About Fizza Hassan:
I am a person who is positive about every aspect of life. There are many things I like to do, to see, and to experience. I like to read and write; I like to think and dream; I enjoy listening to stories of people. I like to travel and learn new language. I like to see the sunrise in the morning and the moonlight at night; I like to feel the music flowing on my face. I like to do thought experiment when I cannot sleep in the middle of the night. Sometimes I like to be alone and at times I like to be surrounded by people. I like Korean food and shoes. I always wanted to be a great writer, like Victor Hugo who wrote, “Les Miserable”, or like Elizabeth Gilbert who wrote, “Eat, Pray, Love”. They have influenced millions of people through their books. I also wanted to be a phenomenal psychologist, like William James or Sigmund Freud, who could read people’s mind. Of course, I am nowhere close to these people, yet. I am just HR practitioner who advise, mentor and train people. Someone who does some research, and some writing. But my dream is still alive.
LiFT: Tell us about your book, the journey of writing it and its content.
Fizza: Based on a true story. Sentimental, the sensitive musically classic middle-class family set in the 1970s. Every family has that one screw up, every relationship has a past, every once in a while, they’re the same thing. The fun part, nobody in the family know behind those closed doors.
Gloria Harris, who has always been in her sister’s shadow, and is comfortable with her quiet, predictable life.
Gina Harris tries her hardest living in denial. She had a lot of things planned for her life and Gloria’s.
“When your perfect life suddenly breaks down, it’s wrecked,” says Adam Ahmed.
When that close someone is a sister, then that’s definitely gruesome. But when all this happens, at once, to Adam, all he can say is that it turned him quintessential life, “The Living Secret”. He proposed to her every day and told her he’d never let her go.
LiFT: When did you realize that you want to be a writer and what’s your inspiration behind it?
Fizza: I started keeping a journal since I was a teenager. However, during my lost and late husband passed, words can’t describe how I feel… but one day, my sister bought me a good pen and gave to me. She encourages me to start writing because I have difficulty expressing myself. She said I should start to keep one again and let someone I trust to read my journal. And if I feel better, publish it. Since then, I determined to start on with blogging about the various walk of life and I’m on it.
LiFT: What do think about the literary world and what are your expectations from it?
Fizza: To me, however, literature serves a gateway to learning of the past and expanding my knowledge and understand, without literature life is aimless. Meaningless. Don’t you agree? Without literature, we would not know about our past, far relatives, families, ancestry, and people whom we lost, don’t we? My expectations are, creating in-depth by penetrating new generations mind.
LiFT: How much do you think marketing or quality of a book is necessary to promote a particular book and increase its readers?
Fizza: Just because you wrote a new book doesn’t mean that your book is guaranteed to sell. Strategically market to increase book readership is intense. A freelance writer like me, to self-publish is a strenuous task in itself. Marketing and promoting book to increase the number of readers are at large and very competitive. It is all about publicity, social media ranking. Authors or publishers create a book trailer and use YouTube to advertise them.
LiFT: What is the message you want to spread among folks with your writings?
Fizza: Over the years I’ve been romping into blogging and participating in various Anthologies. Somehow life took over, I got a 9-5 job and the writing remained a hobby. As for you passionate writers, continue writing, start with a diary and short journal. Fill in with your day-to-day feelings, thoughts, task, dream, fantasy, you named it. Don’t stop, don’t give up. Give yourself permission to live a big life. Never miss out. Life is short. Whatever is good for you, do that.
LiFT: What do you do apart from writing?
Fizza: We hear routinely from people who say besides writing what do you do for leisure. I do not have a choice. I live by myself. Work, Write and Sleep. When I’m not writing, I enjoy cooking. I prepare simple comfort food for a busy working woman like me. I must keep fit. I do Yoga/Pilate twice a week. I make a habit and travel to places I never been or meet my friends from other parts of the world. We chill, laugh and enjoy local foodie.
LiFT: What are the activities you resort to when you face a writer’s block?
Fizza: There are times when the words don’t flow, but there is no such word as “writer’s block”. How I overcome it, hmm, I had passing thoughts. Have a writing schedule and stick to it. Add your daily writing time to your agenda perhaps. Next possible way, keeping fit and healthy. Listen to music. Or sleep in and the next day you feel better.
LiFT: What if your story will be adopted as a movie? Whom would you want to work as a director or actors in it?
Fizza: The stakes of a story always feel higher if the characters are working… and it hit an electric wire going, that will be great. Yes. I would choose Steven Spielberg as a director. The movie “Schindler List” beautifully directed, good actor and actress, with no mistakes. And for the actor, I choose Daniel Day Lewis. He is such a talented, truly an actor and he played beautiful well in all characteristics. The actress will be Keira Knightley and Kate Winslet.
LiFT: What are your future plans?
Fizza: We can’t predict our future aside planning. It is the hardest question for me but I have to answer it anyway? I remembered as a teenager discovering the joy of writing diaries and collect tons of notebooks with vibrant colors and stickers on it, is lavish. I wish one day I could be a well-known author.
LiFT: What are your suggestions to the budding writers so that they could improve their writing skills?
Fizza: My personal advice is if you decided to take a creative path and write, write the book that you’re desperate to read. Write about what you enjoy. Read a lot. Start simple and avoid conflict. Study characters and work on the plot wisely. Don’t rush to get your work out there, be patient. Participate with writer contest, Anthologies. Get to social media platform such as Wattpad.
Click here to get Fizza’s Book “The Living Secret” from Amazon 