Difference between revisions of "User talk:Ahmed Mehreen"

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::Can you please clarify? Discussion of scientific exploration is not necessarily the same as science fiction. Is this discussion of real scientific principles? Or discussion of imagined future scientific or technological advances, time travel, etc? Thanks. -- [[User:JLaTondre|JLaTondre]] ([[User talk:JLaTondre#top|talk]]) 18:30, 13 June 2024 (EDT)
 
::Can you please clarify? Discussion of scientific exploration is not necessarily the same as science fiction. Is this discussion of real scientific principles? Or discussion of imagined future scientific or technological advances, time travel, etc? Thanks. -- [[User:JLaTondre|JLaTondre]] ([[User talk:JLaTondre#top|talk]]) 18:30, 13 June 2024 (EDT)
  
−
No,not discussion of real scientific explorations. The protagonist conceived Time and space in the context of her grandfather's demise. Her exploration of death and soul in terms of the laws of physics for example in a fictive manner. I can give you an example from a passage:  
+
:::No,not discussion of real scientific explorations. The protagonist conceived Time and space in the context of her grandfather's demise. Her exploration of death and soul in terms of the laws of physics for example in a fictive manner. I can give you an example from a passage:  
  
−
p321
+
:::p321
−
"However, Mila’s restless, ever curious mind demanded answers. It rambled on. The world rotated on its axis; the sun set, and the moon rose. Those were the fixed parameters of physics as death was too—fixed. Mila loved her grandfather, growing up watching all his amazing feats. Walking miles both in health and in sickness, he had walked long distances; he literally walked to his death bed too, when the family walked him down to his bedroom from the dining table. Grandfather lay cold today, six feet under. One moment he was breathing—solid. Next, he vaporised into thin air. What lay beyond this illusory world of sense perception of sights and sounds was the question? Where did he go? What happened to the energy? Did it seep out of the body that we call soul? Or did the body not produce enough energy, resulting in death and a decomposed body—the end of it all? The answers perhaps could only be intuited.
+
:::"However, Mila’s restless, ever curious mind demanded answers. It rambled on. The world rotated on its axis; the sun set, and the moon rose. Those were the fixed parameters of physics as death was too—fixed. Mila loved her grandfather, growing up watching all his amazing feats. Walking miles both in health and in sickness, he had walked long distances; he literally walked to his death bed too, when the family walked him down to his bedroom from the dining table. Grandfather lay cold today, six feet under. One moment he was breathing—solid. Next, he vaporised into thin air. What lay beyond this illusory world of sense perception of sights and sounds was the question? Where did he go? What happened to the energy? Did it seep out of the body that we call soul? Or did the body not produce enough energy, resulting in death and a decomposed body—the end of it all? The answers perhaps could only be intuited.
−
p. 322
+
:::p. 322
  
