The 3Gs – Germination Growth Greatness

by Fatima Masood

Germination

‘I Know Who You Are!’ originated in January 2007 when both of us were enjoying every bit of our routine. We were in our second year of teaching at Pristine Private, Mariam had stepped into coordinatorship and I was enjoying my new designation of a Reading Teacher. Our professional life was going on strong and we did not have to bring work home which gave us a good chunk of time to make use of.

Way back in 2004 we had started writing our philosophy of life and intended to get it published as a book. All the while, our first writings were reckoning us and pleading for attention. Whenever both of us would talk about taking on something interesting to do, working at the book would be on the list, unsaid. We had realised that writing brought a pleasing harmony within ourselves and generated a great feeling of content.

So, both of us, while ironing clothes, washing dishes, taking a shower, watching television, playing video games, listening to the radio and so on, were thinking of writing but what actually we should start with, was the question.

Then, all of a sudden, we started talking about how people have difficulty in understanding each other and having a workable relationship. Although the challenge was of high complexity it required a simple solution.

Thinking about the diversity of people that exist and their unique personalities, I thought it was important to, first of all, visually make the difference appear. Just because humans physically look similar they expect each other to have a similar set of thoughts, opinions, and believe that everyone has identical priorities. The idea of making characters that would have distinct physical features germinated, which looked fresh and interesting.

The first character that came to my mind was of a person with long fingernails who would go around creating trouble, Scuff as we know him now. Another character that appeared clearly in my imagination was of Headspin, ever-ready human talking machine.

It was only when these two characters were clear in my mind, to support the concept of making the task of ‘understanding people’ easy for people in general, I spoke to Mariam about it. We were in our car, parked in a parking lot near our apartment building. We were waiting for our sister, Faryal to join us after she was done with her work in a nearby shop. Since we had been recently thinking hard of a project to take off, it wasn’t a bad time and place to start off the discussion. Although I was not very sure if Mariam would accept the concept and moreover, prioritise it over our other projects, she did surprise me with her reaction.

Our very first discussion was very successful. We talked about how we would show the co-existence of all these characters and transcript the real-life challenges people face with each other in day-to-day life. Mariam came up with the idea of Flipside, a person who looks at the incidents in the past as a guide to the future. The discussion was let loose on the note that we would both think in isolation and hopefully come up with similar ideas to talk about.

A month later, from January 2007, another character came into shape. Sticklip was finalised to join the trio of Headspin, Scuff and Flipside. He was a result of in-depth dialogue that involved discussing the relevance of Sticklips in the society and the numbers he might be found in.

The team of five was completed when the character of a corrector came into being, Hammerhead. From the time we had approved of the concept of the book, we were looking for a strong character that would be influential and ingenious when it comes to helping people resolve their problems. The only challenge was to associate the right kind of physical feature to the character. Finally, Allah helped us in guiding our thinking and we came up with the concept of Hammerhead.

That was it! The awesome fivesome were born and we, as authors, were ready to associate attributes, behaviour, thought and insight to them.

Still, there were many questions circling our minds;

Would we find enough ideas to develop these characters equally strongly?
Would these characters come out to be as distinct as they are made to appear?
How would we present the concept of our distinct characters to the readers?
How would the physical features of these characters be associated to the common people found in the society?

Growth

Once a new destination has been decided and the map is in the hand, travelling becomes a courageous task. The fear of the unknown and uncertainty take turns in making a person think twice about his decision. Something similar is what both of us, Mariam and Fatima, went through after all the Character Skins had been born.

Pushing all the hurdles – thoughts, doubts and uncertainties off the path, we worked our energies to develop the Character Skins, in detail. We had decided three aspects of each Character Skin which formed the foundation of their development – Appearance, Interaction and Insight.

The first section, Appearance, would describe the way the Character Skins would look. A unique and interesting description was written for each Character Skin, which complimented their name and their personality.

The next area of work was to establish how the Character Skins would interact with the society. What influence do they have on the people around them, how socially acceptable or unacceptable they are. In order to address these points, a segment called Interactions was designed. Every Character Skin’s interaction was thought out and written in the most unique way. Unusual headlines, sayings, metaphors and ideas were crafted in words to make the discovery of the Character Skins interesting.

