I am delighted to be a part of this fantastic blog tour for Ravinder Randhawa. I was so happy to be contacted by Faye Rogers for this opportunity to promote such diverse books! Ravinder's books featured on this tour include: Dynamite and Beauty and the Beast (No, not the Disney version!)
Psssttttt...don't forget to stay till the end for information about a giveaway! Eeeek!
Here is a little more info about Ravinder's diverse little gems:
Beauty and the Beast
Problems? Confusions? Contradictions? I got them all and if you've got them, then FLAUNT them is my motto.
Meet
Harjinder (aka Hari-jan): 'A' level student, supermarket worker and desperate
journalist. Feisty and impulsive, Hari-jan can't refuse a dare and to make
matters worse has fallen in love with the wrong boy. Her best friend Ghazala has taken to wearing the
hijab and mentoring racists.
Can Hari-jan battle through the hurdles and win
her man? Can Ghazala work out how to do Good in her own
way?
A sparkling, coming-of-age novel about life,
love and friendship.
Dynamite
Collection of short stories: Fun, feisty,
tender and wry.
Full of imagination and originality, stories of innocence and
experience, British-Asianess and life’s haunting complexity.
From kick-ass
heroines to mysterious spacecraft; the heartache of first love to the
inheritance of history; the echo of distant war zones to treacherous
boyfriends; riots and violent murder.
Here is a brilliantly unique guest post from Ravinder, in which she tells us about the Magna Carta and the influence it has on our lives. Stay tuned after Ravinder's post for information about what's to come on the rest of this blog tour!
Rights,
Wrongs and Rebellions
This year is the 800th
anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta 1215 – 2015. Why should we care,
why should we be bothered and most of all, what the heck does it have to do
with books? Any kind of books, adult, YA, crime, romance, fantasy, or that hot
potato of the moment, diversity in literature?
After all, the Magna
Carta was a negotiated document between rebellious barons and a powerful king
in medieval England, sealed on 15th June 1215 at Runnymede. Many of
its clauses dealt with particular issues arising from King John’s use, or
misuse, as the barons put it, of the King’s power. However, like the mysterious
artefacts in novels, such as magic crystals, goblets, stones of power etc, which
heroes and heroines valiantly go in search of, enduring great perils and
danger, and which will either confer great wisdom or bring about a better
world, buried within the words of the Magna Carta are also such precious
powers.
Powers that have come
down to us through the centuries and have become an international focus against
the abuse of power. The powers are transmitted in words and those words have
informed other great documents such as The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.
Documents that are like
beacons in a violent, unjust and dangerous world. The powers hidden in the Magna
Carta, refined by The Universal Declaration of Human Rights aren’t dependant on
bolts of lightning, dynastic inheritance or mysterious knowledge. They are
simple laws which define rights, recognise human dignity, and acknowledge the
equality of all.
In my view, they are
the simple pillars upon which all literature is based; whether dystopian,
fantasy, historical or romantic. Whether it’s The Hunger Games, Harry Potter or
Game of Thrones. All are defined by rights, wrongs and rebellions.
So what are these
wonderful powers buried within the Magna Carta which centuries of people have
benefited from, and which have made it a symbol against tyrannical power? The
rights that have given us democracy and the civil freedoms we now possess; the
rights which allow authors to freely express their imaginations, ideas and
creativity?
They are as follows:
equality before the law; no taxes without the ‘general consent of the realm’;
fines to be linked to the severity of the offence so as not to threaten an
individual’s livelihood; lastly – ladies this is particularly for you - that a
widow cannot be forced to marry against her wishes.
All these rights inform
the plots, twists and turns, tragedies and victories of protagonists in a
thousand books. And which safeguard our everyday lives.
That is why the Magna
Carta is so fabulously important and is rightly regarded as the foundation of
democracy in England. As Sir Edward Coke said in 1628 ‘Magna Carta is such a
fellow, that he will have no sovereign.’ No-one is above the law. No matter how
powerful or despotic, no matter if they have whole armies at their disposal or
the riches of the world.
Just as some books are
so wonderful we return to them time and time again, so some documents carry an
aura of greatness which really is like a light that shines in our
unpredictable, often cruel and divided world. Informed by the Magna Carta, to
me The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is one such magnificent, magical
document. So I’m going to quote directly from the Preamble:
“Whereas
recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of
all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace
in the world.
Whereas
disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which
have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which
human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and
want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people.Whereas
it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last
resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should
be protected by the rule of law.”
This document sets out
in the most elegant simplicity what every person, upon the planet, is entitled
to: dignity, equality, justice and peace.
And the four freedoms
required to ensure those rights: freedom of speech, freedom of belief, freedom
from fear, freedom from want.
Writers need these
freedoms as much as everyone. Just ask Raif Badawi – sentenced to ten years in
prison and a thousand lashes for setting up a liberal website. Rights, wrongs
and rebellions, aren’t just the stuff of exciting turbulent stories, but the
stuff of everyday life. The point where literature meets life.
DO NOT MISS:
British Library exhibition: Magna Carta
– Law. Liberty. Legacy. is on till 1st September 2015.
I want to give a massive thank you to Ravinder for her inspiring guest post and another massive thank you to Faye Rogers, the lovely blog tour host.
To your right is more information about where to follow this tour for more great reviews, guest posts and interviews.
GIVEAWAY TIME
Finally, to finish off this post, you could be in with the chance of winning:
Not one, not two...
But THREE paperback copies of the amazing 'Dynamite' by the fantastic Ravinder Randhawa.
Whether you want to be greedy and keep them all to yourself, share the diversity among your friends and family or simply spread the word via bookish friends, it is totally up to you! Just enter right here, in the Rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
If you aren't a lucky winner, don't forget about the Amazon links below to buy these fantastic, diverse reads.
Beauty and the Beast
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beauty-Beast-enemies-romance-fireworks-ebook/dp/B00MO9UGPE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1431979657&sr=8-1&keywords=beauty+and+the+beast+randhawa
Dynamite
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dynamite-adventure-life-Ravinder-Randhawa/dp/1502555522/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
WAIT WAIT WAIT!
Do not forget to head over to these amazing blogs to continue Ravinder's BLOG TOUR!
AND AND AND!
Don't forget to come back and pay a visit here for more exciting bookish content, from Tuesday Talks to Top 5 Wednesday to ReadAThons and yet more Blog Tour's!
Labels: Adventure, Beauty and the Beast, Blog Tour, Brit-Asian, Diversity, Dynamite, Enemies, Faye Rogers, Fireworks, Life, love, Ravinder Randhawa, Romance, The Book Moo
Beauty and the Beast