If you don’t already know, I’m a British-Bangladeshi Muslim author living in the UK. I grew up in East London and now live just a few minutes away from my childhood home. I write and self-publish fantasy and contemporary romance novels. Half of my protagonists are people of colour (POC) and half are “white”. I will explain why that is — I only figured this out fairly recently! — before discussing the issues that arise when writing characters from an ethnic minority group, even if you’re a part of that community.
The ‘why’
My contemporary fiction novels are all multicultural romances. I…
Some rash decisions can change your life forever…
December 1, 2010: Completed first draft of Soulmates Saga #1June 30, 2012: Published Soulmates Saga #1 via SmashwordsAugust 2012: My sister-in-law (my eldest brother's wife, mother of two girls) died from pancreatic cancer. She was the same age as I am now. She'd been diagnosed just over a year prior to her death. Her daughters were 8- and 3-years-old when she passed away.
I wasn't ready to write about this until now…
A few months after I finished writing the first draft of my debut self-published novel — following a…
I’ve noticed that people within the traditional publishing industry — authors, agents, editors — tend to advise authors to refrain from reading negative reviews of their books. I’ve read a lot of articles/interviews with professionals in trad pub that have said this so I am not making it up — and I get it. These authors have book deals. Their books are in Waterstones and Barnes & Noble. They’ve made it. The negative reviews will only taint the good times they’ve worked so hard for. A lot of people in indie publishing may say the same to self-published authors. …
The way I write my fiction has changed a lot over the years, and as the title of this blog post says, I now write on my SmartPhone using Apps. I’ll go into my favourite ones in this article, but first:
Where did it all start?
In the very beginning, I wrote my stories in the classroom. While all the kids played in the sandpit or toy house, I preferred to make my own “books”. Stacking up pieces of paper, folding the stack in half, and getting the teachers to staple everything together. I even illustrated my stories and showed them off to the teachers.
…
In the beginning, there were the godlings three…
Not gonna lie, I am rather obsessed with my characters — and anyone that follows me on Twitter knows I talk about them a lot; in some tweets, I even talk to them, haha — but it recently occurred to me that I haven’t written a blog post specifically about my beloved protagonists in ages. Well, I’ve only written two posts focusing solely on my characters since starting my publishing journey in 2012!
One of the posts I shared on my website was a Heroine Face-Off. Yup, I have them competing against…
Do Some Authors Write Their MCs To Be Role Models For Readers?
I was once asked whether Mukti, the heroine in my Soulmates Saga, is a good role model for young British-Asian women. I answered by saying that in some ways, she is, and in some ways, she isn’t. Mukti, who you first meet in Book 1 of this adult contemporary romance series, is resilient, hard-working, and kind. Great! However, she also has insecurities and they sometimes get the better of her. It’s not ideal, but it’s something a lot of us can relate to. It makes her real.
Either way, I never intended for her — or any of my characters…
Want to learn some facts about Seb, Imran, Shayla, Reha and co. that weren’t mentioned in the Love & Alternatives Duology? Look no further! You may have guessed at some of these — so enjoy having your suspicions confirmed — but others will come as a surprise, I’m sure *wink*
[For those of you stumbling upon this piece through my social media or Medium profile: These facts shouldn’t spoil you if you haven’t yet read the entire series or the series finale. …
Thank you for reading and commenting! Yes, some books can be difficult to digest, maybe due to the subject matter (an example of one I read is Witness The Night). If we find it compelling and want to keep reading and find out what happens, then we should absolutely keep reading :) Thought-provoking books, too—if we’re willing to continue to explore the issue. If we don’t feel like continuing and force ourselves to plough on despite not enjoying the book, it might not be a good reading experience and leave us in a sour mood. …
Some authors might not like me saying this. Some readers, too. Oh, well *shrug*
No author likes to hear that a reader did not finish (DNF) reading one of their books. However, DNFs shouldn’t be something people — authors or readers — frown upon; in fact, I think it’s really important for the reading and writing community as a whole. For the wider book/publishing market. In this post, I will explain why.
It’s Okay to DNF, y’know
Over the years, I’ve heard readers say that when they start reading a novel, they’re making a promise to the book and to themselves, and by not finishing…
You’ve heard of the most common reasons why indie authors’ books don’t get reviews. In this post, I’ll share 3 reasons you haven’t thought of…
We all know that only a small proportion of readers actually post reviews of the books they read (around 1% of readers, they say) and several factors determine the number of reviews a book receives. This includes the size of the author’s readership and platform, their mailing list, their network of bloggers and fellow authors, and of course, the quality of their book(s). In the case of perma-free books — which tend to be self-published works — most people just don’t get around to reading/finishing everything they download.
Then, there’s the fact that the majority of people outside the publishing…
