Publishing

June 17, 2010

The Henna Hands of The Night Counter

The paperback cover is ready, and no, neither one of the hands on it is mine, as some people have asked me. Responding to “Don’t you love it as much as we do? We hope so!” was about as much input as I was allowed to have in the cover’s design. And after getting over Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Publishing

Alia Yunis, Author, The Night Counter paperback
February 14, 2010

Love Notes From Fatima and Scheherazade

Debutante’s Ball is a website of a bunch of fun authors with upcoming books. Alicia Bessette, whose novel is coming out in August and who’s one of the webmasters asked me to write a bit on love, and here you go, and I think Fatima and Scheherazade would approve: Some Love Notes for Debutantes http://www.thedebutanteball.com/?m=20100213 Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Middle East, Publishing

Authors, love, romance, Writing
January 31, 2010

TAYEB SALIH: ARABS IN TRANSLATION

My first job out of college was working at the television station in Qatar, and one of the first things my co-worders told me was “Tayeb Salih used to run this place.” There was a reverence in their voices that I didn’t get because I will admit I had never heard of him. But I Continue reading

Arabs, Arts and Culture, Books, Middle East, Publishing

Arab Literature, Season of Migration, Tayeb Salih
October 20, 2009

THE NIGHT COUNTER’S MIDDLE EAST TOUR BEGINS

Six weeks after finishing the initial U.S. tour, The Night Counter and I are going to do a little tour of the Middle East. Started out easy last night at the American Women’s Network in Abu Dhabi, where, thanks to my friend Annette, many of the women had already read it and were fans. Next Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Middle East, Publishing

Book Tour, The Night Counter, Travel
September 12, 2009

The Sacremento Book Review & The Night Counter

http://sacramentobookreview.com/modern_literature/the-night-counter/ The Night Counter Posted by Editor at 8 September, 2009, 9:25 am By Alia Yunis Shaye Areheart Books, $23.00, 365 pages When the immortal storyteller Scheherazade gives Fatima Abdullah 1,001 nights to tell the great stories of her life, Fatima begins to prepare for her death. Between getting her affairs in order, Fatima spends Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Author, Books, NIght Counter Reviews and Press, Publishing

Authors, book reviews
September 6, 2009

The Boston Globe Review

http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2009/08/09/in_dunants_sacred_hearts_a_story_of_thwarted_love_and_church_intrigue/ “In Alia Yunis’s poignant, hilarious first novel, “The Night Counter,’’ purple-haired, 85-year-old Fatimah Abdulla tells her life story to Scheherazade, the legendary storyteller from “The Arabian Nights,’’ who appears every night in the elderly woman’s Los Angeles bedroom. Fatimah has plenty of stories. She came to Detroit from Lebanon as a teenage bride, had Continue reading

Arabs, Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Publishing

Author, book reviews, Books, Boston Globe, The Night Counter
September 2, 2009

One Hundred Years Twenty Years Later

During my tour of The Night Counter, I was often asked either “What writers have influenced you the most?’ or “Who are you favorite writers?” I have no answer for the first because to say Gabriel Garcia Marquez influenced me is to say that I’ve made some conscious choice to use his style or tone Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Publishing

Authors, One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Night Counter, Writing
August 18, 2009

PENN, CHEESESTEAKS, AND BROTHERLY LOVE

A week ago I was in Philadelphia reading at the Penn Bookstore, my first East Coast stop. I was pretty uncomfortable about Philadelphia, as it was a city I had no base in, so I accepted the offers of two friends to come down from New Jersey and New York for the event, bringing along Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Author, Publishing

Author, cheese steaks, Philadelphia, The Night Counter
August 15, 2009

The Washington Post Review

It’s pretty cool to get reviewed by one of the book critics you respect the most. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/13/AR2009081303267.html A SCHERHEZADE FOR OUR TIMES LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO 1,001 NIGHTS By Carolyn See Special to The Washington Post Friday, August 14, 2009 Shaye Areheart. 365 pp. $24 Some people write about death, dying and tragedy as if Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Books, NIght Counter Reviews and Press, Publishing

book reviews, The Night Counter, Washington Post
August 10, 2009

The Minneapolis Star Tribune and Other Reasons I Love Minnesota

The Minneapolis Star Tribune wrote a great review of The Night Counter in its Sunday edition: http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/books/52617702.html (Link also posted under The Night Counter Press & Reviews here) But that is not the only reason I was excited to do a reading for Mizna (www.mizna.org) in Minneapolis on Saturday. Minnesota has been a part of Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Minnesota, Publishing

Books, Minnesota, reviews, The Night Counter

About Alia

Alia Yunis is a writer, journalist and filmmaker. She is currently producing and directing “The Golden Harvest,” a feature length documentary about how olive oil has shaped the Mediterranean culture, cuisine and history for 6,000 years, through war and peace. Her debut novel, The Night Counter (Random House) has been critically acclaimed by the Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, and several other publications. It was also chosen as a top summer read by the Chicago Tribune and Boston Phoenix. The Boston Globe has called it “wonderfully imaginative…poignant, hilarious.” Alia was born in Chicago and grew up in the U.S., Greece, and the Middle East. She has worked as a filmmaker and journalist in several cities, especially Los Angeles. Her fiction has appeared in several anthologies, including The Robert Olen Butler Best Short Stories collection, and her non-fiction work includes articles for The Los Angeles Times, Saveur, SportsTravel Magazine, and Aramco World. She currently teaches film at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi.