BY FARIDA MIRZA
Summer holidays during my childhood were exciting. In the dark of the night, snuggled under comforters, my cousins and I would huddle around an old aunt and listen to scary stories about witches, ghosts, spirits and fantasies. This was in Hyderabad, India, where I grew up. Fascination for fantasy and paranormal seems to span cultures, continents, and time.
I got my high school certificate from the overseas program of the University of Cambridge, UK in India. I traveled to the UK to continue my studies at Manchester University, earning a degree in English, Sociology, and Psychology.
A few years later, interest in the English language and technology led me to obtain a Technical Writer Diploma from Algonquin College of Applied Arts & Technology, Ottawa, Canada.
‘Interest in English Language’ takes me down memory lane to St. George’s Grammar School in Hyderabad where my English teacher taught us that there was no right or wrong pronunciation for proper nouns. This seemed logical because, how would anyone be expected to know the pronunciation of names originating in an unfamiliar language without study or research? Anyone who mispronounces my name is forgiven in advance.
Just for the sake of interest, though, my name, Farida, sounds similar to ‘fajita’, with a stress on the second syllable (Fa-REE-da). However, the ‘j’ sound in ‘fajita’ is replaced by an ‘r’ sound and the ‘t’ by a ‘d’ sound.
I have taught English in the Subcontinent, the Middle East and the US. I have worked as a technical writer in Canada, and as an editor at Yahoo! Inc., California.
Stories, we all know, have a powerful influence on people of all ages. The stories I write for children and grown-ups are motivated by a desire to provide fun and support. I try to entertain and empower.
The main character in a series of three children’s stories I have published titled, Suraj, the Tiger Cub, uses his rational thinking to find solutions to his and his friends’ problems. Irrespective of age, people sometimes find themselves facing stressful situations on their own. Stories can become the tools for finding solutions.
Recently, I started working in the Editorial Department of Xchyler Publishing, a first imprint of Hamilton Springs Press, and have read more fantasy, paranormal, and Steampunk than in my entire life! Having been a teacher, a technical writer, and editor, I have read and edited a wide range of writings, but this promises to be a new experience that I look forward to greatly.
I am a member of the Society for Childrens’ Writers and Illustrators (SCWI), Los Angeles region. I am married, with four children, and live in California. I see myself as a member of a global community. A poem, “Where Do I Belong” is posted on my website here.
We here at The X are delighted to welcome Farida to our editorial team, and have put her straight to work. In addition to sitting on the judging panel of our fantasy anthology, she has taken on several other projects, including Darkness Rising, by Elizabeth Lunyou, a young adult fantasy slated for release in the spring/summer of 2014.
