Been thinking of the Nike slogan lately. There’s so much darn wisdom in those three little words. One of the things you need in this writing field, besides a complete misunderstanding of the odds of success, is someone at your back that will push you to do things you kind of, sort of, feel scared […]

They say that most writers are frustrated actors. I find that funny because I never wanted to pursue acting, not that it was ever a choice. Acting was considered a licentious profession in Pakistani culture and that was actually something I agreed with growing up. Besides, I never had the confidence in my looks to […]

Went to a publisher party the other night and had a number of very interesting experiences. It was chock full of people, most of whom I didn’t know, but I did see a dear acquaintance of mine and went over to say hello. She’s always worked on the business side of children’s literature. She’s attended conferences […]

Got some more accolades for King for a Day! It got a fabulous review at Book Dragon , and this review really mentions what I was trying to do with the story! Shows that Malik, the main character (which means king in Arabic) has all the properties of a really good one! Loved this line: … By […]

It’s happened. I’ve had comments from two different relatives about it, and it’s really thrown me for a loop. Shaken me to my core. The comments weren’t from people I was expecting them from. Yeah, sure, I had one relative, ages ago, respond to my wish to be a world famous children’s author with the […]

Sooner or later every author will receive a negative review. There’s a saying out there that no matter what you do, 10% of people will disagree with it. I wonder if they’re just ornery or something. In hindsight, I’m really really grateful that the first review I ever received was a total pan! It was […]

I meant to shout out to any Christians reading this that I hoped they had a good holiday, but somehow in the busyness of the day I didn’t get a chance. I find the hub bub about whether to say Merry Christmas, vs Happy Holidays really interesting. I think it should be very simple. If […]

for schmoozing! When I was thinking of writing this blog, I had to smile, remembering back to when I first started out in this field. I’d get so nervous going to any sort of writer type party where I’d be meeting the ‘movers and shakers’. I’d think strategy. How to get the ‘most’ out of […]

This is going to be a long post! I have so much to tell to wind up my trip to India–but bear with me I think you might find it pretty funny! So I went to the Taj, straight from Delhi airport on Monday, Dec. 3rd. Our flight from Pune get delayed because the system […]

So I guess the Delhi belly phenomenon took a while to hit me, because I didn’t get it till the second last day of this whirlwind tour, here in Pune. Delhi belly is basically vomiting and diarrhea. The runs, you name it. Started with a general feeling of queasiness yesterday morning, and by the time […]