A Ghost Story…just in time for Halloween (Guest Post and Giveaway) Back to Blog

Posted in Romance on October 30th, 2012 by Cynthia Eden

Today’s guest is the fabulous Mina Khan–a truly kind and funny lady (she always makes me smile) and a fabulous writer. Welcome, Mina!

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Woot! It’s so great to be here at Cynthia’s blog in October because one of many fun things we bonded over is our crazy-love of Halloween. The more spooky thrills and chills, the more varieties of candy, the better it gets! Not surprising given I write genie romances, with supernatural beings who can melt into shadows and grant the most hidden wishes. So to celebrate, I’m giving away Halloween-themed bookmarks, bags of dark chocolate and signed postcards to two readers who leave comments here.

I also have an unusual ghost story to share. My multicultural short, “DEAD: A Ghost Story,” was released in October. Oh yeah! A chilling ghostly tale is perfect for Halloween, don’t you think? Check out the cover:

 

 

Unlike my other published stories, DEAD is NOT a romance. In it, Nasreen – the Indian-American protagonist grapples with her life and death in West Texas.

DEAD was inspired by the many immigrant wives I met during my time as a business reporter in West Texas. For the most part these women are invisible to the mainstream society for various reasons – language barriers, isolation, and unfamiliarity with their adopted country’s laws and social mores etc. So this story was written to recognize them and to highlight a usually hush-hush part of the immigrant story.

I have readers who love my genie romances, so why not write another one instead of trying on a completely different genre? Because the idea of all the invisible Nasreens in the world sort of haunted me until I’d written the story. In doing so, I discovered a different side of myself, a new voice inside.

If you’d like to check DEAD out, here’s the Amazon link.

 So what’s your favorite Halloween read and why? Share and you could be one of the two lucky, randomly chosen people to win the prizes mentioned above.

 

Oh! My debut story, THE DJINN’S DILEMMA is turning a year of existence in November. Don’t miss my DJINN’S DILEMMA BIRTHDAY BASH with prizes and surprises galore. Several of my author friends (including our wonderful hostess) are joining in the celebrations by giving away their books, and there will be gift certificates, peacock-themed prizes (genies & peacocks go together, right?), art, chocolate and more! The bash starts Nov. 1 and will continue throughout the month.

To make sure you don’t miss the genie-licious giveaways, like my Facebook Author Page.

 

More information about Mina’s books

 

Author Bio:

 

Mina Khan is a Texas-based writer and food enthusiast. She grew up in Bangladesh on stories of djinns (pronounced “gins”), ghosts and monsters.

These childhood fancies now color her fiction. She daydreams of hunky paranormal heroes, magic, mayhem and mischief and writes them down as tales of romance and adventure.

Her first published work, The Djinn’s Dilemma, won the novella category of the 2012 Romance Through The Ages (published) contest.

 

Fifty percent of the proceeds from her second novella, A Tale of Two Djinns, is donated to UNICEF for education. Two Djinns is a Romeo & Juliet tale with genies, feminists and a happy ending.

 

Her newest release, DEAD: A Ghost story, is NOT a romance. It’s a multicultural ghost-story that highlights a little known aspect of the immigrant experience.

 

Other contacts:

 

Goodreads Author Page

 

Blog: http://minakhan.blogspot.com/

 

Twitter: @SpiceBites

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 30th, 2012 at 6:51 am and is filed under Romance. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

23 responses to “A Ghost Story…just in time for Halloween (Guest Post and Giveaway)”

  1. Viki S. says:
    October 30, 2012 at 7:43 am

    Very interesting post. You got me thinking of that director M. Knight S…… He has said that most of his movies comes from stories his mom told him growing up. Did I get it right, and your childhood stories do the same with your writing?
    Thank you.
    Now to get back to clean-up from the storm 🙁

    • Mina Khan says:
      October 30, 2012 at 8:06 am

      Hi Viki! Glad to know you’re safe after the storm…and thank you for visiting.

      Yes, like Mr. Shyamalan, my stories are inspired by childhood tales. My maternal grandmother was a wonderful storyteller and I was blessed to have her in my life.

      I think all writers to a certain extent reach deep inside when writing.

  2. Rachel says:
    October 30, 2012 at 9:35 am

    When I was in school I liked the book Ghost Behind Me by Eve Bunting. I loved to read (still do) and that book was revommended by a teacher. Happy Halloween—Rachel

  3. Hilleary Peterson says:
    October 30, 2012 at 9:47 am

    I have always liked the headless horseman. It always seems to fit for halloween. Also read The Djinn’s Dilemma a while ago really liked the book just wanted it to be longer, I guess I read too fast

    • Mina Khan says:
      October 30, 2012 at 10:12 am

      Oh yes, the Headless Horseman & Ichabod Crane…a definite Halloween classic! Thanks for reading TDD & so glad you wanted more…I’ll keep working on the word count! 😉

  4. Sheryl N says:
    October 30, 2012 at 10:10 am

    I like to read Edgar Allan Poe around Halloween. He writes some spooky stories and he is one of my favorites.

  5. Alexandrea Ward says:
    October 30, 2012 at 11:37 am

    I love that cover! So much cover and I love everything about it actually. I don’t have a favorite Halloween book or story.

  6. Michele says:
    October 30, 2012 at 12:09 pm

    Hi Mina, thanks for stopping by 🙂

    Love the inspiration for your newest release DEAD: A GHOST STORY!!! Giving these women a voice that they have never had is awesome! I cannot even imagine what they have gone through. I try to imagine myself in a country that I don’t understand the language, would be so scary. Definitely adding this book to my TBR list 😀 Oh by the way, beautiful cover for DEAD: A GHOST STORY.

    • Mina Khan says:
      October 30, 2012 at 12:21 pm

      Hi Michelle!

      Thank you for your kind words…and yes, I think more scary than any ghost or ghoul is being isolated in a strange place and being stuck in a bad marriage….

      Thanks for adding dead to your TBR list! I hope you enjoy the story 🙂

  7. jennifer mathis says:
    October 30, 2012 at 1:19 pm

    wow you were blessed by the cover gods
    i like to read Stephen King around halloween
    meandi09@Yahoo.com

  8. Barb P says:
    October 30, 2012 at 4:57 pm

    Hi Mina!! I usually try to find a good read that revolves around that particular holiday. I actually just finished re-reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which is one of my favorites! Thanks for the wonderful giveaway and I will give one of your books a read!

    • Mina Khan says:
      October 30, 2012 at 5:11 pm

      Thanks Barb! Appreciate you 🙂

      Good luck in the giveaway! This year I made a pinterest board of my Halloween reads…and I had to include The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It’s a great re-read 🙂

  9. bn100 says:
    October 30, 2012 at 7:45 pm

    Congrats! No favorite Halloween read.

  10. May says:
    October 30, 2012 at 8:20 pm

    Congrats on your debut! 🙂

    Hmm… not a big fan of scary or ghost stories. The closest one that I can think of is Ghost the movie and that’s kind of a romance more than scary Halloween movie.

  11. scrapper says:
    October 30, 2012 at 8:24 pm

    no particular Halloween book but if a book is good and the author donates half the sale, even a better reason to try a new author!

  12. Mina Khan says:
    October 31, 2012 at 8:15 am

    Woot! Alexandrea Ward & Jennifer Mathis are the two winners! I’ll be contacting you soon! 🙂

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