Imagine a man volunteering to trade in his game nights for heart burn and back ache. Good thing there are women around to ensure the survival of the species. This hilarious look at the journey from high heels to high blood pressure, as a jet setter turns into a bed wetter, is what your doctor won't tell you and your own mother may have forgotten in the years since she was blessed by your arrival.
"At our first meeting my future father-in-law waited until we sat down in the Thai restaurant, the oblong menus placed in our hands and the waiter was a distance away, tending to other diners, before turning towards me, his eyes glowing. This was the first time we were all seeing each other after his son had proposed to me.
"When will I get to hold my first grandchild?" He asked. For my father-in-law and everyone else, I have a question of my own: When will any of you be satisfied?"
Join me in welcoming Mohana Rajakumar to my blog on her virtual book tour for Mommy but Still Me. I can relate to the title alone having four kids of my own (all grown now). How many times have I heard: "Hi Ben's Mom." - or Austin's Mom and so on. I can't wait to read Mohana's book and LOL with her!
Excerpt:
I'm Pregnant Not Handicapped
I used handicapped bathrooms and parking spaces (with negative consequences).
It's a toss up in the Middle East; people are much more lenient with pregnant
people than in western countries. I didn’t use being pregnant to get away with
much at work, but in my personal life I wanted a little more leeway.
I was at the mall with a friend and thought I should have gone to the
bathroom before leaving the conference we were both attending, but I didn't. We
started laughing so hard I knew I had to go to the bathroom before it looked
like my water had broken. I dashed to the bathroom without any of my belongings
in the effort to get there faster. And before I came to the one with the
stalls, I saw a female handicapped one. Without a second thought, I ducked
inside. I may not have been in a wheelchair, but I was pregnant and my body in
an altered state from what it normally was.
Imagine my relief turning to dismay when, after washing my hands, the
lock wouldn't turn in the tumbler. I panicked because the person I was with
didn't know where I was – in my rush to get to the bathroom – I didn't have my
phone or my purse.
There was I was: in a foreign country, at the mall, locked in a bathroom.
If I hadn't been worried I'd spend all night in there, I would have laughed.
Instead I started pounding on the door, unsure how I would communicate with the
passerbys that I was stuck, reviewing my Arabic, hoping someone would hear me
over the noise, as twenty minutes went by and my heart beat threatened to floor
me.
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Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar is a
South Asian American who has lived in Qatar since 2005. Moving to the Arabian
Desert was good in many ways since that is where she met her husband, had a
baby, and made the transition from writing as a hobby to her full time gig. She
has published three e-books this year including Mommy But Still Me, So You Want to Sell a Million Copies, and Coloured and Other Stories.
Since she joined the e-book revolution, she dreams in plotlines.Her work has also been published in AudioFile Magazine, Explore Qatar, Woman Today, The Woman, Writers and Artists Yearbook, QatarClick, and Qatar Explorer. She has been a guest on Expat Radio, and was the host for two seasons of the Cover to Cover book show on Qatar Foundation Radio. She was the Associate Editor of Vox, a fashion and lifestyle magazine.
Louise: Mohana, welcome to my blog! I’m so excited you could
join me for a chat. Please tell us a little about your new release Mommy But Still Me without giving too much of
a spoiler away.
Mohana: This is a book made up of
blog entries I kept in the process of conceiving and then having/raising our
baby. I wanted to write things down so I didn’t forget as even during the
intense desire to sleep during pregnancy can help erase your memory banks.
Louise: Do you plan all your characters out before you start
a story or do they develop as you write?
Mohana: The great thing about memoir
is that you get to go back and see what themes, people and events stand out –
and then expand if needed. In this case the hilarious incidents were made even
funnier as time went by and I realized how panicked new mothers can be. So I
left those in and also kept writing as many books stop after the delivery and you
are most at sea in the first few weeks the baby comes home.
Louise: How much research do you do for your books? Have you
found any cool tidbits in your research?
Mohana: I read more than 9 other
‘momiors’ and thought – wait, I can write one of these! So this got me started
on the blog.
Louise: What is your writing process? Do you outline, write
by the seat of your pants (Pantser) or a combination of both?
Mohana: When I’m doing fiction or an
academic work, I do tend to write with a main character and a few dramatic
events in mind. This keeps me on track and also gives me a point towards which
things are focused. For blogging I try to go week by week and then at the end
of a period of time, say a few months or years, go back to see what I have.
Louise: Do you write full time? What did you do before you
became a writer or still do?
Mohana: I teach at the university
level and also write more or less full time. I’ve worked for a publishing
company, served as an educational consultant, and also in academic
administration but writing has always been there and is my passion.
Louise: Do you have a ritual when it comes to writing?
Example….get coffee, blanket, paper, pen, laptop and a comfy place.
Mohana: I go off on Saturdays or
some weeks nights, depending on deadlines, and really get on headphones (if I’m
at the library) or play music, open the document, review notes, and then go for
it. I generally need at least 2-3 hours to make it to a goal: whether it’s word
count or manuscript editing.
Louise: Describe a typical writing day for you.
Mohana: Ideally it would be a day
where I sleep in, exercise for an hour, and then spend 5-7 hours at the desk.
This doesn’t happen very often! It’s more like teach a class, have lunch with a
friend, attend a few meetings, teach another class, reply to fifty emails, and
then squeeze in two hours of writing, hoping for 5,000 words, being happy with
2,000.
Louise: Please give us a sneak peek at your future books.
What’s on the horizon?
Mohana: I’ve got four others already
published, among them a short story collection, novel, and writer’s guide
besides the momior. So check out my Facebook page and see which one suits you.
Louise: What is your favorite genre to read and who is your
favorite author?
Mohana: I love literary fiction and
Alice Munroe is my absolute favorite. But I read everything from teen
paranormal to romance. I will give everything a try.
Louise: Is there anything else you would like to tell the
readers we have not touched on?
Mohana: Readers don’t know how much
their reviews matter: whether on Facebook, Amazon.com, Goodreads, if you like
an author, take the time to leave a review for them. And if you hated a book,
try to tread lightly, keeping in mind that someone worked really hard (even if
you don’t think so).
Louise: Where can the readers learn more about you and
find your books on the web?
Mohana: @moha_doha on Twitter and my Website-
www.mohanalakshmi.com
Purchase Links:
Thank you for hosting Mohana today :).
ReplyDeleteYW Bk!
ReplyDeleteMohana, thank you for visiting with me! Mommy But Still Me is on my TBR list!