−
Grandfather could intuit time. Or rather his end of time which was clear from hugging grandmother, smiling at her, and bidding her goodbye at the precise moment before he crossed over. Time could be internally intuited. But could he also intuit where he was going? Could he intuit space?
+
:::Grandfather could intuit time. Or rather his end of time which was clear from hugging grandmother, smiling at her, and bidding her goodbye at the precise moment before he crossed over. Time could be internally intuited. But could he also intuit where he was going? Could he intuit space?
−
Space was an external element. Whatever form Grandfather was at the moment, outside of that vessel from which his soul flew away like a bird from its ribbed cage, his physical elements remained bound to the parameter of this reality of sense perception. The body slowly disintegrated into the soil, and bones turned into fossil fuel over time. In rain, the melted body parts fertilised more solidly into the ground, facilitating the production of food. The winds winged the dust made out of his body parts away to the distant lands. It spread.
+
:::Space was an external element. Whatever form Grandfather was at the moment, outside of that vessel from which his soul flew away like a bird from its ribbed cage, his physical elements remained bound to the parameter of this reality of sense perception. The body slowly disintegrated into the soil, and bones turned into fossil fuel over time. In rain, the melted body parts fertilised more solidly into the ground, facilitating the production of food. The winds winged the dust made out of his body parts away to the distant lands. It spread.
−
Mila’s thoughts were lucid. However, perhaps there was deeper magic out there, which eluded her. Which neither she nor Grandfather could intuit? She couldn’t intuit the existence of heaven or hell. However, a vast cosmos lay out there, space, where perhaps the spirit flew. The spirit which sourced life from the undying elements of nature, energies, gasses which had once given his body consciousness—the lights, the sparkles, the movements. Mila combined the two realities in binary mode—the physical and the metaphysical were connected to form one complete universe. Life journeyed from one to another. Grandpa existed in various forms bound by binary oneness. There was no other reality outside of it, she intuited.
+
:::Mila’s thoughts were lucid. However, perhaps there was deeper magic out there, which eluded her. Which neither she nor Grandfather could intuit? She couldn’t intuit the existence of heaven or hell. However, a vast cosmos lay out there, space, where perhaps the spirit flew. The spirit which sourced life from the undying elements of nature, energies, gasses which had once given his body consciousness—the lights, the sparkles, the movements. Mila combined the two realities in binary mode—the physical and the metaphysical were connected to form one complete universe. Life journeyed from one to another. Grandpa existed in various forms bound by binary oneness. There was no other reality outside of it, she intuited.
 +
::: {{unsigned|Ahmed Mehreen}}
 +
 
 +
:::: These excerpts suggest that this book is a work of metaphysical fiction or what has been recently described as [https://visionaryfictionalliance.com/what-is-visionary-fiction/ "Visionary Fiction"]:
 +
::::* Growth in consciousness is the central theme of the story and drives the protagonist, and/or other important characters.
 +
::::* The story oftentimes uses reincarnation, dreams, visions, paranormal events, psychic abilities, and other metaphysical plot devices.
 +
:::: At this time our [[ISFDB:Policy#Contents.2FProject_Scope_Policy|Project Scope Policy]] only includes fiction that contains listed speculative fiction elements and/or sub-genres. To use the list of "visionary fiction" plot devices quoted above, visionary fiction or other metaphysical works are included if they use "reincarnation, ... paranormal events, psychic abilities" but "dreams, visions" are not enough for inclusion.
 +
:::: Does your book happen to have speculative elements in addition to metaphysical intuition? [[User:Ahasuerus|Ahasuerus]] ([[User talk:Ahasuerus|talk]]) 09:06, 15 June 2024 (EDT)
 +
 
 +
Dear Ahasuerus,
 +
yes, it does according to this definition: "There has to be a “speculative” element — the story has to imagine that something that doesn't actually/presently exist could in fact exist;" from Google
 +
 
 +
Page 320
 +
Mila craned her neck and tried to listen.
 +
“Leave a glass of water for the man’s spirit in the room where he died. The souls of the dead stayed in the house for forty days. They get thirsty and they come back for water— why? The glass was half empty. I clearly put a full glass on that table there. Why was it half-empty? Who drank? Who drank the water? Did the water evaporate and leave a half- empty glass? But it was the middle of winter. No, no. That was not possible. He had come, the dead man’s spirit had come, and he drank half a glass of water from that glass on the table.”
 +
 
 +
Page 338
 +
 
 +
She didn’t think she was dreaming. She was certain of what she saw. It was a clear vision of a man offering her a red flower on a solitary stem with a single leaf; it had even touched her nose; it felt cold; she also felt a heavy weight descend on her body as though the spirit was laying on top of her. The apparition had come to say good morning with a flower, then it disappeared in a moment. She felt light again. She realised that it had left. In her young mind, she couldn’t deny having seen this vision. Maybe, someone had passed away in the village, this—this spirit, had come to inform her of the passing.
 +
The small ventilator in the room kept the air fresh. She was still coming to terms with the vision. Her mind drifted. She thought, as long as Mrs Chowdhury lived her future was secured. She would make sure as the head of family that Simul received her monthly payments. After her, it was either on Mila or Lutfun to bear Shimul’s costs. But Shimul
 +
 
