Tag: fiction - Mala Naidoo's Book World

Research and Fiction

Historical fiction either reveres, subverts, or shames the past through citing actual places, creating imagined characters and perhaps recreating a historical figure.

Historical fiction is the unequal blending of the real and the imaginary

Time is fluid in historical fiction, moving between the past and present depending on how the plot unfolds. Is it a character in the present time speaking, recalling a time past, or is the character narrating an experience having lived in a past era?

The cautionary reminder is in ensuring the imaginative aspect of the story is respectful of the truths of the time, while preserving the overarching fictional plot/characterisation and quality of the writing. Culture, values, and social issues researched lend an authentic historical flavour to the fiction crafted. Transporting the reader to a time past enhances the storytelling without rewriting a history textbook.

Find that sweet spot between what is fact and fiction to elevate the fiction on culture, values, and social mores.

Including actual historical figures is the writer’s choice in relation to whether they will be a speaking character in the fictional tale, or a few cursory references would suffice.

Research should not overpower fiction. History has been written and read many times over—add the imagined juice for an entertaining read that prompts speculation on whether the fictional aspects could have possibly occurred.

Memorable characters, a believable setting, an intriguing plot, and a dash of history is a good measure for a satisfying read.

Ultimately, knowing who the intended audience is for a particular work of fiction is just as important as the message it creates.

Honour the history researched to enhance the setting and add lustre to the fictional plot without repeating what has already been documented. Recreate rather than rewrite. The risk of overly recounting a history is losing the fiction to non-fiction. The decision ultimately rests with the author. Readers of fiction will be the primary audience.

In honouring the history, notions of sensitivity to time, place, and people should be observed. However, shaming a dark history is the fictional storyteller’s prerogative.

There are no clearly defined genre parameters when the power of the story is honoured in its ability to move and entertain which is paramount in fiction.

The truth that all historical writing, even the most honest, is unconsciously subjective, since every age is bound, despite itself, to make the dead perform whatever tricks it finds necessary for its own peace of mind. Carl Becker, American historian (1873-1945)

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. Bishop Desmond Tutu.

History is the study of all the world’s crime. Voltaire, French writer, and philosopher (1694-1778)

Fiction is the truth inside the lie. Stephen King

Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities: Truth isn’t. Mark Twain.

Please share your thoughts in the comment box below.

Holiday Reading

It’s time to get off the wheel. Imagine days lying in or relaxing on the beach, or in your own backyard.

Laid-back days are built for leisurely or serious reading. Soul searching or fun, reading is a fascinating activity that delivers anywhere -anytime- every time.

I asked readers to recommend some of their recent great reads. With Black Friday deals still available at some retail bookstores, it’s quick and easy to bag a good book bargain.

Here is a mixed-genre list of the most enjoyed and/or informative reads. Blurbs are not included; they are available online and at bricks and mortar bookstores wherever you are.

I took the liberty of naming some lists. Three recommendations from Queensland’s Logas Padayachee, who thoroughly enjoyed her choices:

LL’s Selections:

When the Singing Stops by Di Morrissey

Without Merit by Colleen Hoover

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Mavis’ Sydney Picks:

Black & Buddhist by Pamela Ayo Yetunde and Cheryl A. Giles

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

Black Teacher by Beryl Gilroy

Blue Mercy by Orna Ross

Jenny Trotter’s Choice:

The Tilt by Chris Hammer

More Suggested Reads

Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson

Miracles Happen by Dr Brian Weiss

Stories with a Christmas theme are appealing during this time of year.

Stocking Fillers, Twelve Short Stories for Christmas by Debbie Young

Christmas in the Scottish Highlands by Donna Ashcroft

The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

My Books with a hint of Christmas:

Gallery Nights by Mala Naidoo

Souls of Her Daughters by Mala Naidoo

Literary classics by Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and many other literary great-reads offer timeless entertainment.

Add your favourite reads in the comment box below to spread the love of reading this holiday season to keep books alive.

Happy Reading! Happy Holidays!

Romance Across Genres

The days of writing rigidly to a particular genre, crime fiction, detective fiction, sci-fi, horror, historical fiction, thriller fiction, and romance have slipped, crept, and rolled across the genre borders.

Romance has the potential to capture the coldest of hearts.

The basic elements of the genre remain. Mystery and suspense with a soft touch of romance add to the allure of the tale. Romance as a genre in its pure form has limitless power to create relationships that stretch and bend the imagination as far as it will go.

While romance engages the emotional side of the reader, it does not overwhelm the crime/detective/historical/sci-fi, which occupies the greater space of the genre.

The love story element in any story adds the desirous human connection.

Age is no deterrent to romance. It’s not restricted to young love such as that of Romeo and Juliet. Including older characters in the angst and joy of their romantic interludes creates an inclusive perception of love. It increases the appeal of the overarching genre at work.

The happily ever after isn’t always true. Fiction is a mirror of life. Testing the strength or commitment of a relationship between crime/detective fiction heightens its entertainment value. Romance, while not central to the story outside the romance genre, might add a satisfying element against the crime/detective fiction at work.

Love is just a word until someone comes along and gives it meaning ~Paulo Coelho

Wonderfully true — it is indeed our charismatic or struggling fictional characters who love, or are in love, that linger to remind us why love given and received should never be extracted from the soul.

There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart ~Jane Austen.

Magical! The reader is drawn to the story regardless of the genre.

I would like to be the air that inhabits you for a moment only. I would like to be that unnoticed and that necessary ~ Margaret Atwood.

Brilliant! This stirs ideas on how this would unfold in a crime fiction tale!

The gist of these well-known lines deepens the human connection in any genre.

Happy Reading. Happy Writing.

Please like, share, comment and hold on to a tender heart. We need it in both fiction and life.

Author Spotlight: Mel Goven

As creatives, news about a debut author from the land of one’s birth is received with great joy. The creative landscape is a connected, supportive space that celebrates newcomers to the publishing fold.

Meet Mel Goven, South African debut author of the crime novel, Unfinished, launched in July, 2022 on Amazon. Please join me in welcoming Mel Goven to the blog this month.

Get to know South African Author : Mel Goven

1. Biography : Mel Goven

I hail from Johannesburg and have quite a demanding day job as a teacher in a primary school.

Unfinished is my first novel although I have written many short stories which have gained a place in short story competitions in local magazines and writing groups.

My short story, Scorned, a crime mystery, was placed 3^rd in Woman and Home, in 2014. Love Knots, another short story, was shortlisted in the annual short story competition run by The Writer’s Group. One of my favourite short stories, Lucky, featured on a few writing blogs and had quite a successful run in 2016. All these stories can be read on my blog site.

I have also published newspaper feature articles and opinion pieces during my stint as editor for the local newspapers: The Randburg Sun, Fourways Review and the Northcliff Melville Times.

My features were around education challenges in South Africa. Some of which were: Preparing for Future Career Opportunities, Effective use of Technology in the Classroom, Private versus Public Schools.

Having always been drawn to the romance genre, I imagined I would write romance novels, which I haven’t completely taken off the table yet. However, I found my voice in thrilling crime mysteries.

I have two more novels in the pipeline and have realised that with each new world I create, I am finding myself as a writer. I don’t like conforming to a specific trope and while I admire the writing styles of my favourite authors, I don’t think I am in the same league and so choose to write my way.

