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My Journey Of Self-discovery
Where Have I Been All My Life is a memoir about your journey of self-discovery and transformation. What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
I felt compelled to explore many universal themes and ideas as I wrote this book. Through my journey of self-discovery I encountered many life lessons including learning to take responsibility, releasing the need to be liked by everyone, the power in forgiveness, how to conquer my fears and true acceptance of self. I wasted decades existing instead of living. One of the most important things I wanted to highlight in my memoir was the behaviour no-one should tolerate. I want my readers to feel empowered and able to clearly identify toxic and unhealthy relationships. I want to show others there is always a way to escape feeling stuck, without feeling guilt or shame. It felt important to provide hope for the future as well as a way forward for those experiencing trauma or anxiety as a result of life’s experiences and conditioning. Being close to fifty with no children, I also felt strongly about being a role model for a not-so-conventional life. I want to show young women an alternate path, so they don’t feel the need to live up to outdated expectations such as being married or having children by a particular age (or ever). I would love my book to be a source of comfort to empower my readers to live an authentic and purposeful life.
I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about?
The hardest thing for me to write about was my greatest shame. For years I was paralysed with fear that others would learn about my secrets and judge me harshly. In my book, I openly share deeply painful, personal experiences I never intended to disclose. Perfectionists always want to portray an image of themselves they think will be accepted by others, but by being transparent and showing the beautiful and ugly parts of me, is what I believe, makes ‘Where Have I Been All My Life?’ relatable. It’s rare for a perfectionist to share her greatest shames and mistakes so publicly, which allows my readers to connect deeply with my story. I am vulnerable on purpose because it gives permission to others to own their truth and uncover their unique voice with confidence.
What is one piece of advice you wish someone had given you when you were younger?
I wish someone would have told me to take notice of my heart’s desires rather than others people’s expectations of me. I was brought up in an era of people pleasers. My dreams and aspirations always came second to what I felt I ’should’ do and what I thought would be more acceptable by my parents, teachers, and society. The more I learn, the more I grow. I now have the power to change my behaviour and subsequently get closer to my authentic soul. It’s taken me decades to find my voice and I am now practising speaking my truth instead of saying what I think people want to hear.
What is one thing you hope readers take away from your story?
I would be beyond ecstatic if my readers took away the realisation they are not alone. I hope to highlight our humanness and how we all make mistakes, we all experience suffering and we all face obstacles. I wasted a lot of energy trying to make it appear as though I had it ‘all together,’ but I’ve learnt this energy is better served helping others rather than being competitive. My story is an ordinary one, not an extraordinary one. A universal story of self-love and connectedness with the intention of helping us all feel less alone.
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Lisa grew up as ‘Little Miss Perfect,’ a star student – smart and capable. She had big plans for her life.
Why then, by her mid-thirties had she settled for mediocracy? What had robbed her of her dreams? Why was she in a safe and unfulfilling job? Why was she in a toxic relationship with a controlling man she knew she didn’t want to end up with?
After a shocking wake-up call she finally took action and in the process discovered that she had been existing instead of living for too long. Plunging on an inward journey, she explores her childhood conditioning, intergenerational trauma and limiting beliefs which reveal how much time she squandered putting up, giving up, and shutting up.
Where Have I Been All My Life? explores the ways in which ‘good girls’ make valuable mistakes on the path to true adulthood, but when we release fear and pain, we become empowered to claim freedom and authenticity.
In this story of one woman reaching for a life beyond the silencing gates of shame, Lisa becomes unstuck and squeezes more joy and excitement into the last ten years than in her preceding thirty-seven.
And who knows what surprises the universe has for her when she stops trying to be the person everyone expects her to be and starts being the person she was born to be?
‘If this book has ended up in your hands, I trust you are meant to read it.’
My Father’s Magnetic Personality
Khuda Buksh: The Pioneer of Life Insurance in Bangladesh: An account of his life and work is the biography of a man who dedicated his life to bringing Life Insurance to all people in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Why was it important to tell his story?
My father died in 1974. I thought about writing a book after his death but could not take the project in my student life. My father earned a lot of money. But he was never interested in saving money in the bank. He helped poor people all his life, he enjoyed entertaining friends and relatives, and he put his heart, soul, and money into the development of insurance. As a result, it was his own life insurance policy that kept his family afloat after his death. I loved and admired my father’s magnetic personality from childhood. Insurance was his life mission and passion. The way he talked about insurance and the way he helped people to establish themselves in life still amazes me.