 +
Page 337
 +
 
 +
being permanently disabled now, she may also lose this pension.
 +
She felt like going to the toilet. The maid’s toilet was a bog, behind the neem tree in the front yard. An area which was unkempt and covered with hedges, spiky nettles and a rooty, ropey banyan tree: its tall, aerial roots hanging down.
 +
Come to think of it, there was a man in her village aged twenty-five, who was called a tree-man because he was turning into a tree. Knotty roots had spread all over his hands, legs, and toes. She remembered him clearly. Was he still alive? This tree-man would have been eaten up by his own roots, surely, by now. Was it him? This apparition, she thought, but then, why would he come to her? She barely knew him. He was just famous for this rare condition, which was uncommon in her village. No one else had it. It was just him. What did the doctors say it was? A skin disease that all these root-like warts kept breaking out. If he could live with it, so could she with her disability.
 +
But how was Rabeya going to take her to the bog across the front yard? She would probably either have to piggyback her or she would have to hobble on the crutch, balancing between her whole and half a leg.
 +
As much as she preferred, Shimul couldn’t go to the bog alone. But she also didn’t want to wake up Rabeya. She slept peacefully. It was going to be morning soon. She could wait—what apparition could offer her a rose? It had to be a well-bred man. Her mind continued to look for a match and after man searches, she may have finally found one. It was— yes, it was, she was sure of it, it was Mr Chowdhury, whom they called Sahib. Sahib? Why would he offer her flowers when his beloved wife was still living? His own children were still alive. It was unnerving. Perhaps, he was trying to send a message through her. But she was no clairvoyant. Rabeya had just started to toss and turn in bed.
  
 
== Gatherings ==
 
== Gatherings ==

Revision as of 23:58, 15 June 2024

Welcome!

Hello, Ahmed Mehreen, and welcome to the ISFDB Wiki! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:

Note: Image uploading isn't entirely automated. You're uploading the files to the wiki which will then have to be linked to the database by editing the publication record.

Please be careful in editing publications that have been primary verified by other editors. See Help:How to verify data#Making changes to verified pubs. But if you have a copy of an unverified publication, verifying it can be quite helpful. See Help:How to verify data for detailed information.

I hope you enjoy editing here! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will insert your name and the date. If you need help, check out the community portal, or ask me on my talk page. Again, welcome! -- JLaTondre (talk) 17:28, 7 June 2024 (EDT)

Incandescence

Regarding this submission: Does this book contain any speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, or supernatural horror) elements? From the product description & reviews, it doesn't sound like it. Amazon is categorizing it as "20th Century Historical Romance" and "Contemporary Romance". Thanks. -- JLaTondre (talk) 17:31, 7 June 2024 (EDT)

