Book Launch Chat with: Mehreen Ahmed

Welcome to Clubhouse Chat page. Those of you who are not a member won’t be aware that the location of the Clubhouse is shrouded in mystery. The only way to visit the clubhouse is via membership or an invite to the tearoom. Every few days, I’ll be sharing a conversation with all sort of writers and authors at different levels of their writing careers. Over tea and cakes, or maybe a glass of something stronger, I shall be chatting with my guest about their work in progress, or latest book release.

Today we’re here to help celebrate the launch of Mehreen’s book The Blue, Red Lyrae. Welcome Mehreen.

Thank you for having me back to the tearoom, Paula.

Congratulations on the launch of your book. First let me ask you did you try to be more original when writing this book, or deliver what you felt the readers wanted?

Yes, I have been more original when I wrote this book. I tied two novellas, two stories under the same theme connected like the Lyrae. Reading them would give a feeling as though our destiny was determined by stars, hence the title, The Blue, Red Lyrae. I have tried to portray that appearance is not our reality. The actual reality is something that we do not see or does not appear. It is realised only through sense perception.

Did you feel energised or exhausted after writing this book?
I felt energised because I felt I accomplished something totally out of this world. It is not the story that’s important but the idea behind them which brought the twin stories together.

Do you want each of your books to stand alone, or are you building a body of work that is interconnected?

Whether that be a theme, a set of characters, a setting, etc. Explain more for our readers.
Here the works are interconnected, yet uniquely stand-alone types. Depending on how one views them, but what I have tried to do is set my mind to travel across the boundaries of space and time. From one story to the next, the mind meanders and gives birth to a new one.

How do you balance your demands on the reader with taking care of your readers?

In the book did you spell everything out so your reader just had to read it, or did you rely on their emotional response to your words?
I think I rely a lot on their emotional response. I perceive my readers to be independent thinkers. I write what I write, and then leave myself bare to their critique. 

Do you hope your book will deliver you literary success and how will this look to you?
I have written it with the hope that this will deliver success. And when success comes to me it would look like I have made a serious contribution.

Was there anything you edited out of this book, you wanted to keep in, but you knew it would be a better book by cutting it?
I have not edited much. I wrote this in stream-of-consciousness style and decided in the end, to leave some of the rawness in.

How long did you spend researching this book’s subject matter, or was it a book you had already planned? 

I had a dream of publishing a twin novella book. When my publisher proposed to me that this was possible, I welcomed it whole-heartedly. I had the stories ready and well described in my mind. I knew exactly how I was going to tie them up in this book. 

What was the hardest scene to write in the book?
Tying up the discrete pieces into one meaningful whole. I had to do a lot of thinking to make that happen.

How will you cope with bad reviews on this book?
I think I’ll have to take it in the chin.

What’s the one thing you would give up to become a better writer?
I won’t give up anything. Life is to be lived and enjoyed to its full. Life is to be observed and take lessons from so we can transform reality and create wonderful things in our books.

Many thanks, Paula.

Once again let me congratulate on the launch of your book. It’s available here and here too.
If you want to find out more about Clubhouse Member’s Books don’t forget to check out the Clubhouse Bookshops too.