Kash Ye Pal...

Trying to work on True or False (the novel that has Jal the band as actual characters) and Sea of Benevolence (the third installment of my shape-shifter series) at the same time. It could actually work out pretty well if it wasn't for the fact that I'm also simultaneously watching a movie and working on this blog. Talk about multi-tasking. But hey, everyone needs a break, right? Considering that I'm smack-dab in the middle for each work, I might need a break, even if it only lasts a couple of hours. I can't stay away from writing for too long. That's why I love it so much. I just can't live without it.

Speaking of things I can't live without, Jal the band just released a new song, "Kash Ye Pal", which translates as "I Wish This Moment..." in English, and I will say this: I never thought a song would make me cry. Ever, especially since I'm really not all that emotional at all. But then I never thought I would write a novel with the band in it either. That's just how life is. At least I have a new song to add to my playlist for True or False, even if it does make me start crying every time I hear it. There's just so much emotion put into it, the singing, the lyrics, even the actual composition... Don't worry, I won't start singing it. In the words of Arisha Ali, "She sings like a sick yak." Of course, she was describing Saamiya, but she might as well have been describing me.

Shape-shifter Series #1 For the Love of Humanity

This is the first installment to my YA "shape-shifter series", For the Love of Humanity. Sixteen year old Coralie "Cora" Parker's boyfriend has just moved to Rhode Island, leaving her in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, with the meager company of the cat her veterinarian father brings home one day. With Cora's luck, the cat turns out to be angst-ridden teen shape-shifter Kyle Grimalkin. So now Cora has to balance high school, her friends, family, and figure out how to keep this huge secret hidden from all of them while trying to maintain her relationship with boyfriend Gavin Cooper. It doesn't help that Kyle, for some reason, finds it excruciatingly difficult to control his instincts around Gavin and seems to be always ready to pick a fight. When things start to spin out of control, Cora finds herself faced with a dilemma: she has to choose between Gavin and Kyle. Each is hiding something from her, but only one secret is life-changing, and she doesn't know which one has it. Should she trust Gavin, who she has known for five years, or Kyle, who she has known for five months? Should she choose love or should she choose friendship?  

Finding Her Voice

My third novel, Finding Her Voice, is told in first-person narrative, with point of view switching from protagonist Mala Haq to best friend Rick Ahmed to love interest Aidan Parker. Mala has always been mute and regrets that she has never been able to speak for herself. Using sign language, Mala is only able to attend college at Princeton University when Rick agrees to interpret her signs for their professors. Aidan Parker is a medical student and recent graduate of Princeton. When he meets Mala for the first time, he is immediately intrigued by her inability to speak and her expressive blue eyes. Promising to help her, Aidan recommends Mala's case to a friend who manages to restore Mala's voice through corrective surgery. Just as Mala is finally learning how to speak and express herself properly, her parents reveal that they, along with Rick's family, are moving back to hometown Karachi, Pakistan. Five years pass. Mala, as well as Rick, has established a successful career as a Pakistani solo artist, turning her old talent for keyboard into a profession. Aidan and Mala meet again when they bump into each other in a mall in Karachi. Mala, mildly scolding Aidan for losing the paper on which she'd given him her phone number years ago, invites him to her home. The spark that ignited five years ago is slowly rekindled, much to the annoyance of Rick, who is grateful to Aidan for helping Mala but wants Mala to remember who it was that stood by her for so many years. Told in three parts, several references to modern Pakistani artists are made, and a list of websites of many artists is included at the end. Mala's first name and Rick's last name, Ahmed, can be seen as an allusion to legendary Pakistani playback singers Ahmed and Mala Rushdi, although this was actually unintentionally done.