The last area to work on was to decide the Character Skin’s ideology of life – what thoughts reside largely in their minds, what explanations do they give to themselves in order to justify their behaviour, what do they have to say about the society and people, what is their perspective of life. This was the trickiest bit in the development of the Character Skins. While working on this area, Mariam and I made sure that none of the Character Skins had a negative set of beliefs or thoughts. We were, Alhamdulilah, successful in devising a strong ideology for every Character Skin and a theory to support their behaviour.

In general, the development of the Character Skins was a challenging task – to make each character as powerful as the other – unique in appearance, realistic in interactions and equipped with differentiated yet strong beliefs and thoughts. The attributes that were assigned to each Character Skin originated partially from our detailed study of action and reaction and partially from our imagination.

Once the work on the Character Skins was done it seemed, as if, our book was over. We gained a great sense of achievement and happiness from the accomplishment of the Character Skins. It was this ‘knowledge of the people’ that we wanted to share with people. The total word count of the Character Skins that resided in five separate MS Word documents was 19,236 on 28th August 2007.

(This information has been extracted from the ‘Word Count’ document which has a monthly record of the word count in each document related to the book.)

From online research we came to know that 20,000 words is the length of many books and so we got a stronger feeling of having finished writing our book. From this feeling the desire of seeing our work in bookshops arose. What do you think that would have led us to?

Discussions started to find a storyline in which we would embed the concept of Character Skins. It didn’t take us long to settle with the story of a boy who is given the knowledge of the Character Skins by his grandfather through a set of mystical things. We believed that the mix of fiction – story of the boy, magic and more, with non-fiction – the concept of Character Skins, would give the readers a unique flavour.

Initially, both of us had decided to make Grandfather convey the knowledge of people – Character Skins, to his grandson, over the period of 2-3 nights. We had planned long insets which would serve the purpose of sharing the Character Skins with the world. However, this implied that there was nothing much happening in the life of the boy, no tale, no twists and turns.

Faryal, our elder sister had a discussion with us where she said that the happening in the life of the boy are as important as the revelation of the concept of Character Skins. In order to make people interested to read more, there had to be some development in the story. Moreover, the insets were loaded with concepts and ideas which would be difficult for the readers to understand and enjoy if the insets were very long.

Her idea was right and so… it meant more work for us!

We prepared ourselves for meeting the agendas for the coming days.

Another destination was visualised and once again, we had the map in our hand…

History repeated itself and we began taking confident steps towards it!

Greatness

A flamboyant thought of Character Skins tuned into a fine story of Sultan, the book ‘I Know Who You Are!’ has been a great experience for us in many ways.

From the very beginning to the publication of the book, many interesting facts made the book special for us. Some are here…

The book took almost, exactly one year to complete.
Olympia publishers were the first publishers we sent our proposal/query to.
Olympia Publishers were the only publishers to whom the entire manuscript of ‘I Know Who You Are!’ was sent to.
The query was sent of via email on 4th March and the publishing contract was signed on 4th July 2008, exactly 4 months.
‘I Know Who You Are!’ gave us an opportunity to explore the different writing styles within us. An explanation of the claim would be that the book has a variety of narration styles – first person narrative, third person narrative, enriched with figurative language and timely flashbacks. The knowledge of the Character Skins gives a taste of text book form of writing – unusual concepts revealed in simple words; sure to be enjoyed by all.

The book has the complexity of life, in the form of Character Skins, blended into the charm of magic, in the form of the mystical things Sultan finds in his grandfather’s cupboard. It is the wisdom of life garnished with the twists and turns life can take any moment.

The storyline involves a Grandfather making his grandson, Sultan, aware of the different people that exist in this world – different thoughts, diverse likings, different priorities and diverse behaviours. Sultan’s grandfather tells him that a successful life can be lead if an understanding of the people is developed through the knowledge of Character Skins. Since a complex concept of Character Skins is presented to a young boy in the book, the story becomes an interesting read. It caters to the tastes of readers of all ages.