I have been blessed with four incredible children of whom I am super proud. In formally starting my writing career at this stage in my life, I hope to inspire them that dreams come true at any age, no matter what challenges and obstacles arise.

2.When did your passion for writing emerge?

I love reading. I believe you must be an avid reader to be a good writer. When I was a child, I would beg my parents to take me to the library.

I visited many libraries in the area I grew up in: from the little mobile libraries that would go around the community on Tuesdays and Thursdays; to the community libraries that were finally built when the demand increased, and then to the Durban City Hall library when I was old enough to travel to the city on my own.

I started writing after I read Anne of Green Gables. I felt such a deep connection to the main character, Anne. Although she was a lifetime removed from my world in terms of the era, race, and circumstances, she felt what I felt; messed up like I did; was the odd duckling — just like me.Anyway, the community library did not have the sequel to Anne of Green Gables and so I decided to continue the story in my imagination. Eventually, I wrote it at the back of a Maths book (I did not like Maths very much). That was how I began writing.

Every time I finished reading a book, and if I felt that I wanted more from it, I would continue the story to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion.

3. What inspired you to write your debut novel, Unfinished?

In 2012, I became fascinated by a story I heard from a patient in a doctor’s surgery. The patient had undergone a heart transplant a few months before and she had been excited to meet the family of her donor.

I found myself researching it and was surprised to find that some heart recipients experienced major personality changes which are sometimes connected to their donor. The idea of the heart, which we consider the seat and symbol of emotion, sparked a story and this epic drama unfolded.

Unfinished is set in Hout Bay, Cape Town, because the first human heart transplant occurred successfully at the nearby Groote Schuur Hospital. But, it is more than just a story about a heart transplant. It revivifies an unsolved murder committed almost 40-years before the story begins; those affected by that crime and how their lives have interwoven until a heart transplant finally exposes the truth. I wanted my characters to come to life on the page, and each one needed to have a voice, so I opted to write in each main character’s POV.

4. Who are your favourite authors?

I have so many. I have great respect for the classics, so Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, Emily Bronte, L.M. Alcott, Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and of course, L.M. Montgomery.

Contemporary authors: I would say, Khaled Hosseini, Kazuo Ishiguro and Eleanor Catton. But there are so many others. I have never restricted my reading to specific genres. I read all, except perhaps horror. Although I did spend a few sleepless nights reading Stephen King’s, The Dream Catcher.

I suppose I could say I have favourite books rather than authors. At present I am enjoying Barbara Kingsolver’s, The Lacuna. And, A Madness of Sunshine, by New Zealand author, Nalini Singh, and The Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah.

Oh, dear! There are so many more books I still have on my to-be-read list. My guilty pleasure is that I also enjoy a Harlequin romance novel now and again.

5. What advice would you offer to aspiring writers?

Write about what you experience. Write that story you wished could have had a different ending. Write about your dreams. Whatever takes seed in your imagination, write about it.

Grab your copy of Unfinished at these Amazon Book Links

Paperback

Kindle edition

Join Mel Goven on social media:

Facebook

Instagram

I extend my gratitude to Mel Goven for sharing her author journey and wonderful advice to aspiring authors. Unfinished has certainly grabbed my attention!

Happy Reading, Happy Writing.

Please sign up, like, share, and comment blow.

Fiction and Reality

Pen, a fictional story and aspects of the scribe’s life, spills onto the page between fiction and reality. Angst and joy collide in the unfurling of the emotive content of the story. The emotional hooks in a story invite readers to open their own wounds and happiness for a well-penned story.

In my novels and short story collections, dogs feature as necessary in human lives. A lifelong love of dogs finds their way into the lives of significant characters I create.

In the Sequel set Across Time and Space, and Vindication Across Time the wonderful Ted is the adored pet of human rights lawyer, Michael Morissey, and aspiring writer Meryl Moorecroft. Michael advises and befriends schoolteacher Marcia Ntuli, caught in workplace professional racism. Ted is the first to understand the growing romantic involvement between Michael and Marcia. His sensitivity to Marcia makes him even more adorable.

Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth. ~Albert Camus

Read Now

Two hours later they emerged from Michael’s bedroom, laughing at Ted’s quizzical peaked ears and worried frown.

In Souls of Her Daughters, Patience, a social worker has two dogs, Ajax, and Sprite. She adopted them while her sister Grace was overseas at a medical conference. Patience witnesses her sister’s battle with her past demons and hoped Ajax and Sprite might offer her healing and joy. We may read this novel as a stand-alone novel or as a trilogy.

Read Now

They were abandoned in an old building on the south side of town. I could not take one and leave the other. They are high maintenance in the love department but adorable to come home to.

Life’s Seasons, a short-story collection, includes a valiant dog as title story – Toby. This story was first published in the short-story collection, The Rain, where Toby, a brave dog, living on his owner’s family farm is confronted by a treacherous storm. Instinct guides Toby when the safety of his beloved human family is threatened. Toby’s heroic, selfless act unwinds minute-by-minute to melt hearts.

Read Now

He gripped the harness between his teeth, prostrating to give the children a lift, to allow them to be pulled up with ease.

The Bardo Trilogy has Woza and Khaya, the loyal companions to the mysterious doyenne Tempest, on her mission to offer safety to women and children who are victims of crime.

Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Read Now

Living in isolation was difficult, but her parrot, Caramba, a keen white watcher of the skies and her two Rottweilers, Khaya and Woza, filled her lonely hours.

The act of including dogs in each of these novels and short stories is a subconscious inclusion drawn from experience.

Pets are companions who combat loneliness, fulfil a caring need, aid healing from grief and bring joy during life’s challenging times. Both fiction and reality meld to create balance to live in unison with the universe.

Now there’s nothing like one’s writing companion puppy snuggled at one’s feet as words and new worlds rise and fall on the page.

Happy Reading. Happy Writing.

Please share, like and comment below:

Creative Fiction: Keeping Histories Alive

The world is teeming with the here and now, current stories in the making with the mounting flux of national and international events and situations that drown the past as voices evaporate into the mists of time. The danger is in relegating these voices to forgotten histories when they have much to teach this time on human kindness and compassion, to obliterate the self-centred I, me and my way of thinking and behaving.

Fiction writers have the skills at their finger-tips to animate these voices through fictional recreations, Many such esteemed writers, as Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Elif Shafak, et al, have done so to great effect over time.

Ignorant of history, we find it easy to accept our isolation from one another. We are more able to recognize differences than shared experiences and perspectives. History proclaims our common humanity. – Author: Linda Simon

South Africa’s apartheid history has a multitude of women’s voices, women of colour – some of whom have gone unnoticed under the radar of time.

Souls of Her Daughters arrived to highlight the role that women of colour made to the contribution in dismantling apartheid’s constructed barriers of race, sex, culture and ethnicity.

In Souls of her Daughters, two mothers, Varuna and Elsie, the mothers of Grace and Patience unite as one family when their husbands are brutally killed during the darkest times in the land’s racist history. Their daughters, Grace and Patience, become the stoic women they reveal themselves to be while fighting their own demons on sexism and abuse. Kindness and compassion pave the way forward as the personal histories of Varuna and Elsie in demonstrating their resilience under the scrutiny and accusations of racist stereotypes.

