Welcome to another edition of Author Fridays! Sit back, get comfortable and read about this week's featured author, Axelan Ziba!
Axelan Ziba is a first time published author. The name of his book is "Journey to Unknown" and is published by Publish America
An entrepreneur, Ziba is thirty-four-years-old, and says that his personality is shaped around good service and good manners, because of his eleven year employment in the hospitality industry. "I opened my own retail boutique store five years ago when I met my wife," he tells me. "I have found the divinity and have drunk from a secret cup of serenity and since with the encouragement of my wife, Farnaz, I discovered the beauty of the world of writing and its magical effects. I love to read as much as I enjoy writing. I enjoy non-fictions and true-life stories, biographies and history. I simply love to learn a new thing everyday and so reading does just that for me. I have many favorite authors, but on the top of my list I should say Florence Scovel shinn who have inspired me to read her books repeatedly one after another."
When I asked Ziba who influenced him the most to write, he gives all credit to his wife. "I was influenced by the calm character of my wife," he says. "She introduced me to the world of meditation and getting to know my true self while recognizing the innocence of my inner self. We both wanted to move to a new place far from where we lived and for that we had to take a big risk and play with the trick of mind. As we were in the middle of this important life changing migration, it reminded me of my first big decision in life when I was seventeen years of age and decided to find freedom in another world. The memories of my past and its challenges freshened up by undergoing our new adventure. As I told her about my past and what I had to go through to get where I was, she encouraged me to start writing it in details. Day by day as I wrote word by word, trying to remember all the details, they started to elevate my confidence in our new challenge and help us getting through our difficulties. Writing about my journey to unknown not only changed all challenges into a blessed events but also, every word I wrote, it made me recognize how much joy I have as I write. When I write I discover who I am and as each word covers the white blank pages, I see what I have as thoughts becoming reality of existence. To me writing is like creation. An author creates his thoughts and within them, it influences some one's life and touches the heart of another. And that entire discovery I owe to my wife, Farnaz for her encouragement and support."
"As I mentioned earlier,"Ziba continues, "life is very similar to a fashion and design. It never gets old and repeats itself periodically. My wife and I decided to move from east-side to far west and doing so we had to go through many unpredictable challenges. In midst of all these changes, I remembered my past where at age of seventeen I decided to leave all my family behind and fled illegally across the border from Iran, my birth place, to find freedom and independence in a new world. Such thoughts with encouragement of my wife turned into a wonderful book that I am extremely proud of."
"Every person in life has a unique story to tell," Ziba believes, and his is no exception. "In this life," he says, "challenges bring fear and doubt and to overcome this enemy from within, one needs determination and to see clearly right through his/her desires. At a younger age, I was tormented and tortured by the Islamic regime of Iran because of the route of my family being connected to the past revolution. I decided to find the meaning of a lost word of freedom and independence without humiliation, in another part of this unknown world. Making this life altering decision at that age, I had to sacrifice many dear things in my life such as the love of my parents and my family and leave them behind. In "Journey to Unknown" I have detailed every single dilemma and challenges that I have faced to find my destination. The one valued dependable lesson that I learned is to see right through every challenge as at the end it is a blossom of a new experience."
When I asked Ziba what advice he would give someone who wishes to become a published author, his answer was, "To be patient and to never give up on their dream, no matter how difficult the challenges are. Doubt and fear creates darkness and takes away the sparkle of a brilliant future. Be resistant and see your desire of being published clearly right to the end."
I also asked Axelan Ziba if there was anything else he would like to share, and this is his reply.
"I want to share the message on my book with those who have given up on their desires and lost their hope in disappointment and want to remind them to read "Journey to Unknown" and re-evaluate their surrounding to recognize their blessed soul and discover beauty in everything as it is meant for such. And my heart goes to all who had to sacrifice their loved ones and closest people around them to search for something greater in life. I wish my book to become a bridge and a step stone for these lion-hearted souls and that it encourages them to share the story of their life and its hardship so the world know that no matter what the purpose of their immigration was, by overcoming those difficult challenges along the way, it brought them closer to what they always have desired and was in search for."
The official release date for "Journey to Unknown" is November 7th 2009. The website for Axelan's book is
And in the website under Events, there are three links to his face book group and supporters, his YouTube video clip and the informative blogger.
Thank you for joining me for another edition of Author Fridays! Come back next week, same time same place to read about our next featured author, Tracy Moody-Williams!
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