In The Country I love by Alaa Al-Barkawi is a messy family drama which isn't really my genre but perhaps it should be because this is a wonderful novel, the tl;dr is five stars, go preorder and/or buy if you're reading this after May 2026. Or find it in a library.
A lot happened in 2025 and, it's just who I am to be focused on the terrible things that are happening in the world.
So there's a lot of hate for Muslims out there and it's rising here at the end of 2025. One of the main avenues of attack is how terrible Sharia Law is, and I took these attacks very seriously when they flared up 24 years ago near the end of 2001. So much so that, unsatisfied with the social media takes on Sharia, I researched and read about its history and its mechanics.
It's surprising the number of things that need to be done after you're done writing a book to give it a good shot in the market. There's a lot of supplementary writing to do, and, nowadays, a whole lot of marketing effort that authors need to be put in too with things like making a website, newsletter, social media post and things like that. And I've done all of that and continue to do so for my novel "Under THe Full and Crescent Moon"
October is Islamic History Month or so I'm told and what better way to celebrate than picking up my novel that's based on Islamic history!
So it's been a week since my book "Under The Full and Crescent Moon" launched and the question becomes, What's next?
So I'm a plotter, as a writer. Which means for my upcoming novel, "Under The Full And Crescent Moon", I had a very clear outline of what I wanted the story to be.
As seems to be tradition, I am writing this a day late. In less than a month my book comes out. I wish I could focus on just that amidst the devastation of the world.
But I kind of did yesterday!
If you're looking for a story that engages both the mind and the heart in equal measure than I highly recommend Oxford Soju Club by Jinwoo Park.
Let's get the disclaimers out of the way
Yesterday, the book was two months away from launching in Canada. Today it is one day less than that.
I might be a day late again with this update, but that's not too bad and, even though I'll never be satisfied by how much work I have been able to put into marketing "Under The Full and Crescent Moon", I have to be kind to myself and realize I did quite a lot this week, and this month overall.
And of course, meanwhile, the people of Gaza are starving to death and I am helpless in the face of it because of the leaders of the 'free world'.