The Years of Silence Now Available (Finally!)

The Years of Silence is now available in these bookstores in Cairo:

Diwan, Virgin Megastore, El-Shorouk, Omar bookstore, Sindbad, El-Balad, Afaaq, Madbouly, Madbouly Al-Sagheir, Rose Al-Yousef, Al-Arabi, Kotob Khan, Sanabel, BookSpot, Master's bookshop and AUC Bookstore.

In Alexandria, you can find my novel at Maarouf bookstore (San Stefano Mall); and soon at Clay Cafe and Al-Ramly bookshop (Green Plaza).

Soon in Mansoura, you can get "The Years of Silence" at Books and Beans.

If you happen to be outside Egypt, my book is going to be available hopefully soon on Amazon. If you don't want to wait, you can order my book by sending an email to: sales@malamih.com (the book will be mailed to you and you pay on delivery); or by ordering it from BookSpotOnline using this link: http://bookspotonline.com/middle.php?file=bookdetails&bookid=43933

I want to thank everyone who attended my first book signing last Friday (24 April, 2009) at Maarouf bookstore (San Stefano Mall - Alexandria); it was a blast! I also want to thank Maarouf bookstore family for their efforts and making that day a very special one. :)

Hopefully I'll be having more signings in Cairo and Alexandria in the near future, so stay tuned!

**Thanks for the great reviews and comments. :) I want to share with you the first review which I was thrilled to get for my novel from Rasha Adel (my friend and a wonderful Egyptian poet/writer):


Your book is so beyond belief ... the characters and the scenes are so beautifully depicted and described ... your care for minute details is awesome...conversations and the brilliant flashbacks .. all so captivating and more ... a native experienced author wouldn't have done it better themselves ...Ii hold not one bit against ur book ... It turned out a happy ending eventually .. yet it was so realistic and optimistic ... this emailing thing was so realistic to me ... U r a Queen when it comes to contemporary fiction ... ur style .. I felt like very close, if not better, to a contemporary fiction author called Charlotte Bingham. WOW!

An Egyptian up-and-coming debut author, Marwa's literary writing has been described as heartwarming, mesmeric and intense. THE YEARS OF SILENCE is believed to be the FIRST English-language ROMANCE novel by an Egyptian author born and raised in Egypt.

THE YEARS OF SILENCE Press Release

Update Nov. 2010:

I've been getting many emails asking me about Malamih Publishing House. My experience with them hasn't really been a positive one. It's really sad because this seemed like a promising publishing house. My novel was released 1.5 year ago and I haven't been paid till now even though I did sign a contract stating otherwise.

But there have always been issues with Malamih, payment or not, and with many other writers, too. The lack or organization, the manager's frequent disappearances so there's really no one to talk to if you need to, messy schedules and deadlines, a million excuses and severe lack of professionalism, not making the novel available on Amazon (except very recently and only a couple of copies), no marketing or promotions of any kind (despite the many promises).

I'm grateful that my debut novel was published by an Egyptian publishing house and the quality of the publishing was good. I had a certain vision of the cover, artwork and all that but I think they did the best they could. And I'm very grateful for the success my novel had with all that I had to face with them.

So please don't email me to ask me about them since I've stated here all that I know.

An Excerpt of THE YEARS OF SILENCE

A silver frame stood elegantly on a table nearby, and the framed photograph was that of Jannah and Ahmed on their wedding day.

I wondered then if Jannah had ever experienced that special spark of love. Her marriage to Ahmed was traditional, as many marriages here in Egypt. Her family knew his, and they had set them up to meet, and shortly afterwards he proposed. They got married, just like that.
She seemed happy, or rather content. She hardly complained about him, except on rare occasions. They seemed to get along fine. They treated each other with respect and care—an essential ingredient of successful relationships. Yet I often wondered if that was enough, at least for someone like me.

I used to wonder often if there was any single element in a relationship that ensured happiness, and stability. A cousin of mine said it was money; her financial security was the most important thing. One friend said passion, another said respect, and a third said romance. My mother said it had to be appreciation. My father said it was honesty.

Yusuf said that that ingredient had to be love.

“So,” I had asked, “you mean true love?”, and he'd said, “There’s only one kind of love, sweetheart. If it isn’t love, it just isn’t love.”

-- The Years of Silence: A Novel by Marwa Ayad - An excerpt from chapter 11

~ An up-and-coming debut author, Marwa Ayad's literary writing has been described as heartwarming, mesmeric and intense.

I Dreamed A Dream (From Les Miserables)

There was a time, when men were kind

And their voices were soft

And their words were inviting

There was a time, when love was blind

And the world was a song

And the song was exciting

There was a time it all went wrong



I dreamed a dream in time gone by

When hope was high and life worth living

I dreamed that love would never die

I dreamed that God would be forgiving



Then I was young and unafraid

And dreams were made and used and wasted

There was no ransom to be paid

No song unsung, no wine untasted



But the tigers come at night

With their voices soft as thunder

As they turn your hope apart

As they turn your dreams to shame



He slept a summer by my side

He filled my dreams with endless wonder

He took my childhood in his stride

But he was gone when autumn came



And still I dream he'd come to me

That we would live the years together

But there are dreams that cannot be

And there are storms we cannot weather



I had a dream my life would be

So different from the hell I'm living

So different now from what it seemed

Now life has killed the dream I dreamed



I just felt the lyrics so much. And of course, you can listen to the latest sensation - Susan Boyle here. Enough proof to not rely on first impressions!

"Metro" (Egypt's First Graphic Novel) on Trial

Read about it here.

American Idol

I've never really been a huge American Idol fan or anything, but there's something about this season. I wonder if it has to do with the top competitors on the show being really talented. I think the last two to compete for the title will be Adam Lambert and Danny Gokey. By far, they're the best two.

My favorite is Danny Gokey. I've been a fan of him since the first episode. There's something about this guy. I mean apart from his attractive looks (and the fact that he somehow looks like Robert Downey Jr.), his talent shines through, and you can't help but admire his awesome voice, and how down to earth he is. Go, Danny, go! I can't literally wait till this guy makes it to show biz and I start listening to his songs! :)