The Mechanic's Wife (Preview)

NOT AN UPDATE: THE SURPRISE (1)

My name is Azizah Idris Muhammad aka Umm Yasmeen. I have an SPS (Split personality syndrome)

Yes! You read that right.

I'm not making sense, right? Okay, read on.

As a writer, I have a hundred different personalities, with different tones and voices always living in my head. And I always feel like I am going to explode if I don't put them out. When In doubt I write, when confused I write, when blocked out I write. I wake up from my sleep at 3: AM and record a voice note or write on my Notes app!

Writing is my life, but then before I discovered writing, I discovered reading first. Nobody wants to read an awful story, but then we all got it wrong at a point in time, no one is perfect. We learn from our mistakes.

I have learned to ignore negative remarks that were meant to put me down; my publisher was once told: "Ka cewa Hajiyar nan ta daina rubutu bata lokacinta takeyi."

But my publisher did not tell me this at that time, he waited. And when I made my first break in 2012 he said to me. "Hajiya I've always had faith in you. And Alhamdulillah we have made it."

Of course, we have not 'made' made it, 😂 but at least the name was getting out there.

To me the important thing was the message passed, I didn't care if ten people read my book, or a hundred or if it is sold-out. As long as people got the message and it changed their lives, then Alhamdulillah.

So enough backstory, for now.

People always ask me How do you do it?

With a family to look after, undergoing my MSc. (still didn't finish that thesis.... 🙄argh!) starting a PGD in an alien course (also part of something I am working on to be revealed soon in sha Allah), running a culinary school, and trying not to be an outcast in all the social gatherings, it is a Herculean task for me to write daily.

But I do it, and so can anybody. I write an average of four thousand words a day. On good days I write seven thousand words.

Because of the FAQs, I get from you all beautiful souls, I have decided to make an Instagram live chat on Thursday by 8:00 PM in sha Allah.

You can ask me anything about writing; I will share my tips and how I cope with all of the above.

Most importantly you can ask anything about THE MECHANIC'S WIFE, and all of my other books. Anything you didn't understand while reading TMW, my inspiration, etc.

It will simply be a date with Umm Yasmeen.

SO if you're interested, keep the date.

THURSDAY, 24th AUGUST 2017 in sha Allah.

TIME: 8:00 PM (Come early I'm punctual)

Venue: @ummyasmeen2 on Instagram. Come with your beverages it's going to be a long one; you don't want to spend almost an hour looking at my nerdy face. WARNING! I talk a lot! Like non-stop.

You see, I can't just stop. Don't worry, get your questions ready till then, and I will make sure I answer them all to the best of my knowledge, in sha Allah.