Today’s special guest is Boshra Rasti and we’re chatting about her new novel, Surrogate Colony.
During her virtual book tour, Boshra will be giving away 2 copies of the novel. Click here to enter for a chance to win one of them!
Bio:
Boshra Rasti was raised in British Columbia, Canada and works as an expatriate teacher in Qatar. She received a master’s degree in Educational Leadership at Royal Roads University, which proved a fateful blow to her belief in anything hierarchical. However, it did spark her desire to flee from the real world and start writing about other ones. When she is not working to earn a living, she enjoys the escape that reading and writing lend her. She also enjoys physical running, even if it is of the sadistic variety in Qatar.
Please tell us about your current release.
At the heart of Surrogate Colony is the notion of whether government mandates are necessary or harmful. It only takes a few lunatics to create a dystopia, and in this world a pandemic has been highjacked and used as leverage to control the masses. Every citizen is controlled by algorithms and medicine, except for a few who are sent off-grid. Once off-grid the protagonists realize that there is an abuse of power and outright lies fed to the masses. Love is meant to redeem all, but when love is leveraged to control further, that’s when things go awry
What inspired you to write this book?
I came up with the concept for Surrogate Colony in 2015 while at my local writing club – The Doha Writer’s Forum. There a friend of mine was doing a workshop on the Cyberpunk genre and we were tasked with creating a character in a Cyberpunk world. That was the impetus to create Adriana. Her monologue still remains in the first few chapters of the novel. It starts, “I don’t know how I came to have one blue eye and one brown, the scientist who did the Endowing must have got it wrong.”
What exciting story are you working on next?
I am right now halfway through the rough manuscript for the sequel. A lot of great musings come from my fans and friends. If you have any big want-to-knows, please let me know!
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I met this lovely children’s book author a few years ago at the school that I teach. Her message was so pertinent that I have adopted it as my creed. “I don’t consider myself a writer. I consider myself someone who loves writing.”
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I am a full-time teacher. So, I have to be militant about my time. I write 1000 words a day and it’s like a sacred commitment I’ve made to the craft. So even if it’s midnight and I haven’t written 1000 words, I get up and do it.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I am a random-abstract person, so when I run, I gloss over the event of the story I am creating and come up with weird twists and turns. It probably is my way of taking my mind off the pain and sheer boredom of running.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
An actress, but writing is more realistic for an INFJ like me.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Please review my novel, Amazon, Goodreads, wherever! Writers so, so, so depend on it.
Links:
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