The story begins with three nameless youths in three metro cities of India, namely Bangalore, New Delhi, and Mumbai. All three of them heavily use WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter to do one and only one thing, to spread FAKE NEWS motivated by aimless emotion, blind political affiliation, and money. These three represent most social media users in India. 

But that day, all the social media users who have been spreading fake news with whatever intention and without any consequences will have to pay a heavy price. Ransomware (computer virus) disguised in the form of a WhatsApp message or Facebook post or as a tweet is circulated and as usual, without thinking of consequences, the users start sharing this message. The moment the users shares any fake news, their device either phone, tablet, or laptop, or computer will hang, and a message is displayed, demanding a ransom of Rs.1,00,000 to be paid within 12 hours as a consequence of sharing fake news. If users fail to pay the ransom, the devices will be destroyed and all the data on the device will be made public.

Professor Fabulous and Mr. Rajput have a bitter past, but they put their personal differences away to catch the culprit behind this cyber-attack. The story narration is sequential but keeps the reader guessing. The division of the book into 15 chapters with titles that almost foreshadow the narration that would happen in the chapter is marvelously and artistically done by the author.

Gangs of Social Media sounds dangerous but there is not much to be worried about as Professor Fabulous is fabulous at his job. But what happens at the end. Is the search over? Does Professor Fabulous get to the criminal? The book trades us through the process. It takes us from one person to the other. The end is what the reader must discover herself or himself. It’s the most surprising the realistic climax and leaves the reader with a few open-ended questions.


Book Links:


Some Interesting Quotes from the Book:


"Fake news existed in the past and will continue to exist until human civilization exists, there is no escape from it… "- Professor Fabulous

"Three greatest inventions of the 21
st century. The Smartphone, the Internet, and Social Media. The device, the medium, and the platform. The holy trinity of Fake news Empire." - Professor Fabulous
“The color of this shirt is blue…that is a fact, and nobody can dispute that. The color of this shirt is awesome!!! That is an opinion… it is highly subjective, biased, and customized to individual needs. The color of this shirt gives me superpowers… that is false or fake news...” 
- The prime suspect


About The Author: 
Vasimraja was born on 29th February 1984, in India.  He currently lives in San Francisco Bay Area, California USA. He started reading fiction novels at the age of eight after overhearing a story narration of Sherlock Holmes by his father. He grew up in different towns of Northern Karnataka State before his family relocated to Dharwad, the literature capital of Karnataka where he met celebrated playwright and author, Late Girish Karnad. He was greatly influenced by Karnad’s writing and personality.

Vasimraja works in the field of semiconductor engineering and has two patents on semiconductor memories. He is an avid reader of English, Kannada and Hindi literature.  He presents the most complex ideas in a very simple form, leaving a lasting impression on readers.


Vasimraja on the Web:

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