Djinn Guest Post and Giveaway With Author Mina Khan Back to Blog
Update: The winners are Diane Sadler & Tina B! Congrats!!
I’ll confess…I have a weakness for magic. When I was a kid, I was hooked on I DREAM OF JEANNIE. I mean, come on, how cool was she? All Jeannie had to do was blink really hard, and *poof* she got anything she wanted. And she had Major Nelson running around with her. Pretty sweet if you ask me. Now that I am, ahem, not a kid, I still find myself loving magical shows and books–and that’s why I am very excited to have Mina Khan as my guest today. Mina has a great new story out about a sexy djinn, and I can’t wait to read this one! Since I just turned in a manuscript, this story will be my reward read. 🙂
Mina, thanks so much for joining us today!
Why I write about djinns/genies…
I grew up in house supposedly built at a crossroads of the djinn and human world, nourished on skin-tingling tales about these otherworldly supernatural creatures with awesome scary powers. Stories of djinns falling obsessively in love with human women & stealing them away from their families, stories where humans inadvertently insulted invisible djinns and paid dearly for their mistake, and stories of djinns granting wishes and making impossible dreams come true.
My imagination has always been very active, and after such stories I’d see shadows looming on the walls and catch flitting movement from the corner of my eye. In other words, I’d be deliciously scared silly. And I would beg more stories from my grandmother and aunts.
But for a long time, the stories remained stories. Then one summer I went with my family to my mother’s village in Bangladesh. Only one or two houses in the neighborhood had color television back then. So, though we were invited to dinner at an aunt’s house, my cousins and I (we were about 11 or 12 ) were hanging out at another aunt’s house to watch an episode of MacGyver (yes, I’m dating myself). After the show, we cousins trekked our way to the other aunt’s house. While the village had electricity, there wasn’t a street light at every corner. It was very dark, we had a kerosene lantern to light our way and some of the older cousins gleefully told stories of djinns and ghosts.
Now at one point we had to pass a small family graveyard. As we walked past, two roiling fiery balls hurtled out of the dark and crossed our paths, merely inches from our faces. Absolute silence held for a long moment. Without any discussion, we broke into a run and screamed all the way to my other aunt’s house. To this day, I don’t know what exactly we saw that night…but I can recall the bone-liquefying terror.
Since then I believe there are things we can’t see and can’t explain, but they exist nevertheless. I believe stories can hide a greater truth and words have power. I write to explore the depth of my nightmares and the breadth of my imagination.
But what about you? Have you experienced something paranormal? Leave me a comment, and I’ll be back tomorrow to pick one person to win a digital copy of THE DJINN’S DILEMMA. Thanks!
More about THE DJINN’S DILEMMA…
Book Blurb:
Rukh O’Shay, half-djinn and assassin, is used to taking out the bad guys. But his latest assignment, Texas Journalist Sarah White, is nothing like he expected. A glimpse of her bright aura reveals her gentle spirit, while her beauty makes him long for only one thing—to taste her.
Sarah shares the raw desire to connect with Rukh. He can turn her on with a glance, and satisfies needs she didn’t even know she had.
But Rukh had been hired to kill her—and the only way to save her is to find out who wants her dead before someone else finishes the job….
More about Mina…
Mina Khan is a Texas-based writer and food enthusiast. She daydreams of hunky paranormal heroes, magic, mayhem and mischief and writes them down as stories. Between stories, she teaches culinary classes and writes for her local newspaper. Other than that, she’s raising a family of two children, two cats, two dogs and a husband.
She grew up in Bangladesh on stories of djinns, ghosts and monsters. These childhood fancies now color her fiction.
You can find her at :
www.facebook.com/Mina.Khan.Author
Thanks for visiting, Mina!
Thanks for having me over Cynthia! Totally thrilled to be here on release day(actually I’m bouncing off the walls!)Appreciate the fun introduction 🙂
I hope you enjoy The Djinn’s Dilemma!
Oh, I love Djinn’s too. I can’t wait to read this one.
And congrats on your new release, Mina.
Mina, The Djinn’s Dilemma sounds intriguing and exciting. Congratulations and I wish you many sales.
Hi, Mina.
And let me just say – Happy Release Day!
Love your paranormal experience. I think they’re the best because they show us just how much we don’t KNOW about the universe.