From humble beginnings both Grace and Patience emerge as women of courage, serving humanity in an international arena. Before they achieved this level of confidence they found a space where they were valued, belonged, to reach out to those struggling a similar or worse fate.

These four forgotten voices were deep, and the reach expansive that it opened the way for two more novels to follow, Chosen Lives, and, What Change May Come. These novels that followed, Souls of Her Daughters takes the reader on a journey from South Africa to Australia, Ireland and India. The novels showcase the kindness and compassion of two sisters born from different mothers into a segregated South African society with the potential to overcome the debilitating challenges of their birth country’s political history.

Fiction has a valuable role to play in the recreated telling of stories that did not make it into the history pages of its respective time, yet these stories carry the potential to educate the here and now for a future built on kindness and compassion. These human qualities dissolve the quagmire of the human condition.

Please like and share your thoughts and ideas on the recreated fictionalised histories you would like to read.

Story-Telling… greater the art of ending

Writing is fun, art, a visceral experience.

A story crafted from bone to flesh takes many months, or years of vested time where emotional attachment is difficult to relinquish.

There comes a time in every delightful story where the writer cedes the pen (for a while before the editing clean-up).

Knowing where to start is as important as knowing when to stop.

Writing sequels, trilogies and series is a long-term relationship between the writer and manuscript. Characters become real when they consume sleeping and waking thoughts. A character wanting a bigger space on the pages of a story holds the writer to ransom.

Endings must be free of padding or info-dumping that feed the writer’s attachment to the tale, people or place, serving no express purpose to the story. Readers will thank the writer for avoiding the stuffing.

The original plan for the story veers off when a character wanting to be acknowledged calls out the loudest. Such a character is allowed a voice that directs the action on a different path. This is a natural part of the process, but rogue characters must be reeled in and put under a microscope to assess their primary role—is the character essential to the plot, does the character add an exciting plot twist or are they unnecessary?

A benevolent muse is the one to thank for all that arrive to prod the writer. If the voice/story/scene are ignored, they find a way into somebody else’s story. Lady Muse is a perpetual huntress.

Heed the call we must!

Writing is joyful, hard work. It takes committed diligence to keep going until the story is over. It will only ever be over when the writer is convinced it is time to stop. Soliciting advice from a trusted other, The Reader, is a good way to ensure that it is indeed the right point to type in ‘The End’.

Well-written stories will entertain audiences long after the writer’s time has passed.

When it feels right to end it — do it! If it is deemed not right later down the editing track — change it or add in a few subtle changes. To ignore that gnawing feeling that something is not right, but not worth the trouble to rectify it, is a mistake that comes back to haunt the writer.

Great is the art of beginning, but greater the art of ending ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet, educator, linguist.

Structure in a story is important, but the creative does not adhere to structure alone at the sacrifice of something unique that has the potential to hold the reader’s attention.

Should the ending resolve all issues?

Are all life’s issues resolved?

Fiction entertains but should mirror life to connect with readers on the universality of our fundamental humanity.

Walking in the shoes of the reader is a good way to access whether a story crafted over a length of time, the writer’s blood on the page, has value for the reader.

A story begins with action or change, and everything follows on from there, and it may end with change, the character’s growth or downfall, but ultimately it must guarantee reader satisfaction. If not, then a sequel or epilogue might do the trick, or leave it open to interpretation, but keep the element of surprise.

Tie up loose ends without deliberating over them

Would you write the ending first? This might be a sure-fire way to lead the scenes throughout the process of the first draft.

Please share the endings of some of your favourite books in the comment box below.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Stay Safe!

Creative Risks

Dare you should—damned if you don’t

Writing might simmer in the novice writer’s subconscious, afraid to put words on a page, or perhaps a manuscript sits half-written or complete, but safely locked in a desk drawer or tucked away in the garage under a heap of stuff.

Are you that person?

Risk 1: Creative Exhilaration

Taking the first creative risk is writing the story or poem that dwells in the mind’s hinterland.

Then pursuing the idea through to completion is the time risk invested to get to ‘the end.’ This is the honeymoon period. Bliss reigns as a generous muse massages words

Risk 2: New Eyes on the Page

The most daunting risk is getting an extra pair of eyes to read those beloved, private words. This could go horribly wrong if fresh eyes are inclined to be super critical about EVERYTHING.

The novice writer is a sensitive soul in need of validation. A poor selection of new eyes could end a potentially stellar career. Then again, choosing new eyes as your significant other, carries the risk ramifications that over validates, or liberally criticises, and possibly risks ‘the end’ to the union!

New eyes on new words should be benevolent in first congratulating the timid scribe on getting that far, then comment on the story, and throw in a few suggestions, expectations, and gently draw attention to plot holes that might exist.

Risk 3: Who will edit?

Choosing an editor who is the right fit for a novice writer has its risks that could go either way. Choose wisely, ask and check out vetted individuals through organisations such as ALLi, or trusted fellow authors in finding the right match that assures writing longevity.

Nobody’s perfect

If a novice is averse to professional feedback then the red flag goes up, and it’s best to consider whether the risks taken to get this far will be worth risking much more, or if it’s time to hand in the pen.

To be a successful writer, lock ego in the desk drawer or stash it under the rubbish in the garage, or better still, scrub it out of existence.

It is imperative to observe and listen to the safe, knowledgeable advice of those who do it well and successfully so. This applies to anything in life. In publishing, it is necessary to do so.

Be authentic, be unique, but know the ropes.

Take risks with an open mind. Push boundaries but know when to ponder the road ahead.

The journey is not over yet, there is the risk of whether the general reading public will love or loathe a close to the heart piece of literature.

When fear is overcome, it steels the novice (for a while – NB creatives are sensitive beings) to continue dipping a toe into the world of writing and publishing.

Risk 4: Publishing

There are many ways to get your words out into the world, so carefully consider the risk of giving up all the rights of a creative endeavour that spanned many days and nights, the ultimate sacrifices made to get to the grand finale before the decision to hand over blood, sweat, tears, and other emotional hooks.

Protect your rights, know your rights.

Risk you must, for unheard stories to be told, leave your legacy — stories have value, but choose your tribe wisely.

George Orwell in his essay, Why I Write:

‘In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible.’

Best wishes, always!

Happy Reading, Happy Writing!

Where are you now in your writing dreams?

Please share, and leave a comment to help a fearful novice step out in the right writing shoes.

May The Trilogy Be With You!

Writing a trilogy is not how I began writing, Souls of Her Daughters. The ending brought on an extension to the lives of Grace and Patience, and as the muse requested two more tales were born ending in the grand finale of, What Change May Come. The second book, Chosen Lives, picks up from Patience’s mission shrouded in mystery, and suspense when the aircraft she travels in disappears, followed by time tense revelations and heart-stopping fulfilling thriller magic!

enthrals with mystery and suspense ~ engaging and addictive ~ exhilarating… oozes with deep passion ~

~ Goodreads

The present trilogy in the making was planned. Book 1 of The Bardo Trilogy, Aurora Days, was released in April 2020 and Book 2 is scheduled for an October/November release. Book 3 will follow in the first quarter of 2021. And poetry beckons, egging me on with each publication. Hence Viola is also a closet poet! Stories crafted will always borrow some aspects from the writer’s world.

entrances and entertains… epic tale of courage, love and peril ~ Goodreads

Lessons learned in writing a trilogy are keeping a tight track on characters, places, time, and events. While for the most part, I am a panster, I do plan on Scrivener and shift and rearrange as each idea emerges. The glory of Scrivener is a necessary asset in a writer’s toolkit!