Something worth mentioning here is the challenge we had to face during the process of writing the book. It was the difficulty we faced in designing conversations and situations that would illuminate the personalities of the Character Skins. It was a challenging cycle to complete.

Observe actions and reactions that gave birth to Character Skins

Designing and development of Character Skins

Placing Character Skins into the Story to exhibit their traits

By the time situations and conversations had to be designed for the story, Mariam and I had forgotten the original incidents that had led to the birth of the Character Skins. So, we had the Character Skins as a strong guide to develop conversations but the initial impressions of people from the environment had faded away. Thus, we took a lot of time to design scenes and construct conversations that would bring out the different traits of Character Skins in real-life situations.

The book presents a variety of thinking patterns and beliefs that make people do wonderful and weird things in life. From the treasure box, these are a few gems…

Rescue the sinking boat of life with a cork of happiness. ~ Flipside

Don’t leave life until life leaves you! ~Hammerhead

Let the world see your drawing room not your storeroom. ~Sticklip

Save human resources; avoid thinking and hard work! ~ Headspin

The minority is affected by what the majority accepts. So what? ~ Scuff

The book is special to us, as authors and very beneficial, as readers. At the time of proof reading the book, we clashed into concepts and statements; we had ourselves forgotten after writing. It was like opening a jewellery box and re-discovering ornaments that had been kept a long time ago. After reading the book thrice, I still, certainly wouldn’t mind reading it again, especially some of my favourite parts.

My message to people who don’t read books – Grab this one for yourself, you’ll have a great time.

My message to people who read books – This book is an engrossing first-read and more enjoyable the second time, really!

1. What is your book ‘I Know Who You Are!’ about?

Mariam: ‘I Know Who You Are!’ is a book about people and life. It presents the concept of Character Skins which will, in general, help people understand their family members, friends, colleagues and strangers in a better way.

Fatima: The book progresses on two fronts, the first being the story of Sultan and how he, along with his family, moves into their new house during the summer holidays. During this process he finds a treasure and comes into contact with his long lost friend, his grandfather.

The other front is the establishment of the concept that people have different Character Skins which are responsible for their behaviour and actions. This concept is woven beautifully into the life of Sultan.

2. What inspired you to write this book?

Mariam: Our inspiration came from our sensitivity and observation of the happenings around us – people, relationships and their interactions. Our analysis and discussions about people’s thoughts, beliefs and ideologies motivated us to share our philosophy of life through our book.

Fatima: Being humans we have problems with humans; actually, it should be the contrary. I think this fact lead us to create the Character Skins and to write this book.

3. Could you elaborate the concept of the Character Skins that you have presented in the book?

Fatima: Every person has a Character Skin, which affects the type of interaction and relationship he has with others. In the book we present five Character Skins which are all unique in appearance, insight and behaviour. If you are able to understand the Character Skins, you will be able to understand the insight of many people around you.

Mariam: The concept of Character Skins can be summarized in these words:

What the Soul is to the Body – A Character Skin is to the Personality

As the Body wears a Soul the Personality wears a Character Skin

4. How long did it take you to write the book?

Fatima: It almost took us one year.

Mariam: The concept was visualised in the last days of January 2007, however the first document on our record was made on 2nd February 2007. It was a brief outline about all the Character Skins. We finished the manuscript on 21st January 2008.

5. How was the experience of getting your work published?

Fatima: There were times when we used to feel stressed and disappointed, waiting for publishers and literary agents to respond. As they are really busy, the entire process takes a lot of time. However, Alhamdulilah, for us it wasn’t a long wait. From the time of sending the queries to signing the publishing contract, it only took us three months.

6. Did you approach UAE based publishers?

Fatima: We did approach them, some had busy schedules and for some the book did not meet their publication genre.

7. When you reflect back, do you come across any difficulties that you had anticipated would come your way?

Mariam: We always knew getting the book published would be a real challenge. We had identified the possible difficulties in advance, so we did some online research. It helped us greatly.

8. Was there any point of time when you doubted the concept of the book?

Mariam: No.

Fatima: Not at all. We had complete belief in the book because we always found more than one reason that contributed to its appeal. Actually, when we were waiting for a response from the literary agents and publishers, we used to, quite often, read from the book. This assured us of our hard work, dedication and assured us that the book was commercially viable.

