Zeinab Alayan's Blog, page 19
June 6, 2012
I judge books by their covers, and I’m not ashamed!
… well, not exactly.
When I’m at the bookshop looking for my next read, the two things I rely on the most are the title and the cover… and the latter more than the former. When the books are laid out in front of me, I depend on their covers to guide me. If a cover is bland and uninteresting, I’m less likely to pick it up; but if a book has good artwork and a cool design, my hand will automatically be drawn to it.
I’m not completely superficial though. Once I pick up the book and momentarily soa...
June 5, 2012
Giveaway Winners!
It has been a week since I posted the giveaway for Puppet Parade, and I finally have the winners! Congratulations to Karen’s Different Corners, tobiaswrites and boomiebol on winning e-book copies of Puppet Parade! I hope you enjoy reading it! Do let me know which formats work best for you, and with your permission, I’ll send the copies to the emails associated with your WordPress accounts. =]
Thank you, everyone, for entering the giveaway! I was actually worried that no-one would enter and I’d...
June 3, 2012
MEET DANIEL KOEKER!
MEET DANIEL KOEKER:
Author Interview!
A brand NEW series of interviews, guest blogs and more for Thursdays!
Check out the main page if you’re interested in participating!
Currently, Daniel is a writer and editor. He is one of the owners of Manuscript Magic, a company dedicated to assisting writers prepare their book for publishing. He is primarily an author of science fiction and fantasy novels aimed at young adult readers.
Have you guys met...
June 2, 2012
I’ll just wait for the paperback to come out.
When a movie comes out, many people don’t bother watching it in theatres and instead opt to go for the DVD, saying, “I’ll just wait for the DVD to come out”, either because it’s not “theatre-material” or because they want to watch it, but are not so excited about it to the extent that they’d buy tickets for it. I’m more or less the same way with books.
Many books, when first published, come out in hardcover form, or else in large paperback form, and as we all know, these are generally more exp...
May 29, 2012
100 Followers Giveaway!
When I started this blog, I had no idea that I’d get to meet so many new people, read so many interesting things and actually pick up some tips here and there. With my previous blogs, I hadn’t properly grasped the concept of blogging and was only interested in getting my words out there, but now I’ve learned that blogging is a relationship that involves hard work and willingness to give back.
And today I want to give back something that is dear to me. Some of you may know that I recently publi...
May 28, 2012
I have no sense of direction.
So I have this problem… it’s quite ridiculous really, and people tend to tease me when I tell them about it.
I can’t tell my left from my right. No joke, I’m seriously terrible at it. I keep mixing up the words themselves, and when I have to decide where each side is I have to hold up an imaginary pen to remember the directions. It’s even worse when someone’s facing me and I have to tell them the directions from their point of view.
Thinking about it, I have no sense of direction when writing e...
May 25, 2012
How does your book end?
Such a simple question, isn’t it? Then why does it aggravate me?
It’s one thing for people to ask about the plot (regardless of how well I can tell them about it), because it shows that they’re actually interested in the book. But when they ask about the ending, I feel slightly offended.
The ending is probably the toughest part of the book, and many a times an author will agonize over how to end their book in a way that doesn’t leave any loose ends and actually satisfies the reader. I personall...
May 23, 2012
I have a will of steel! … or not.
At random moments during work, I will suddenly have a craving for something, whether it’s potato soufflé, caramelised biscuits, Oreos covered with peanut butter and/or Nutella… or like today, tuna.
Yes, I was actually craving tinned tuna at work. Don’t look at me funny; tuna is a perfectly delicious and healthy food, and I like eating it either in a wrap (with mayonnaise, sweet corn and lettuce) or with pasta (my favourite recipe includes lots of steamed veggies and a dollop of mayonnaise mixe...
May 21, 2012
Tell me about your book.
When someone asks you straight-up, “Hey, can you tell me about your book?”, how well do you articulate? Do you freeze up and stutter and tell them to consult the summary on the back? Do you have trouble finding the right words to describe your book? Are you able to sell it to people in a few lines before their attention fades away, or do you give them a blurry outline that earns a polite, confused smile out of them, a smile which clearly says, “I have no idea what your book talks about, but g...
May 18, 2012
Happiness in a Post
This week was a bit of a hectic one, but there are always things that can make it better. Drawing inspiration from Rebecca Stibrany’s post, here’s a list of things that make me happy, in no particular order!
1. Chocolate
Glorious, glorious chocolate.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Even a person who’s barely familiar with me will know that chocolate is my absolute favourite thing in the world. If I’m having a stressful day, feeling upset or sick, lacking inspiration, bored, sleep-deprived, I can simpl...
