My Free Upcoming Novelette: Front Cover of Letters to God

Assalamualaikum and greetings dear avid Bits and Pieces readers,

It's amazing how two months has passed since I updated my blog. And we're in 2016 already! I was under heaps of study and mountains of pressure that when I emerged out of them, I was knocked back down again out of shock. As I was slowly recovering and emerging, I managed to go through the first draft of Letters to God; albeit half way. Now that I've fully surfaced and alert, I hope I can get it done this month (please say ameen).

There is however one aspect of the book that I managed to get done (well it was my husband who did most of the work) out of God's mercy. The front cover of Letters to God has been completed!

My husband was learning Adobe Photoshop and so I enlisted his help to design the front cover. I first told him a general idea that I had in mind. The design I pictured is an ancient mailbox perched on a mysterious snowy area somewhere. Since the main character writes letters of complaint to God, I thought the ancient mailbox would symbolize the perfect place to drop those letters. I also chosen a snowy backdrop because I see snow as pure and mysterious, a place where God could live.

So we sat together in front of his computer and flick through picture by picture at Creative Commons. My husband had also done an independent research of book covers and found that white and black are very common backdrop themes. I thought for a bit and decided to give up the snow setting because I want my front cover to be unique.

By then, we had several selection of mailbox pictures but no design ideas. Disheartened, I shifted my focus to study instead while my husband continued. After a few days of creative drainage, my husband sat still on his chair, his right hand in a frenzy, eyes fixed at his computer. Hours after, he showed me his design.

I looked at it in awe. I love it! Except for one thing. The word "Letters" in "Letters to God" is the same color as the mailbox whereas "to God" are in white. I asked him and my husband showed a few book covers that others had done online. Almost all of them used different colors for their title too. After much thought, I asked him to change "Letters" into white. I don't know, I just think it looks much better. Thus behold, the front cover of my free upcoming novelette!!!


 

What do you think? Does it look good? Do you think it needs improvement? In what way? Please, do tell me in the comments.

My Free Upcoming Novelette: The Main Characters in Letters to God (Part 2)

Assalamualaikum and greetings dear Bits and Pieces readers,

I have introduced Sarah, Wafi, Rahman, Rahmah and Rahim. So today, I am going to introduce you to the non-human character and the Indian family.

NEKO

Personality:
Neko is an intelligent male cat. He has the highest EQ and IQ among fellow domestic cats. Ever since Rahmah's passing, Neko has been especially close to Rahim. It is as though he can sense that Rahim needs love and guidance that Rahman rarely provides. Being a cat, he is also playful and annoys Rahim from time to time.
On a side note, Neko is my favourite character in this novelette. He makes the story move and provides an opportunity for readers to relax after tense scenes.

Origin:
Neko means cat in Japanese. I got this character idea from Rurouni Kenshin movie trilogy. There's a cat scene in each of those movies, and I'd say, "The cat is so cute!". After that, serious scenes came in. Aoshi tried to kill Okina before getting to Kenshin, and Kaoru was almost killed by an impostor of Hitokiri Battousai. Then I realise that two of the cat's function is to give more impact on unexpected scenes and to provide flow to the story.
Incidentally, I got stuck between scenes and I don't know what I should put in between. Plus my story was quite dry. All thanks to God, I was inspired to put Neko in and Letters to God started to flow smoothly.

MANIDHAR

Personality:
Manidhar is a serious and charming man. He has a wife, Devi, and a daughter, Aasha. Manidhar is Sarah's friend and one of her employees too. Not many can guess that he harbors evil motives.

Origin:
In the Indian language, Manidhar means mythical snake with jewel in its hood. And when a man is called a snake, that usually means he's a backstabber and sneaky. Thus the name suits this character perfectly.

DEVI

Personality:
Devi is beautiful and naive. So in some ways, Devi matches Sarah's personality. She also pretends to be strong when she's really not.

Origin:
Devi means goddess in the Sanskrit language. This meaning matches with her beauty which had attracted Manidhar to marry her in the first place.

AASHA

Personality:
Aasha is a smart and strong will girl. She's also not your average teenager. She finds talking about boys boring and that is not because she's a lesbian. It's simply that she's maturer than people her age.
Albeit these qualities, Aasha can be quite disrespectful to her mother.