Over the years, my job and family life kept me busy. I immigrated to the USA in 1977. It took me some time to settle. My mother visited me in 1999 and she told my father’s struggling life in Kolkata. Then I found an article “Khuda Buksh: Life Insurance was his mission.” These inspired me to work on his life. I want this generation to know about my father for the role he played in the development of the life insurance industry. He was almost forgotten from the history of Bangladesh and Pakistan insurance as I could not find any book on his life. I hope this book will not only fill the gap of Bangladesh and Pakistan insurance history, but his story can keep our family history alive, especially from generation to generation.
What were some goals you set for yourself as a writer in this book?
To do complete research on his life.
To find the details of his professional life activities through interviews of contemporaries, relatives, and associates.
And to learn qualities of leadership, struggles, achievements, and failures in life from my father.
What was one of the hardest parts in Khuda Buksh: The Pioneer of Life Insurance in Bangladesh for you to write?
My work involved extensive research starting with a collection of insurance stories of his time. I was not sure about where to find insurance stories after a quarter-century after his death. My story collection became much easier when I contacted the Library of Congress and various U.S. university libraries. They provided me research materials, specifically Pakistan and Bangladesh newspaper archive in the form of microfiche of 22 years. After the collection of stories, the hardest part was to write the stories in various chapters with a good flow for attracting the readers.
What do you What is one thing readers take away from your father’s story?
My father was personally involved in the welfare of each worker. He deeply cared about the people who worked for him. He would even make sure that his salesmen had groceries at home. This motivated the workers and they gave their best performances in business development. I believe that there is a lesson for management here. A manager can easily earn the trust, love, and respect from teammates by being honest, kind, down-to-earth, humble, sincere, fair, and straightforward with himself as well as his teammates.
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Buksh’s leadership and management style, including business practices developed in India that he introduced to his homeland, East Bengal, are a huge part of the legacy he left. When Buksh became a manager at Eastern Federal Union Insurance Company Limited (EFU), he used inventive techniques to recruit and motivate his sales force and challenge the public’s negative perception of life insurance. Finally, he earned a reputation as the country’s most magnetic and dynamic sales executive and the wizard of life insurance.
Drawing from interviews with dozens of contemporaries as well as years of research, author Muhammad Obaidur Rahim, who is also Buksh’s son, traces the roots of life insurance evaluation and development and leadership strategies that helped the industry penetrate nearly every part of society. Along the way, the readers will get a close look at Buksh’s involvement in establishing regional rights.
For students and scholars specializing in South Asian studies or international business relations, Buksh’s story provides a vivid portrait of political and social changes and demonstrates how the life insurance industry influenced a critical period in the history of the Indian subcontinent. The book may also interest professionals interested in studying executives and management techniques.
The Creation Of The ‘Other’ People
“Five Million Epics” unravels the story of humanity’s decline through the interconnected lives of characters across generations, sparking a conversation on empathy, unity, and the importance of learning from our past. Why was this an important book for you to write?
Before the 1980s, you will be seen arguing with your friends, relatives or even strangers against fanaticism, fascism and feudalism. They were the worst philosophies for a democratic well-wisher. By the end of the 1990s, you started to master the art of keeping away from criticising other religions, terming it as their right to believe in their own faith and worshipping the deities they possess. By doing that, you were slowly in the process of thinking only about your own religion, political party and philosophy. All the rest were the ‘other’ for you. This book deals with the creation of the ‘other’ people. It is a political discourse in the name of fiction. Sometimes reality is more engaging and fictional than fiction.
What were some sources that informed this books development?
I have a vast collection of books, all bought from my savings. I didn’t possess anything else, not even a cent of land or habitat, other than the books I owned. Being a journalist for more than 25 years, I got the opportunity to witness all the events of our time in great detail. My books and social engagements might have helped. It is the reader who has to assess what the book does carry.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
We were told in textbooks that we are a developing society. Usually, that term comes from assessing the buildings we built and the technological advances we have reached. But, when you determine humankind from an extraterritorial point of view, we understand that he is more of a deteriorated creature than he was fifty years ago. All the open conversations humans performed had fallen in the journey.
What is one thing you hope readers take away from your book?
A writer can’t ask an individual to dedicate his time to reading his book; You can’t even ask your spouse or best friend to do that. That will be an emotional attack. If someone happens to come through the book, let him share his point, that too only if he wants.
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Aouthakkutty thus released the teaser. This is the teaser of FIVE MILLION EPICS too. It is a book that travels through two dozens of riots. But, it is not the reportage of riots. It is also not the story of the victims. It is the story of fifty million people who lived in that country of diversity and differences. All of them decided to write an epic each. That madness created five million epics.
