Today I bring to you the second of four author spotlight posts as part of the Clink Street Blogival 2016.

I’m very glad to bring to you a bio for author Nooshie Motaref today and i little info about her book Tapestries of the Heart which i will be reviewing on my blog shortly. 

Instantly i was drawn to this book from the press release alone –

Authentic and powerful novel explores the ever-changing effects of religion and politics in Iranian society, told through the lives of four generations of Persian women, inspired by the author’s personal experiences.  

If you have already read the book or plan to in the future let me know, i’d love t hear your thoughts.

I’m definitely looking forward to reading this one.

Tapestries of the Heart is available on Amazon – http://lrd.to/tapestries-of-heart

Tapestries of the Heart: Four Women, Four Persian Generations

Synopsis:

This award winning novel portrays four generations of Persian women over a span of one hundred years. It depicts the effects of religion and politics-ever changing in Iranian society. Tapestries stands out as a true representation of the cycle of life. The destinies of these characters are interwoven with many threads and the events and consequences throughout have a major impact on their lives. Throughout the generations, these women lived, loved, and fought for what they believed in. Though it was a struggle, they battled and endured when the odds were almost completely against them.

Bio:

Nooshie Motaref, has gone through many challenging life experiences unlike many women from the Middle East. She grew up in Persia, and studied in four countries — Iran, Germany, Switzerland and United States. She received her master’s and doctorate degrees in American Literature and Folklore from Florida State University. Her dissertation is a proof of Carl Jung’s theory, the “Collective Unconscious,” through Persian fairy tales and folktales.

She has taught university courses on humanities, literature and critical thinking. In addition, she is certified by the Conflict Resolution Program Act to promote peacemaking efforts worldwide.

In March of 2014, she presented one of her articles, “Women and Islam,” for a conference, Women and Education at Oxford University in Oxford, England.

She frequently gives speeches on several subjects related to her birthplace including its culture, traditions and religion. Her purpose is to familiarize Western audiences with  Iranian life and ethnicity.

Website: www.nooshiemotaref.com

Tapestries of the Heart is available on Amazon – http://lrd.to/tapestries-of-heart

I’m always interested in being introduced to new authors. There is so much choice out there sometimes authors can be overlooked.

I was very kindly asked to take part in the Clink Street Blogival 2016 and i jumped at the chance to help showcase 4 authors whose books stood out for me.

One thing a book needs to do for me is hook me in from the synopsis alone. If you don’t get that right then you’ve missed out on a sale.

My first spotlight will be on author A.L. Patterson whose book Solipsism caught my eye. Andre has very kindly wrote a piece about how the book came about. Let me know what you think 🙂

Synopsis:

Cosden Ke’s life has long been ordinary. But soon it becomes anything but ordinary when a charismatic professor takes him on a journey through time and space as they travel through the enigma of the only mind in existence. Just as one understanding of life ends, another begins… through unfathomable dimensions. But they soon face an ominous threat to universal actuality— faceless shadowy figures known only as the “Dark Men” who seek to suppress the truth of the universe— both its beginning and its end.

Unfortunately, Solipsism cannot be explained. It can only be experienced.

Book avilable on Amazon – https://t.co/9rRnEbMVCu

Bio:

Andre L. Patterson is a writer and educator based in Georgia. He currently attends Georgia Regents University as a graduate student of education. His interests range from esoteric philosophy to presidential history to solving Moscow Math Puzzles. “Solipsism” is his debut novel.

Website:

andrelpatterson.com

Book & Author Spotlight:

Several years ago, my brother, a USC doctoral student who enjoys puzzles, proposed an idea to me. “What if I’m not real? What if nothing in the physical world is real? How can you be sure that anything exists outside of your own mind? Maybe everything else is a projection. That’s a real philosophy, y’know?” So powerful was this notion that it remained with me, even if I didn’t fully believe it. But there it was, always niggling and philosophically gnawing at me. Then I read about this theory again and found a name for it—Solipsism—espoused by the great philosopher René Descartes and even mentioned briefly by Sigmund Freud himself (thus the opening quote of my book). This philosophy is also commonly referred to as “Brain-in-a-vat theory.” It configures that “in the beginning” (my words) our brains lie in a jar and electrical impulses send signals to the mind that forge the illusion, perception, and projections that make up our reality— the entire physical world is a mental projection. This was the sort of stardust that gave breath to The Matrix and The 13^th Floor.

Over a year before beginning the manuscript, I came up with a funny idea. Why not turn solipsism into a book? I jotted down the mere idea in a notebook and assumed such an undertaking, with its philosophical and theoretical underpinning, would be too daunting. But a year later, I woke up one morning and realized that it had to be done. While my writing process is generally to plan in great detail, chapter-by-chapter, that was not done with this book. Perhaps because there are no chapters in this novel! That was quite purposeful. I want this novel to be read and experienced in one fell swoop. No breaks, no stops, no distractions to put it down. I almost see this book as one long chapter. But it remains purposefully short in comparison to other 21^st century novels, where 600-page tomes have become the norm. I did not want to do that with this story. I prefer to exert the notion that 200 pages of my short novel, an exercise in esoterica— tinged with action and delightful surprises, will be just as worthwhile as any longer manuscript. I have admittedly packed a great deal of material into this book. And I hope, dear reader, you will enjoy experiencing this book as I enjoyed writing it. Who knows? If sales are ripe, we may get to join Cosden and The Professor once more. I will simply leave you with the tagline that I conjured up for this story.

Solipsism cannot be explained. It can only be experienced.

Book available on Amazon – https://t.co/9rRnEbMVCu