We really must get together one of these days. Are you going to RT?
L. j. Charles
Woot! We totally should! Not going to RT though 🙁
Woot! Thanks for visitng you all 🙂 I’m a very bouncy jelly bean today.
Like you Cynthia I grew up watching I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched and love magic.
Mina your story sounds just like what I enjoy reading.
Thanks Diane!
I hope you’ll pick up The Djinn’s Dilemma & let me know what you think 🙂
Hi Mina,
Congratulations on the release!! The combo of your haunting experiences as a child and the feel of your book makes it a must-read! I’m so excited for you and understand how childhood experiences last a lifetime. Celebrate and enjoy – you deserve to!
Anju
Thanks Anju! Appreciate your warm words 🙂
Once I survive debut week, I’ll have to get together with you 🙂
Mina, I LOVE the line about tasting her. OOOOoooh. My childhood was also filled with the supernatural and I occasionally still get flashes of unwanted insight. I dreamed about the last shuttle accident WHILE it happened, for instance. But at one point a friend of mine and I decided to do a sort of seance where we just wanted to talk with spirits. I do not see ghosts like the kid in Sixth Sense, but I do seem to be a natural medium for some reason. So my friend and I set out to do the seance. I felt something more huge and massive than anything I could ever describe reaching not for me, but for my friend. And it was evil. I had never believed in demons until that point. I prayed an incoherent prayer of “Forgive me God, protect us now and I’ll never do anything this stupid again.” And the presence went away as if the door had shut and I have NEVER done anything quite that stupid again. LOL
OMG, what a great story Victoria. You know it’s amazing how some of the most heartfelt prayers are worded just like yours (at least in my experience) Lol!
Thanks for visiting!
Your post gave me chills, Mina. Looking forward to reading THE DJINN’S DILEMMA. Good luck with your release.
Thank you!
What a great post. How that must have freaked you out as a kid.
This didn’t happen to me but to my grandmother. My grandfather had a heart attack and died in the early afternoon. That night close to midnight my grandmother was awakened and went to the front door where a glowing ball of light hovered. She opened the door and said, “come on in Vic (my grandfather).” The ball came into the house and went into the living room. It hovered over “his” chair and then faded away.
Congratulations on your release!
Oh Cynthia – you’re too young to have watched the originals like I did 😉
Oh wow Viki, love the story of your grandparents. Visits from a departed loved one are both spine-tingling & special. My mom’s had similar experiences & she cherishes them.
Thanks for visiting!
Thanks so much for coming by today, Mina!! And I love your cover! 🙂
Thanks Cynthia! Yes the cover artist did an amazing job…the cover totally fits the story 🙂 Thanks again for hosting!
Mina Khan is a new author to me but I like both cover and the premise for this book 🙂
I have dabbled a bit with the paranormal such as palm reading, tarot reading and using the Ouija board. Nothing ever happened but I believe in them.
Mina is a new author to me but this book sounds awesome and they cover is great!! good luck with your release. I look forward to reading your books.
I used to see ghosts every once in a while when I was younger. It used to really scare me because I wasn’t sure how to tell if it was a nice spirit or not a malevolent spirit. I haven’t seen one since I was a teenager (about 16?) and it was an old lady in a pink bathrobe who was scowling and unfriendly and seemed angry. At the time I was living with my aunt and uncle and their 8 children, so maybe she didn’t like 9 children wrecking havoc in her house?
I’m so glad to know this book is coming out 🙂
Congrats, Mina on your release! Good luck! The book sounds so interesting. I haven’t read any djinn tales as of yet, this will be my first and I am excited. 🙂 Your childhood story gave me chills. I was actually talking to my 13 year old son the other day about paranormal things such as spirits. I had seen several when I was a child and into my teens. They never scared me, but it was a strange feeling. Our world is truely a mystery.
Thanks for hosting Cynthia!
I love I dream of Jeannie when I was a kid. It was on reruns all the times and I thought that it was so cute.
No supernatural events in my life though. But my mom is really superstitious about things though…
Hi Mina, thanks for stopping by 🙂
Your story gave me goosebumps. I personally never have had anything happen to me but I am a believer that there are spirits that stay grounded here for some reason. Not about to mess with them 🙂
Happy Tuesday!