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‘Priests seldom worry about history; Believers seldom question the priests.’
How came Thomas the Apostle disembark in the middle of a forest in the 1st century, where men began to inhabit only in the Century of Queen Elizabeth? Is it for lions, elephants, and foxes he had erected a church? Or for bear and deer? How come he carved the modified Pahlavi of the sixth century in the cross-arch before dying in 72 Anno Domini? And that too in a rock excavated only in the 19th century?’
That time was ripe for Dhananjayan to speak anything that came to his mind. Xavier replied with much clarity: ‘Pagans seldom worry about misery; Mysteries seldom wait for the conversion of pagans. Let all the pagans of the world forgive this believer. If there was no cross, if there was no Saint Thomas, if there was no exodus and if there were no churches, I would have been still eating my meal from a pit incurved in the backyard of your house.’ He raised his hands to the sky.
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Bilal stood up.
‘Mr Dhanajayan…’ Dhananjayan was expecting an uncle call from this young man who is some 40 years junior to him.
‘Mr Dhananjayan. You are at the wrong end. I don’t read poems. I don’t read fiction. I don’t read even a single short story before my college days. ‘There were not even books in the house where Susmitha and I grew up. Her mother, Mary, came to our house regularly carrying the smell of hypochlorite, not of books. She was my mother too. My father was not a landlord of Colonial California to buy a bike for me and allow me to roam around. He was a roadside merchant in Kolkata, India escaped from Advala with his brother at a young age. He never participated in any riots. He never walked on the shoulder of any revolutionaries. The mob murdered him because he was the son of Muhammad Ali, who was hanged by the Britishers in Advala 60 years ago.’ Dhananjayan looked at him. ‘The grandson of Sultan Muhammad Ali, The self-proclaimed Calipha of Nathala.’
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The ‘Vaishnav Janato’ ended with an addition. The Sindhu Bhairavi repeated thrice unusually, and a vocal humming followed. All the forty-three faces are now waiting like the sandy shores for a slow tide embrace. A touch from the fingertip resonated the ‘sympathetic pegs’ continuously. Pigeons can’t wait for any more. They flew towards the red spot. Susmita, with wide-opened eyes, is a horizon now. They entered with extended wings. ‘Nobody in the world can beat Ustad Amjad Ali Khan Bangash in this Sindhu Bhairavi.’ Bilal once again touched the lower string peg. Susmita vibrated.
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It is the ninth hairpin bend. A decade-old state corporation bus used its wiper from the fourth or the fifth bend. In trying to wipe out the fog, the rubber blade had made another layer of masquerade. The bus would have comfortably gone uphill if the energy used to run the wiper were saved: thought Suman, as she had no other unyielding waves disturbing her mind. Quite a long since the pacific in her touched the shore so gently. The waves hurled like in a rock for a decade.
Now she had entered a world where there are no ebb and flow. It’s a re-entry from the 3rd generation to the high ranges of the Western Ghats. Susmita never tried to reach there. Nobody called her either.
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Three women tell an unusual story of the massacre, elopement, sojourn and jihad.
Sudden Unexplained Disappearance
Run! Katie! follows a psychic with the ability to receive messages from the dead who helps a mother in the afterlife protect her daughter, who is being hunted. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration for the story came when I read a news story about a mother that went missing. The father, who was the primary suspect, had recently been cleared by the police, but not by many people in the town. I wanted to create a mystery that not only dealt with a mother’s sudden unexplained disappearance, but had the mother reaching out from beyond to protect her daughter from impending danger. I wasn’t sure how this would look, but while writing the story, the idea of a psychic being involved popped into my head. I did some research and the character of Peter was created. Luckily for me, once the character was created, it wasn’t long before that character took over and wrote himself!
What were some of the trials that you felt were important to highlight the characters’ development?
The trials faced by the characters in Run! Katie! are trials that many people have experienced in their life. Feelings of loneliness, loss, betrayal, anger and guilt are emotions most everyone has had to deal with. Sometimes a situation occurs that results in the unexpected loss of a loved one, which turns a person’s life upside down. This happens to the main characters in the story. Although the situations faced in the book involve extreme circumstances, the emotions and reactions of the characters are familiar to most everyone. I believe this helps make the characters relatable and easy to empathize with.
What experience in your life has had the biggest impact on your writing?
Reading! Reading! Reading! I became a reader early on. I can still remember falling in love with the book “Fredrick” by Leo Lionni when I was around five years old. One of my earliest memories is my mom reading that book to me, and me immediately knowing that I wanted to be a storyteller, just like Fredrick! This desire only grew stronger the more books I read and I read a lot of books! The other experience that affected my writing a novel was retirement. Once I retired and began traveling the country in our motorhome, I no longer had the excuse of not having enough time to write my novel! So, with much encouragement from my husband, family members, and a dear friend, my lifelong dream became a reality!
