Fiza Pathan: “If it were not for my social networking and my blogs, many of my readers wouldn’t be reading my books”

Her sixth book ‘Nirmala: The Mud Blossom’ will be a novel about the atrocities faced by the women of her country, India

Her four published books

• My third book titled ‘Classics: Why We Should Encourage Children To Read Them’ has been the most requested and the bestselling book.

• My fourth book ‘So This Is love’ is a sort of balm to the soul of a broken hearted lover.

• Poetry writing is definitely more complicated for me to write.

• My books are now available in all Amazon stores and major online bookstores.

• The first Indian fiction book I read was Saratchandra’s ‘Devdas’ which I read in my national language ‘Hindi’.

Follow her on Website, Facebook, Goodreads and Twitter

By: Alberto Berenguer    Twitter: @tukoberenguer

Fiza Pathan, Indian writer

When did you decide to share your thoughts with everybody through writing? Since high school and ever since I read ‘Emily of New Moon’ by L.M.Montgomery, I’ve been interested in sharing my thoughts with others through the medium of the written word. However, I wrote my first book in 2009 when I was in my last year of college. The book got published in 2012 and since then there has been no looking back. It has been an amazing experience to be a writer/poet/blogger. Your first fiction book was S.O.S. Animals and other stories, an excellent book for children. Classics: Why we should encourage children to read them is also one of your recent books. Are children your highest priority like readers? Although I have written three books for children, I wouldn’t say that children are my highest priority as readers. I write a good deal of other fiction and articles which do not really make children as my prime readers. I don’t fit in a niche──I like to explore. That is why my last two published works are for a mature audience, though I enjoy writing children’s books. I would like to be known as an author who writes for children from ages 5 to 95. In addition, your novels and short stories are included in almost all genres, Religious writings being your forte. Why do you always reflect religious topics? Being a devout Roman Catholic as well as being a Theosophist has really made me a writer of religious parables and stories. Religious writing gives me a sense of peace and I feel more fulfilled writing religious literature than any other kind of literature. Also, religion was the first genre in which I discovered myself as a real writer back when I sent my first article to the Catholic weekly ‘The Examiner’ in 2008. I also wrote articles and religious parables in another Catholic magazine called ‘Vision and Venture’ when I was still in college. Religious themes and topics come easily to me because I am very much engrained in my faith.

Cover of her fourth book

But you also write love. So this is love is a book of poetry with many different facets. What will readers find in these poems? My fourth book ‘So This Is love’ is a sort of balm to the soul of a broken hearted lover. In this book, readers with a love for poetry will encounter themes such as──love at first sight, rejection, suicide, lost love, delusion, broken promises, death of love, passion etc. I have literally and metaphorically burnt the flames of lost love on the pyre of my book and I’ve drowned in its evolution into a book which will be my most treasured piece of writing. This book will help a lover to heal wounds that are too fresh to forget so easily. You have written three fiction books, a non-fiction book and a book of poetry. What genre is more complicated writing for you? Poetry writing is definitely more complicated for me to write. I normally write in free verse but to really get my soul into the piece that I’m writing requires me to be in a very contemplative and serene flame of mind. I firmly believe that the Holy Spirit is the one who dictates poems to me in my mind and then I write them down. I can finish a piece of fiction and non-fiction in no time at all, but poetry is the genre where I really take time to write as I believe that only inspired poetry from the altar of the soul sounds the best. I may take a whole hour to write a piece of poetry, whereas a religious short story will take me just about 15 minutes. Poetry for me is complex and I breathe my whole being into my poems, so I take a lot of effort to write them. Why did you decide to publish on Amazon? It is difficult to find a Publisher in India or do you prefer a direct contact with the reader? When I decided to self-publish it was the most prudent thing to choose CreateSpace (A division of Amazon) for my print books and Kindle Direct Publishing for my eBooks.  Looking back it was a wise decision, as Amazon has grown into one of the largest online bookstore in the world, with branches in every major country. With them I have grown. My books are now available in all Amazon stores and major online bookstores.

Addressing the audience at her Book

Who creates the covers of your e-books? For my last two books I have utilized the services of LLPix Photography and Design. My Classics cover was designed by me using the Book Cover Pro software. Do you think that an important factor in your success lies in the interaction that you set up with your readers through social networks? Definitely, I think that if it were not for my social networking and my blogs, I don’t think many of my readers would be reading the books I am writing. On that note, I would applaud and be humble enough to thank my Facebook, Twitter friends and colleagues for always having faith in my works. I am also grateful to my following on other social networking sites which has made me into a better writer at the end of each day.

