Can you share a little about yourself with us?
I’m a wife, mother, and grandmother and I finally found out what I want to be when I grow up. I always loved writing, but never thought I’d publish a book because I thought of writing as just a hobby. After reading Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich,” I decided to follow his advice and write down my goal, but when it came down to it, I had no idea what my passion was, until one day when I was writing I noticed how exhilarated I felt, so my goal became to publish “When Monsters Get Lonely,” as well as my website, http://www.empowerment-and-kids.com/. They were both launched together.
In my book, Monsters Get Lonely, Hannah’s worst fear comes to life when her monster pays her a visit in the dark of night. Hannah finds it difficult to control her dreadful fear, until Gams reveals how our thoughts magically create our lives.
The most important issue I want kids to understand is they create their lives with their thoughts. If they think monsters are scary, they’ll just end up being scared; but what if monsters were lonely, maybe they just need a friend and maybe they can help us come up with ideas. Hannah wants to be a movie director; maybe other kids want to be writers. Could the monster help them come up with ideas for stories?
Does your family and friends inspire any of your books, characters, or plots?
Yes, two of my books are based on my granddaughter and myself. I think we have to draw from real life to make our characters believable, even though the characters may not be exactly the same. My granddaughter was just a toddler when I wrote the book, so the character is not really her, but that’s how I perceived her.
Can you share your favorite quote?
My favorite quote is a bit long, and I don’t know it all by heart, even though I learned it by heart in school. It had a profound effect on me, and I always practiced it when it came to my children. It’s Khalil Gibran’s poem on children from his book “The Prophet”:
“Your children are not your children, they are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you, yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.”
What is the best advice you've ever received?
I can tell you the best advice I read and wish I could follow “Moderation. Small helpings. Sample a little bit of everything. These are the secrets of happiness and good health” Julia Child. I’m afraid I indulge!
If you could have coffee with anyone (living or dead, real or fictional), who would it be and why?
I would love to have coffee with Khalil Gibran, if only to listen to him talk about anything. I’m sure that even his small talk would be inspiring.
What are your top three favorite books and why?
“The Prophet” by Khalil Gibran. This book hit a nerve; it made me want to cry for the beauty of its words. I reread it several times, and will definitely read it many more times.
“Shogun” by James Clavell. I read this book back in the 80’s, and you know how you feel sad when you finish a book because the characters grow on you? This was one such book. You get so involved with the characters because they’re growing and changing. I also loved the historical background. I actually checked it out in the encyclopedia.
And last but not least, “Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel. I love the passion in Latin American literature, and this book was magical. I loved the imagery of Tita’s tears that flooded Dr. Brown’s house, and that of Gertrudis’ passion that set the shower house on fire, and I just loved that every chapter began with a recipe and that the food took on Tita’s feelings and affected everyone. I do believe that a good cook infuses his cooking with his passion. I’m a foodie and I love to cook. I even tried one of the recipes but I had to improvise. I used dried roses and chicken, instead of fresh roses and quail… This was another story I was so very sad to finish reading.
I make my husband wear headphones to watch TV because I write mostly on my recliner in the TV room. He accuses me of not being able to multi task. If multi tasking means watching TV and writing something coherent at the same, then I plead guilty. But you know what? I’m great at juggling. I can cook three or four different things at the same time without burning, overcooking, or undercooking any of them. To me that’s multitasking, but I’ll call it juggling for argument’s sake.
Could you share about any current writing projects?
Currently I’m writing to add pages to my website http://www.empowerment-and-kids.com/index.html. I also have two stories that I’m revising. I’d love to be able to concentrate on them exclusively, but I have too much to do at the moment. I intend to publish both of them next year.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Yes, I’d like to invite readers who read my book and website to leave their reviews and comments here: http://www.empowerment-and-kids.com/when-monsters-get-lonely.html, or they can contact me on my website. I would also like to invite them to build their own page by playing pretend roles and writing about it here: http://www.empowerment-and-kids.com/playingroles.html.
2 Comments
Thank you for hosting Maha Huneidi. Her book is really cute and one my girls love to read.
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting me on your website, and thank you Virginia. I'm glad your girls enjoyed my book
ReplyDeleteI love to hear from you. So feel free to comment, but keep in mind the basics of blog etiquette — no spam, no profanity, no slander, etc.
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