Sometimes the protagonist’s trajectory takes on a different path than originally envisioned. This is the power of independent creative choices — a freedom to chop or sustain at will.

Creative freedom is the stuff dreams are made of!

The Bardo Trilogy revolves around a family mystery in the life of PI Viola Bardo, schoolteacher extraordinaire with music in her heart and justice in her soul. Family relationships are a keen part of both my trilogies as are hidden secrets that connect to my thriller edge.

Changing locations is a wonderful way to revisit places I’ve been to in grounding the story.

While all this is in the making, a new venture beckons as an epic once-off or standalone novel on a family saga. The title came to mind first and pieces are emerging on that idea. Currently, I run two journals, something I have not done with my backlist publications. It has been largely one book at a time.

I am allowing the creative spirit to bite whichever way it wants so while the second book in The Bardo Trilogy is given priority, I am jotting down ideas as they appear on a new vision. I have taken on board Elizabeth Gilbert’s advice in ‘Big Magic’ — if you don’t pick up the stories coming to you, someone else will.

The muse will nudge the writer with her private messages when a story must be told.

The new venture beckoning will shift and change with time and no deadline is on the horizon for that yet. But it will be created as it comes.

I don’t intend on leaving Viola Bardo in the wings because she has many more revelations for the reader.

Keeping track of all that the divine muse dispenses is the best way forward.

May the Muse be With you!

Happy Writing! Happy Reading!

What’s your favourite trilogy read?

Mothers Mirrored in Fiction

Mother’s Day this year has a different ring to the freedom of yesteryear.

The nation waited to hear if we would be allowed to visit our mothers on this special day of the year. Something we took for granted… our mothers would always be there to listen, comfort, cook an amazing meal, take care of grandchildren, advise on matters of the heart, and chastise bad behaviour.

Love the whole world as a mother loves her only child ~ Gautama Buddha

The hype leading to Mother’s Day has been a buzz from infancy. 2020 has been still but some retail stores have opened for a dash purchase of a gift and a card to celebrate our mothers to tell them we love them. We fervently add that we want our mothers to be safe and well during this global health crisis. Some among us ache to see our mothers, some have passed on, and others are in social isolation — it has been two months of just telephone conversations and if possible, FaceTime, Zoom and Skype chats. The aching emptiness of the missed mama/nana hug is still not a possibility. A joyous expression of love is now a cause for global anxiety as we fear the unknown, the lethal. The comforting hug now a possible cause of harm.

Mothers occupy a universal, sacred place in our hearts. A mother’s unconditional love goes with her children from the cradle to the grave. Cultures revere mothers with a divinity deserving of profound respect and care. This value should undoubtedly be universal. The hearth of family and home is a mother.

Paradise lies at the feet of your mother~ Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

In paying tribute to all mothers today I also refer to the fictional mothers in, Souls of Her Daughters, and two follow-up novels in the trilogy (each reads as a stand-alone novel too) Chosen Lives, and, What Change May Come.

Mothers Varuna and Elsie present as the yin-yang of motherhood. Mama Varuna is Grace’s bold and strong mother who has weathered hardship with loss and societal criticism. Patience’s mother, Mama Elsie is a mild-mannered mother who faces racism and hardship in apartheid South Africa. Both mothers raise their daughters as one family united in their cultural difference and struggles. The highs and lows of the lives of mothers and daughters captured in the daily lives of Grace and Patience are what makes Mother’s Day a constant expression of love.

To all mothers, and future mothers, you are the pillars of family and society and should be celebrated daily.

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.’ ~ Proverbs 31:26

Share your thoughts in the comments.

Stay safe and well as restrictions ease in New South Wales and around the world.

Happy reading, happy writing.

Fiction Changemakers

If stories were never told — history would not exist — change would not occur.

So much that is fictional is drawn from reality.

The horrors that have occurred historically and afresh each day (as the daily news never fails to report) become the fictional realities writers create in imagined worlds. The fiction writer’s world is in tune with current and past societal occurrences. The subconscious mind sifts and imprints that which has emotive associations. From this collaboration of mind and emotions, the writer begins with a particular premise — then something magical happens — the pen takes on a life of its own.

Plotter or panster merge when that magic happens. Hey, presto! Fiction and reality commingle!

For this reason, mindful writing is imperative. It helps guide your book to a niche or a wider audience with a message melded to the entertainment a good book affords.

Every good story has a lesson to teach, an angst or joy to share

Where does the act of creative mindfulness emanate from?

The soul of the writer, his or her angst and joy sensitize the writer to the struggles people undergo — be it a socio-economic matter such as Charles Dickens’ novels that exposed England’s elitism, and Jane Austen’s portraits of gender and social class. These are two writers selected from a host of others of the day.

Today fictional writers create worlds around ‘me too,’ racism and power struggles. Power struggles and injustice are timeless from Fritz Lang’s 1927 German expressionist film Metropolis based on the 1925 novel by Thea von Harbouto, Orwell’s dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four and my current reading of American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins referred to as a ‘high-octane’ story, are a few in the countless number of books that connect readers through discomfit to what it means to struggle and survive.

Political thrillers expose mismanagement, and immorality while entertaining readers with suspense, the drama of high stakes, etc.

If fiction mirrors reality it becomes a record for posterity like all good books. A ‘good book’ depends on which end of the moral spectrum both reader and writer share. If a book angers and soothes, keeps the reader on the edge of their seat by creating desired expectations for the protagonist — it’s a great story penned.

Fiction should make us uncomfortable enough to question where we went wrong, and how can we rectify it

Nothing is political in writing if it showcases reality. The word ‘political’ from my apartheid history conjures thoughts of being labelled as being on the wrong side of the law. Yet a political thriller exposes heinous human behaviour in organizations that we trust to uphold justice.

Fiction is reality dressed up as the world on the pages of a good book, one that dares expose the foibles of troubled societies

Discomfit, guilt and thought

Let’s continue to create fictional realities by rocking the boat of complacency in assuring that the history of the past and history in the making generate discomfort — discomfit elicits thought and one can only hope that positive action will follow to change catastrophes that are within the human scope and rectify atrocious human behaviour.

My stories cut to the bone on forgotten voices who deserve to be heard.

Here’s to more fictional stories for all our better tomorrows.

Happy Australian long weekend. Happy pleasurable reading hours.

End Bell

As the year draws to a close in the blink of the year bowing out, it is a time to reflect on where we are, where we’ve come from and of course where we’re heading to.

Gratitude

My gratitude for a writing life is the blessing of the creative gift to tell the stories of forgotten or unheard voices and the passion to sustain this. I am indebted to the people I’ve met along the way who support my creativity by reading my books and inspiring and supporting my desire to write more.

ALLi guides my ethical author status by providing up-to-the-minute publishing and marketing advice through podcasts, publications, members’ forums and Orna Ross’ weekly, Maker, Manager, and Marketer accountability for creatives.