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I am currently writing a follow up to Run! Katie! with Peter and Patty as main characters, as well as working on an unrelated mystery that I started writing years ago! My goal is to have at least one finished and off to my publisher this summer.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website
Peter finds satisfaction in bringing peace and closure to the family. However, as the messages become more urgent and take on an ominous tone, Peter realizes Sharon is doing more than comforting her loved ones. She’s warning them! Peter and Sharon’s family soon find themselves in a race against time to save Katie from the same fate that befell her mother twelve years earlier. Can they save her in time?
Overcoming The Dysfunction
Reclaiming the American Democratic Impulse presents a comprehensive analysis of the political climate in the United States, past and present, and the nation’s future. What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
My intent in writing this book is to provide citizens with a coherent strategy for overcoming the dysfunction in the current United States government and resolving the irreconcilable cultural differences in American society. The primary idea presented in the book is that the political and economic history of America provides examples of how more citizen participatory democracy would be a better solution than the centralized ruling class elite decision-making model currently in operation. In other words, the best solution is more citizen democracy, not less.
How much research did you undertake for this book and how much time did it take to put it all together?
I began research on this book in 2018 by reading historical accounts of the events of 1775, and the ensuing revolution. Much of my time was involved in uncovering the obscure history of the Articles of Confederation, and the logic of the original founders in creating a state sovereignty framework of government. I worked on writing this book over a 15 month period.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I just published my most recent book in April 2023, titled George Mason’s America: The State Sovereignty Alternative to Madison’s Centralized Ruling Class Aristocracy. The book offers a synthesis of the radical i indvidualistic ideology of George Mason, the methodology of constitution creation of James Buchanan, of George Mason University, and the principles of entrepreneurial capitalism of Joseph Schumpeter. My intent in writing this book is to offer a strategy for forming a new nation based upon the ideology of liberty of George Mason and Thomas Jefferson.
I have been mulling over how to incorporate moral and religious principles into a new constitution. If it is true that citizens derive their natural rights from the grace of God, then it would seem important to offer some concept of God in a democratic republic. I have begun research on the Jewish Old Testament, especially the 10 commandments of Moses. Stay tuned.
Author Links: GoodReads | Reedsy Discovery | Twitter | Substack | Locals | Website
What to do after Obama?What do freedom-loving American citizens do to restore the rule of law after Obama’s lawless administration?In his recent book, The Liberty Amendments, Mark Levin suggests the enactment of 10 amendments to the U. S. Constitution, using the second method of amendment outlined in Article V of the Constitution of 1788.While his suggested amendments could possibly offer relief from the dysfunction in the American political system, his suggestions contain two debilitating flaws that would not remedy the loss of individual freedoms from the tyranny of Obama’s centralized, socialist government power.This book examines how a new constitution, which includes both Levin’s suggested amendments, and the telos of liberty as the end goal, would be a better path than his idea of amending a hopelessly broken representative republic.That pathway back to freedom means reclaiming the American Democratic Impulse
The Unknown Forces Of His Life
The Burden of Memory follows a retired professor and aspiring author as he moves to South Carolina to write his first novel who unintentionally witnesses a murder. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I was walking on a rather desolate road one day and I stopped and said “What if?” to myself and began imagining a scene. And it went on from there. The narrative sort of blew up and the characters came along.
Robert is a recluse who struggles to break out of his shell after witnessing a horrible crime. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
The shy, heartbroken man comes out of his shell one way or another and nothing he really does causes it to happen. The unknown forces of his life, if you will? And once he is forced to act, he begins the process of change. And he has worked very hard to not change because of too much pain. It took something this dramatic to begin the change.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Transformation is an important theme, of course. Another theme is how the past controls the present. Love and loss is surely an important theme, too.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
My next book will be Stories Can Save Us. The novel has two alternating narratives, one first person, and another third person. Timothy and Frank. One is a Vietnam Veteran and the other is not. And the one who is not a vet makes up stories with himself as the hero at a local VFW. As the narratives progress, more and more issues develop. This is the best I can do at this point because, no doubt, before I am through there will be changes.
Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads
Because of past heartbreak, Robert is a shy, isolated, reclusive man.
Three days after his arrival in Beaufort, he unwittingly witnesses a ruthless murder. The murder begins an unexpected journey of dangerous entanglements as he writes his novel and as he lives the action of his life.
