Saturday 31 August 2013

Chasing Pavements, Arabian Nights-Style (Part I)

My husband doesn’t read books.  Like most men in my family, he’d rather watch a film or play on his SmartPhone.  To this day, he still hasn’t read any of my books. 

Ours was an arranged marriage, so he didn’t know I was a writer (or an aspiring one at the least), he had no idea that I had self-published a few e-books (at the time I’d published Chasing Pavements and PoisonBlood, Book 1: Revelation and PoisonBlood, Book 2: Absolution).  And I didn’t know how to tell him.  Since so few people in my life (and the whole world in general) knew Neha Yazmin, the indie author, it was extremely difficult bringing the topic up in everyday conversation with a man who I was just getting to know. 

Deep down, I didn’t want to tell him.  Not yet.  Not until I had a bit more recognition for my work.  Yet, I still wanted him to know about the books, read them, be a part of that piece of my life that was still secret from him.  So I encouraged him to read Chasing Pavements.  “I don’t have the time,” he replied.  He wasn’t joking.  I didn’t have much of that either.  Between my full-time job, spending time with my mum in hospital following her brain surgery and partial paralysis (see previous posts When Life Becomes Stranger ThanFiction - An author’s story, Part I & II for more detail), my responsibilities to my family and new in-laws, my husband and I hardly had time for each other, for our new life together, let alone to huddle around my Kindle.

Since we didn’t have any time together during the day, we stayed up late every night, talked and laughed into the early hours of the morning, even though I had to get up at 7am to get ready for work each day.  The late nights worsened the effects of the stresses of work, hospital visits, getting home late and trying to please every single member of my new family, but I was determined to make time for my life partner, so we could get to know each other, make a connection.  Time didn’t exist for me anymore.  Every second of the day I was doing something, very little for myself, but I was super-busy everyday and sleeping at night seemed to be wasting the only time I could give my new husband.

It was during one of our late night talks that I found myself telling him about how Mukti and Jamie met and before I knew it, I was telling their story.  He seemed genuinely intrigued, and soon, engrossed by the tale of the two soulmates.  When I got really sleepy and insisted we call it a night, he made me promise to continue the story the next night.  I thought he was joking.  I promised I would pick up from where I left off nonetheless.

What ensued was our very own, very short, version of Arabian Nights - each night, I would run through a few chapters of the book.  This one time we were on the sofa in the living and he said, “Let’s go to bed, I want to know what happens after X event in the book.”  He didn’t know I’d written it and so I knew his interest wasn't fake.  What surprised me was how much he cared about the characters, Mukti in particular, feeling both sympathy and empathy for the tragic heroine.  He visited the Needle In Tension (the iconic sculpture referenced throughout the book) and took pictures with it.  I took him to Arnold Circus (a park featured in the book) and he muttered, “The author must have lived around here.”  A part of me thought he had figured out that I was the writer but didn’t want to say it because I hadn’t admitted it yet.  Another part of me wondered whether he was that slow. 

This post continues here.

Thank you for reading this post. If you're interested in my debut novel, click the image below to learn more about it:
 


Like all my other books, it's also available on:
iBooks   |   B&N Nook   |   Kobo |   Smashwords 


Book Details

Length: 110,000 words
Genre: Contemporary Romance / Clean Romance / Diverse Romance / Interracial Romance / Romantic Drama / Women’s Fiction

Mood: Inspirational / Feel Good / Coming of Age / Dark
Content: Sexy but No explicit sex scenes / No erotica
Audience: New Adult & College / Adult / Female Readers

Recommended for: Readers that enjoy romance novels with serious issues and characters with depth. This is a story about life, love, friendship, family, music, art, destiny and soul mates.


And the first two books in my urban fantasy/paranormal romance series, the Poison Blood series, can be downloaded for free via:

Amazon USAmazon UK|   iBooks US & UK   |   B&N Nook Store   |   Smashwords



PB1 Book Details

Length: 29,000 words
Genre: Paranormal Romance / Vampire Romance / Paranormal Fantasy / Urban Fantasy / Science Fiction & Fantasy

Mood: Dark / Humorous / Coming of age
Content: No violence / No explicit sex scenes / No erotica
Audience: Teen / Young Adult / New Adult / Adult
Recommended for: Readers that love all things vampires, slayers and witches!

Tuesday 6 August 2013

Book Review - Make You Feel My Love

Today's guest book review was written by a customer of Smashwords.com

Book: Make You Feel My Love
Author: Neha Yazmin
Reviewer: Smashwords customer

"Love isn't simple, and definitely not easy.  Life is very powerful and destructive.  And the Universe has its plans for all of us, some we would never imagine in a million years." 

After a tumultuous year, star-crossed lovers Mukti and Jamie have finally resolved their personal issues and are starting a new life together in New York City. Mukti has found her calling in life and Jamie’s music career is taking off.

But as all this brings new obligations and responsibilities, their love is once again put to the test.  The sequel to Chasing Pavements unravels even more secrets and lies which threaten to split them apart forever.


You didn’t think it finished there did you?  How wrong you were - that was merely book 1!  The Soulmate Saga continues! 

When I first read ‘Chasing Pavements’ (the first book of ‘The Soulmates Saga’), I remember thinking that it seemed to have the perfect ending; how could the story possibly continue?  But as I started to turn the pages of ‘Make You Feel My Love’ (the sequel), suddenly it felt like just the opposite.  How could I have thought that the story was over, when in fact the story had just begun!

Starting a new life together in New York, Mukti feels very much in love with Jamie.  But how long will this happiness last?  And what happens when others become entangled in Mukti’s life?

The plot of ‘Make You Feel My Love’ is a refreshing change to the typical narratives of romantic fiction.  True to real life, what might seem like ‘happily ever after’ can change in an instant.  Sometimes love can evolve over time, changing for the better or for the worse.  And sometimes you might think that love is forgotten, to later find that it never really left you at all… 

I enjoyed the various plot twists and the way the narrative flits between the points of view of the different characters involved.  But most of all, I loved the characters themselves.  Neha has a unique way of writing where you really empathise with the characters.  You might not always agree with the choices they make (!), but you are able to understand their points of view and you care about them all the same.  

At times, I found myself laughing out loud at their humorous conversations.  At other times, I found myself crying over their heart-wrenching sadness (yes I admit it, it made me cry!).  This story really does take you through a whole rollercoaster of emotions.

And, like the first book, ‘Make you Feel My Love’ also has its own soundtrack that you can enjoy - plus a Q&A from the author herself.  Again this helps to add an extra dimension to the novel, as you are able to gain an insight into Neha’s inspiration and how the novel came about.  Check out Neha’s blog for more info: http://nehayazmin.blogspot.co.uk/ 

All in all, I would thoroughly recommend this book!  Now to wait for the third part of ‘The Soulmates Saga’ (hurry up Neha!).