Interview with novelist Natasha Deen

Novelist Natasha Deen is here today to chat with me about her contemporary YA, In the Key of Nira Ghani.

Bio:

Award-winning author Natasha Deen writes for kids, teens, and adults. When she’s not writing, she enjoys visiting schools, libraries and other organizations to help people to find and tell the stories that live inside of them. She also spends an inordinate amount of time trying to convince her pets that she’s the boss of the house. Her latest novel, In the Key of Nira Ghani, is a Junior Library Guild selection, and a Barnes and Noble Top 25 Most Anticipated Own Voices novel, and an Indigo Teens Most Anticipated Teen Book.

Welcome, Natasha. Please tell us about your current release.

Nira Ghani has always dreamed of becoming a musician. Her Guyanese parents, however, have big plans for her to become a scientist or doctor. Nira’s grandmother and her best friend, Emily, are the only people who seem to truly understand her desire to establish an identity outside of the one imposed on Nira by her parents. When auditions for jazz band are announced, Nira realizes it’s now or never to convince her parents that she deserves a chance to pursue her passion.

As if fighting with her parents weren’t bad enough, Nira finds herself navigating a new friendship dynamic when her crush, Noah, and notorious mean-girl, McKenzie “Mac,” take a sudden interest in her and Emily, inserting themselves into the fold. So, too, does Nira’s much cooler (and very competitive) cousin Farah. Is she trying to wiggle her way into the new group to get closer to Noah? Is McKenzie trying to steal Emily’s attention away from her? As Farah and Noah grow closer and Emily begins to pull away, Nira’s trusted trumpet “George” remains her constant, offering her an escape from family and school drama.

But it isn’t until Nira takes a step back that she realizes she’s not the only one struggling to find her place in the world. As painful truths about her family are revealed, Nira learns to accept people for who they are and to open herself in ways she never thought possible.

A relatable and timely contemporary, coming-of age story, In the Key of Nira Ghani explores the social and cultural struggles of a teen in an immigrant household.

What inspired you to write this book?

Weirdly enough, Nira’s story began as someone else’s. Back in 2014-ish, I was working on a middle-grade novel that would **not** cooperate (translation, a year-and-a-half of me weeping, wailing, and stuffing cupcakes).

After a while, I realized the story I was trying to create didn’t match to the character. He had a different voice and a different tale to tell.

But I couldn’t get the first line out of my head, “The cow’s eyeball floats in the formaldehyde. It’s disembodied, a part cut off from the whole, just like me, but there’s a difference between me and the cloudy orb. It stares out at the kids as though it knows the secret the rest of us are dying to find out.”

So, one day, I took a breath and instead of trying to force the words, I listened for them. It was then I heard Nira’s voice, her longing, her humour, and it took off from there.

Excerpt from In the Key of Nira Ghani:

“Something happened at school?” Mom grasps the half-baked roti between her fingers and flips the dough to its uncooked side. “Is it your grades?”

“No.” Not true. Something seismic happened at school. I decided to try out for jazz band. It happened when I was clinging to the rope, wishing I’d been gifted with upper body strength. Maybe it was the oxygen deprivation, maybe it was the humiliation of knowing everyone was staring and judging. Doesn’t matter. What does matter is jazz band. I’m good with a trumpet. Great with it. The sound of a trumpet is the sound of my soul. Every time I play, it’s like I’m communing with the molecules and atoms that make me, me. Maybe, if I play long enough, loud enough, good enough, my DNA will rearrange itself, and I’ll figure out how to be smart, popular, and worthy.

Getting into band might be a way to get all that and more. The only downside is I need Mom and Dad’s permission. I have a better chance of scaling Mount Everest in a bikini and flip-flops.

What exciting story are you working on next?

Right now, I’m actually taking a break and catching up on the reading, with an eye to doing another young adult novel.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I’ll echo a quote from Agatha Christie, who said, “There was a moment when I changed from an amateur to a professional. I assumed the burden of a profession, which is to write even when you don't want to, don't much like what you're writing, and aren't writing particularly well.”

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I consider myself immensely lucky to be able to write full time. My day starts around 5 AM with a mochaccino, reading, and snuggles with the fur babies. I ease into the day with emails/admin, take a break to walk our sweet pupper, then it’s home. I’ll work on edits, manuscripts, research through the day, (aided with cupcakes and tea), then shut down around 6 PM.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

My firm belief that any story problem can be solved with a good cup of tea.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A superhero!

