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Interview with Anne-Rae Vasquez, author of Almost a Turkish Soap Opera

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Tell us about Almost a Turkish Soap Opera

Adel and Kamil, two young good looking Turkish men try to immigrate to North America. Adel’s ruthless grand uncle arranges him to marry Yonka (his spoiled obnoxious cousin) in exchange for his immigration status in Canada. The problem is Yonka and Adel hate each other. The drama heats up even more when Adel has an affair with Nora, his beautiful English teacher which ruins Yonka’s plans. And to add to this, his best friend Kamil has a big secret of his own. How did his life turn into a Turkish soap opera?

Sababa Emporium Film Productions produced my screenplay adapatation of the first draft of my novel into a feature film and web series which have since won awards and screened in festivals in the USA and Canada.

What genre is it?
Drama, comedy literary fiction with a multicultural theme.

What kind of readers will it appeal to?
The story is full of drama and action with romance and comedy mixed in and should appeal to readers who enjoy romantic comedies, multicultural themed stories, and literary fiction.

I wrote Almost a Turkish Soap Opera to focus on the challenges that people face when trying to immigrate into a country—all in the style of a Turkish soap opera. There is a lot of laughs, tears, and fast paced action. Readers can follow along for the first part of the book with the web series and watch the characters come to life on the screen. The web series is syndicated on YouTube, BlipTV, iTunes, Vimeo and more. In addition, the feature film will be available on Amazon in December so readers can watch the movie which has some different twists than what’s in the book.

How long did it take to write?
The whole writing process took 10 months for the first draft of the novel. Then another two months to adapt it into a screenplay. After the movie and web series were at the tail end of the film festival circuit, it took me another month and a half to finalize the book for publishing.

What was the most challenging part of your creative process?
The most challenging part of the creative process is having the time to balance the full time day job, the full time “mom” job and then the full time writing/filming job. On top of that, there’s the full time “marketing your projects” job. I always tell myself, if only I could multiply myself into three, like in the movie Multiplicity when Michael Keaton has six different clones of himself, then maybe I’ll be able to do all of this without going bonkers. Kidding aside, it is a time management and planning skill that I have attained with my day job that gives me the ability to juggle the work and writing. Also I could not have done all of this without the full support of my partner and close friends.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
Well, I see myself as a writer and indie filmmaker, a mother, blogger and web designer. I also manage a team of web designers, production and learner support producing online distance credit and non-credit courses at a well known higher educational institution which keeps me on my toes.

Other than, I’m pretty much an ordinary girl who likes watching Turkish soap operas dubbed in Arabic or subtitled in English. I love reading, watching movies, spending time with my kids and thinking up ideas for my next projects.

Have you got a blog where readers can keep up with your work?
I encourage readers and authors to visit my blog at www.anne-raevasquez.com to follow my tips on book promotion, web marketing, my projects and also the latest Turkish soap operas I am addicted to watching.

Where can we buy your Almost a Turkish Soap Opera?
It is available on Amazon.

What’s next?
I’m writing a series of novels called Angels and Devils which will be part fantasy, paranormal and set in the future. That’s all I can reveal for now. Please follow my blog for news and updates.

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Enjoyed this interview? Then check out our interview with John Gradwell.

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2 Comments

  1. Pingback: Indie Author Land featuring self published authors and book worms

  2. Thanks Indie Author Land for interviewing me and for providing this wonderful venue for readers to get to know more about indie authors.

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