Yes, the book has detailed paragraphs on scientific exploration such as spacetime which have eluded both Amazon and my reviewers. Thanks, Mehreen
Can you please clarify? Discussion of scientific exploration is not necessarily the same as science fiction. Is this discussion of real scientific principles? Or discussion of imagined future scientific or technological advances, time travel, etc? Thanks. -- JLaTondre (talk) 18:30, 13 June 2024 (EDT)
No,not discussion of real scientific explorations. The protagonist conceived Time and space in the context of her grandfather's demise. Her exploration of death and soul in terms of the laws of physics for example in a fictive manner. I can give you an example from a passage:
p321
"However, Mila’s restless, ever curious mind demanded answers. It rambled on. The world rotated on its axis; the sun set, and the moon rose. Those were the fixed parameters of physics as death was too—fixed. Mila loved her grandfather, growing up watching all his amazing feats. Walking miles both in health and in sickness, he had walked long distances; he literally walked to his death bed too, when the family walked him down to his bedroom from the dining table. Grandfather lay cold today, six feet under. One moment he was breathing—solid. Next, he vaporised into thin air. What lay beyond this illusory world of sense perception of sights and sounds was the question? Where did he go? What happened to the energy? Did it seep out of the body that we call soul? Or did the body not produce enough energy, resulting in death and a decomposed body—the end of it all? The answers perhaps could only be intuited.
p. 322
Grandfather could intuit time. Or rather his end of time which was clear from hugging grandmother, smiling at her, and bidding her goodbye at the precise moment before he crossed over. Time could be internally intuited. But could he also intuit where he was going? Could he intuit space?
Space was an external element. Whatever form Grandfather was at the moment, outside of that vessel from which his soul flew away like a bird from its ribbed cage, his physical elements remained bound to the parameter of this reality of sense perception. The body slowly disintegrated into the soil, and bones turned into fossil fuel over time. In rain, the melted body parts fertilised more solidly into the ground, facilitating the production of food. The winds winged the dust made out of his body parts away to the distant lands. It spread.
Mila’s thoughts were lucid. However, perhaps there was deeper magic out there, which eluded her. Which neither she nor Grandfather could intuit? She couldn’t intuit the existence of heaven or hell. However, a vast cosmos lay out there, space, where perhaps the spirit flew. The spirit which sourced life from the undying elements of nature, energies, gasses which had once given his body consciousness—the lights, the sparkles, the movements. Mila combined the two realities in binary mode—the physical and the metaphysical were connected to form one complete universe. Life journeyed from one to another. Grandpa existed in various forms bound by binary oneness. There was no other reality outside of it, she intuited.
—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ahmed Mehreen (talk • contribs) .
These excerpts suggest that this book is a work of metaphysical fiction or what has been recently described as "Visionary Fiction":
  • Growth in consciousness is the central theme of the story and drives the protagonist, and/or other important characters.
  • The story oftentimes uses reincarnation, dreams, visions, paranormal events, psychic abilities, and other metaphysical plot devices.
At this time our Project Scope Policy only includes fiction that contains listed speculative fiction elements and/or sub-genres. To use the list of "visionary fiction" plot devices quoted above, visionary fiction or other metaphysical works are included if they use "reincarnation, ... paranormal events, psychic abilities" but "dreams, visions" are not enough for inclusion.
Does your book happen to have speculative elements in addition to metaphysical intuition? Ahasuerus (talk) 09:06, 15 June 2024 (EDT)

Dear Ahasuerus, yes, it does according to this definition: "There has to be a “speculative” element — the story has to imagine that something that doesn't actually/presently exist could in fact exist;" from Google

Page 320 Mila craned her neck and tried to listen. “Leave a glass of water for the man’s spirit in the room where he died. The souls of the dead stayed in the house for forty days. They get thirsty and they come back for water— why? The glass was half empty. I clearly put a full glass on that table there. Why was it half-empty? Who drank? Who drank the water? Did the water evaporate and leave a half- empty glass? But it was the middle of winter. No, no. That was not possible. He had come, the dead man’s spirit had come, and he drank half a glass of water from that glass on the table.”

Page 338

She didn’t think she was dreaming. She was certain of what she saw. It was a clear vision of a man offering her a red flower on a solitary stem with a single leaf; it had even touched her nose; it felt cold; she also felt a heavy weight descend on her body as though the spirit was laying on top of her. The apparition had come to say good morning with a flower, then it disappeared in a moment. She felt light again. She realised that it had left. In her young mind, she couldn’t deny having seen this vision. Maybe, someone had passed away in the village, this—this spirit, had come to inform her of the passing. The small ventilator in the room kept the air fresh. She was still coming to terms with the vision. Her mind drifted. She thought, as long as Mrs Chowdhury lived her future was secured. She would make sure as the head of family that Simul received her monthly payments. After her, it was either on Mila or Lutfun to bear Shimul’s costs. But Shimul

Page 337 

being permanently disabled now, she may also lose this pension.