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

To the readers, thank you. Thank you for sharing your day and your time with me. I appreciate it.

Links:

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Barnes and Noble | Amazon | Chapters-Indigo

Lisa, thank you for sharing your blog and thank you for the chance to chat with your readers.

You’re quite welcome. Thanks for being here today!

Interview with adventure/thriller/suspense author Sonador Snow

My guest today is mystery author Sonador Snow. We’re chatting about his new novel, The World After.

Welcome, Sonador. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

I grew up in Eastern Europe during the Communist Regime that choked this part of the world in its firm grip for decades. As my parents and their parents were officially declared enemies of the regime (my grand grandfather was thrown in prison for many years for refusing to join the Communist Party) we moved a lot and didn’t have the easiest of lives as far as I remember. Still I vividly remember my mum reading to me every night and this was when my imagination and passion for books was born.

Many years later I was climbing up the ladder of corporate success when a chain of events in my personal life made me realize that I hated the well-paid job I had, I hated the city I was living in and I hated the direction my life and me as a person were heading. In hectic 48 hours of an unforgettable for me Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I turned my life upside down and this was when my current adventure started.

I spent several years travelling the world, visited countless amazing places, and as I did that I met many interesting people and soon had many interesting stories to tell. Backpacking guaranteed me adventures almost every step of the way. Eventually I settled in a picturesque small town in UK and my serious writing career started. Serious because I’m spending 10-12 hours every day writing something, but as the bills still need to be paid I must confess that for most of that time this is articles that have been published in over 100 newspapers and magazines, I stopped counting at some point. As of novels my first attempts were a few years back as a ghostwriter but one day I decided to take a plunge myself and here we are with my new novel The World After just emerging on the market.

Please tell us about your current release.

This book is about a dystopian feature that many think is the logical consequence of the events that are currently happening in our societies. I spent a lot of time researching prospects for the future of many serious experts and also pretty much all of the futuristic vehicles, buildings and devices in the book are based on already approved prototypes that one day are likely to become part of our everyday life.  

It's the year 2025, and free will has become something you can no longer take for granted.

New economic powers have risen from the ashes of old civilization, and 90% of the population have brain implants. The new world order excludes any disobedience against the authorities. The few who don't have brain implants soon find themselves dealing with the Agency for Tracking the Untraceables.

Among these fugitives without home or country exists a small group known as the Yuyuan. Planning to launch a bold effort against the tyrannical ruling powers and change the future of the entire humankind, they struggle against the Agency and their ruthless director, Shimi Levy, who will do everything in his power to stop them.

Moving at breakneck speed over five continents, The World After is a sure pick for fans of conspiracy theories and action-packed thrillers.

What inspired you to write this book?

I’ve always had problems with how much governments should be allowed to interfere with our lives, after all I grew up in a society in which the more involved the ‘carrying’ authorities were the harder it was for ordinary people to live and feel free, and the question about the best balance always bugged me.

For this particular book the trigger was probably a conversation I had with a friend. She came home one day talking about the new law in UK according to which all dogs should be chipped and to my surprise I heard her saying they should do this to people too. As she is a relatively intelligent lady I was surprised that she even considered that possibility and naturally this rose many questions in my mind that led to the initial idea of this book. Here are some of the questions I asked myself that led to me writing this novel:

What will you do in 2025? Will you have a brain implant? Will you want one? Are you ready to sacrifice your convenience for the sake of getting back your Free Will? Will you support ‘Apocalypse’? Are you ready for the world after …?

Excerpt from The World After:

“An insatiable thirst. This is the main driving force of men. Thirst for money, thirst for power, thirst for love, thirst for happiness, thirst for vengeance. Everything in this world is created just to satisfy someone’s thirst.”

These were the thoughts that engaged Taylor’s mind as he stared from the top of the hill above Happy Valley in Hong Kong at the colorful crowd hurrying up and down between the buildings and the impossible traffic that continued to choke the artificial islands that had composed the backbone of Hong Kong for decades. And what was his thirst? After he willingly left the real world in 2015 and chose the life of a hermit or even a rebel, after all he was officially classed as an outlaw, he was left with just one thirst – a thirst for the past. A past which only he remembered now, or at least he felt that way from time to time.

The year was 2025. Eight years had passed since 2017 – a year in which robots became the norm, not only in factories and industry, but also in people’s everyday lives. This was also the year in which the first supermen were born, genetically modified and created exactly here – in Hong Kong, in the Lab for Genetic Engineering of the Beijing Institute for Genomic. But an even bigger change occurred in 2020, a year in which humans en masse and “willingly” were forced to exchange their passports for brain implants. Well, not all humans agreed to that.

