UK book cover
Taiwan book cover
A few years back while in the dairy products section of our small town's grocery store I saw my friend, Naseem Rakha, and we stopped for one of those brief fun-running-into-you type of chats. Naseem had recovered from an extreme illness and she looked well and had a calm about her that was quite beautiful. I asked what she was doing......was she back at work now? She told me she was writing a book. As an acclaimed journalist, her becoming a novelist certainly didn't seem much of a leap, but the news was exciting nevertheless.
My early-on enthusiasm was not unfounded. Naseem's book, The Crying Tree, was released last week, and she is the talk of the town. Certainly so in the little town we each call home. But many other places, too. As the industry's awareness of -- and excitement about -- her book preceded its arrival in bookstores across the land, here's what Ben Beagle of The Daily News published on May 30, 2009:
Is author, Naseem Rakha, scheduled for a book reading and signing event in your area? Check to see. If she comes to your city I can vouch for a wonderful experience in seeing and hearing Naseem Rakha talk about and read from The Crying Tree. Below is a short animoto of scenes from the Portland book launch.
Make your own photo slideshow at Animoto.
About the Novel
About the Author
Naseem Rakha's website
Join Naseem on Facebook, where you can become a fan of The Crying Tree
.
A few years back while in the dairy products section of our small town's grocery store I saw my friend, Naseem Rakha, and we stopped for one of those brief fun-running-into-you type of chats. Naseem had recovered from an extreme illness and she looked well and had a calm about her that was quite beautiful. I asked what she was doing......was she back at work now? She told me she was writing a book. As an acclaimed journalist, her becoming a novelist certainly didn't seem much of a leap, but the news was exciting nevertheless.
My early-on enthusiasm was not unfounded. Naseem's book, The Crying Tree, was released last week, and she is the talk of the town. Certainly so in the little town we each call home. But many other places, too. As the industry's awareness of -- and excitement about -- her book preceded its arrival in bookstores across the land, here's what Ben Beagle of The Daily News published on May 30, 2009:
A writer whose debut novel is finding her hailed as an emerging literary voice is scheduled to stop in Batavia [New York] for a booksigning in July. . .Mike and I were thrilled to be among a large (standing-room-only) crowd at Powell's City of Books in Portland for the book launch on July 13. Powell's website describes the store as an independent book store . . . that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Evidently, the size of the crowd for the launch of The Crying Tree was underestimated by the store because it ran out of copies! We got our copies the next day at a small shop in our town. And to say I'm anxious to begin reading it would be an understatement.......
Naseem Rakha, author of The Crying Tree, is planning to stop . . . July 29 . . .
Rakha's book is creating considerable buzz. This afternoon she is speaking at BookExpo America, a publishing industry gathering in New York City, as part of its "Emerging Voices" program. The Crying Tree has also been selected by Barnes and Noble for its fall "Discover Great New Writers" promotion. . .
Is author, Naseem Rakha, scheduled for a book reading and signing event in your area? Check to see. If she comes to your city I can vouch for a wonderful experience in seeing and hearing Naseem Rakha talk about and read from The Crying Tree. Below is a short animoto of scenes from the Portland book launch.
Make your own photo slideshow at Animoto.
{Note: The Animoto is embedded and shows in HTML, but for some reason does not appear in the post. If you want to view it click here.
About the Author
Naseem Rakha's website
Join Naseem on Facebook, where you can become a fan of The Crying Tree
.
