Author's Bio:
Self-taught, self-made, and self-published!
Ali Al Saeed, born in Bahrain in 1978, wrote for two leading English-speaking newspapers in the Arabian Gulf for six years before turning into a full-time writer. He has won several honors for his journalistic work. He writes novels and short fiction. He wrote his first story at the age of eight. Ali lives with his family of nine in their humble Isa Town home, but dreams he’ll one day live on a cloud.
QuixotiQ is his debut novel.
From 'The Weaver':
As a novel, I suppose 'QuixotiQ' is somewhat of a confused fusion of quite a variation of elements. It has been through too many awkward phases, think of it as the teenager with the unpredictable behavior and I-don't-give-a-toss attitude, the sort of lost rebel, changing sides and shapes as much as the sand dunes of the Sahara.
It started off as a demented sort of memoir, then turned to a fantastical madhouse, then to a murderous account of a man who's not really insane but rather simply lost control over his sanity, which are two completely different things, in my opinion. It stayed at that stage for a while, until the plot grew and became whole; only then did it have a purpose.
To some, it may not make much sense, to others it may seem holed and hollowed. But I am hoping that for most, it will be a very disturbing but ultimately satisfying insight into the heart of the matter. What is it, you ask? It is, mostly, a question of what if we lost control over our minds. What if we find ourselves doing things in an instant, a kind of reoccurring impulsive acts disorder; when our fantastical realities merge with our nightmares and dreams?
And in that sense, that is exactly what 'QuixotiQ' is about; it's about chaos and love and romantic obsessions and fantasies, it's about not making a lot of sense, like life.
But readers will also find that beneath that there is a more familiar layer to the story, there are conflicts and challenges facing our heroes - although I personally wouldn’t go as far as calling them that as they are supposed to reflect characteristics and personalities of regular proportions. We see Christina struggling with her dying mother, doing her best to get over her estranged father, we see Patrick loveless with a sad spirit, broken by the great loss of his entire family, back when he was a little kid; and we see Guy, poor pathetic, teased with madness, never coming to terms with the death of his greatest dream, gone like the shattered little pieces of ice melting away, and the resentful father he always failed to please.
However, one main thing I'm hoping readers will get from the novel, is that like the bleak but hope-full ending, life could not make a lot of sense most of the time, but it always – even through the most demented, zany ways - gets you to where you are meant to be.
Taken from the author's web journal 'Ali's QuixotiQ Writings' - August 15th, 2004
All rights reserved © Copyright 2004 Ali Al Saeed.
bravenet.com