Deck The Halls

‘Tis the season to be jolly – or so they say. But looking back over the year, there seem to be very few things to be jolly about.

It’s doom and gloom in the Ghosh household over the looming uncertainty of Brexit. The husband and I voted Remain – and the prospect of leaving the EU fills me with dismay. I do understand the reasons why people voted Leave – but I can’t believe they envisaged the chaos we’re facing now, with a government in disarray, a withdrawal agreement no-one can agree on, a very real possibility of crashing out of the bloc with no deal at all, and a bleak economic future as the impact hits us all in the pocket.

Other standout events of 2018 are equally depressing; earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires, school shootings, terror attacks, global warming, the ongoing loss of life in Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan…. The list goes on. And on top of all that, we lost Aretha Franklin.

We journalists tend to see tragedy and crises on a day-to-day basis. But that’s not the whole picture of course, and Christmas is the perfect time to remind ourselves of that.

So with a nod to festive cheer and goodwill to all men, here are five happier news stories from 2018 to look back on.

1. Thai cave rescue

For eighteen days, the world watched and waited as divers tried to rescue twelve boys and their football coach from a flooded cave in Thailand. That they were alive in the first place was astonishing; that they were all eventually brought out, relatively unscathed, was almost miraculous. 

2. Football World Cup 

A great tournament, with exciting games, and some unexpected giant-killing as Germany and Argentina went out. France may have won it, but for England fans it was a chance to believe again as their squad got into the semi-finals for the first time since 1990.  

3. Royal wedding   

 Okay, some people could care less about the royals. But I’m including this as a feel-good story because Harry managed to buck tradition and snag himself a gorgeous mixed-race actress.The last time a member of the royal family fell in love with an American divorcee, it caused a constitutional crisis and an abdication. Look how far we've come, people! Plus, I loved her in Suits.

4. Mars exploration 

      You can't beat a good space story. This month, for the first time ever,  a scientific instrument was placed on the surface of the Red Planet. NASA’s Insight Lander put a seismometer on Martian soil to help collect data on the planet’s core. This will help us understand how planets were formed four billion years ago. Also in 2018, they discovered an underground lake on the planet. Geeky, yes, but super-amazing.  

5. It's Not Me  

Take a bow David Schwimmer – the Friends actor was forced to deny he was the man caught on camera stealing from a restaurant. He did so by posting a similar image – and using the time honoured phrase, ‘It wasn’t me, guv.”

What feel-good stories would you include? Comment below.

Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, I wish you a very happy 2019.

A Deadly Profession

I didn’t know Jamal Khashoggi. I never met him. But he was a journalist, one of the brothers and sisters of the media who have chosen to speak out for others. Which is why journalists have increasingly become targets.

Jamal Khashoggi didn’t describe himself as a dissident; he just wanted more freedom and fairness for his people in Saudi Arabia.

In an article published in the Washington Post last year, he wrote: "I have left my home, my family and my job, and I am raising my voice. To do otherwise would betray those who languish in prison. I can speak when so many cannot. I want you to know that Saudi Arabia has not always been as it is now. We Saudis deserve better."

Free media is a cornerstone of democracy. It is the voice which demands accountability. And as the Saudis are finding to their cost, those who would forcibly silence that voice can end up unleashing a global outrage more powerful than they ever bargained for.

It is why, when Aljazeera journalists were wrongly imprisoned in Egypt in 2013, the rest of the world’s media banded together to demand their release.

It is why, when Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was gunned down in Moscow in 2006, the international outcry forced the case all the way to the European Court of Human Rights.

It is why, after repeatedly targeting journalists and members of the press as well as other unarmed people during protests in Gaza,  Israel is facing an independent UN Commission of Inquiry.

The campaign group Reporters Without Borders says since January 2018, 60 journalists have been killed. In 2017, it was 65. You can see more figures on their website here.

We may never know exactly what happened to Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2^nd. We may never see those who gave the order for his murder pay the price. And ultimately, nothing may change in Saudi Arabia because of his death. But one thing is clear.

In the fight to highlight injustice, in the battle to hold those in charge to account, Jamal Khashoggi is just the latest fallen soldier.

Reviews and Debuts

I've had a busy week. Earlier in September I was moderating a conference in New York during the annual UN General Assembly, in front of audiences containing Princesses, Ministers and First Ladies.

Then I was hosting several  TV current affairs discussion shows for TRT World with guests talking about issues as disparate as GDP and High Seas Protection.

This month I was the Master of Ceremonies for a charity ball which raised more than £140,000 for schools in Uganda and Kenya.

