A July 4th Thought

Happy July 4th to all my American readers! Stay safe and have loads of fun! But also keep in mind veterans who maybe sensitive to fireworks, and your best friends aka pets....

Now for that wonderful Erma Bombeck quote:

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4th, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.” — Erma Bombeck

XOXO

Mina

Tracking a Globetrotting Book

LOVE all the pictures of Wildfire from around the world! 

It all started in West Texas. Wildfire: A Paranormal Mystery with Cowboys and Dragons is the first book I set in my adopted home/playground of  West Texas. So I was ecstatic when this showed up:

This picture is all kinds of awesome! It's in my favorite library (Stephens Central Library in Tom Green County), with the statue of award-winning Western author Elmer Kelton, librarian/reader Chelsea P. and Wildfire. LOVE it!

Even more fun is that readers have sent in pictures from Scotland, Australia and from places all around America. And I'm hoping more pictures will be coming in. The adventurous part of me can't wait to see where all the book ends up!

But the best part is that the readers are helping me with my #readingWildfire project. 

Welcome to Reading Wildfire, a social experiment about connecting through reading.  

Stories are meant to be read and shared. When my kids did the Flat Stanley/Flat Daisy project, it fired up my imagination and inspired me to create this experiment: to send one of my stories out into the world and track its adventures, and to have fun and do some good in the process. 

For every 10^th picture received, I’ll make a $10 donation to The Malala Fund for the education of girls in the developing world (I’m hoping it’ll add up to a nice sum at the end of each quarter when I’ll make the donation). So if you have the book, take a picture! If you have the digital copy, put the cover on your ereader and take a picture! Then send the picture in to me at minakhan@wcc.net

Thank you dear readers & please keep sending pictures...they brighten my world & go towards a good cause! :)  Here's the Tracking Wildfire Pinterest board for you to check it out.

Happy Reading!

Mina

Surprise in the Mail

Check out this lovely surprise that arrived in the mail....

Isn't it beautiful? Seeing the cover and title of A Tale of Two Djinns on the RomCon Readers' Crown award, the fact that a panel of readers read the book and scored it high enough to earn "best paranormal romance," equals to lots of warm feel-good fuzzies. It's at the moment proudly displayed on my dining table where I can see it every day...maybe when 2014 hits, I'll move it up to my office and onto one of my book shelves. :)

Smiling in W. TX!

Mina

The Readers' Crown & the Life of a Story

Woot! Woot! So I just found out that A TALE OF TWO DJINNS won the 2013 Readers Crown for Best Paranormal Romance. Oh yeah, happy dancing over the moon here :)

What I'm stoked about is this is a reader-judged contest and 6 readers who didn't even know I exist read Shay and Maya's story and loved it enough to help it win (I haven't seen the scores yet...dying to!).  While I respect and appreciate all opinions, when it comes to stories readers rule. Why? Because stories are written not for the editors, agents etc., but for the readers.

A story is born as a spark of an idea in the author's imagination. It comes into form when the author actually sits down and puts it into word. It grows with every word written, every chapter added, through cycles of edits and revisions. (Lol, yes parenting a story is almost as hard as parenting human kids)

However, it doesn't truly exist until the moment a reader picks up the story and reads it, connects with it. That connection is the breath of life. And as longs as a story keeps getting read by different readers it thrives and stays alive. This fact was brought home to me as I watched librarians at my favorite library removing books from the shelves because they hadn't been checked out in a long, long time. And it saddened me. When a story is forgotten, not read by new eyes, it dies.

So yes, readers rule and I'm so glad six wonderful readers read and connected with my story. Thank you from the depths of my heart.

March Celebrations: Reader Slideshow for Education

Wow, it's March and that means my second novella, A TALE OF TWO DJINNS is celebrating it's one year birthday! Woot!

 

 This is the book of my heart, the one I dedicated to my parents and the one I pledged half of all proceeds to UNICEF's Schools for Asia program. With the help of my readers, I have donated $468.80 year-to-date. According to the UNICEF website, $250 provides “School-in-a-Box” kit containing basic education supplies for 80 children. Woohoo!

I have been fortunate that my parents valued education and always made that a priority. I’m thankful for my ability to read and to write. Words are an integral part of my identity.

However, I grew up in a part of the world where poverty and chauvinism often keeps education away from many, especially women. According to the UNICEF, 67 million children are currently not enrolled in school worldwide. Education makes a big difference not only in the life of the person educated, but also the family.
And sometimes the world.

 Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani teen, was shot by the Taliban because she promoted education for the girls. Malala has now become the youngest person ever to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Education made a difference in her life, and she's making a difference in the world.

 As a thank you to all my readers who helped me do my part and make a positive difference through education, I'd like to create a slideshow of readers with the book.

SLIDESHOW INFO:

So pose with A Tale of Two Djinns and email it to minakhan@wcc.net 

 Two lucky participants will be randomly picked to receive my next story, THE DJINN IN THE MIRROR, free!

 "This definitely felt like a Romeo and Juliet concept with a twist, then add a paranormal and fantasy feel to it and you’re left with excitement." ~ Romance Novel Junkies, 4.5 stars

 In other news, I now have a quarterly newsletter. 

Sign up to receive updates of my new releases and exclusive background information on stories that won't be posted online for at least six months. Only my assistant Carla and I have access to your email and we promise not to spam you! Subscribe to our newsletter

 Thanks for visiting!

Welcome To My World of Fantasy & Adventure

Dear Readers,

Thank you for visiting my cyber-home. I love sharing my stories of dark, mysterious men and brave, feisty women caught up in a world of magic and fantasy, passion and mayhem, and sexy mischief.

Just as a dish cooked with care must be consumed and enjoyed, a story imagined must be read and shared. Creativity thrives through relationships. I would love to hear from you!
 
Coming soon: The cover of THE DJINN'S DILEMMA, my novella being published by Harlequin in November!