The two novels – the one he is living and the one he is writing – dovetail into a surprising conclusion: you may be finished with the past, but the past may not be finished with you.
A Magical Tale About Leprechauns
The Unluckiest Leprechaun by Far follows an unlucky leprechaun who tries to get his luck back by kidnapping an especially lucky human girl.What was the inspiration for your story?
I didn’t want the usual capture a Leprechaun and get wishes and money from the fairy kind of story. I was trying to think of something different, and the idea of switching the story up and having the Leprechaun get his way in the end appealed to me. The usual kind of story has been overdone. I wanted something different, and that’s when this lovely tale popped into my head. It was the right kind of ornery that appealed to my sense of humor.
The art in this book is fantastic and brings the story to life. What was the art collaboration process like with illustrator Christina Cartwright?
Christina’s talent is amazing. This is our second book worked together, and I feel she elevated her artwork even more so than the last time we worked together. Her attention to detail was truly sublime – she made my words on the page come to life. There really seemed to be some magic at work with how this book came together. At one point, I even asked Christina if she had a little bit of Irish in her, which she admitted she did, and I wasn’t surprised. I, of course, have an Irish ancestry as well, so is it any wonder that two American “Irish” lasses came up with a magical tale about Leprechauns? Our collaboration together was truly magical.
What were some educational aspects that were important for you to include in this children’s book?
I do realize that I used some slightly bigger words than are traditionally found in a children’s book, but I also subscribe to the belief of pushing a person’s vocabulary. You don’t grow verbally and mentally if you are not exposed to new words. I also felt strongly about bringing the notion of karma into the story. If you are a good person with a good heart, then you have the power to change the world as long as you embrace kindness and goodwill towards others as Brianna extended to Liam. Our highest purpose in life should always be to help others whenever we are able to do so.
What will the next book in the Happy Tails series be about, and when will it be published?
The next book in the series is about a pet bunny. Hopefully it teaches the concept of always being kind to our furry friends and to be mindful of what they truly need to not only survive, but thrive in this world. It should be out by August at the latest.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website
Ask Liam the Leprechaun – his family’s luck has been low for years, but all of that is about to change. Turnabout is fair play. If humans can capture Leprechauns for their magic, then why can’t a crafty Leprechaun capture a human for her overabundance of luck?
Such are the adventures of Liam and Brianna – two lonely souls connecting as friends in a way that’s truly magical. They learn that luck freely shared is luck that is never-ending.
A Good Woman Is An Investment
The Mental Fight of Your Life shares with readers practical solutions on how to deal with challenges in marriage using Christian values. Why was this an important book for you to write?
This book was essential to me as I looked up stats, and there is an awful large amount of single women in their thirties, and forty’s that I know personally. I said to myself, it’s not that hard to find someone or if you’re a woman to be found, so I did some research and interviews, and I realized that we as men needed to find ourselves and learn to be men again. The Bible says that the man is the head of the house, and That comes with great responsibility, so the idea to fight against anything that causes a man to want to give up hence the creation of this book.
What is a common misconception you feel people have about marriages and their success?
The misconception is that marriage is just a piece of paper. You see, so is money. However, we get up daily and work hard for it. Why not your marriage? I read a stat that says men live longer lives when married, and that says a lot. A good woman is an investment, but it’s up to the man to find a good one, not just someone he wants to sleep with.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
It was very important to share that we both must love self. You cannot begin to fully love others if you don’t love yourself. Self-love is very important.
What is one piece of advice you wish someone had given you when you were younger to help you with your relationships?
I wish someone would have told me that when you love, you would have such a fight on your hand to keep the passion alive. When you are young, you only see the beginning stages of a relationship, but once you get one and the butterflies leave, you must fight to keep the love going.
Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads
Look no further!
Are you looking to understand how to enter into a healthy relationship? Are you unsure what dating and marriage hold and want to learn?
The MENtal Fight Of Your Life offers the tools and advice needed to grow, understand, and stay together!
This book meets both men and women where they are on their relationship journey—using insights regarding masculine vs feminine roles. By speaking directly to young adult men as they mature, this guide shows how to be a real man, the importance of perseverance, the value in loving their wives, and how to understand and connect with the one they love.
Learn strategies for men that help them appreciate women’s needs and lessons for women about sacrificing for the sake of love!
With so much included in these pages, readers can gain a broader knowledge of relationships before embarking on their forever journey or have more insight should difficulties arise along the way!
No matter your current relationship status or questions; if you’re ready to invest in yourself, The MENtal Fight Of Your Life is a must-have guide that will help navigate any waters between loved ones!
LITERARY TITAN 