Preethi Baladev is an eternal learner, always looking for the next thing to learn and experiment with. Preethi has always been keen on gathering knowledge and facts, and this natural curiosity is being satisfied with Books. Since a little girl, she has loved the written word, spellbound by the magical worlds and people she gets to meet in the more than a thousand books she has read.

The joy she finds in reading is unsurpassable and so the logical next step for her was to become an Author. Preethi loves the idea of putting her thoughts into words and sentences, creating unforgettable characters and stories, to keep readers glued to the book. What does she aim to achieve with her writing? The vision is simple. She wants readers to experience that feeling of ‘been there, done that’, to embark on adventures, to laugh and cry and feel a hundred different emotions within the pages of her book, and find that little dose of the magic away from the routine of life.

Having participated in many creative writing events at school and college, she has kept the spark burning but never gave serious thought to Writing and Authoring full-time. Until now. She has published her novel DIVINE PROMISES in the Action-Adventure genre.

Her journey so far…

Preethi started off as a software engineer in a leading MNC, after completing her BE degree in Electronics & Communication. Four years later, with the birth of her elder daughter, she quit to become a full-time stay-at-home mom. As the years flew by, in response to failing health, she took to yoga and meditation. The change was profound, and yoga gave her that much-needed identity which was shaken, being confined within walls as a new mother. With meditation, she began to realize the Human Mind’s colossal power and decided to pursue a Yoga certification. She is an Internationally certified Yoga instructor from Akshar Power Yoga. In 2013, Preethi started her Yoga Institute, Yogashreem Center for Abundance, and has trained more than 50 women changing their lives for the better. After Covid, the natural transition to Mindfulness and meditation was inevitable and she freelanced as a coach for a music company Nirvaan, that makes frequency-based music for Meditation.

She has extensive knowledge of subconscious reprogramming techniques and is a firm believer in the Law of Attraction. She loves exploring the infinite power of the Mind and how to become the creator of one’s reality.

Her literary pursuits…

Books and writing will always be Preethi’s first love. She has worked as a freelance content writer and ghostwriter for various organizations both within India and internationally. Sometime in 2015, she wrote a short piece about her experience as a mother undergoing a cesarean section for the delivery of her baby. The piece caught the attention of her husband, who is not a reader by any stretch of the imagination. He persuaded her to submit the article to a Woman’s website named SiyaWoman.com, and that was the start of her literary adventures. The huge amount of praise and love she received for the article was a much-needed boost and she began to write for various websites. And then WriteIndia happened.

WriteIndia is a crowd-based short story contest under the banner of The Times Of India. Every month for a year, a leading author gave contestants a writing prompt that writers had to incorporate into a short story. Preethi is a WriteIndia season 1 winner and her winning story has been published in the book of 33 winning entries along with 11 other new time authors. Enthralled with meeting the who-is-who of the literary world, she resolved to become a published author.

About her book…

Preethi’s novel DIVINE PROMISES is an Action-Adventure novel with liberal doses of Mythology, Humour, and Human emotions. It explores the classic battle between Good and Evil with rogue agents, plenty of twists, and a dash of romance between the lead pair of Rylan and Mythili. It follows their journey as they struggle to decipher ancient clues to save their town from a fiery volcanic eruption.  “Divine Promises is an attempt to take readers on a journey of adventure and as they fight alongside the Good guys, they can feel the joy of saving the world, without having to leave their chairs”, says Preethi.

The inspiration for her book…

Sometime in 2019, Preethi was struck with this image of the Immortal One, Lord Hanuman in her head “I saw this absolutely gorgeous figurine of the Lord in my vision, hewn from a blood-red stone that pulsed with power” she reveals, “like he was alive within that stone.” Despite extensive research, she never could find any earthly material that even closely resembled the idol in her mind. But she did discover a plethora of information on the Lord Hanuman and from there was born the story for Divine Promises. In a blitzkrieg of writing, she had finished a 37,000-word manuscript in less than a week.

“It was like the Lord wanted this book written, the words flew out of my fingers, the characters assumed a life of their own, and the story just yanked me along. It was a crazy, heady experience” she laughs. Later the novella was expanded into a full-length novel after being snapped up by The Book Bakers, India’s leading literary agency, and its dynamic founder Mr. Suhail Mathur, an accomplished Author himself. The Manuscript was published by Petals Publishers from Ludhiana, Punjab.

Her future Literary endeavors…

Preethi loves the response to her book Divine Promises. It has been likened to an Indian Indiana Jones-like feel by reviewers. “Rylan and Mythili are such loveable characters; I want to keep them in the next 2 books too” Preethi smiles. She is currently working on book 2 of Divine Promises. She will also embark on writing the biography of a close family friend of her father’s. ‘This is the story of a man, of his struggle with big corporations, a story of grit and determination, of doing good despite facing huge setbacks. It needs to be told” she feels. Preethi loves and lives to write and has resolved to keep doing so until her last breath.