December 2022 Newsletter

Current Events

Hello everyone! Justin here with this month's email newsletter, my apologies since this has been a bit later than I'd have wanted! The challenges in the world of self-publishing and even with the traditional companies like PenguinRandomHouse or HarperCollins, is that the onus of promotion falls on the author. What was handled by an army of press agents, PR reps, and a marketing department now has been relegated to Facebook likes and TikTok views. We decided to take a different approach and focus more on live in-person or virtual events to better interact with our readers.

This month has been a very busy one with all of our promotional events for Manju's Kerala Christmas. Otisville Elementary School in Otisville, NY reached out to us and requested a book reading for their third grade class of about 90 students, which was on December 14th. Ashley and I prepared corporate goodie bags for the students that contained Elli Twy Kids bookmarks, branded pens, mechanical pencils, and stickers.

The students were so attentive and asked loads of questions about Kerala and India in general! We are so grateful for this wonderful opportunity to share our cultures and traditions with these astute and open-minded class!

Ashley also had a virtual reading for Life Valley International School in Kottayam, Kerala, where her cousin Reena is the principal. The time difference between New York and India (about 10.5 hours) meant it was late for us, but we made it work.

Continuing with our massive promotional push for the book, Ashley also had an interview with Bhasha Kids founder, Anita Sachariah discussing the book. The word "bhasha" means language in Malayalam, which is fitting as Anita's focus with BhashaKids is to embrace different languages. They sell many books, activities, and flash cards teaching kids words in Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil. Check them out at https://bhashakids.com and on their main Instagram page.

Writing Updates

I am still at work on Shades of Resilience: A Memoir, having written about 15 chapters over 133 pages. Right now in the book, I'm describing the situations we faced working during the COVID-19 pandemic during the first wave in April 2020. Revisiting this timeframe has been cathartic in ways and I'm hoping it'll be a good read.

The other project we have in the works is another poem collection by Ashley. While I go in-depth about Elliot's heart surgeries and his journey in Shades, Ashley has taken the route of poetry over prose. We have an artist in mind for the illustrations to accompany the poems and hope to get started soon now that the holidays are done.

Writing Inspiration

Since we're on the theme of Kerala traditions, here is another food recipe you may enjoy! Kerala-style Chili Chicken is a popular dish in our home state, usually paired with paratha or garlic naan. My mom made a modified version of it with a more Filipino influence back in 2004 and has been a hit ever since. I've made my own version of this recipe over the years and think it does come close to the "OG", if I do say so myself.

The key is to use whole chicken and remove the meat from the bone but ain’t nobody got time for that so we just use boneless chicken thighs. Cut into cubes and marinate overnight in ketchup, soy sauce, flour, garlic powder, chili chicken masala and black pepper powder. Fry it up the next day, sauté bell peppers onions and garlic, use the same oil from frying for better flavor. Add your chicken in and for the sauce it’s ketchup, soy sauce, Worchestshire sauce, chili chicken masala, garlic and black pepper powder. Adjust to your liking. Add some water and let simmer on low heat until sauce thickens. I don't use exact measurements for this recipe. Like many Indian dishes, you just gotta "feel" it!

With a new year approaching, we wish you all happiness and prosperity.

Happy Writing & Cooking!

Elli Twy Publishing