Peace and blessings to you, and I hope you’re inspired and fired-up about your self-publishing efforts! It can get hard to stay motivated sometimes, but you have to remain focused on your goals. In the spirit of keeping you motivated, today’s post about the perks of self-publishing is featuring the new storytelling app, Kindle Vella, available from Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing. I’ve published all of the Mindworks Publishing titles through Kindle Direct Publishing and I have nothing but good things to say about it. For that reason, I jumped right in to try out the Kindle Vella app and I love it! This app is particularly helpful for new authors and for seasoned authors alike who may be exploring a new story or who may be trying to hone their writing skills. Authors are able to interact with their readers and able to compose episodes in a series for setting your own pace.
For example, I’ve been developing a story for a few years now, but with several current writing projects yet to be completed, I’ve been reluctant to start a new one. The story continues to scratch at my imagination, however, and I can’t seem to shake it. As a writer, I’m sure you can relate. Kindle Vella has thus provided a solution to my dilemma because I can get this story out of my head at my own pace without it interfering with the completion of my current book projects. There’s also less pressure writing this way which gives me time to decide if I want to actually publish it in book format, and I get to interact with potential readers for feedback.
The story is called The Gospel According to Juliette and it’s about a young Muslim woman who has been drifting through life without any focus until a family tragedy wakes her up to a reality that she wasn’t prepared for. Shattered by loss, she tries to pick up the pieces of herself and to figure out where she fits in a world that no longer feels like home, and as she struggles to find balance, she meets Benjamin, a Christian, and a kindhearted jokester with no regard for boundaries or personal space. Things begin to become clearer for her and the kernel of faith that had been buried in her heart for so long begins to take root. This is also a story of interracial and intercultural relationships and I hope to include some of the contemporary issues surrounding race and inclusion in America within the tension of the story. Check it out, and I hope it inspires you!
Ramadan is approaching! Al Hamdulilah, Subhanaa’Allah, Allahu Akbar! One of the greatest signs to me of its benefit is that even after 20+ years of celebrating this blessed month, I still get excited, humbled, tearful (happy tears) and thankful when the blessed month of fasting is upon us.
The Holy Quran says in Surah 2:185, “Ramaḍân is the month in which the Quran was revealed as a guide for humanity with clear proofs of guidance and the standard ˹to distinguish between right and wrong˺. So whoever is present this month, let them fast.”
This year, my heart is a little more solemn than it has been in the past because of the many challenges that the ummah and the world is facing, but I am encouraged and strengthened also. Now, more than ever, I appreciate the great gift of this blessed month and I pray that our fasting and prayers will be pleasing and acceptable to Allah Ta’aala so that we as an ummah, humankind, the earth and all of its inhabitants may be blessed with increased mercy, healing, peace, justice and provision.
I’ve recently read some ideas in a revelatory blog post that struck my heart deeply about how being a Muslim can be experienced in levels – how there are stages of knowing, doing and becoming a Muslim. As a convert to Islam, I have always been aware of a certain level of truth to this idea because I have constantly been learning more about the religion and about the life of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, over the years, but it is with a deeper understanding that I embrace this idea now. I understand this now as representative of the importance of the remembrance of Allah Ta’aala in all our doings, as the importance of doing good deeds and practicing the sunnah regularly, and as the importance of allowing and seeking transformation of our selves daily as Muslims – and as believers.
Knowing. Doing. Becoming.
Remembrance. Good deeds. Transformation.
Ramadan. Fasting. Purification.
May Allah Ta’aala’s mercy prevail in our lives, in our ummah, and in the earth. Amin.
Due to popular demand, and because even I could tell that Joanna’s journey was just beginning, I’ve written a sequel to One Love, Two Wives, the Islamic Women’s fiction novel published by Mindworks last year. The soon-to-be-released title is Two Wives, One Family and will be released in June 2022 on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback format, inshaa’Allah. Here is a sneak peek from Chapter Five. I hope you enjoy the read and if you haven’t read One Love, Two Wives already, here’s the link!
Peace and blessings to you and yours!
Excerpt from Two Wives, One Family
Chapter Five
Changes
A baby.
My mind has completely gone blank except for those two words: a baby. It echoes across my psyche like a skip in a record: a baby. a baby. a baby.
Gabriel has fallen asleep in his car seat in the back, and Michael and I remain in our seats up front, parked in his car in our driveway. The incessant creak of crickets fills the silence around us and the rectangular Tupperware container holding Nicole’s lasagna and sweet potato pie rests warmly in my lap as my mind spins dizzily. I lean my head against the headrest and turn my head to gaze out the window at the clear black sky, searching for the moon but only finding darkness.
Michael knows me well enough to quietly allow me to process what he has just told me, and he doesn’t make a sound as he holds my hand loosely in his. I wait for tears to form but there aren’t any. No tears. No anger. No objections. Just a still, catatonic resignation. After all, I knew this was coming. I just didn’t think it would arrive so soon.