The vibrant How to Write for Success FB group supports seasoned and novice writers in a nurturing, inspirational forum and is a space to create and showcase some of my pieces while supporting writers on their creations in a constructive, non-judgmental forum.

Joanna Francis Penn’s Travel and Books Podcast and Mark Dawson’s SPS Podcasts are informative, entertaining and inspirational.

Writers no longer work in isolation. Seclusion is necessary for the creative process and networking creates visibility

Publishing

The third novel in the Souls Of Her Daughters Collection was completed, titled What Change May Come and a collection of short stories, Life’s Seasons was published this year. It has been a year of many things on all of life’s fronts with life experience extending understanding and the capacity to live my passion.

2020 – Onwards and Upwards

Currently, a new novel series/trilogy is in the making with the first draft complete and chilling for a month before several rounds of editing and reworking to be born into the world in the first quarter of next year.

Poetry is a calling that intensifies as evident in the post, Poetry Educates Prose. It was a joy to have my poem, ‘Listen,’ published in the December edition of the literary journal SIPAY. Coleridge, Wordsworth, Byron, Keats, Yeats and Orna Ross are poets I enjoy reading.

Additionally, supporting rising poets brings joy to my creative space.

What more…

Lots more writing and possibly looking at non-fiction and poetry publications while teaching, learning and growing.

A writing life, like reading, is the breath and pulse of life.

Have you signed up for my monthly or bi-monthly newsletters for special offers/ free books/stories and updates on new publications? Click here to enter and receive two free short stories.

As the year closes this chapter, I look forward with a glad and grateful heart.

Happy Reading, Happy Writing and Publishing this holiday season.

Season’s Greetings, may 2020 bring you the very best in peace, joy, good health, enhanced creative productivity, and abundant success in all your endeavours.

What are you grateful for as 2019 draws to a close?

Add your comments in the box below.

Writing Through Adversity

Writing has been well documented as having therapeutic value. Do you keep a personal diary, or a journal to record moments that are significant to you? Would you write a memoir or autobiography? Have you tried poetry writing?

Fiction is an avenue that has therapeutic benefit when writing about angst through fiction or poetry. This has value in reaching readers who might face a similar situation. Receiving a reader’s comment on connecting with a character or situation makes writing move from the realm of fictional entertainment to enhancing life, creating a sense of belonging through the power of story/words that whisper, ‘there are people who go through this, you are not alone, it’s not you…’

Human difficulties like our joys are universal and part of our shared humanity regardless of demography or any divisive label. We learn from each other, we share with each other — altruism is part of our human ‘feel good’ makeup. We feel good or secure in knowing that challenges are not unique. This is where fiction like a memoir/autobiography/biography and poetry has the ability to say, ‘I see you, I hear you, I feel your situation.’

‘In our angst and joy we are one under the sky of humanity’

Oftentimes something heard, something seen, or read triggers the imagination to create a story/poem — these seeds have their origin in human experience. Everything in life has imaginative storytelling potential. Historical fiction is a genre whereby much from history or literature is reimagined to suit a particular context adding timelessness to a story.

Poems and stories, when turned inward, create… growth… healing… self-awareness

Shakespeare’s The Tempest reimagined by Margaret Atwood in her novel, Hag-Seed is an example. Prospero becomes Felix a theatre director in a present-day context — he is grieving the deaths of his wife and daughter and has been backstabbed by an aspirational colleague. His vulnerability is an evocative point of connection with the reader. Professional or workplace strife present timeless human dilemmas, but when tastefully explored as a novel’s premise or ideas, it has the potential to speak to many isolated, lonely individuals — there is no shame in being vulnerable. Shame sits on the shoulders of those who abuse vulnerability. The most endearing people, in reality, are those who have experienced hardship, financially, in grief or loss, abuse or ill-health — having walked in the shoes of many with struggles, wires empathy — as human experience should be if we hope to coexist in peace and harmony.

Fiction can remind us why it is essential to be true to who we are in our expressions of self and in our interactions with each other.

In Souls of Her Daughters, Dr Grace Sharvin who heads a busy medical ER has unimaginable frailties but her strength is in her capacity to reach out to others while fighting her own demons.

Life’s lessons come from the adversarial people met, and they become the basis upon which writers craft their villains. A little bit of this and a little bit of that blended in a cauldron and hey presto! The (im)perfect villain is born! The good people we meet shape perspectives on why adversarial individuals have no place in a shared world.

Timeless heart-warming and gut-wrenching stories on life’s challenges and celebrations.

Literature is a luxury, Fiction is a necessity — GK Chesterton

and

Albert Camus said, Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.

Who can argue with such pearls of truth now?

Life, literature, news of the day, and history portray human experiences that provide inroads to new fictional stories and evocative poetry that connect rather than divide by exposing, celebrating, loving, grieving and understanding what it really means to be human. We all, whether real or fictional are indeed not alone in adversity.

Which novels and poems would you recommend to readers on overcoming adversity? Have you read A Spark of Hope?

Tripartite Character Connection

Quick access and the desire to know more, allow novel/film/ trilogies and series to thrive.
Writing a trilogy is planned either before Book 1 is written or while the first book is being written, but in my case, it emerged as the first book ended. Films such as ‘Mission Impossible,’ ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ ‘Spider-Man,’— to name a few, and novels: ‘Century Trilogy Series’ by Ken Follet, ‘Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy,’ ‘African Trilogy’ by Chinua Achebe, and ‘Hunger Games’ by Suzanne Collins — and so many more… have stood the test of time.

Being more of a pantser is probably the reason why Book 2 emerged after Book 1 was completed, thereafter a plan was mapped for each book which morphed along the way as characters spoke about their lives/situations. What is originally envisioned does not really end up as expected — this is my experience. With Souls of Her Daughters, each book that follows may be read as a standalone book or in combination as a trilogy.

In writing Souls of her Daughters, Chosen Lives and What Change May Come two arcs are included through the lives of sisters Grace and Patience, first as sisters, and then as professional women. Felicity Cassano, friend and associate to both sisters is the third arm in the tripartite connection. There is also the suggestion that Andrew Lang, young, handsome intern at City Hospital could be the third connection — ultimately the reader will pick a favourite for a host of reasons — tragic childhood or unrequited love, the emotional hook shapes preference.

Trilogies allow the inclusion of a range of characters to enter and intersect with the main arcs. Book 2, Chosen Lives, sees the entry of Ming, Audra, Masuyo and Zuri. This adds intrigue and colour to the lives of each character in their growth and development through the three books. The beginnings of a love story in Book 1, develops in Book 2, faces challenges in Book 3 adding more drama and intrigue in the rocky life of Grace with her beau Keefe Daly. Patience’s social justice initiative in creating safe houses for women of abuse in Australia sees her traveling to different places and finding commonality of the human spirit in any geographic location. Multicultural representations feature in all my books as an expression of a world where difference is of no consequence, professionally and personally.

Additionally, characters that attract negative attention for their human flaws in Book 1 can transition in Book 2 or Book 3. Such is the situation with Felicity Cassano, the legal eagle with good intentions that go awry in her sharp-tongued impulsive criticism of Grace, a medical practitioner she believes is somewhat faint-hearted.

