What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? I have been writing short fiction for nearly a decade now. My debut collection MIDNIGHT DOORWAYS: FABLES FROM PAKISTAN is a selection of stories published between 2013 and 2021. The book was released in Feb 2021
Where did you do most of your writing for this fiction work? And please describe in detail. And can you please include a photo? In two countries: Pakistan and the US. In two cities: Lahore and Orlando. I like working in coffee shops, libraries, and sometimes on my patio at night.
What were your writing habits while writing this work- did you drink something as you wrote, listen to music, write in pen and paper, directly on laptop; specific time of day? Coffee, chocolates, snacks. I listen to movie soundtrack or Bollywood songs when I work. I run to sharpen my story ideas. I don’t do longhand but type. These days I try to work in the morning, but inevitably it can spill over to other times, — such as midnight.
Click on the below link to read about Usman T. Malik
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usman_T._Malik
Please include just one excerpt and include page numbers as reference. This one excerpt can be as short or as long as you prefer. Excerpted from Ishq in “Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan”, page 1
“Such sins that our daydreams are made of. The women watched the sweat of Hashim’s labor trickle down the brown lobes of his exquisite ears, watched his bare chest shine with summer heat; and in the evening, they’d gather in the cool sprawling Lions Garden near Mosque Wazir and make fun of the boy. Who would ever go with him? they would ask each other, wide-eyed, and laugh nervously. Who’d go with this young, beautiful, lanky fool who never stopped grinning.”
Click on the below link to purchase MIDNIGHT DOORWAYS: FABLES FROM PAKISTAN
Why is this excerpt so emotional for you as a writer to write? And can you describe your own emotional experience of writing this specific excerpt? I don’t remember writing a lot of my stories. There is a particular humming in my head, a rhythm that often carries a story forward. Sometimes it’s broken and I have to strain to hear it, but it’s almost always there when the story’s true. This particular story is a love story and, like all love stories is a ghost story.
It was written in 2013 over a period of a month or so and has proven popular to read at events.
Were there any deletions from this excerpt that you can share with us? And can you please include a photo of your marked up rough drafts of this excerpt. I don’t have deletions from this excerpt and unfortunately I don’t have a photo of the marked up rough draft.
Most of the INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION links can be found at the very end of the below feature:
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/03/stephenson-holts-arranged-marriage-is.html