When I discovered that I was pregnant for the first time, I instantly began daydreaming of all of the plans that I wanted to do for my child. The idea of writing a children’s book for them lingered in the back of my mind for years. The ideas for a story continued to grow with experiences and the birth of my second-born child. The thought of writing a children’s book seemed unachievable until I discovered self-publishing.
I started working on my manuscript when I became pregnant with my third child. I wanted the story to be about a young boy who discovers his father’s village in Morocco for the first time. The idea came from my son’s first trip to his father’s village in the Atlas Mountains. Eventually, Naseem’s Journey was born. I found an illustrator who captured my vision perfectly. Next, I worked with an editor on revisions. Finally, I submitted Naseem’s Journey to Amazon’s self-publishing service.
I did it! I became a self-published author! I achieved something that I never thought that I could do in my life. I created a story that captured my children’s first experience in their father’s homeland. I hope that whenever they read Naseem’s Journey they think of their roots. I pray they will pass this story down to future generations. Furthermore, I hope that my story will be relatable to children who have family abroad.
Initially, I was shy about promoting my book. I didn’t enjoy talking about myself. I also doubted whether or not Naseem’s Journey was worthy enough. My mind was full of questions, ” What if people don’t like it?”, ” What if they find a mistake?”. Eventually, I reclaimed my love for writing. I stopped worrying about the “what ifs” and became proud of my work. I’m happy to be able to offer Naseem’s Journey to the world. I hope one day, when I am long gone,that my children will be reading this story to their children, or grandchildren, and say, ” my mom wrote this”!
