Welcome author Frazana Doctor today to the Reading Nook. Please remember that there is a giveaway at the end of the post. Farzana Doctor will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner and a print copy of the book to 10 randomly drawn winners (US Only) via rafflecopter during the tour. The tour is sponsored by Goddess Fish Promotions.
Now let's chat with the author...
How did you start
writing literary fiction?
When I began writing
my first novel, I didn’t have any knowledge about genres. I just wrote in the
style of the books I read. I admire the ways in which literary fiction’s prose
can be beautiful and evocative. I also enjoy feeling deeply with characters,
sometimes crying and laughing on the same page.
Plotter or pantster?
A combination. I like to know the story’s
arc and the characters’ main obstacles and desires before I begin writing. I’ll
sometimes brainstorm a list of scenes to help me for when I get stuck later.
And then the rest of it is pantsing, I guess, where I listen deeply to my
creative unconscious and the spirits voices that come to me.
What are three things
you have on your writing desk?
Can you believe that I
don’t have a writing desk? I write in bed, at the kitchen table, on trains, in
coffee shops. I guess I like to move around! There is usually a hot beverage
nearby, and often a pen and paper.
Tell us a little about
your new release. What character in the book really spoke to you?
One of my characters,
Azeez, is a spirit. He “came” to me late in the process of writing the book,
and it felt a spirit was feeding me his scenes and dialogue. I enjoy his way of
looking at the world from a wise and distant perspective.
Finish this sentence:
I write because ____...
If I didn’t I’d feel
really uncomfortable, kind of like if I hadn’t exercised today. I think it
might be an addiction. I feel withdrawal when I haven’t written for a few days.
What is the sexiest
scene you ever wrote?
All Inclusive has been described by the Toronto Star as a book that will raise
eyebrows. I’m guessing that they might be referring to a group sex scene in
which m my protagonist, Ameera, participates.
What is next on your
writerly horizon?
I’ve just completed my
4th novel, Unfamiliar Skin,
which shines a spotlight on the Dawoodi Bohra community, which I’m from.
GENRE: Literary Fiction, LGBT, magical realism,
multicultural
A
story about an all-inclusive resort, the ghost of an unknown father, and the
tragedies we can’t forget.
What’s it like when everyone’s dream vacation is your job? Ameera works at a Mexican all-inclusive resort, where every day is paradise — if “paradise” means endless paperwork, quotas to meet, and entitled tourists. But it’s not all bad: Ameera’s pastime of choice is the swingers scene, and the resort is the perfect place to hook up with like-minded couples without all the hassle of having to see them again.
Despite Ameera’s best efforts to keep her sideline a secret, someone is spreading scandalous rumours about her around the resort, and her job might be at stake. Meanwhile, she’s being plagued by her other secret, the big unknown of her existence: the identity of her father and why he disappeared. Unbeknownst to Ameera, her father, Azeez, is looking for her, and they both must come to terms with the reason why he abandoned her.
A moving new work from award-winning author Farzana Doctor, All Inclusive blurs the lines between the real world and paradise, and life and death, and reminds us that love is neither easily lost nor found.
What’s it like when everyone’s dream vacation is your job? Ameera works at a Mexican all-inclusive resort, where every day is paradise — if “paradise” means endless paperwork, quotas to meet, and entitled tourists. But it’s not all bad: Ameera’s pastime of choice is the swingers scene, and the resort is the perfect place to hook up with like-minded couples without all the hassle of having to see them again.
Despite Ameera’s best efforts to keep her sideline a secret, someone is spreading scandalous rumours about her around the resort, and her job might be at stake. Meanwhile, she’s being plagued by her other secret, the big unknown of her existence: the identity of her father and why he disappeared. Unbeknownst to Ameera, her father, Azeez, is looking for her, and they both must come to terms with the reason why he abandoned her.
A moving new work from award-winning author Farzana Doctor, All Inclusive blurs the lines between the real world and paradise, and life and death, and reminds us that love is neither easily lost nor found.
Excerpt:
March 27, 2015, Huatulco, Mexico
A DC8 droned above.
“Here they come,” I announced. Friday was our
departure-arrival day. One sunburned and
grouchy group left for their northern homes, and another
cohort, ecstatic and pale, touched down and took their place.
Roberto grabbed a plastic file-box and gestured for me to
sit beside him. I lowered myself
onto the makeshift seat and wiped away a slick of perspiration
from the creases behind my
knees.
“Ameera, you hear about that tour rep getting fired over at
Waves?” Roberto stroked his
thin moustache.
“Nancy? Yeah, I’m still in shock.” I hadn’t known her well,
but I’d gone clubbing with her
and the other tour reps from our sister resorts a few times.
She’d seemed all right to me.
The airplane circled closer, and, in unison, we clapped our
hands over our ears and tilted
our chins to the sky. After it had rolled across the tarmac
and quieted its engines, we resumed our gossip.
“What I don’t get is why someone in their late twenties
would want to have sex with a fifteen-year-old.” Roberto shook his head, as
though trying to dislodge the idea.
“But didn’t the kid lie about his age? He told her he was
eighteen, right?” While I’d never
in a million years sleep with a teenager, I could imagine
how booze and loneliness could have led Nancy to her mistake.
Buy
links:
Indie
bookstore: http://www.charisbooksandmore.com/book/9781459731813
Book
trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqTStZedIao
Book
club guide: https://www.dundurn.com/sites/default/files/supplementary/AllInclusive-BookClubResource.pdf
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Farzana
Doctor is the author of three novels: Stealing Nasreen, Six Metres of Pavement
(which was a 2012 Lambda Literary Award and the 2017 One Book One Brampton
winner) and the recently released All Inclusive which was a Kobo and National
Post Best Book of the Year. Farzana was named one of CBC Books’ “Ten Canadian
Women Writers You Need to Read Now”. She is also a Registered Social Worker
with a part-time psychotherapy practice. She curates the Brockton Writers
Series.
Website:
www.farzanadoctor.com
Twitter:
@farzanadoctor
Instagram:
@farzanadoctor
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/farzanadoctor
GIVEAWAY
