The image just above was my inspiration for the novel the Oaql Seed, the first installment in what is now becoming the Tree Boat Series. Yesterday at 5:19pm I finished the last line of my first book. This is the “big project” I have been mentioning in passing now and then. The image below is of the first journal I ever owned, given to me by my best friend around the time I had to move out of Staten Island. I was around ten years old.
The little Zain inside me had to wait some eighteen years for his dream to come true. The older Zain finally sorted out a few things in his life and rediscovered his inner voice. [See? Patience pays little one. ]
After all our travels and seeking I have come to believe that though many of my childhood fantasies have been disillusioned through experience, as an adult it is my duty to uphold the sense of magic that got me to write this book, that is compelling me even now to write this blog post. Through creative works we are able to share feelings of presence we have felt in peak experiences of our life. Sometimes these peak experiences come in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest in a traditional ceremony and sometimes they come in the middle/end of a good book. The point being, that people can be moved to presence in a huge spectrum of contexts, what is left then is to somehow recreate, and share that feeling in the hopes that the torch of inspiration is carried on.
The first time I set out to formally write a full length story was back in (hold on...must sift through old computer docs...ah! Here it is!) the year 2011. The next iteration seems to be sometime in 2014. Then 2015 another attempt, 2016, 2017, and by the middle of 2018 the rusty clogs were cleaned and greased. The story began taking on a life of its own and I began thinking about it more and more as I was sitting in my postbacc classes. Though there were large gaps in my story writing process, the real work was being done in my journals with seemingly unrelated content. Just the daily act of journaling experiences, thoughts, and jibberish at times helped me find my voice. I was able to look back at journals from my teenage years and be like...”Yeesh! Someone give that boy a hug!” And other times I looked back and thought to myself, “Wow, that boy was really onto something there. Huh.”
Well, one journey ends and another begins, or is it all one long journey? Now I’m writing drafts of query letters, finding readers, editing, researching, and putting the final touches on the book as I aim to publish it through a major publishing house.
So fam and friends, keep those prayers and good vibes coming. It’s really helping :)
After all our travels and seeking I have come to believe that though many of my childhood fantasies have been disillusioned through experience, as an adult it is my duty to uphold the sense of magic that got me to write this book, that is compelling me even now to write this blog post. Through creative works we are able to share feelings of presence we have felt in peak experiences of our life. Sometimes these peak experiences come in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest in a traditional ceremony and sometimes they come in the middle/end of a good book. The point being, that people can be moved to presence in a huge spectrum of contexts, what is left then is to somehow recreate, and share that feeling in the hopes that the torch of inspiration is carried on.
The first time I set out to formally write a full length story was back in (hold on...must sift through old computer docs...ah! Here it is!) the year 2011. The next iteration seems to be sometime in 2014. Then 2015 another attempt, 2016, 2017, and by the middle of 2018 the rusty clogs were cleaned and greased. The story began taking on a life of its own and I began thinking about it more and more as I was sitting in my postbacc classes. Though there were large gaps in my story writing process, the real work was being done in my journals with seemingly unrelated content. Just the daily act of journaling experiences, thoughts, and jibberish at times helped me find my voice. I was able to look back at journals from my teenage years and be like...”Yeesh! Someone give that boy a hug!” And other times I looked back and thought to myself, “Wow, that boy was really onto something there. Huh.”
Well, one journey ends and another begins, or is it all one long journey? Now I’m writing drafts of query letters, finding readers, editing, researching, and putting the final touches on the book as I aim to publish it through a major publishing house.
So fam and friends, keep those prayers and good vibes coming. It’s really helping :)