Congratulations on your publication. Isn’t it fun? Jackie
Wow, thanks for all the great comments & warm words of congratulations! Yes, release day is turning out to be a whole lot of fun 🙂
Interestingly, my heroine has an interesting brush with the paranormal in the story (no, I do not mean Rukh, my hero…with him she gets up close & personal, Lol!)
Thanks for sharing & congrats on your release! We have a spirit or ghost that likes to play pranks in our house… he loves to hide things… he also likes to make my nephew’s training potty sing by itself… when it gets annoying we tell him to stop and he does…
Happy November!
Wow, what a fun spirit! Thanks for visiting 🙂
I’ve actually had quite a few! But most recently, we had three distinct knocks on our bedroom door for three days in a row in our new home. Each time we would run and check, there would be no one there. The last time it happened, my hand was on the knob pulling the door closed, and I jumped and screamed like I’d been electrocuted! It has been quiet ever since.
Thank you for sharing that story from your childhood – it was very interesting – and spooky. 😉
Oh wow Wren, I’d scream too! Thanks so much for visiting & sharing your story 🙂
your book certainly sounds interesting. my mom is the one who had dreams of the future. she bought our house because she dreamt of the tree in front of the house. she drove down a road she never had and saw the tree. she knocked on the door, and asked if they were selling the house. they were. the husband was army and was being transferred to another base. she had other dreams like this and believed in them.
Wow, what a neat story. And a tree is such a beautiful symbol of life. Thanks for sharing!
One time, everyone had gone to sleep and I was staying up late reading but started to doze but still aware. I heard someone say my name and then brush my hair to the side. I sat up and looked around. No one was there.
Congratulations, Mina. It’s on my Nook now and I can’t wait to read it.
Eep! You gave me chills there with your story 🙂
Thanks for trying The Djinn’s Dilemma, I hope you enjoy the read!
Hi Mina! Hi Cynthia! 😀
I had a dream, a few months ago, that three people I know would have a car crash and a week later three of my friends had a car crash. Thankfully no one was hurt. But after the dream I was calling all my family and friends telling them not to get into a car or be close to a car, and they just thought I was crazy. I just couldn’t believe that my dream came true. I’m just glad that I don’t remember my dreams anymore 🙂
Thank you for the give away chance! 😀
From
Michelle Louise Pratley
Scotland
I can not wait to read your book. This is one my mother would also love to read.
I have a paranormal story, but it happened to my grandmother. She was sitting in her bed & she heard laughter. She turned & 3 angel children were smiling at her, 2 black haired boys & a little blonde girl. She said she was awake when it happened. Well years later my mother had 2 black haired little boys & my aunt had a little blonde girl. She thinks when they were little angels they wanted to come & check the family out. –Rachel
Wow, that would of sent me screaming too 🙂 I’ve had my own odd experiences. My grandma’s house used to always give me the creeps, especially her attic and the closet in the bedroom we always stayed in. One night when my second son was just a baby I was laying in the bedroom at night trying to shut my brain down so I could sleep. My mom, brother and my oldest son were in the room next door and I had a million things on my mind and was running through my to do list for the next day when all of a sudden it felt like someone just slapped their arms down as hard as they could on the bottom of my legs and grab on with their hands. I immediately jumped up and sat up in bed with my heart pounding trying to see in the dark and see if there was anything in the shadows. It was silent and I at first thought it was my brother trying to be funny. I could see the bedroom door was opened and I was positive he crawled in the room on the floor so I wouldn’t see him so he could try to scare the crap out of me. I jumped up, turned the lamp on, grabbed my son and ran to the room next door to give my brother an ear full and there he was passed out on the floor sawing logs and my mom and other son were also passed out on the bed. To this day, I have no idea what that was, but I spent the rest of the night with the light on and my eyes opened
Thanks everyone for sharing all your wonderful, spine-tingling stories…loved them! I’m traveling to Houston, so on the road But I’m going to try & catch up with Cynthia later and get the winner selected!
Appreciate your understanding…um, go ahead & read something good to pass the time 😀
WINNERS!
Yup, you read that right…since I made you wait I’m giving away 2 books 🙂
The Winners are: Diane Sadler & Tina B! Please drop me an email minakhan(at)wcc(dot)net
Congratulations! I hope you enjoy the read 🙂
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