Welcome to The Beginning after the End Blog Tour by Hafsa Idrees!
It's my pleasure to host a blog stop as part of Hafsa Idrees blog tour to help promote her debut novel The Beginning after the End. For my part in the blog tour, I got to interview the wonderful author herself, Hafsa Idress.
Hafsa is a multifaceted budding 21 years old Pakistani writer who has
contributed as a content writer for a number of websites and magazines. She
holds "The 2010 Regional Ricoh (USA) Sustainable and Development
Award" for her contribution to the joint Entomology research paper for
INTEL ISEF 2010. She also wrote for GOI Peace Foundation Japan. She has
numerous honors credited to her name including the
Editor and Ambassador of Pakistan's First Youth Newspaper "Shascha",
SEO Manager of Revolution Flame, Head of the Creative Department at Fortune
Technologies and the Award for "Best Ten Paintings" on World Science
Day For Peace Development (2006) by Pakistan Science Foundation. She just
published her debut novel on Contemporary Literary Fiction “The Beginning after
the End”. Her short story “Bridge of Sighs” was the only one from Pakistan
which made its way in to the 100 words’ stories collection of 2013 from all
over the world. Having graduated from Punjab University, Lahore with roll of
honor, currently she is pursuing her Masters in Anthropology from Quaid-e-Azam
University, Islamabad.
“Hafsa Idrees tells an extraordinary story that will
make you think about life, death, love and faith like nothing before. The
Beginning after the End is a book with a big big heart and a deep deep soul.
You don’t enter its world – it enters yours.”
Roy Eynhallow, EynhallowBooks.com
The Blurb
Hello Hafsa and welcome to my blog. It's great to have you and be a part of this wonderful tour. So, let's get started.
At what age
did you start writing?
Writing
comes to me naturally. Since I learned to read
and write at the age of five I have been addicted to knowledge. Not just
about a few things, but about almost everything. I’ve been blessed to have had
unusual experiences, and received a great education which enhanced my writing
skills. However, my first article got published in “SAHAR” Magazine when I was
in 8th grade. It was a college magazine and making into it was a
huge achievement at that time. Later, I took up part time content/academic
writing job right after high school and never stopped ever since. I have just
published my debut novel.
How were
you discovered?
My parents and
teachers discovered me. When I was in school, my essays, stories etc. used to
be unique and very mature. They used to observe my unusual behavior of over
thinking and sensitivity which I used to relate with everyday activities. I was
elder so my younger sibs and their friends got a chance to hear self-made
stories and situations; I was a raconteur for them.
What books
have you written?
I have written
only one book so far, “The Beginning after the End”. It’s a contemporary
literary fiction and set in AZ, USA. Besides, I am working on my second book
these days in which I am trying to focus on the Pakistani culture and second
generation Pakistanis in the story line. It must be out by the end of 2014.
What genre
do you write in?
Literary
Fiction. I read many other genres but literary fiction is my cup of tea. In my
second book I am however experimenting to merge two or three different genres
and make it more interesting.
Tell us a
little about your most recent book.
“The Beginning after the End” is
basically written for those who have been through the emotional sets backs. It
teaches them not to give up but to strive forward. You can always take a new
beginning after the end of something and “live” instead of just “existing”.
Your weakness can be made your strength; you just have to look at things
through a different lens. There is a slight difference between NEED and WANT.
Your “want” might not always be your need and vice versa. This is the hardest
thing to accept but once you learn to accept the ways of life, reality,
consequences of your actions and pre-written decisions of God, life becomes
much easier. You can’t control everything. It is a universal theme. The book
also challenges the common concept of happiness, memories and love. You might
think differently about life and death once you read it. It’s a tale of pain,
escape, strength and freedom.
Who are
your favorite characters in the book? Why?
The leading
character Chrishuanna Soule is my favorite as I think she is a lot like
me. Chrissie is very different from the
world; she is sometimes as strong as iron and sometimes as weak as a snail. But
when she decides to do something or achieve a goal, she’d cross every hurdle so
bravely no matter what. She would absorb the pains of her beloved ones and take
them as hers ..Sometimes funny, witty and sometimes as mature as a 70 years old
lady, she will take you in her deep world if you stick to her till the end.
What aspect of your book
sets it apart from others in your genre?
It is very much close to reality and the tale relates to many of
us. I had experimented to include my own experiences which give the
main character in the novel a very strong, personal conviction to the beliefs
and feelings that she expresses. And I believe every book is unique in its own
way.
Where do
you get your inspiration for your books?
The people who
surround me inspire a lot in so many ways. Not just the people, but things and
places as well. I believe multiple sources of inspiration help a lot in coming
up with something really unique and different. We all are stories. We all inspire
each other. We all go through rough patches of struggle and it is absolutely
amazing if you understand how to harness this energy positively which is just
around you.
What do you
do when you get writer’s block?
This is very
tough. Sometimes a trick seems to work and sometimes the same one completely
fails. But carrying a note pad with me just all the time and writing down the
things instantly as they hit my mind is very very helpful. Because when you sit
to write all you could usually recall is a “good idea” that you had a few hours
ago but it’s tough to remember what that idea exactly was. Also, I am not too
hard on myself. Even if I know I am writing crap, I just write it because
criticism is a part of editing and that comes later. Working on more than one
writing project, setting deadlines and keeping them also work very well for me.
What advice
could you give someone who aspired to be a writer?
Keep writing and don’t let anything else to consume you. There are
many parts of book writing which can be soul destroying but don’t let them beat
you. You are the boss of your life and the world you create for your books.
Your hard work always pays. I think this beautiful quote from Rocky Balboa
summons up everything which I intend to say. It is also very helpful for me.
“The
world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place. It
will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You,
me or nobody is going to hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard
you're hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how
much can you take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!”
You can find Hafsa on the following links ~
If you would like to read The Beginning after the End, you can purchase it from Amazon and Smashwords here ~
Hafsa, I cannot thank you enough for joining me today. It's always a pleasure to hang out with fellow authors and get an insight into their imagination. You are full of such positive energy and I know you will go onto bigger better things. I wish you all the success for the future and I can't wait to hear more from you.