But you know what made me most nervous? A talk to a class full of 14 and 15-year olds about my book. Ridiculous, I know - but I find it much easier to grill a world leader than to try to sound cool to a bunch of teenagers. Thankfully, the girls of the lovely Queen Mary's in Yorkshire were kind enough to buy several copies of book, and have promised to review it.

Reviews are another nerve-wracking experience. So far I have been lucky enough to glean four and five stars from proper critics (i.e. not just my family!) - bloggers and writers who review books on a daily basis. Here's the latest one, from The Return Cart which you can find by clicking here.  

It's always a relief when your book is praised. It would be very hard to be told it isn't any good. It's like being told your child is unattractive. And bad reviews spell poor sales.

All of which makes it really hard for debut authors like me. It's incredibly difficult to get your work noticed among the millions available on Amazon. 

So in the spirit of solidarity, here are five debut YA urban fantasy novels which have done incredibly well and get the kind of reviews we newbies dream of! If you like new worlds, dark destinies and powerful teens, these are for you.

Happy reading.

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

In the opulent world of Orléans, beauty is power. And only through a Belle's abilities can perfection be achieved . . . though the results always fade.

Camellia Beauregard wants to be the favourite Belle - the one chosen by the queen to tend to the royal family. But behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that her powers may be far greater - and far deadlier - than she ever imagined. 

Everless by Sara Holland

In the land of Sempera, the rich control everything - even time. Ever since the age of alchemy and sorcery, hours, days and years have been extracted from blood and bound to iron coins. The rich live for centuries; the poor bleed themselves dry.

Jules and her father are behind on their rent and low on hours. To stop him from draining himself to clear their debts, Jules takes a job at Everless, the grand estate of the cruel Gerling family.

There, Jules encounters danger and temptation in the guise of the Gerling heir, Roan, who is soon to be married. But the web of secrets at Everless stretches beyond her desire, and the truths Jules must uncover will change her life for ever.

 The Wren Hunt by Mary Watson

Every winter, Wren Silke is chased through the forest in a warped version of a childhood game. The boys who haunt her are judges, powerful and frightening pursuers, who know nothing of her true identity. If they knew she was an augur, their sworn enemy, the game would turn deadly. 

But Wren is on the hunt, too. Sent undercover as an intern to the Harkness Foundation – enemy headquarters – her family's survival rests on finding a secret meant to stay hidden.




Ink, Iron and Glass by Gwendolyn Clare

A certain pen, a certain book, and a certain person can craft entirely new worlds through a branch of science called scriptology. Elsa comes from one such world that was written into creation, where her mother—a noted scriptologist—constantly alters and expands their reality.

But when her home is attacked and her mother kidnapped, Elsa is forced to cross into the real world and use her own scriptology gifts to find her. In an alternative Victorian Italy, Elsa finds a secret society of young scientists with a gift for mechanics, alchemy, or scriptology—and meets Leo, a gorgeous mechanist with a smart mouth and tragic past.

                                         

 The Diminished by Kaitlyn Sage Patterson

A rare few are singleborn in each generation, and therefore given the right to rule by the gods and goddesses. Bo Trousillion is one of these few, born into the royal line and destined to rule. 

When one twin dies, the other usually follows, unable to face the world without their other half. Those who survive are considered diminished, doomed to succumb to the violent grief that inevitably destroys everyone whose twin has died. Such is the fate of Vi Abernathy, whose twin sister died in infancy. 

As their sixteenth birthdays approach, Bo and Vi face very different futures—one a life of luxury as the heir to the throne, the other years of backbreaking work as a temple servant. But a long-held secret and the fate of the empire are destined to bring them together in a way they never could have imagined.

The Robots Are Coming

I'm very happy to have picked up some good reviews for my debut YA fantasy thriller Daughter of Kali: Awakening this month. You can read one of them on the super blog SciFiAndScary.com (there's a link right here). It's a great feeling when a reviewer likes what you've written, because after all it's the sum of months, if not years, of hard work and emotion.

It made me think; can writing ever be replaced by Artificial Intelligence? For that matter, could AI replace the need for authors at all?

A study last year by the Mckinsey Global Institute of 800 occupations across 46 countries found that by 2030, 800 million people will lose their jobs to automation. That's a fifth of the global workforce. And one of the jobs that could be under threat is mine.  

Meet Erica.

Image from Adweek.com

She's a TV anchor for a Japanese news network, and was developed by the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at Osaka University. Apparently, she has multilingual skills and can work non-stop. I bet her hair and make-up costs are pretty low too.  And she probably doesn't complain about the state of the ladies' toilets like I do. I can see why her new employers are pleased.