9. What were the challenges involved in writing your book?

Fatima: The biggest challenge was to complete the book as soon as possible. As we progressed in our writings the challenges changed… it was crucial to reveal the Character Skins the best possible way in Sultan’s story, the placement and the length of each inset mattered a lot. Another concern was to create incidents and conversations where the traits of the Character Skins would get exposure, their behaviour needed great focus.

Mariam: Ensuring that all the aspects of the story were connected, was vital. This required reviewing and analysing the plot of the story a number of times. We used in-depth analysis and discussion as a tool to achieve this.

10. Which Character Skin was the most challenging to design and develop?

Fatima: Developing an insight for Flipside and Scuff was a time swallowing task. It took us quiet some time to find justifications these Character Skins would put forward to support their words and actions.

Mariam: While writing the Character Skins, it was very clear in our minds that we did not want to show any particular character with grey shades. Our aim was to make people aware that everyone has a good reason, good in the true sense, for doing what they do. Even if an act looks unacceptable, it is done with a reasoning, which according to the person who does it, is positive. To create this good intention for all the Character Skins was difficult, also for Headspin.

11. What concept would you like to promote from your book?

Fatima: I like Hammerhead’s line, ‘Don’t leave life until life leaves you!’ It is really worthy of endorsement.

12. How was the entire experience of writing the book and then finally seeing it on the shelf?

Fatima: It was similar to the feeling a farmer would get after harvesting the crop, for which he had prepared the soil, planted, watered, nurtured, protected and prayed for day in day out. It is still sometimes unbelievable, a dream come true, pleasing and exciting. We are really thankful to Allah.

Mariam: Thinking of the time we started writing the book and today, it has been a rewarding experience. We feel like visiting bookstores just to see our book there.

13. How has the concept of Character Skins affected your lives?

Fatima: The concept of Character Skins has simplified our lives. We know people around us are different from each other and from us; so they need differentiated attention, dialogue, time and level of understanding. Once you are able to identify people as Hammerhead, Scuff, Flipside, Sticklip, Headspin or Polish, you can deal with them effectively.

Mariam: The good point about the book is that it not only helps you identify these Character Skins but also gives you their insight. It gives you answers to the questions, ‘Why did he do so?’ ‘What does he think about himself?’ ‘How could he…?’

You can learn the different thoughts that drive people’s actions and conversations.

14. Any scene from the book that you like in particular?

Mariam: The climax is the best part of the book; it has to be my favourite.

Fatima: I like the flashback in the book. It really satisfies my taste of reading.

15. Anything you might like to change in the book?

Fatima: I wouldn’t like to change anything. Adding more to it… I won’t mind that!

Mariam: No, nothing at all.

Mariam & Fatima presented their concept about personalities in these words, “A person is a piece of jewellery with numerous sockets. A personality is built when he selects a combination of gems to set in.”

The twins made a comment that people bother people, which is unfortunate. Therefore, their concept of Character Skins, which they have presented in their novel, I Know Who You Are!, would help the reader in understanding people. The Twins suggest that it is better to understand people by their Character Skins, overlooking their nationality, culture or religion.

They introduced the audience to the Character Skins by reading excerpts from the book. Some quotes were attention grabbing, like, ‘Live to learn and you’ll learn to live.’ The introduction of Sticklip was interesting, ‘Sticklip takes pride in being the air; permitting thoughts to travel through him and settle peacefully.’

The twins also elaborated on the plot of the story which is equally interesting and important to the book.

Akram Noorani, Managing Director of M/S A.N. Enterprise, Karachi, shares his review of I Know Who You Are! A novel by Mariam and Fatima Masood.

I, a person who likes to read about business and political biographies or something on current affairs, even for me, this novel I KNOW WHO YOU ARE, was a good read.

A very commendable effort by the authors as of a debut novel.
The best part according to me is the relationship shown between Sultan and his grandfather.

Overall, a well written novel with a touch of reality to see others.
Definitely awaiting more books by the writer duo. Many thanks to them for sending me a special autographed copy.

