My ongoing journey as a writer…

My works are not the results of the last 5 years, they are the result of my entire life, starting from my childhood. I attended with my body every day in our world, but my mind was suspended in its place between many. Starting school exactly after the Iraqi war with Kuwait was over made me one of the most unpopular kids in my classes. The sure result was isolation. I created my own corner, and it grew bigger, opening the doors for many other fantasies and new characters, personas that shaped me within time. The only person who made my life easier was my older brother who never stopped being there for me when things get rough, which is why I created the main character in his honor.

My isolation and imagination was the conditioner for the fragment of the art’s soul lying within me, it made me become what I am right now, that fragment was bound to grow in the direction it did right now because it had me as the catalyst. My first time to unleash it was in my university years in Emirates (which is one of the locations in my novel). I met my best friends over there who introduced me to their own fragments, we connected those pieces together and ended up with an idea for a movie.

I started finally when I was on my own after I changed my major and decided to change my university. During that time, I took the liberty to share and place my ideas on paper instead of just having them pass by on my mind. The first idea was ‘Psychs’, it grew too much until eventually it possessed me and made me talk about her. Two days later, my friend called me, asking about my idea while he was inside a DVD store, he thought it was a movie. And thus the path was clearer in my journey, and I didn’t waste anytime walking through it.

My publishing experience had a disastrous start which will lead me eventually to experience. I thought that all you needed was a print house and that’s it… right?… Wrong. I found one and ended up with a thousand copy of my book but, and here’s the kicker, with no real ISBN number. So imagine how hard it was to convince bookstores to place my book in them. I succeeded eventually in Kuwait, they were really nice with me and thanks to them, my novel became a bestseller over there. It was a small victory but it felt big. I started with a new publishing house now, AuthorHouse (Parent company is Penguin) and I have never felt more comfortable. They are really professionals and thanks to them, my book can be obtained worldwide. And the latest news was the Kirkus review, but I will share that later in the near future.

This is a picture of my desk… It soothes me whenever I sit there.

So… since I shared my real story of how I became a writer, I would like to share what I wrote with you all.

Psychs is all about fusing reality with fantasy… sound’s familiar? I guess I couldn’t avoid using that clay of my life in the novel. My center was Hassan, my main character and my tribute to my older brother, I thought of him and then the story sprang. He’s someone with eight spirits connected to him by one fateful event. Those spirits will soon become his teachers and give him their knowledge so he can be able to lead another life, where he gets to use his gift and their knowledge for good.

Here’s a pre-publication video of me talking about my novel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bhMMxhb2ZI

And here’s the novel’s cool widget: http://book2look.com/vBook.aspx?id=BYOlb1oXNc

I decided to write this post as my way to share my experience and to raise the curiosity of other authors and avid readers to ask questions. I was always on the lookout for author’s stories, and I loved it when I see how alike we sometimes are.

I would love to answer questions from readers, bloggers and authors. You may end up learning something or better yet, teaching me too. I’m not too proud to not admit that.

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