It was during my semester exams when I got the news that Mahaveer publishers are conducting a short-story competition. Love was the genre, a genre on which I had never written any story before. But it so happens that when you read a theme, the story it forms by itself in your tiny gray cells. It did for me when I learned that the participants had to write a love story. But who had the time to pen down the story when every alternate day you have those giant exams that gobble you up in your sleep. Days went by and I forgot the story I had in my mind. My exams, they got over too. Only a few days were left for the submission period of the competition to be over when I realized I had to submit something, not because I simply wanted to, but because I had decided to and I actually had a story in my mind. 10th January 2013 was the last date of submission and I submitted my entry just before sunset crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.
5 long days of waiting; and that’s when I thought I may not be selected as entries were pouring in like anything, almost 1000, from published authors and famous bloggers. On 15th Jan’13 a tear trickled down my cheek as I realized I might have been hoping for something which will give me nothing but failure and a disappointment. I shoved away all thoughts of the contest and carried on with my own life- a juggle of playing my guitar, reading a novel, studying for the impending exams, facebooking, going out with friends, et cetera.
It was at around 9:00 pm when the unexpected happened and with it brought new hopes and instilled new confidence in me. I won the competition; Yes, I did. And it’s now all “Uff Ye Emotions” in my mind. Yes, the anthology Mahaveer Publishers is publishing with the winning entries is christened “Uff Ye Emotions”. The editor of the anthology is none other than Vinit K. Bansal, the author of the novel “I am Heartless”, who was also one of the many judges of the competition. He also has contributed a story for our anthology. The other winners of the competition, my fellow authors are Priyanka Dey, Suresh Chandrasekaran, Pankaj Mittal (the author of "Thank God I'm Heartless"), Rachna Seth (the author of "Love The Ecstasy"), Saurabh Arya, Abhilash Ruhela, Stephen Anthony, Anjit Sharma aka Crestless Wave, Papan Basu, Himanshu Chhabra aka Appie and Drishti Dasgupta.
The cover page of the upcoming anthology is flawlessly designed by Ink Studios’ Sunill Kaushik.
The book is releasing on 10th of February 2012. And since it is a collection of the best love stories it will undoubtedly be the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for your special someone. If I were not one of the authors, I would have asked for it as a V-day gift too (Now I might have to gift it instead. :-P).
An audio CD of the band ROOUH The Eternal Soul is absolutely free with each pre-ordered copy of our anthology.
The book is now available for pre-order on Homeshop18 featuring us at the most prominent position with a heavy discount of 35%. Link: http://www.homeshop18.com/uff-ye-emotions-collection-award-winning-love-stories-cd/author:vinit-k-bansal/isbn:9789350880388/books/fiction/product:30487131/cid:13167/
It’s also available on Flipkart for just 97 bucks. Link: http://www.flipkart.com/uff-ye-emotions-collection-award-winning-love-stories/p/itmdhew3bc5mcjnh?pid=9789350880388&ref=6bf90db5-24e5-4fa3-87cc-031237b8e1a3&srno=s_1&otracker=from-search&query=uff%20ye%20emotions
Rs. 35 off on Infibeam. Link: http://www.infibeam.com/Books/uff-ye-emotions-collection-award-winning-love-stories-vinit-k-bansal/9789350880388.html
It's available for pre-order in ebay too at the cheapest price Link: http://www.ebay.in/itm/Uff-Ye-Emotions-collection-award-winning-love-stories-PRE-ORDER-b-/390530619550?pt=IN_Books_Magazines&hash=item5aed70589e#ht_752wt_906
In Amegabooks it's available at 40% off. Link: http://www.amegabooks.com/books-cate/uff-ye-emotions-a-collection-of-award-winning-love-stories-get-free-audio-cd-containing-romantic-songs-by-roouh-band-770957.html
While Justbooks are offering a discount of 42 INR. Link: http://justbooks.in/product/uff-ye-emotions-collection-award-winning-love-stories-9789350880388#.UQofUh3MCSo
A me-made collage of our Team :)
Looking back at 15th January 2013 now, I think UYE (Uff Ye Emotions) is one of the best things that happened to me. All thanks to the judges who chose my work and my friends who believed in me.
And now that my friends and readers are pre-ordering for my book it gives me Goosebumps and yes, a wee bit of nervous I am. I hope my readers and friends like my story “Happily Ever After” in the anthology. And just because I named it “Happily Ever After” doesn't mean it’s a happy ending, right? Well, I am not that fond of sad endings either. Read it and find it out for yourself, and when you do, don’t forget to drop me a text or a comment about what you think about it.