La Donna

My second novel, La Donna: A Story of Destruction, is more serious than The Peasant Princess. Written in third-person omniscient point of view, perspectives alternate from focusing on protagonist Angela Fratelli to antagonist Donna/Tanya Fitzgerald to Angela's fiance Michael Johannsen. Angela, 25, is essentially perfect: a genius, beautiful, an heiress to a rather vast fortune...need I say more? Angela is perfect to the point of irritation, at least she was for her elder sister Antonia Fratelli, who ran away from home at the age of fourteen (sixteen years have passed since then) and was never heard from again. As perfect as Angela may be, her life still has a few rough edges, such as her parents dying in a car crash (the police suspect murder) and the police forbidding her from maintaining contact with younger brother Antonello just in case either of them are next. Donna - or "La Donna", as she calls herself - is a mob boss with a very powerful grudge against Angela; with a cold heart and fury constantly ignited in her eyes, Donna will stop at nothing to get her revenge, even if it means losing herself in the process. Even Michael, Angela's fiance, is hiding a few secrets, even though all he wants is to protect Angela from Donna and "Tanya Fitzgerald" - Donna's alias when she becomes Angela's "bodyguard" - even if it means losing his life. 

The Peasant Princess

My first novel, a children's novel, can be seen as similar to Gail Carson Levine's books like Ella Enchanted and Fairest as well as Margaret Peterson Haddix's Just Ella, although my novel has a completely different storyline from all of the above. In reality, the only thing they have in common is that a princess is involved. Titled The Peasant Princess, it's all about the unusual life of Princess Marie of Monakia - Marie frequently leaves the palace disguised as a peasant girl, duels (as in swords) with her older brother Prince Charme, practices archery almost daily, and finds her lessons with tutor Robert more interesting and easier to understand than embroidery or dance lessons. After rejecting suitor Prince Alexander of neighboring country Dolornia, Marie is kidnapped by Alexander's men. So Marie has two options: one, marry Alexander, who by this point is clearly insane; or two, rely on two maids-turned-ladies-in-waiting, a falcon, Robert, Charme, and a redheaded Prince David to somehow get her out of such a mess.

Other Projects

Okay, more on my other projects now. So far I've completed five novel manuscripts, three stand-alones and two series' installments. Since this post would be really long and confusing if I included info on each book one right after the other, each book will have its own post. (This has nothing to do with Jal the band, I just love that pic.)

Happy Holidays!

I just want to wish a happy holiday to everyone out there! Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Eid (like me - it's a bit late for that, I know), it's no fun unless you celebrate with your friends and family, so keep that in mind! 

So far I'm still working on that project involving JAL (its working title is True or False) and I'm about 74,395 words in - or 142 single-spaced pages. Apparently first-time novelists' works are easier to sell around 60,000 words - something I've heard just recently - but if you think about it, this is my sixth work and the only thing new about it is that I haven't gotten published yet. Plus, with such a complicated story-line (trust me, it gets pretty complicated but I don't think any readers will get confused - none of mine have yet) there's no way I can get it all done in 60,000 words (maybe I can cut it shorter by eliminating a bit of Shazi's dialogue in the first part - I'm concerned I'm getting his personality all wrong anyway since he's the one band member no one ever hears much from or about, but it still won't make 60,000 since there's not too much that needs cutting). Plus, since the chapters rotate from Saamiya's POV to Farhan's and there is a subplot involving Goher and Saamiya's best friend Arisha, I'm planning to go back and add some chapters in Goher's POV as well. So what you get is what you get, I guess, 60,000 words or not, as long as I can get the band's approval and a good literary agent. Hopefully I'll get both really soon.

New Project

The project I'm currently working on has the real members of Pakistani rock band Jal (note that my list of favorite music includes most...well, okay, all of their songs) - Farhan Saeed, (center) Goher Mumtaz (right), and Aamir Sheraz, better known as Shazi (left) - posing as an assistant librarian, dorm advisor, and gym director, respectively, at Berkeley College. Only Saamiya Siddiqui, due to her best friend Arisha Ali's obsession with the band, can recognize them, and she soon decides to use their secret to her advantage... I got the idea for the plot from a dream I had one night over the summer, I guess from listening to Jal's songs all day (which I do every day, let me be honest here). I also recently had a dream that could make a pretty interesting music video, but it might be a little too bizarre for the band. At least, it didn't work out so well in my dream because the song was really gentle and slow-paced while the video was all high-tech and had an explosion in the end. Yes, I know, I have odd dreams, but they can be developed into good novel ideas if I work out all the kinks.