Hello, lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Lili Naghdi and her new book, “On Loving”! 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 a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!! Also, come back daily to interact with Lili
and to increase your chances of winning!
This book is on SALE
during the book tour for ONLY $0.99!!!
See below for more details.
Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!
On Loving
by Lili Naghdi
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GENRE: Romance
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BLURB:
In
1972, Dr. Rose Hemmings has just finished her general surgery residency when a
haunted stranger is shot in front of her in a New York City bar, and their
lives become forever intertwined. And when, having been given the blessing of
her adoptive father on his deathbed, Rose travels to prerevolutionary Iran to
discover the past her American family kept secret from her, she finds a true
Pandora's box. It is a world both foreign and familiar, in which her primary
place is as the heiress to a great tribe. In Iran, Rose will find family she
never dreamed of, her own people, and a man who loves her as passionately as he
does the rare black roses of his garden. She will return to the United States
carrying a new secret and torn between two men: the one she loves helplessly,
and the one who loves her unconditionally.
Woven
throughout with Persian poetry ancient and modern, On Loving is the story of
one woman's lifetime of love and loss, of societal change in a nomadic people,
and of overcoming personal challenges, including mental and physical health, to
find true contentment. Above all, it is a story of love: its physiology,
psychology and philosophy; the many forms it takes; its myths and truths; its
challenges, its joys and its gifts.
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EXCERPT TWO:
“It
was almost nine when I got back. Kim had fed Layla and put her to sleep. I sent
Kim home for the night, kissed Layla’s face good night and went to my room to
change for bed.
Siyavash’s
letter was still on the floor. I bent down and picked it up.
Inhaling
the scent of the dried black rose, I wandered to the window and stared at the
thin, even white carpet of snow on the street. Where do I want to be? I asked
myself. Somewhere beautiful, calming. Somewhere full of life, with a boundless,
vaulted sky above my head, perhaps!
I
then closed my eyes and let myself being taken to Siyavash’s majestic rose
garden in Isfahan. I could feel the breeze in my hair, could feel the warmth of
the sun on my face. I remembered how Siyavash had looked at me with love and
admiration there. I was blind not to see it then. I couldn’t recall Dean
looking at me like that …
I
opened my eyes and read Siyavash’s letter again, raking my fingers through my
hair. Then, nervously rubbing my neck, I went to the phone next to my bed.
“Good
evening,” I said when the other end of the line picked up.
“Rose!
Is that … Is that you?” It was Siyavash.
“Yes,
it’s me!” I paused and swallowed the lump that had risen in my throat. “Come
back home! Just come back to me!”
I
quickly hung up and rushed to the window, as if for air. Snowflakes were still
dancing their way down to the ground.
My
chest felt so constricted that I could hardly breathe.
Am
I questioning Dean’s love for me? I wondered. Am I comparing it to Siyavash’s?
But that was impossible! I shook my head. I’m just giving Siyavash a chance to
redeem himself, a proper second chance. But the reminder to myself was
pointless: the truth was something else, and I knew it!
I
was at fault here. I was the guilty — guilty of blocking not only my ears but
also my soul from hearing Siyavash’s voice, so ignorant indeed that my heart
was finally reproaching me for my bigotry and cruelty.
I
folded the letter and tucked it away in the drawer next to my bed.
I’ll
know soon how I need to deal with him, I told myself. Or I’ll just have to find
a way around it!”
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BOOK TRAILER:
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BOOK LAUNCH
VIDEO:
Check out Lili’s exciting and successful book launch in Toronto,
CA!!!
GUEST POST:
Advice for Writers
Be
bold, be yourself and explore your emotions, your thoughts and beliefs that
arise from within you and share them wholeheartedly with your readers. I'm sure
whatever comes purely from within will always sit well with any reader. Trust
your readers and that will always work without a doubt. For me, knowing and
feeling my characters while writing about them, their dialogues and etc. was
such an incredible way of connecting with the whole story in a different level
and I believe thinking in a way that you are also a part of your story and
experiencing your characters’ reactions may make a huge difference in your
perception and approach to writing and creating your story. Let the characters
talk to you in their own way so you can reflect the true meaning of what they
really mean. When you talk to people or even have a very simple daily
encounter, don’t hesitate to evaluate your own feelings toward the topic of
discussion or their reactions, their facial expressions, it will certainly help
for character development and it may even help you to create a new character
that can make your story more relatable for your readers. The great William
Faulkner once said, “Read, read, read everything – trash, classics, good and
bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice
and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it is good,
you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out the window.” Although I respect him deeply and I think he
gave us a wonderful advice, but I at the same time I question the part about
“reading everything”, since I think if you have a limited time with your busy
lives these days you need to spend more time reading the material that worth
reading and can inspire you as a writer. Be fair and stay away from any prejudice
or any preconceived opinion that is not based on reason. It subconsciously
pushes you toward wrong misconceptions and eventually kills your creativity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
Lili Naghdi is an
Iranian Canadian physician who was born and raised in Tehran. She continued her
education and research after moving to Canada with her husband and daughter in
1996. Today she practices family medicine in Vaughan, Ontario, with particular
interests in women’s and mental health. Being a family physician gives her the
privilege of connecting with patients and participating in their care with a
deeper understanding of the physical, emotional and social adversities they
face. Interacting with people of many different backgrounds has also provided
Dr. Naghdi with the opportunity to grow as a person, a physician and an author.
Growing
up in pre- and post-revolutionary Iran, Lili became fascinated by the magical
realm of literature, poetry and history. She began collecting prized quotations
at the young age of eight. Dr. Naghdi has written poetry and short stories in
both Farsi and English, but she eventually followed William Wordsworth’s advice
to “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart,” and turned to fiction.
On
Loving is her first novel. Inspired by both the ordinary people she has the
honor to support and by the great literature of Persia and the world — from
Hafez to Forugh Farrokhzad and from John Steinbeck to Margaret Mitchell — Dr.
Naghdi passionately agrees with Boris Pasternak, whose Yuri Zhivago is a
physician and patriotic poet, when he writes: “Literature is the art of
discovering something extraordinary about ordinary people and saying with
ordinary words something extraordinary.”
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CONNECT WITH LILI:
Website:
Blog:
Email:
lilnaghdi@gmail.com
Facebook:
Instagram:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS &
BOOK SALE INFO:
**On Loving is on SALE during the book tour for ONLY $0.99!!!**
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Amazon Paperback:
Amazon Hardcover:
Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:
Barnes and Noble Paperback:
Barnes and Noble Hardcover:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/on-loving-lili-naghdi/1130591456?ean=9781999497026
Kobo eBook #1:
Kobo eBook #2:
The Book Depository Paperback:
The Book Depository Hardcover:
BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:
BAM! Books-A-Million Hardcover:
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase is 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.