Only Taylor knew what it cost him to escape having this extra in his brain, with which the population of the modern world communicated with the robots around them, used their computers, switched on and off their TVs, cars, etc. A PC with a mouse and keyboard could only be seen in museums these days.

Light rain started to fall over Hong Kong. Some things never changed. Despite all the extra pollution and abuse against nature, the climate in this area of the world remained constantly humid and stickily hot. Taylor lifted his head, enjoying the fresh raindrops touching his face. The light rain soon turned into a downpour that steadily washed away into the ocean most of the rubbish gathered on the streets of the metropolis. Taylor looked back down towards the busy city and started walking along Shanghai Road. Taylor Swansea was forty-seven years old with good posture and a strong body. An ex-financial advisor – he lost his job, house and wife during the financial crisis of 2010-2011. He never recovered from these losses; also, the world didn’t give him any time in its constant hurry to change.

North America was stuck in a swamp of meanness; Europe was still undecided whether to keep or terminate its European Union; the British Isles became wasteland after the volcanic eruptions in Iceland in 2018. Also, a hopeless struggle had started to force the Arabic and African emigrants back to their deserted and unlivable homelands. Russia was still in alcohol amok. Japan was continually trying to recover from a sequence of devastating earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. And the Pacific? Well, it became the new tacit ruler of the world. China, India and Brazil became familiarly known as the Trinity. And a race of super intelligent children which China started to produce in 2017 was about to end the speculation about who had the leading role in this Trinity.

Taylor continued to make his way down the steep streets of Hong Kong. Hundreds of people with emotionless expressions and from all sorts of nationalities were rushing around him to finish their ‘important’ daily jobs so they could have ‘quality’ evening time to spend with friends or family. His red, roughly cropped hair, already all wet from the persistent drizzle, fell over his shoulders resembling a bloody waterfall. His chestnut colored eyes stared at everyone passing by. He was waiting with growing anxiety to meet Jinhun Sun – one true Chinese Han and, most importantly, another person without a brain implant.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I’m working on two things actually.

In the days I don’t have more than an hour or two for writing I work on a compilation of short stories titled ‘Behind the Iron Curtain’. These are true stories of people that lived, many of them also died, during the Communist Regimes in USSR and Eastern Europe.

However, my main time is spend working on the second part of my debut novel, Quest for Babylon’s Soul. I have high hopes that I’ll finish it by the autumn.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I assume it depends what people put behind the meaning of the word. I can say that I was feeling a proud writer when I was a teenager. I started entertaining my annoying little sister on the back seat of our family vehicle with fairy tales I was inventing on the go. Nothing is left of them and all I can remember is that there was a rabbit, a prince and a naughty tortoise.

In terms of novelist I can’t say that even now I don’t feel myself as one, but I’m working on achieving that in near future.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I write full time, but I don’t write novels full time. I work for a News Agency and write 20-30 articles a week. As of creative writing I try to do that every morning, seven days a week. I’m most productive when it comes to writing novels very early in the day and for that reason I get up every day around 5:30 and between 06:00 and 09:00 my time is dedicated to creative writing and reading.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

Maybe, it will be shock for many but I’m probably one of the few writers left that always does his first and second drafts on paper. Only after that I sit in front of the laptop. It’s a much longer process but this works best for me.

The other quirk is that I never sketch stories. I just follow my characters and allow them to take me where they want to. For example, I just finished chapter 6 of my new novel with a dark figure emerging from behind an armchair and I was asked by my first reader who that might be. Honestly, I don’t know yet. Once I start working on the next chapter it will come to me, it always does.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Paleontologist or world traveler. Dinosaurs and Geography have been my passions all through my early years. I’m a bit rusty these days if I have to talk about dinosaurs but when it comes to geography I can still name pretty much every national flag and also already managed to done a serious bit of roaming around our beautiful planet.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I’d really enjoyed doing this interview and I’m hoping that in the future we’ll have many more reasons to meet on this blog. Looking forward to make new friends and hear from people interested to find more about me or my books. I always answer personally the emails I receive at sonador.snow@mail.com

Now I really have to go because the fishes in my five aquariums are rioting for food and also my annoying but lovely dog Snowy stares at me with his lead in his mouth, which always means only one thing, I’m late for his walk yet again!!!

Links:

Twitter | Website | Amazon US

Thanks for being here today, Sonador! All the best with your writing.