But surely, I reason, writing a work of fiction is different to reading the news? And there at least I can take some comfort. Because writing, particularly fantasy and sci-fi,  requires creativity, an active imagination and a flair for disregarding the laws of physics. And indeed, most experts agree the jobs that fall into the 'creative' zone will be safe from automation; i.e. artists, musicians, writers. 

Alarm bells did ring for me when I read that a robot had managed to dash off a credible science fiction dystopian novel by scanning and studying science magazines from the last fifty years. Even worse, an AI-written novel made it past the first round of a literary competition in Japan. But then I read how much extra 'help' went into these endeavours. Programmers had to input masses of data on plot, character descriptions and gender, and even prepare sentences which the computer used to 'write' the book. 

So I think we writers and bloggers are safe for the minute. 

If you're in the US do enter the Goodreads competition for a free e-book copy of Daughter of Kali: Awakening by clicking here. And if you like reading fantasy, si-fi and horror, do check out my blog list (on the desktop version); there are some great book bloggers out there. 

Until the robots take over, stay safe

Celebrating September

I love September. I'm not sure why; maybe it's because this is the month of my birth. I was named after a flower that blossoms this time of year in India, the night-blooming jasmine known as 'Shiuli'.  

Round about now I start to look back at what I've achieved over the year, and look forward to what I still need or want to do. It's also the time of year when I've made some life-changing decisions. It's the month I moved to Qatar to launch Aljazeera back in 2006. It's also the month I handed in my notice nine years later. It's the month I met my husband-to-be in London 21 years ago, though neither of us knew then where it would lead. It was another four months before he managed to ask me out on a date.

September is the month when the first book was published on a printing press in 1452. No prizes for guessing what it was. (The Bible).

Some of my favourite authors were born in September; Roald Dahl, Stephen King, H.G. Wells. And it's also the month, three years ago, when I finished the first draft of my debut Young Adult novel, Daughter of Kali: Awakening.

Needless to say, the first draft wasn't the last by a long shot! It needed a lot of polishing. But it's now coming up to the four-month anniversary of its publication date by the wonderful Peach Publishing.

To celebrate, we've launched a September Giveaway on Goodreads. Free kindle copies are available to 100 US readers who enter my giveaway here at www.goodreads.com between now and September 30th.

To make up for the fact that UK readers can't currently enter the Goodreads Giveaway, I have a special offer just for them. I have two paperback copies which I will sign and post to you anywhere in the UK. To enter, go to my website www.shiulieghosh.com and send me your email address through my 'contacts' form. I will pick two names at random. Closing date September 30th.

Good luck. Good reading. And have a good September.

Diversity Adversity

I've been thinking a lot about diversity this week. It was sparked by a conversation on Twitter about the lack of Young Adult books featuring girls with autism, but quickly spread into a discussion about why there weren't more stories featuring black/gay/transgender/fat/Asian/kids with disabilities etc etc. 

According to figures I found under #WeNeedDiverseBooks, in 2017 a character in a children's picture book was four times more likely to be a dinosaur than an American-Indian child.

In my book Daughter of Kali: Awakening, my main character is a half-Indian half-English girl. I wrote her because a) you write what you know, and that's my background and b) growing up, there were very few characters in books who I could identify with. Indian girls, let alone Indian girls with secret destinies and hidden powers, were just not that thick on the ground. 

I was massively into Marvel comics when I was a teenager, but I couldn't help noticing that superheroes were predominantly white males. The first black superhero in mainstream comics was Black Panther back in 1966, and he only appeared alongside the Fantastic Four (all white, except arguably I suppose The Thing, who was technically orange. But he started out white.) 

One of my favourite TV shows, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was woefully short on non-white characters. The second Slayer, Kendra, only lasted a couple of episodes before being killed off. (It did have a fully-rounded lesbian relationship though, which was ground-breaking for the time.)

Thankfully, things have moved on somewhat, and there are some terrific books out there celebrating the human race in all its uniqueness. So, in the interests of diversity, here are five YA books you should read or get your child to read. Because representation matters, and we should all have access to different perspectives. 

What kind of characters would YOU like to see? Please comment below. Happy reading!


Love, Hate, and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed

American-born seventeen-year-old Maya Aziz is torn between worlds. There’s the proper one her parents expect for their good Indian daughter: attending a college close to their suburban Chicago home, and being paired off with an older Muslim boy her mom deems “suitable.” And then there is the world of her dreams: going to film school and living in New York City—and maybe (just maybe) pursuing a boy she’s known from afar since grade school, a boy who’s finally falling into her orbit at school.