We are voyagers, discoverers of the not-known… we have no map ~ (from HD – Hilda Doolittle’s – Trilogy- Tribute to the Angels)

Trilogies have value for both readers and writers — readers immerse themselves in the lives of fictional characters by finding limitless connections to their own worlds, and the writer relishes the depth of creative expression in fleshing out lives and situations that leave the reader wanting more.

What are your favourite trilogies? Drop a comment in the box below.

Happy Reading! Happy Creating!

Writing: Historical Memories Recalled

Historical fiction entertains and feeds memory. I remember teaching, Jackie French’s Hitler’s Daughter, and noted students’ curiosity on whether Hitler did indeed have a daughter. Research flourished and wonderful creative writing emerged.

Some of my favourite historical reads are, Charles Dickens, Tale of Two Cities with London and Paris during the French Revolution, Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind, a tale of the American South during the Civil War, Salman Rushdie’s, Midnight Children, a story of children born at the time of India’s independence from Britain.
The lists are endless and as diverse as the world we inhabit.
Currently, I’m reading Orna Ross’, Her Secret Rose (The Yeats-Gonne Trilogy 1) cited as a ‘delicate balance of fact and fiction…’ (bookbag UK)

Writing drawn from history emerges as an unconscious process in some of my books. The experience of apartheid atrocities comes through in Across Time and Space and Vindication Across Time and underpins leaving South Africa in Souls of Her Daughters. History might be more explicit in some and more subtle in others but it emerges from the deep well of the subconscious – the unforgotten seat of memory.
‘…sit down at a typewriter and bleed,’ as Ernest Hemingway aptly stated is where authentic stories emanate from – that space of creative intensity.

Today marks a significant day in South Africa’s history, country of my birth. June 16, 1976, was the Soweto Uprising that changed the socio-political landscape. It was a day when police fired at peaceful demonstrating students – the images of this brutality surged international revulsion. From this dark history, the most soulful artists emerged, creating music and poetry that stirs the soul to this day. The seat of struggle and suffering creates indelible timeless stories.

As a fiction writer and teacher, histories of the world find their way into some of my stories. The responsibility rests with the writer to present the accuracy of the histories chosen, not in a textbook rendition, but through selective and extensive research to create believable nuances of character, place and situations for palpable connections to the past.

The joy in reading historical fiction is in being transported to a time and place as an observer of significant moments, or better still, experiencing an era through brilliant writing.

What’s your favourite historical fiction?

Happy Reading, Happy Writing!

Share your thoughts on historical fiction in the comment box below.

Fiction: History, Culture, Truth

Every voice like every story has its place in the world. A niche audience might be readers of a particular history, people and culture of forgotten voices.
In an era that has in so many ways moved leaps and bounds forward, the opposite is true of human tolerance. Everywhere we dare to look, the capacity of the human spirit for evil outweighs the good around us, often overshadowing a multitude of voices and actions for common good.

Stories, fictional stories, even if thematically dark demonstrates the human capacity for change.
Fiction has had and continues to have the rite of passage to dismantle oppressive notions of the wicked side of human nature.

At the Sydney Writer’s Festival last week, the festival theme, ‘Lie To Me,’ resonated with memories, of the apartheid era where race and power/powerlessness named and played the game, and understanding of the impact of assimilation on the stolen generation.
An evening of storytelling affirmed the need to keep telling our societies’ truths to dispel the mistruths in the media, in politics and the use of social media as a tool to denigrate.

Forgetting past atrocities in no way heals the human condition. It’s a double-edged sword — remembering keeps the pain alive, but alive in recall that has the potential to thwart such heinous future acts. To quote Descartes, ‘I think therefore I am,’ is significant, but must be married to, ‘I feel therefore I am,’ and what better way than through a fictional story that ensures that the movement towards human value for all lives, does indeed matter.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. ~ George Santayana

Cultural stories of forgotten people hold them in conscious thought, remembered as life lessons to pass on to the next generation. While such stories might have a micro niche audience because they tell of the far-flung corners of history, they must be told.

Lines from Vindication Across Time sees the character Marcia Ntuli telling Michael Morrissey, a human rights lawyer about her mother’s hardship as a single mother under the apartheid regime.

Mama Dolores…the police would barge into our home and drag her to the police station for questioning. They were rough with her, they broke things in the house… kicking her in the back, calling her an evil kaffir. It was horrible. ~ Vindication Across Time.

Michael walks in Marcia’s and Mama Dolores’s shoes to gain an understanding of what preceded democracy in a troubled land. His theoretical basis on what constitutes human rights has a ‘live’ life lesson in a recount of the terror Marcia’s mother endured at the hands of the district police. This, in turn, opens the depth of understanding on what might have been misreported in historically written and spoken accounts of this era. The voices of men/women struggling on the fringes of society are left forgotten if not told through story, to entertain and awaken compassion that a history forgotten is dangerous — it lurks in the dark corners of the mind ready to be unleashed in the terrors we experience today.

The storyteller has the power to dispel untruths by telling stories that make us uncomfortable, those stories that some publishers are reluctant to put out into the world, so why wait, when a world of empowerment, without gatekeepers, awaits the telling of unheard stories.

Go tell those stories today. Keep an underrepresented history alive, in the minds and hearts of a niche audience in engaging fictional stories -stories that tell of truths that have been swept under a forgotten, tattered rug.

Share your reading that has inspired a new wave of thinking in the comment box below.

Happy Reading, Happy Writing.

Editing Ideas

The End! A joyous moment in finishing a novel after many months or years of getting up at the crack of dawn or staying up late into the night, writing the story that has burned within, but, it is only finished after the professional edit.

A product in hand created from the imagination in a fictional story is a proud moment. Now the editing process looms. No book ever goes out into the world without this step or rather several takes of this step.

I’ll share a few pointers that might be what you’re looking for, or perhaps you have another way of approaching the first round of editing.

Let the manuscript sit for a week before you look at it. Some say leave it for a longer period, perhaps six weeks before revisiting the composition with new eyes. Whatever works for you, ensure you have somewhat removed yourself from the emotional hooks of the work – this break allows the gaps, errors and omissions to come to light.

Print out the draft and run through the hard copy with several sharpened pencils, an eraser, and highlighter while correcting or adding in notes for a reconsideration of scenes etc. Scanning through a few chapters a day, when most energetic and lucid, perhaps over a two-week period, is an initial step towards removing redundancies, adding in omissions and checking spelling and other inconsistencies that arose during the feverish days of writing.

The second step is to read the draft out loud and record the reading. This highlights the flow or lack of it in dialogue and the unfolding of the story arc. This is followed by revisiting what needs to be rectified on pace, plot and character. Often at this stage, while characters might be developed, plot holes might be discovered.

After this is cleaned up, I usually format the draft as an Ebook and copy it to Kindle or iBooks and read it again on my device. Things that were missed in the last round of checks, pop in this new format and so the next round of corrections begin. This takes two rounds of Ebook checks. Reading chapters backwards has the benefit of noting errors that slip past the eye, as the mind sees and reads what is not there when following the sequence and ‘sense’ of the story.

Then a proof-reader is engaged for what the emotionally-hooked eye might have missed during the abovementioned process. All this occurs before the professional edit – a positive step towards getting advanced feedback on what could be improved upon to make the story sing. Ultimately, it’s up to the writer in what is accepted or rejected as plot, pace or character change.