Many books read by her

You are a voracious reader of all genres, but do you usually read Indian national literature or Anglo-Saxon? I’m an avid reader of both the genres that has been mentioned in this question. Reading is my passion and I can just about read anything written by anybody and still be nourished by what I have read. However, I would also like to mention here that I have begun to read Indian National literature only recently which would be about seven years. My school years and my early years at college were spent in the laps of many Anglo-Saxon books which I devoured with much pleasure. It was my study of Sociology which is defined as ‘the study of society’ that made me interested in Indian National Literature in the year 2007. Infact, the first Indian fiction book I read was Saratchandra’s ‘Devdas’ which I read in my national language ‘Hindi’. I spent the whole of 2007 devouring all Indian fiction written in Hindi until I started reading English Indian Fiction and Non Fiction. Rabindranath Tagore became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 who introduced new prose and verse forms and the use of colloquial language into Bengali literature. Have you read any book of this author? I have read all the books of this most revered author who we in India call lovingly ‘Gurudev’. Be it his non Fiction or fiction…his articles or his poetry, I’ve read each and every one of his writing. Gurudev’s works are my fond treasures which make me take pride in my nationality and in me being an Indian.  The first book that I read of Gurudev’s was ‘Chokher Bali’ which means ‘a grain of sand’ which touched the lover in me and then I went on in one whole month to read all of Gurudev’s works which I bought from my local book stores which were filled with all his literary treasures. Gurudev was a genius. At his time he not only gave our country a rich source of literature but also the strength in prose and poetry that we needed to win our Independence from the British rule back in the early 20^th century. I read all his works in English and then to improve my Hindi, I read all his short stories in my national language though it is said that to really gain the true essence of Gurudev’s works, one must switch to Bengali to gain the full pleasure of his writings── but I am not a linguist. I read Gurudev’s poetry collection ‘Gitanjali: Song Offerings’ once every week to contemplate on God and his marvels. I can go on writing about this great soul who even revolutionized education and yet, my words won’t be able to take the weight of his mighty stature. I’ll quote my favorite line from ‘Gitanjali’ which enriches me daily:

“Here is thy footstool and there rest thy feet where live the poorest, and lowliest, and lost. When I try to bow to thee, my obeisance cannot reach down to the depth where thy feet rest among the poorest, and lowliest, and lost. Pride can never approach to where thou walkest in the clothes of the humble among the poorest, and lowliest, and lost. My heart can never find its way to where thou keepest company with the companionless among the poorest, the lowliest, and the lost.”

Classics cover for Kindle

Your books are available like ebook and paperback on Amazon. Have you received many reviews? I will always cherish the reviews I have received on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Goodreads. What matters is that my books have been appreciated. What book has been the most requested?  My third book titled ‘Classics: Why We Should Encourage Children To Read Them’ has been the most requested and the bestselling book. Infact, it is doing so well that now I am planning on writing a sequel to this nonfiction educational piece which will be titled ‘Classics: How you Should Encourage Children To Read Them’. “In India women are abused from the womb to the tomb” or “Every 21 minutes a woman suffers a rape in India”, these are some news coming to Spain on the situation in your country. Have you thought writing a book about this atrocity? Fate has made you ask this question and destiny has proven favorable for me to answer you that…my sixth book ‘Nirmala: The Mud Flower’ will be a novel about the atrocities faced by the women of my country. The situation has been bad for the past few years, however, with the support of a new government, things have started to change and the public, police and media have become more vigilant to such acts taking place across the country. The justice system is working faster and better now thanks to public pressure. However, it will take a long time for some stereotypes about women in India to be removed from the minds and hearts of the Indian public. My sixth book will bring out the many discriminatory practices that has left the face of women in India insecure and unsure about their future. Finally, are you writing a new book now or is all your time taken up by promotion of your books? I am a meticulous worker so I find time to promote my other books as well as research and write new books. My sixth book will be out by the end of July while my seventh book will be out by the end of October. Between that time, I hope to write many Short Story Singles on Amazon if God permits me the health and dexterity for the many books which I wish to write.

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