Hi lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Farzana Doctor and her new book, “All Inclusive”! For other stops on her Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.
Be sure to make it to the end
of this post to enter to win exciting prizes like a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card or ONE
of TEN print copies of the featured book!!
Also, come back daily to interact with Farzana and to increase your
chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!
All Inclusive
by Farzana Doctor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Literary Fiction, LGBT, Magical Realism, Multicultural
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
A
story about an all-inclusive resort, the ghost of an unknown father, and the
tragedies we can’t forget.
What’s
it like when everyone’s dream vacation is your job? Ameera works at a Mexican
all-inclusive resort, where every day is paradise — if “paradise” means endless
paperwork, quotas to meet, and entitled tourists. But it’s not all bad:
Ameera’s pastime of choice is the swingers scene, and the resort is the perfect
place to hook up with like-minded couples without all the hassle of having to
see them again.
Despite
Ameera’s best efforts to keep her sideline a secret, someone is spreading
scandalous rumours about her around the resort, and her job might be at stake.
Meanwhile, she’s being plagued by her other secret, the big unknown of her
existence: the identity of her father and why he disappeared. Unbeknownst to
Ameera, her father, Azeez, is looking for her, and they both must come to terms
with the reason why he abandoned her.
A
moving new work from award-winning author Farzana Doctor, All Inclusive blurs
the lines between the real world and paradise, and life and death, and reminds
us that love is neither easily lost nor found.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT TWO:
Azeez
June 21, 1985, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
I’d
been watching her for a full ten minutes. She sat at the table next to mine,
reading a textbook
entitled
Understanding World Religions. It was the first day of summer and my second
last in
Canada.
She
absent-mindedly played with her long auburn hair, her fingers moving like a
magician’s, conjuring it into a single braid. She didn’t tie off the end, and
her hair eventually resisted the arrangement and pulled itself free. I nibbled
my honey cruller, and waited for her to notice me. For another ten minutes, I
scripted my words. I was a chatty fellow back then, but it took immense bravery
to speak to a woman I didn’t know. I chided myself: what did it matter if I
sounded like a fool?
“That
looks like interesting reading.”
She
glanced up, and her cheeks blushed crimson. I loved when white girls did that.
It just
isn’t
the same with brown girls; their pigment allows them to mute their
embarrassment. The girl
smiled
and nodded and returned to her textbook, her lavender highlighter squeaking
across the
page.
But I could tell she was no longer concentrating on the material.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK TRAILER:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUEST POST:
5 Tips for Finishing Your Novel
In
2001, during a writing course, the instructor told a story about how a writer
he knew—someone with a full-time job and kids—managed to write a novel in 4
years by carving out 3 forty-five minute slots each week. I don’t have kids,
but at the time I was a very harried manager of two addiction programs at a
mental health hospital, and so I followed this example, very literally.
It
took me 4 years, but I managed to write my first novel, Stealing Nasreen.
I
quit that job, and started a part-time private practice in order to have more
time and flexibility to write. It’s taken years, but I’ve settled into a pretty
good routine. Here are 5 writing practices that work for me:
1. Set page count goals
• Goals must be SMART (specific,
measurable, realistic, attainable, time-based). For example, it works for me to
set a weekly goal of 10 pages for new writing, or 100 pages when in the
revision stage. Your page count goals might be less or more, depending on your
schedule.
2. Schedule writing time
• This helps me to make writing a priority.
I write for an hour each morning, then take my dog for a walk, and then write
again for another hour. Then I switch gears and see my psychotherapy clients.
When I am really busy (for example, when promoting a new book), sometimes all I
get is 15 minutes with my morning coffee. It’s amazing how much can get done in
short, intentional writing sprints.
3. Don’t worry about your writing space
• I write in a notebook or use my laptop
and so I can write in bed, at my kitchen table, in a coffee shop or at my
psychotherapy office. I know people who write on the subway. Just find any
place that works and don’t let your imperfect environment be a distraction.
4. Allow for fallow time
• Writers need lots of quiet time to
process, fantasize and imagine. Allow yourself to zone out, to take time off,
to meditate. While drifting off to sleep on my acupuncturist’s table last week,
I solved a puzzle in my novel that I’d been working on for days. Also, I don’t
write on my vacations, because I see writing as my job, and we all need a
holiday from work.
5. Give yourself deadlines
• Except when near the end of a project,
when I’m working with an agent or editor, no one is setting deadlines for me,
so I have to set them myself. I mark due dates in my calendar. Sometime I’ll
work with external deadlines by applying for a grant or submitting work to a
contest to help myself finish on time.
What
are your tips for finishing a novel? Leave a comment below!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
Farzana Doctor is
the author of three novels: Stealing Nasreen, Six Metres of Pavement (which was
a 2012 Lambda Literary Award and the 2017 One Book One Brampton winner) and the
recently released All Inclusive which was a Kobo and National Post Best Book of
the Year. Farzana was named one of CBC Books’ “Ten Canadian Women Writers You
Need to Read Now”. She is also a Registered Social Worker with a part-time
psychotherapy practice. She curates the Brockton Writers Series.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH
FARZANA:
Website:
Facebook:
Twitter:
Instagram:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Authors Page:
Book Club Guide:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble:
Kobo:
Apple iBooks:
Google Play:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Farzana will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes
and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner and a print copy of the book to 10
randomly drawn winners (US Only) via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Farzana ~ It is great to have you here! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting me today, Ally!
DeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteShared on G+ to help spread the word, good luck with the book tour!
ReplyDeleteYou're so kind, Nikolina!
Deletecongrats on the tour and thanks for the chance to win :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for being me with me on tour!
DeleteHappy Friday! Thanks for sharing the great post, have a great weekend :)
ReplyDeleteWhat book would you like to see turned into a movie? Thanks for the giveaway. I hope that I win. Bernie W BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com
ReplyDelete