Participate in the contests at DubaiKiz and Creative Mumz websites and win a copy of the book I Know Who You Are! by Dubai based twins, Mariam and Fatima Masood.

‘I Know Who You Are!’ presents the concept that every person has a Character Skin which guides their behaviour and inspires their conversations. If you know a person’s Character Skin, you can understand, respond and deal with them effectively.

Book Preview:

As Sultan prepares to move with his family into their new house, he finds a mystical leather diary which brings him into contact with his Grandfather, who had unexpectedly left the family five years ago.

Grandfather teaches Sultan a novel way of looking at life. He unveils the secret of understanding people by introducing him to five Character Skins; Flipside, Sticklip, Headspin, Hammerhead and Scuff, which are unique in appearance, attitude and school of thought.

Sultan gets passionate about his interactions with Grandfather and keeps them a secret from his family. He enjoys identifying people’s Character Skins and predicting their behaviour. However, what he loves most is the fact that he can say, ‘I know who you are!’ to anyone he meets, at the very first sight.

Faryal Amir, the coordinator of Creative Mumz Group, writes her review of the novel, I Know Who You Are, which is the debut novel of the Dubai based twins Mariam and Fatima Masood.

“I must say it is a very gripping piece of modern literature. The concepts put forward by these young and innovative authors are incredibly unique and capture the mind of the reader. You tend to read and re-read the core lines and concepts as the mystery woven around the characters unfolds.

“Exceptional content, sensitivity, deep observation and excellent expression of thought makes this book a great tool for understanding behavior patterns of people around us. It can be called a fine novel cum handbook. There is a great deal to learn and wonder about. I believe the character skins portrayed in the book are very real. The thought process, behavior and appearance of all the character skins is so diverse and yet so genuine. This truly exhibits the deep observation and analytical skills of the authors. As you read the book, you tend to say, “Oh! Yes, I know this one; it is so and so in my life…Oh! So now I know!!”

“Sultan’s tale is fascinating. His adventures are incredibly mystical. It was as if I was with him during his exceptional journey, feeling and absorbing every moment. Kept me involved and thinking…TRULY AMAZING”

The novel, I Know Who You Are, released in the United Kingdom on 30th March and will be releasing in the United Arab Emirates by the end of April, 2009.

Zubaida Amad, auditor at Dubai Customs, writes her review of the novel, I Know Who You Are, which is the debut novel of the Dubai based twins Mariam and Fatima Masood.

“I found this book very interesting. It is an amazing blend of fiction and reality. It is a wonderful effort made by the authors to make us understand how different personalities gel together in a society.

“The story is very light-hearted and has its share of exciting and gripping moments. The book clearly demonstrates the profound observation, hard work and dedication of the authors in creating such a wonderful story that not only provides the comfort of reading but also makes us realize how different each individual is.

“While reading the book I could actually relate the Character Skins to people around me. I found this experience quite refreshing as this book made me observe people in a way I never did before.

“Finally I would like to like to congratulate the creative authors for this enlightening book and i would definitely recommend it to one and all..

“Looking forward to more…”

The novel, I Know Who You Are released in the United Kingdom on 30th March and will be releasing in the United Arab Emirates by the end of April, 2009.

Dubai’s leading TV Channel, Dubai One, features Mariam & Fatima’s novel, I Know Who You Are! in the 8:30 pm News bulletin. Watch the video through YouTube.

Order your copy of I Know Who You Are! from one of these online bookstores. You can also visit the book’s official website for more details. 

I Know Who You Are!

Amazon.co.uk

http://www.amazon.co.uk/I-Know-Who-You-Are/dp/1905513801/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236971423&sr=8-1

Amazon.com

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Amazon.ca

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Waterstone’s

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WH Smith

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BookStore.co.uk

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Bookshop.Blackwell.co.uk

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Foyles.co.uk

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BookRabbit.com

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BookFinder.com

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It’s the first time you can actually see the characters from a book come to life; chat, discuss and share their viewpoints. We are referring to the Character Skins from I Know Who You Are! Visit the Facebook discussion forum;

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=53192557281&topic=8959

Hammerhead and Flipside have already expressed their thoughts. Let’s see how the discussion takes shape!