There’s also the real world, beyond Maya’s control. In the aftermath of a horrific crime perpetrated hundreds of miles away, her life is turned upside down. The community she’s known since birth becomes unrecognizable; neighbors and classmates alike are consumed with fear, bigotry, and hatred. Ultimately, Maya must find the strength within to determine where she truly belongs.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zelie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were targeted and killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now, Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good. Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers—and her growing feelings for the enemy.

 Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—derailing the War Between the States and changing the nation forever. In this new America, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Education Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead.

Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose. But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.

The Dangerous Art of Blending In by Angelo Surmelis

Evan Panos doesn’t know where he fits in. His strict Greek mother refuses to see him as anything but a disappointment. His quiet, workaholic father is a staunch believer in avoiding any kind of conflict. And his best friend Henry has somehow become distractingly attractive over the summer.

Tired, isolated, scared—Evan’s only escape is drawing in an abandoned church that feels as lonely as he is. And, yes, he kissed one guy over the summer. But it’s his best friend Henry who’s now proving to be irresistible. It’s Henry who suddenly seems interested in being more than friends. And it’s Henry who makes him believe that he’s more than his mother’s harsh words and terrifying abuse. But as things with Henry heat up, and his mother’s abuse escalates, Evan has to decide how to find his voice in a world where he has survived so long by avoiding attention at all costs.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr

The Joy of Text

Self-marketing - is there anything so depressing?

Yeah yeah, I am a journalist, I know the value of the instagram/twitter/facebook audience. I am no stranger to bigging myself up and advertising my skills. I work in television, for goodness' sake. It is neither new nor scary to me.

But boy, is it relentless.

After two months of writing, talking and publicising my first Young Adult urban fantasy novel Daughter of Kali: Awakening  I have nine great reviews on Amazon and have reached the heady heights of number 25,000 (yes, 25-thousand!!) in the Bestseller rank. 

Frankly, I wasn't aware you could be 25,000th in the ratings and still have it called a bestseller.  I guess since it's out of around 800,000 books on Amazon, it counts for something. But it goes to show that having a book accepted for publishing is not the end of it, nor is it a guaranteed pathway to fame and fortune.

A couple of years ago, a report showed the average annual earnings for a UK author was just £12500 (that's $16300 in today's money) - well below the average national income. And just half of authors who were surveyed said they were able to make a living by writing books. I think it's safe to say I won't be giving up my day job.

If you haven't read Daughter of Kali: Awakening yet, do give it a go. Who knows, with your help I may reach the towering achievement of number 24,999 in the Amazon rankings.  Click here to buy on  Amazon UK or here for Amazon US - the kindle version is on a special discounted deal until mid-August.

Truth be told, I love writing. It is so different to what I do as a journalist. I'm happy to keep plugging away, even though I'm 100% sure it won't make me rich.

Recently, I submitted my second novel, Seeing Alfie, to my agent. It's something I've been working on for a year. It's not a sequel to Daughter of Kali. It is a stand-alone contemporary YA novel dealing with friendship, loss and grief. If that sounds a bit heavy-going, it truly isn't. It is meant to be heart-lifting. My agent may beg to differ - I am still waiting on his verdict.

And now, finally, I will start on part two of  Daughter of Kali which was always intended to be a trilogy. My mum, at least, is desperate to see what happens next to my heroine Kaz.

The best times in writing a book are the day you start on Chapter 1 - and the day you finish with those magic words:

The End.

An Author At Last!

It's here! After three years of writing, editing, rewriting, polishing, and rewriting again, my first YA book is out. It's been a tremendous journey and a steep learning curve, but the thrill of holding my very own published work in my hands is totally worth it.

Daughter of Kali: Awakening is the first of a trilogy in the urban fantasy genre. It tells the story of Kaz, a fifteen year old Asian girl who is drawn into a secret world of myth and magic, demons and gods. 

Here's some blurb from the back: Kaz discovers she's part of a long legacy of Warriors dating all the way back to the Hindu goddess Kali. But where does she fit into this ancient battle? What does Kali want from her? And can she control her own awakening powers before it’s too late?

My publishers are Peach Publishing, who aren't your traditional publishers. They don't insist on an 18 month lead time before publication, because the book is available in ebook and print-on-demand format. It means from the moment I signed the contract to the moment the book became available for sale was a mere six weeks.

I won't make my fortune and I won't sell millions - J.K. Rowling has nothing to fear from me. But the joy of finally having my story published, to be read and (I hope) enjoyed by 13-15 year olds, is just amazing. 

It's available on Amazon in both kindle and paperback formats.

UK readers click here: Amazon UK and US readers click here: Amazon US

I would love you to read it and review it! And now I want to turn my attention to my next one. Hopefully, it won't take quite so long.....