Virtual Book Tour + #Giveaway: All Inclusive by Farzana Doctor @farzanadoctor @GoddessFish

All Inclusive

by Farzana Doctor

GENRE:   Literary Fiction, LGBT, magical realism, multicultural

BLURB:

A story about an all-inclusive resort, the ghost of an unknown father, and the tragedies we can’t forget.

What’s it like when everyone’s dream vacation is your job? Ameera works at a Mexican all-inclusive resort, where every day is paradise — if “paradise” means endless paperwork, quotas to meet, and entitled tourists. But it’s not all bad: Ameera’s pastime of choice is the swingers scene, and the resort is the perfect place to hook up with like-minded couples without all the hassle of having to see them again.

Despite Ameera’s best efforts to keep her sideline a secret, someone is spreading scandalous rumours about her around the resort, and her job might be at stake. Meanwhile, she’s being plagued by her other secret, the big unknown of her existence: the identity of her father and why he disappeared. Unbeknownst to Ameera, her father, Azeez, is looking for her, and they both must come to terms with the reason why he abandoned her.

A moving new work from award-winning author Farzana Doctor, All Inclusive blurs the lines between the real world and paradise, and life and death, and reminds us that love is neither easily lost nor found.

Excerpt:

Nora’s place was a small room just around the corner from the coffee shop. Like my own,

a few blocks away, it had space for a desk, a dresser, and a single bed. She fiddled with her boom box, popped in a Duran Duran cassette, and then flopped onto the bed. She beckoned me over from where I stood awkwardly by the door. I sat gingerly beside her and she took my hand. I wasn’t surprised by the gesture; she’d slipped her arm through mine on the walk over.

She leaned in close and I could tell she wanted me to kiss her. How unshrinking and

unafraid Canadian girls were! I pushed my face into hers, and didn’t breathe for a long time. I

wrapped her in my arms and she let me hold her tightly.

We talked and kissed for hours. My fingers groped her soft waist, the downy peach-fuzz on

her arms. When I gazed into her eyes I sensed a rare and special connection. And then suddenly we were tearing away our clothes.

In my fantasies, it would have happened in cinematic slow motion. Unhurried, we’d have

progressed to that point over several romantic dates. And when the disrobing finally happened it

would be an alluring striptease. Perhaps in reality things always move more quickly.

I left soon after the sex, lying to her about needing to get work done. I never did tell her

that I would be on an airplane the following afternoon, but rather, I’d remained vague about my

departure, speaking about the future as though it were more expansive than it was. Perhaps I

didn’t want to disappoint her.

I promised to call the next morning. Maybe we’d go for an early lunch. She gave me her

number and, foolishly, I forgot to offer mine.

Book Trailer:

Interview with Farzana Doctor

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in All Inclusive?

All Inclusive alternates between the voices of two protagonists, a father and a daughter. Ameera is a 29 year old foreign tour rep who works at an all-inclusive resort in Huatulco, Mexico. While there, she stumbles into the hidden swingers scene, and after scandalous rumours circulate, she finds that her job is at risk. She is I mixed-race heritage—South Asian and white—and has a lot of questions about the father who she’s never met.

Azeez is a 29 year-old Indian visa student who lives in 1985…and somewhere in the ether. He is trying to sort out the mysteries of his life and death and this leads him to search for the daughter he didn’t know he had.

What inspired you to write All Inclusive?

Each character “arrived” in different ways. While at an all-inclusive in Huatulco many years ago, I found myself wondering about the life of my tour rep, the woman who picked us up at the airport and tried to sell us excursions. I wondered: What’s it like to live and work in a walled-in amusement park? Resorts are strange places, full of pleasures (All you can eat and drink everything! Beaches! Pools! Entertainment!) and oppressive elements (environmental damage, food and water waste, land expropriation, racism). I knew that tension would make a great setting!

Azeez arrived as a strange, perhaps divine, voice in my head. I had written all of Ameera’s scenes, but the book wasn’t working and I was stuck—blocked really, for months. One day, while riding my bike, I heard a voice telling me that he was my missing character! At first I resisted, but then I dropped a couple of characters and began writing him in. His scenes fit seamlessly in the gaps.

I was also inspired to write about the issues behind this story—the problems with resorts, the politics of swinger scenes, and the truths about terrorism (yes, terrorism! I won’t say more, or else will reveal a big spoiler).

You know I think we all have a favorite author. Who is your favorite author and why?

I fell in love with Zadie Smith after reading White Teeth. I admire her ability to be funny and serious, often addressing very intense political issues with depth and wit.

Can you tell us a little bit about your next book(s) or what you have planned for the future?

I’ve just finished another draft of my fourth novel, tentatively titled Unfamiliar Skin. It’s a book about a woman who goes to India intending to do research about an ancestor and but ends up learning about family secrets. All my books have included characters from my Dawoodi Bohra community (a subsect of Shia Muslims) but this one shines a spotlight on it.

If you could time-travel would you travel to the future or the past? Where would you like to go and why would you like to visit this particular time period?

Like the protagonist in my next novel, I have an interest in knowing more about my ancestors. I’d love to travel to 1880 Bombay and have chai with my great-great-great-grandmother who was the first in our family to move from her tiny village to the city. She did this as an illiterate single mom.

Do you have any little fuzzy friends? Like a dog or a cat? Or any pets?

I have a ten-year-old dog named Maggie. She is medium sized, and a mixed breed (border collie, husky, Australian shepherd). She’s a very earnest dog who likes having a job to do. I often pose her with the books I recommend, and she increases my likes! She has her own hashtag on instagram: #MaggiewithBooks

If you are in NYC tonight (October 12^th), join me at join me at All Inclusive’s US launch!

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit with us today. 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Farzana Doctor is the author of three novels: Stealing Nasreen, Six Metres of Pavement (which was a 2012 Lambda Literary Award and the 2017 One Book One Brampton winner) and the recently released All Inclusive which was a Kobo and National Post Best Book of the Year. Farzana was named one of CBC Books’ “Ten Canadian Women Writers You Need to Read Now”. She is also a Registered Social Worker with a part-time psychotherapy practice. She curates the Brockton Writers Series.

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Buy Links:

Indie bookstore ~ Amazon

Book club guide

Giveaway:

$15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC

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