She felt like going to the toilet. The maid’s toilet was a bog, behind the neem tree in the front yard. An area which was unkempt and covered with hedges, spiky nettles and a rooty, ropey banyan tree: its tall, aerial roots hanging down. Come to think of it, there was a man in her village aged twenty-five, who was called a tree-man because he was turning into a tree. Knotty roots had spread all over his hands, legs, and toes. She remembered him clearly. Was he still alive? This tree-man would have been eaten up by his own roots, surely, by now. Was it him? This apparition, she thought, but then, why would he come to her? She barely knew him. He was just famous for this rare condition, which was uncommon in her village. No one else had it. It was just him. What did the doctors say it was? A skin disease that all these root-like warts kept breaking out. If he could live with it, so could she with her disability. But how was Rabeya going to take her to the bog across the front yard? She would probably either have to piggyback her or she would have to hobble on the crutch, balancing between her whole and half a leg. As much as she preferred, Shimul couldn’t go to the bog alone. But she also didn’t want to wake up Rabeya. She slept peacefully. It was going to be morning soon. She could wait—what apparition could offer her a rose? It had to be a well-bred man. Her mind continued to look for a match and after man searches, she may have finally found one. It was— yes, it was, she was sure of it, it was Mr Chowdhury, whom they called Sahib. Sahib? Why would he offer her flowers when his beloved wife was still living? His own children were still alive. It was unnerving. Perhaps, he was trying to send a message through her. But she was no clairvoyant. Rabeya had just started to toss and turn in bed.

Gatherings

I've had to reject your submission for Gatherings. You marked this as a non-genre publication. As such, it is not eligible for inclusion in the ISFDB. Our current rules of inclusion specify that we only index non-genre works by significant genre authors. You are welcome to submit any of your works that have speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, or supernatural horror) elements, but we will not be able to accept your non-genre works. Thanks for your understanding. -- JLaTondre (talk) 18:37, 13 June 2024 (EDT)

About my next book, The Blue, Red Lyrae

The Blue, Red Lyrae is about the power of mind. In this story, the mind of the character travels to various places to find a missing cat. The cat is a representation of abstraction that does not occupy any physical 'space' per say-- a concept in the mind, but the character goes around looking for it in various places and writes a new tale everywhere unrelated to each other through spacetime to harness the concept in the form of a missing cat. In the end, she realizes that the concept was never missing, it remained in her mind which had been eluding her--only to be understood through the power of the mind. The mind is like the ulmate black hole that pulls into it every thought and becomes a magnet repository of ideas--any kind of abstraction be it the laws of physics, maker of the universe of God Himself. Such things cannot occupy a concrete place but the space of the mind.

Thank you, Mehreen

I have accepted your addition of The Blue, Red Lyrae with the following changes:
  • I updated the publisher to Impspired to match the publication.
  • I filled in the format based on Amazon.uk
  • I added the cover image from Amazon.uk
  • I removed the pub note about the publisher. Pub notes are for notes about the publication. I added the publisher's URL and an equivalent note to the publisher's record.
  • I added the Foreword (as seen via Amazon sample)
  • As this pub consists of two novellas, I changed it to a collection and added the novellas. Please double check the page number for the second novella. As it was not included in the Amazon sample, I had to use their search function which gave me the page number.
  • I removed the review. Review and interview contents are for reviews and interviews within the publication, not for items published externally about the book / author. Reviews contents are typically a magazine book review section, etc. We also do not list blurbs as reviews.
  • I removed the novelization flag. Novelization means an adaptation of a movie, TV show, etc. into a book.
  • I added the page count from Amazon.uk. As Amazon page counts are not always reliable, plus double check and update if needed.
  • I added the price from Amazon.uk
  • I added a pub note regarding the difference in title from cover to title page (as seen via Amazon sample)
ISFDB has some conventions that need learning so please check out the help links in the welcome message above. And let us know if you have any questions (ISFDB:Help desk is a good resource for asking). -- JLaTondre (talk) 07:39, 15 June 2024 (EDT)
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