Suddenly my recent dreams make more sense to me, and I wonder how far along Nicole is in the pregnancy. The sadness that I feel about the dwindling of our friendship turns into defeat as the fact that it is Michael sitting here telling me this information and not Nicole hits home. I can clearly remember the day when I told her about my being pregnant with Gabriel and the shared excitement and joy between us, or so I had thought, but I’m hearing this news from Michael and somehow it feels like a betrayal more than a joy. Had she been hiding this from me? And if she has – why? My dreams seem to have been telling me that she had.
Is this the end of our friendship? Are we destined to just be co-wives who hold each other at arm’s length and to simply treat each other with cordial, good manners without the depth of the spiritual and mental friendship that we once had? I’m too shocked from this news to form a meaningful statement so I stick to the deen, and to what I’ve learned in Islam.
I sit up and face my husband, doing my best to smile, and I say, “Congratulations, hon. May Allah Ta’aala bless you both, and the baby.”
Michael’s eyes softly probe mine and he tries to smile back, but we’re mirroring each other’s expressions. I see the same faithful, and dutiful conviction in his features that I’m feeling in my heart. I know now that he has been keeping this from me and I wonder for a moment if he is hiding his happiness because he’s afraid that I might be hurt by it.
“May Allah Ta’aala bless us all, this is our family,” he responds, and squeezes my hand affectionately. “This is a blessing for all of us. Our family is growing.”
I nod my head with more exuberance than I’m feeling, and I smile wider, keeping my emotional mask in place, but my cheeks are starting to hurt, and my face feels tight from the act. I’m more than ready to get out of this car and to retreat to my bedroom where I can sort this out.
I want to ask him why Nicole isn’t sharing this information with me or why we aren’t having this conversation together as a family, but I don’t. Although he and I haven’t spoken aloud to each other about the status of our family it is obvious to us both that we are struggling to maintain the family ties. Michael has been working late too for the past few weeks, so he and I hardly get to spend time together either. When we are together, we tend to bicker over little things or to retreat emotionally to avoid arguing. The vision of our family unit seems to be getting blurrier and blurrier to me as the weeks progress. Maybe this baby will bring us back into focus.
“Al Hamdulilah,” I say and I lean over to kiss his cheek before reaching for the door handle. “Can you bring Gabey inside for me before you head over to Nicole’s? My hands are full.”
I lift the Tupperware container and my purse in his direction, although he obviously sees that my hands are full, but I don’t know what else to say or do.
“Yeah. Of course,” he hurries to reply, relieved that the announcement is over and done with.
He climbs out of the car and walks around to the passenger side to get Gabriel from the car seat while I open the front door and put my purse and the Tupperware container on the table in the narrow hallway beside the shoe shelf and coat rack. I take off my jacket and hang it up, and slip off my shoes, before returning to the open doorway just as Michael reaches it. Gabriel is sleeping soundly in Michael’s arms and Michael hands him to me carefully, so we don’t wake him up.
“The food for Nicole is right there on the table,” I say quietly, gesturing with my head in the direction of the table. “And can you lock the door for me? I’m going to go ahead and bring him up.”
Michael switches sleeping arrangements from week to week between the duplexes, and his week at Nicole’s house starts tonight.
“Yes, of course,” Michael says and gently holds my elbow before I can turn to go up the stairs.
I look up at him questioningly. He touches my cheek and kisses me softly. He meets my gaze before releasing my elbow.
“I love you, babe. This is good news. Get some rest. I’ll call you tomorrow,” he says, and that’s all I need from him in this moment. His love and commitment is enough for me tonight.
“Ok. I love you too. As salaamu alaikum,” I reply, feeling more at peace and less confused by that simple act of affection.
“Walaikum as salaam,” he responds and waits at the foot of the stairs while I start the climb up with Gabey in my arms.
When I reach the second-floor landing, I hear the door close, and the lock turn over as Michael leaves. I walk into Gabey’s bedroom and I lay him down in his crib to gingerly remove his shoes and jacket before going over to his dresser to get his pajamas. I return to the crib to remove his clothes and to check his Pull-Up to see if it’s dry. I smile when I see that it is. My big boy is pretty much potty trained and able to go to the bathroom on his own now.
Tears prick at the back of my eyes at the realization of how he’s growing and learning new things. Progressing. Things are changing and it suddenly seems a little too fast to me. I fight back tears as I put Gabriel into his pajamas.
I’ve been so emotional lately that I had placed a call to Dr. Alonzo’s office on Friday and the nurse, Katie, had said that this is normal. She said that as my body rebuilds after the chemotherapy I’m going to go through changes in my hormones and biochemistry that will make me feel emotional, but not to worry. She said I need to exercise, and that I should start a personal exercise regimen to help with that. I make a mental note to get started tomorrow as I wipe away the tears.
Once I’ve finished dressing him he rolls over in the crib without waking, as if his body is instinctively more comfortable now. I cover him up with his blanket, turn the night light on, and leave his bedroom through the adjoining bathroom to enter mine.