Let the manuscript rest before revisiting it with ‘new eyes’

Some suggested pointers on key areas to work through during the self-editing of a manuscript.

Astound the Reader

Think about what intrigue is set up. How will the reader be surprised by an event or situation? Will there be a sudden revelation that the reader did not anticipate? The trick is to keep the reader turning every page in expectation of the next scene. Astounding the reader improves with each book written. The imagination is like a muscle, once taken to uncharted waters, it grows and develops. How is this achieved? ‘Read, read, read,’ the works of other successful writers, or be curious by turning to non-fiction books on the craft of writing. Become a life-long student of the craft.

Cut-out excess

In this fast-paced existence we lead, being superfluous kills the reader’s interest. In composing the first draft, write as much as possible – get all the ideas down in whatever fashion they emerge but be prepared to cull a lot during the editing phase.

Become a surgeon or a skilled chef of words, cutting away the disease or layers of fat that serve no purpose other than to make the story sluggish. This is referred to as ‘killing your darlings’ – the crutch words that we depend on are the unconscious gremlins that creep in.

Try not to include a back-story or contextual details that serve no purpose to the story – this is info-dumping that fills white space on the page to no effect in engaging the reader. Here, reading the manuscript out loud assists with discerning where the info-dump might be sitting with unnecessary details that steal from creating a more in-depth representation of an idea/character. Don’t give it all away too soon.

Make the Prose Sing

Style – choice of language and the general flow of the narration is an ongoing development of the writer’s craft that is enhanced with every piece written. The reader wants to see, feel, and be moved by the story. The use of metaphors, symbolism, imagery etc – bring music to the language of the story. This is what it means to ‘show, don’t tell.’

Additionally, look at how chapters end, are they leaving the reader with something that makes it difficult to put the book down? Keep it subtle and suggestive leaving the reader craving for more.

‘… emotional rawness in unadorned simplicity’ is indicative that the prose is appreciated for the meaning created, as is, ‘another engaging and addictive tale…’ Read your work as a reader, to feel, find, enjoy and connect to the story, then go back to the drawing board if something is not ‘singing,’ to polish the prose for a timeless read.

Create Characters with Emotional Depth

‘No tears in the writer,

No tears in the reader,

No surprise for the writer,

No surprise for the reader.

~ Robert Frost

If a writer does not feel it, how will the reader feel it? Invite the reader into the character’s head- what do they think, feel, see, and believe? How do they demonstrate this through their words, deeds and actions? Reading a review that states, ‘…brought tears to my eyes…’ is an indication that emotional triggers achieved the desired effect. Hearing a reader say, ‘I want a character like that in my life…’ signifies that a character has the effective emotional depth to elicit such a reader response. Reader reactions in, ‘… the characters had depth and charm…’ reveals a connection with the reader.

Creating believable characters with everyday concerns allows the reader to step into a character’s life to experience their foibles, vulnerabilities, strengths and challenges.

What are your thoughts on editing the first draft before the professional edit?

Please add your comments in the box below to share your views.

Happy Writing, Careful Editing, Enjoyable Reading!

Voices From Trinidad To Australia

As the New Year settles in, I’m following through on my creative intentions for 2019, to reach out, to connect in a global publishing landscape to learn and share ideas.

Through this shared landscape, I met and was inspired by prolific, Trinidadian author, Brenda Mohammed. She is the author of twenty-one publications, including the non-fiction book, How to Write For Success, a valuable advice book on achieving your personal best as a writer.

Brenda is also an award-winning author of Zeeka Chronicles, a Young Adult Thriller, and I am Cancer Free , a memoir, in the category Health and Fitness.
As a cancer survivor, banker, and writer, Brenda heads the rapidly growing How to Write for Success Group on Facebook for new and aspiring writers.

Getting To Know Brenda Mohammed

Biography:

Trinidadian Brenda Mohammed is a renowned, multi-genre, award-winning author and poet who has written twenty-one books to date.
She is a former Bank Manager of a leading International Bank in Trinidad and Tobago, and holds a Diploma in Banking from the Institute of Bankers in London.
When she branched off into Insurance she obtained a Diploma in Life Underwriting from the American College, USA.

Achievements

In November 2018 she received two book awards from Readers Favourite International, at an Awards Ceremony at the Regency Hotel in Miami. The awards were for I am Cancer Free in the category Health and Fitness, and Zeeka Chronicles, in the category Young Adult Thriller.

Brenda is the Founder of the group How to Write for Success.

From the Author

Becoming an author was not on my agenda.

My plans changed drastically when in 2005 I was faced with a life-changing situation. Diagnosed with cancer and living to tell my story inspired me to help others afflicted with the disease to cope. I documented my heart-wrenching experience of being diagnosed with ovarian cancer and my long and painful journey to overcoming the death sentence. In time, the essays transitioned into a book, I am Cancer Free: A Memoir, that tells my true story as a cancer survivor.

The book was published on June 3rd, 2013, and was available on digital stores worldwide. It had been read by so many people that it won the McGrath House Indie Book Awards 2016 in the non-fiction category. It also earned a five-star review and five-star seal in February 2017 from Readers’ Favorite and won an award in the Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards 2018 in the Health and Fitness category.

Encouraged by the rave reviews, I went on to write six fascinating memoirs, a five-book science fiction series, two children’s books, four books of short stories, one self-help book, How to Write for Success, two crime fiction books, and one book of poetry.

The science-fiction futuristic thriller series Zeeka Chronicles: Revenge of Zeeka also won an award for Best Science Fiction in September 2017 from Metamorph Publishing Summer Indie Book Awards, a five-star rating and five-star seal from Readers’ Favourite, the gold award in the category of science fiction in Emagazine Readers’ Choice Awards 2018 and placed in the top ten in the Author Academy Awards. It also won the Young Adult Thriller category in the Readers’ Favourite International Book Awards 2018.

Of my other books, My Life as a Banker was awarded for Best Bio/Memoir in Metamorph Publishing Summer Indie Awards 2016 and Your Time is Now, which contains a section of inspirational poems, received the IHIBRP 5 Star Recommended Read Award Badge.

Motivation

Words from my brother David V. Khan before he died:

‘Your book makes very pleasant reading, and your literary expression is superb and easy to follow. You have excellent talent, and you should follow up on a leisurely basis with perhaps publishing a book of short stories. With fiction, you will have a greater opportunity to use your imagination and your undoubted descriptive ability.
You used the word “fantasize” to create a situation. This is an outstanding quality, which you should continue to use because it is imagination, which disposes of everything, coming from within you. It creates beauty, justice, and happiness, which are everything in this world.’

It creates beauty, justice, and happiness, which are everything in this world.

Influencers

My Father, Dr Andrew M. Khan [ Deceased] – A great Educator in Trinidad and Tobago.
My Brother, Justice Addison M. Khan [Deceased] – Former President of the Industrial Court in Trinidad and Tobago. He wrote several law books which are being used in schools and Universities. He won a National Award from the Government of Trinidad and Tobago for meritorious service.
My Brother, David V. Khan [ Deceased]– Acting Comptroller of Customs and Excise in Trinidad and Tobago. He loved Literature and encouraged me to write.
My Husband Rashiff Mohammed, a former Bank Manager and Executive in a car firm – Although he has only read one book I wrote on my father’s memoirs, he has been very supportive of all my careers – Banking, Insurance, and Writing. He was my rock when Cancer struck.

