From Banker to Author - who would have imagined that a harrowing diagnosis of cancer could change your career and open a whole new world!! Thank you for sharing, Brenda Mohammed!!
Zeeka Chronicles: Revenge of Zeeka [Science Fiction and fantasy]
I did not choose writing as my career. It happened by chance.
I was a successful banker and after I retired from banking, moved on to Insurance where I also excelled. I qualified for the prestigious Million Dollar Round Table six times in a row and had the privilege to attend MDRT Conferences abroad. Those opportunities broadened my knowledge in new areas which prepared me for writing.
My writing journey began after my bout with cancer. I wrote 'I am Cancer Free' and self-published it in June 2013 eight years after my near-death experience with cancer. I wrote that book to tell people suffering from that disease that cancer does not have to be a death sentence. That book [my first] was the winner of Mc Grath House Indie Book Awards in the category Non-Fiction in September 2016. It also received a five-star review and five-star seal from Readers Favorite in 2017.
I traveled extensively on vacations and conferences for many years during my banking and Insurance careers, and even after retirement. I wrote four memoirs about my life as a banker, retirement, travel, and a spiritual one, all before trying my hand at fiction.
I tried fiction because of something that my brother said to me in one of his letters prior to his death. He wrote in reference to my book, ‘My Life as a Banker: A Life Worth Living,'
“Your book makes very pleasant reading, and your literary expression is superb and easy to follow. You have an excellent talent, and I think you should follow up on a leisurely basis with perhaps publishing a book of short stories. With fiction, you will have greater opportunity to use your imagination and your undoubted descriptive ability. You used the word 'fantasize' to create a situation. This is an outstanding quality, which you should continue to use because it is imagination, which disposes of everything, coming from within you. It creates beauty, justice, and happiness, which are everything in this world.”
I took my brother’s advice and in the year 2014 wrote, ‘Heart-Warming Tales,’ and ‘Stories People Love.’ Both books are short story collections. They each received five-star reviews from readers, but I still felt that I needed to write more exciting stories.
An idea for a science fiction series came to me and in February 2016, I published Zeeka and the Zombies: Revenge of Zeeka Book 1. Within a few months, I released Zeeka’s Child Book 2, and Zeeka Returns Book 3. The series scored a double with Readers Favorite. I had compiled the first three books into a trilogy called Revenge of Zeeka: Horror Trilogy. In September 2016, I submitted the trilogy to Readers Favorite for a free review. The book received a five-star review and five-star seal. You can read the review here.
The following year I added two more books to the series - Zeeka’s Ghost Book 4 and Resurrection Book 5. I compiled the five books into one book called Zeeka Chronicles: Revenge of Zeeka. I sent it to Readers Favorite for a free review and it received a five-star review and five-star seal. Read the review from Readers Favorite.
A fan nominated the book for the Metamorph Publishing Summer Indies Book Awards. It won Best Science Fiction third place in September 2017.
These are headlines Reviewers wrote in their Reviews for Zeeka Chronicles.
Thank you, Readers.
1. I found the book to be original, brilliant, and full of suspense.
2. Just when you thought you knew everything about Zombies, comes this imaginative tale that re-defines their existence.
3. I loved this book. It will make a great movie. I recommend it if you love sci-fi novels.
4.Great Science Fiction reading
5.Twilight Zone-like Sci-Fi Shorts
6.Excellent, original story.
7.Blind-siding Events Abound
8.A fascinating vision of our future
9.An above average zombie series brought together in one superb collection.
10.Teens and up will adore this book.
11. I loved Zeeka Chronicles; it has worldwide appeal for anyone looking for an entertaining story that is different.
The Book is available on Amazon Universal Link and Books2Read Universal Link.
To date, I have self-published eighteen books. I enjoy being an author.
Thank you for spending time with me today, please feel free to reach out and follow me on Facebook by clicking HERE.
Brenda
