Nillu Nasser's Blog, page 9

Cover Reveal Countdown and the Blurb for All the Tomorrows

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Three Days to the Cover Reveal for All the Tomorrows

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On Communication Overload

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Maybe I Always Knew

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Photo by Zhang

This has been the way of the world
since atoms first exploded
galaxies unfolded
and light grew

Though I didn’t know it

A baby wails, all red and wet
Seasons roll by, and
she grows from a tiny bud
into a strong tree

Though one day her time will come

The creeping awareness
of my mortality finds me
as I nurse my own child
my mind a whiteout from exhaustion

Maybe I always knew

Time is short, and
death is near
I buried the thought
within the folds of innocence

I have begun, I know,
...

A Blueprint to Finding a Title for Your Novel

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Photo by nist6dh

As many of you know, this autumn Evolved Publishing will be releasing my first novel. The past few months have been a whirlwind of getting to know the Evolved team and editorial work. It’s been an eye-opening experience, and I’m so grateful to have the curtain lifted on this side of the business. But that’s a post for another day.

Parallel to the editorial decisions, there have been discussions about marketing, particularly cover and title considerations. This is a whole new...

Future-Less

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Photo by Hartwig HKD

I worry for my boys, and yours
in a world of knives and guns
and groups of boys
pretending to be men

Once they might have played
on the swings, or watched the stars
Instead they plot to win wars
on streets yards from their homes

All the while groups of men
also play at war
in pursuit of oil and coin
and distant enemies

As if the cries of a mother
on the other side of the city
in another corner of the world
don’t matter

The blare of gunfire
the rain of bombs
the streams of...

Canvassing and Understanding

[image error]I know it’s not always the best idea to be political on blogs. Why alienate your readership? Even so, I’m going to break that rule. That’s because today, I found politics not to be divisive, but to be hopeful.

Today, I went canvassing. Our older two children stayed with my husband. It was me and the baby in a red cherry hat. We leafleted, and as my fingers reddened from pushing at stubborn letterboxes, and my feet wearied, I found myself grateful for postmen and the hard miles they cover. I w...

Yin and Yang, and the Folly of Absolute Certainty

[image error]We went to the beach at East Wittering, a few hours drive away. The sea air was bracing, the sand between my toes cool. Beach huts in primary colours and bold patterns stood against the grey sky. The baby fussed, and I was secretly pleased to leave our frisbee-playing big kids in their father’s care so I could put the baby in the sling and walk undisturbed along the shore. I need that time alone to replenish my energy, to shake the thoughts from the dark caverns of my mind, to find balance.

A...

Book News!

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Photo by kersy83

When I was a little girl, I dove under the covers long past my bedtime and read novels by torchlight. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to be when I left school, but I knew I enjoyed the feel of language on my tongue, words woven across the page and flowing from my fingers. At university I chose to study literature, but still hid from the ghostlike dream of becoming an author. When the weight of working in politics was too much, books were my refuge. I took my first steps in mother...

Countdown to Big News

Spring is here

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Photo by Angela Marie Henriette

Here in London, spring is finally in the air. The daffodils are in full bloom. In some ways it feels like I am coming out of hibernation. The youngest member of our brood is now three months old, and during the dark and dreary winter months we’ve been cocooned inside with the baby. Today, it was even warm enough this morning to pop the baby in a sling and head to the park to play tennis with our four year old.

It hasn’t been all mummy duties. Whi...