Favourite books

The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale
Unlimited Power by Anthony Robbins

Where to Next?

Wherever my writing takes me.

How to Write for Success has valuable nuggets of truth for new and aspiring authors.

Follow Brenda on her Amazon Universal Link and check out all 21 of her books.

Brenda is selfless in inspiring, aspiring, and new authors in that anything is possible with commitment and humility in accepting that as writers, we too, are a work in progress.

I offer my gratitude to Brenda Mohammed for sharing her amazing journey as a prolific multi-genre, multi-award-winning author.

Please start the conversation today by adding your thoughts in the comment box below on sharing, supporting and learning from a global community of writers.

Happy Reading! Happy Writing!

How do you name them?

An interesting question recently from a reader prompted this post on whether the names of my characters were people I knew. As a writer I could say, yes, I do know my characters between the pages of my books, and fiction mirrors life as the angst, joy and foibles of individuals.

Meanings behind names have always intrigued me.

I choose names for some characters that befit their personalities and behaviour or represent the opposite of what they are. In Souls of Her Daughters, Grace and Patience are indomitable women in the face of the catastrophes that befall them. Grace’s mother, Varuna, has her name taken from the Sanskrit equivalent that attests to her strength as one who embraces all, hence she is the embodiment of the god of water and the celestial ocean surrounding the world. Her inner strength and capacity in how she copes with the murder of her devoted, humble husband, and subsequent chastisement and ostracisation by her extended family does not alter her essential goodness. Grace, Varuna’s biological daughter, and Patience, her adopted daughter endure horrific persecution, of a cultural and tribal nature – Varuna will stop at nothing to ensure her family is reunited, while she continues being a person for others in her neighbourhood.

In the sequel to Souls of Her Daughters, Chosen Lives sees the introduction of new characters, who are named in a similar vein, sometimes with demographic relevance, or drawn from Greek mythology – Xandria, defender of humankind, much the same as Alexis – helper or defender. Zuri, a Swahili derivative, means inspirational, beautiful, truth-seeker, and more. The head of the mission in Chosen Lives, an underground movement for a new world of women leaders, is named Masuyo, which means to profit or benefit the world. A mission recruit, running a school for women in India is Akanya, meaning peace and humility which she exemplifies in her interactions with others.

On the other hand, the character, Felicity, family friend and colleague to Patience, is far from what her name suggests, given her difficult childhood – her razor-sharp mind is admirable. The Arabic name, Azmil, means light, given to a young man who lost both his parents at the hands of rebel forces in Pakistan. The work he does, at the Well Study Centre, makes him the light to many orphaned young women. The snatched memory of his mother fosters his commitment to young women in his community.

The character, Audra, has a childhood of neglect by affluent parents, her name as explained in her testimony, is a celebration of the beauty of Audrey Hepburn. As she says, ‘to my Ramon, I was Audra.’

A multi-cultural cast of characters representing diversity in harmony

The third part of this trilogy, being written, will follow through with similar thought for new characters that emerge. Each of the three novels is a standalone read, too.

In my debut novel, Across Time and Space, and the sequel Vindication Across Time, Keres Bathory is a name drawn from a combination of Greek mythology and a historical character – a combination of one who disturbs the universe.

On her quest for her writing holy grail, what will Meryl sacrifice?

Aspects of a character’s behaviour might be drawn from observation which is married with imagination to serve the role they play in novels.

What’s your fascination with names in stories or the people you meet?

Add your comment in the box below.

Happy reading, Happy writing!

Australian Voices

So many voices, so many stories in a country as diverse as Australia, each sharing a connection to people and place.

Today on the blog we have Rhonda Forrest, a high school teacher, from beautiful, sunny Queensland. Rhonda began writing under the pen name ‘Lea Davey’. Her first two novels, Silkworm Secrets and The Shack by the Bay were published under the pen name, Lea Davey, however her latest novel, Two Heartbeats, published October 2018 has been published under her real name, Rhonda Forrest. Having always lived in Queensland, the vast Australian Outback and the pristine Whitsundays feature strongly in her stories. Rhonda Forrest shares her story and tells us more about her writing journey.

Meet the Author

Biography – I was born in Brisbane and grew up in Rochedale, which at the time was a rural farming area. It was a fabulous place to grow up and as kids, we spent our time playing in the bush, riding horses and living in a community where everyone knew each other. I married at the age of 21 and my husband and I moved to acreage at Bannockburn where we lived for thirty years. Along with a menagerie of animals it was here that we brought up our three daughters and made life-long friends with many of our neighbours. At the age of 40, after a multitude of different jobs and running my own business, I decided to study. After 4 years of full-time study, I graduated as a high school teacher of History and English. Recently we have moved to Tamborine Mountain and live between the mountain and a 100-year-old cottage with a rambling garden up in the Whitsundays. Both places are quiet and idyllic places to live and write.

Writing Journey – As a child, I loved reading and was surrounded by books. My mother who is 90, still to this day reads every day and as a teenager, she always handed me her books after she had finished them. Nothing was off-limits and I vividly remember being enthralled by books written by Harold Robbins, James Michener, Wilbur Smith and Jackie Collins. I used to always think that one day I would write a book, however, it wasn’t until about five years ago that I had time to seriously think about pursuing my writing. Long hours spent out on a tinnie in the middle of the ocean fishing, allowed plenty of time for daydreaming and the story of, The Shack by the Bay began rolling around in my head. Once I started writing the words flowed easily and I knew that I had found a new passion in my life – writing!

Genre – All of my books are different. The Shack by the Bay is contemporary historical fiction, Silkworm Secrets is contemporary fiction and Two Heartbeats is Romance. My favourite genre is historical fiction although I also love to read true-life stories.

Motivation – If you want to do something you should just have a go at it. I don’t think I ever considered failing, actually I don’t think about the end result that much, I just go for it. Really you have nothing to lose and once I start writing it’s hard to stop until the story is finished. The editing and parts that come after the actual writing for me are the hardest parts and I would love just to be able to write and to have someone else do the rest for me. But when this is not possible I stay motivated, buoyed along by the lovely reviews and comments I get from readers. With writing, it is not about the money that you make (because that is limited) but rather the motivation that comes from readers who love your books. One of the most exciting things is to look on the Brisbane library website and see that all 5 copies of your book are being borrowed!

Influencers – Probably the biggest influence for me in relation to my writing was the Australian author Coleen McCulloch. It was after I read her book, The Thorn Birds, in 1977, that I decided I would write a book. It took 40 years to have time to do that, but eventually, it happened.

Favourite Books – Just recently I read Boy Swallows Universe which is set in Brisbane so lots of familiar places and just a fabulous entertaining read. My Instagram page has a countdown of my top 50 books and these range from Mao’s Last Dancer to All the Light We Cannot See as well as, The Old Man and the Sea and Australian classics, The Cattle King and My Place. I have so many favourite books, but I do love historical fiction. The Garden of Evening Mists, A Good Muslim Boy and The Space Between Us are also some of my favourites.

If you want to do something you should just have a go at it

Continue reading “Australian Voices”