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I wrote an email two years ago with this subject line: “How to befriend scary monsters on Halloween”. And I felt an impulse to reuse that email. Because it was a long day and my mind is a bit foggy. And no divine scripture forbids reusing emails.
But the formatting was not pasting properly as is. And it would need quite a bit of work to be publishable. So I thought I might just write a new email from scratch.
So here we are, with a brand new email being cooked fresh on the stream (or steam?) of consciousness.
But with the same subject. The genius that is Brandy Metheny Bonifas, and the monsters she placed in the mountains.
Athena was the first book we published under than banner of Dastaan World. And I loved it to bits, as if it was my firstborn. And in a manner of speaking, it was. But now that Life has blessed me with my real firstborn, Athena has taken a bit of a backseat.
But it still occupies a special place in my heart. Because it is a collective work of genius. It’s a labor of love of too many people to count. Sixteen absolutely brilliant authors from all over the world. And an editorial team. And the countless supporters who stood by the authors, the editors, the designers, and by me.
They literally are the tales of love, magic, and sheer madness. Because that is what it takes to thrive on this ball of rock and water that we call home. Love, magic and sheer madness. Which is why our cultures stick with the memories of our ancestors who have long left this world. And we dedicate festivals and feasts to them. And we pray for them. And some of us pray to them too.
It is love. It is magic. It is sheer madness. Because, above all, it is human.
It’s been a while since I have talked about Athena. And as always, it makes me emotional. If you have read that gorgeous piece of entertainment and education, you know the reason why. And this is the perfect reason to pick it up again as your annual Halloween ritual.
If you haven’t read it, or you don’t have a copy yet, this is the perfect time to grab it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08924FK3P
Live long and prosper,
Shakaib Feroz
P.S. Here’s the link to the original email I mentioned: https://letter.dastaanworld.com/p/how-to-befriend-scary-monsters-on-halloween
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