Darlene Foster's Blog

Thirteen years ago today, my first print book was published. This was the realization of a dream come true since I was twelve years old when I had a short story published in the Winnipeg Free Press called Stretch Your Food Dollar. It was then that I decided I wanted to be a writer. Life happened, as it does. I got married, had children and worked at some very interesting jobs. I always dabbled in writing, took creative writing courses, sent out stories to writing competitions and submitted work to magazines, but not much came of my endeavours.

Visiting friends in the UAE (you may recognize them from the previous post)

I visited friends in the United Arab Emirates and fell in love with the country, the people and the culture. When I got home I decided to write a story about my experience. But it just wasn’t working for me, the excitement I felt was not coming through on the page. Then one sleepless night I recalled my friend stating that I was as excited as a twelve-year-old while I was there. So I began my story from the point of view of a twelve-year-old girl. The seeds to Amanda in Arabia: The Perfume Flask were planted.

A painted door in the desert

Camels were everywhere. One of my favourite animals, so they had to be included in the story.

An amazing site to see was goats in the trees.

The actual perfume flask I bought while in the UAE.

It took me three years to complete the book. Once it was finished, I started the arduous journey of finding a publisher. I sent out many query letters and received a pile of rejection letters over the next five years. In the meantime, I kept revising and polishing the book. Each rejection letter became nicer and more encouraging. Then I got a call from a gentleman who said his daughter was starting an e-publishing company and would like to attend my writing group’s meeting as a guest speaker. I was keen to hear about this new way of publishing books. She explained things very well, we agreed to meet later for a coffee and she asked for a copy of my manuscript. Amanda’s first adventure was published in November 2009 as an e-book. And people bought it!

Then on April 13th, 2010, Central Avenue Publishing released Amanda in Arabia: The Perfume Flask as a print book. My dream came true as I held my baby in my hands. Instead of nine months, it took nine years to birth this baby!

After all this time, this book is still getting great reviews. Here are two recent five-star reviews on Goodreads:

Amy Reade

I read this book a while back and just realized I never posted a review. The book is geared toward middle-grade readers, and if I were a twelve-year-old girl again, it is exactly the kind of adventure I would love to have! Even as an adult, I found myself transported to Arabia, solving a mystery and exploring the culture, the customs, the food, and the climate with Amanda. This type of book allows young readers to travel to far-flung places without leaving home and will very likely instill in them an inquisitive wanderlust.

Smitha Vishwanath

An enjoyable read providing factual information about the United Arab Emirates. The book is bound to instil curiosity, a love for travel and an appreciation of different cultures which is so essential in the current day. It makes for a perfect gift for middle-school children.
Having lived in the Middle East, I was impressed with the amount of information the author managed to pack in 108 pages in the most interesting manner. To read more of my review, click here. https://smithavpennings.com/2023/02/15/book-review-amanda-in-arabia-by-darlene-foster/

I am now working on the tenth book in the Amanda Travels series. Thank you to everyone who has helped me along this amazing journey!

Copyright ©2023 darlenefoster.wordpress.com – All rights reserved.