I turn on the lamp on the bedside table in my room and I plop down onto the bed, laying flat on my back, to stare up at the ceiling with my hands folded across my heart. I try to imagine what life is going to be like now. A baby is going to affect us in more ways than one. Financially. Logistically. Emotionally. Spiritually. I know this. I’ve expected this. But the reality of it feels daunting. Especially when Nicole and I haven’t had a decent conversation in weeks – almost two months now.
I begin to wonder if I’ve made the right decision when it comes to this lifestyle. I love everything about Islam, even polygyny and the potential that it embodies. I think about the Qur’anic verse that says that Allah never gives us more than we can bear, and I question whether I am strong enough to bear this. It takes an enormous amount of faith and fortitude to share a husband, and will I be able to continue this way when a baby is involved?
The cancer diagnosis has made me much more conscious of my mortality so I’m deeply aware of the fact that none of us here on this earth are promised tomorrow. We may come up with a detailed plan about how our lives will play out, but that doesn’t mean that our lives will actually end up the way that we envision. I never imagined that I would have a life-threatening disease or be faced with having to share my husband, but I had. I had been prepared to leave this world if that was what was required of me, but it hadn’t been. And now I find myself re-evaluating all of the decisions that I’ve made thus far in my life.
Do I really want to spend the rest of my life sharing my husband and living this way? Josh’s face flits across my mind’s eye at that question and I immediately feel uncomfortable. The fact that my subconscious has thrown his face up onto the screen of my mind is major. It had been nice talking to him, and even nicer discovering that he knew about Islam – that he had even considered converting to Islam himself. But more than that, talking with him made me feel seen. His attention made me feel less insecure. I recognize that there are many pathways available to me in this life and my question now is: am I on the right one?
I don’t know the answer to that question at the moment, so I break down what I do know. I know that Islam has changed my life for the better. I know that Islam has changed me for the better, and that it has helped me to get through the pain and uncertainty of cancer and chemotherapy. I know that I’m a better person since being married to Michael, and I know that sharing a husband with Nicole has helped me to develop a closer relationship with Allah. I have come to feel a deep connection to Allah, to God, the Creator, Cherisher and Sustainer of all that exists, and this is a priceless gift that I will never turn away from. I will gladly spend the rest of my life practicing Islam. That much I do know.
In polygyny, I may have lost the exclusivity of a husband, but I’ve gained a closer relationship with Allah, and isn’t that really what matters most in life?
I think about this, and I consider the changes to come. Michael and I will most likely have even less time to spend together than we already do, and all three of us are probably going to be more busy and stressed out as we face the increased expenses and responsibilities of two growing children to take care of, but what is faith if not the hope for things not seen? Its possible that we can handle this change without it becoming too much to bear . . .
I lean upon my faith, and I cling to the hope that Allah will provide for us from His abundance, and that Allah will allow us to draw even closer to Him, no matter the tests or trials that may come. With that in mind, I push myself up from my bed and decide that I need to make wudu and to make salaat. I need to pray. Whenever I’m confused or uncertain about something, more often than not, it is dua and salaat that clears my head and focuses my mind on that which is most important. I need that now more than ever.
One Love, Two Wives is a work of Islamic Women’s fiction that explores some of the emotional and practical issues surrounding polygyny in Islam.
About the book: Joanna Burrows never expected to encounter polygyny when she converted to Islam, but she finds herself face to face with the challenge, the question is: is she up for it? New beginnings are all around her. She is newly married, she has just given birth to her first child, and she has discovered the beauty and peace that exists within the religion of Islam. Life couldn’t have been better. Until her husband comes home one day from his weekly commute to tell her that he has married a second wife. Stunned, and heart-broken, she doesn’t think that she will be able to accept it. Should she even consider plural marriage for her life? The Quran permits a husband to marry up to four women, but does she believe that this is what God wants for her? Journey with Joanna as she rides the emotional roller-coaster of an experience that tests her mind, body and soul on levels that she never knew existed, and discover the gems of wisdom, understanding and love with her as she navigates through cultural barriers while strengthening the bonds of family and friendship along the way.
Do you have a story to tell and are you looking for a way to publish that story? Finding a literary agent who has your back or a publisher who is sincerely interested in supporting you can be a daunting process and it is not to be undertaken by the faint of heart. Your quest may be filled with setbacks and rejection that can undermine your enthusiasm and the process can sometimes even cause you to doubt yourself. It is for this reason that I relish the perks of self-publishing and while Mindworks has been on hiatus, I highly recommend the independent publishing route for new and aspiring authors.
Now, don’t get me wrong. This quest is equally as challenging as the mainstream publishing journey, but independent publishing provides greater control of the process and gives aspiring authors time to perfect their craft without the obstacles and challenges that writers often face when collaborating with literary agents and publishers.
There are plenty of noteworthy self-publishing and independent publishing companies accessible to writers but the one that I’ve found to be easiest to learn and to utilize is the Amazon KDP platform. Authors have complete autonomy over their work and the platform is free. In the months to come I intend to post a series of short articles with tips and advice for aspiring authors but if you are well on your way to completing your book, check out Amazon KDP! And feel free to email me at mindworkspublishing@gmail.com for advice and tips.
Best wishes to you on your writing/publishing journey!