Tuesday 19 April 2011

I diiiiiiiiie. Special Mag calls me "Our Very Own Candance Bushnell"!



This makes me one very happy little writer! The clipping is from this month's "Special Magazine" one of the top lifestyle mags in Lebanon. The headline translates into "Dania El-Kadi, Our Very Own Candance Bushnell".

If you haven't heard of Candance Bushnell, chances are you're not a chicklit fan :) She's the writing genius behind the "Sex And The City" book on which the TV series and movies are based.

Monday 11 April 2011

Cool kids' book: "Diaries Of An Ant" by Diala Arslan Talhouk

The best part of my trip to the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (#ADIBF) was of course that I got to launch my novel “Summer Blast”. The second best part is that I caught up on book shopping :-). So I’ll be posting about my favorite reads.



Even before having a kid, I found myself reading Diala Arslan Talhouk’s ديالا ارسلان تلحوق books cover to cover because they’re so cute and enjoyable.

Diala has written 5 Arabic kids'books (published by Educart Middle East). My two favorites were “Diaries of an Ant” يوميات نملة and a “Queen’s Story” قصة ملكة.

“Diaries of an Ant” tells the story of Loulou the working ant who would be queen. “A Queen’s story” is about busy bees who decide to overthrow their queen for being lazy.

I liked the quality of the Arabic writing and, of course, the environmental theme. I would love to know that our kids are getting an early education about living species and the importance of conserving them, especially in Lebanon, where there’s absolutely no consideration for wildlife. Insect, reptiles and birds have been brought to extinction by the over-spraying of chemicals and most other animal life has been hunted, fished or smothered by pollution, not to mention loss of habitat etcetera etcetera etcetera (sorry about the rant, but this drives me MAD).

Therefore: Strong recommendation, get these books for your kid(s). If I enjoyed them, your kids definitely will.

Friday 8 April 2011

Object of my desire

This Balmain studded leather gilet retails at over £5k. I won't be buying it any time soon, but I think it's F.I.E.R.C.E.


Friday 1 April 2011

Great time on the TV program Talk of the Town, حديث البلد


I was lucky to be hosted on one of Lebanon's top TV shows: MTV's "Talk of The Town" to discuss "Summer Blast". I was even asked who would make good actresses if my book was ever turned into a movie!

The episode ran on March 31 and you can watch it here