Origin:
Aasha means hope, aspiration, righteousness, and also life. Without realising this herself, Aasha gives hope to the people around her. This is also the main reason I need Aasha in Letters to God. 


Now that you've met all of my main characters, do you like any of them? Do tell me in the comment section!

My Free Upcoming Novelette: The Main Characters in Letters to God (Part 1)

Assalamualaikum and greetings dear Bits and Pieces readers,

In today's post, I would like to introduce you the main characters in my upcoming free novelette, Letters to God.

I've given a lot of thought on how many characters that my novelette should have; more so their personalities. To make them more profound, I try my best to pick out names that match their personalities. Although most of my potential readers probably wouldn't care what the names meant, I feel a sense of satisfaction in picking them.

As can be seen in the picture below, the main characters come from two groups of families, one is a Malay family and the other is an Indian family. And yes, there's a non-human there too! So Wafi, Sarah, Rahman, Rahmah, Rahim, Neko, Manidhar, Devi, and Aasha, meet Bits and Pieces readers. Bits and Pieces readers, meet Wafi, Sarah, Rahman, Rahmah, Rahim, Neko, Manidhar, Devi, and Aasha. I hope you, Bits and Pieces readers, will find them fascinating! Just like they find you :)        

SARAH

Personality:
Sarah is the lead character. She is a beautiful, fashionable, and successful Muslim woman. She owns a successful bakery cafe that has chains throughout Peninsular Malaysia. These pointers of hers also make her stubborn, refusing to heed to his husband's advice at times. This closed mind of hers causes her to be naive.

Origin:
This novelette is about a woman who has been inflicted with many tragedies in her life. Just like my childhood neighbour Sarah. She's a Filipino who married a Pakistani and converted to Islam. I remember she'd asked me and another neighbour to teach her how to pray. During Ramadhan, the fasting month for Muslims, she'd give my family pancakes for break fast. She have two daughters. She was happy leaving in our neighbourhood. But a tragic incident occurred. Her husband was beaten to death by a group of unknown men on his way back from work. Then my father said she went and lived with her in-laws in Pakistan. After awhile, she came back to our residential area for a short visit. I can't entirely remember what happen back then. What I can remember is she was clad in white and she was hugging me and crying. It is as though her life has been miserable in Pakistan.

WAFI

Personality:
Wafi is Sarah's husband. He is a loving father towards his son, Rahman. Although Sarah doesn't respect his opinion and is stubborn most of the time, he remains loving, patient, and loyal to her. However, he is that type of person who forgives and never forgets. He's the type who bottles up all his emotions inside.

Origin:
Wafi is in Arabic and its meaning is loyal; a characteristic that Sarah's husband possess. I wanted to put Sabur, meaning patience but I never heard a Malay man named after that.
On a side note, it is normal in Malaysia and the rest of the Muslim countries to have Arabic names. This is because Islam was revealed in the Arabic language.

RAHMAN

Personality:
Rahman is the son of Sarah and Wafi. He's loved unconditionally by his parents. He's energetic, playful, and talkative. But due to the death of his father later in the story, he becomes cold and distant towards Sarah ever since. Rahman blames his mother for the death of his father. As a result of this tragedy, he's incapable of showing love even when he becomes an adult.

Origin:
The name Rahman is an Arabic term meaning mercy and compassion.

RAHMAH

Personality:
The adult Rahman is married to Rahmah. To Rahman, she is the most loving and caring human being. She understands Rahman the most.

Origin:
The term Rahmah has a similar meaning to Rahman.

RAHIM   

Personality:
The only son of Rahman and Rahmah is a rebellious teenager. He appears tough on the outside but inside, he inherits Rahmah's sensitivity.

Origin:
The term Rahim also has a similar meaning to Rahman.

The reason I pick the name Rahman, Rahmah, and Rahim is because the meaning of these names closely relate to love. Since Rahman is distant from his mother, Sarah, and his father had long ago died, he is in desperate need of love. So there comes Rahmah whose name incidentally meant compassion.
In an effort to show his love, Rahman also name their son Rahim. On top of that, Rahman dreams of a family that is full of love. The kind that he momentarily had when his father was alive.

I think we should continue the rest of the introductions in my next post. Or the one after next. Until then...do take care!