Go ahead and drop a line to her
through her
publisher www.sassyvixenpublishing.ne
t , connect with her on
Twitter@Tawny_Savage or check out
her website Erotic Tales from Tawny
Savage.
Author of the Day – Natasha Ahmed
All That’s Written …
noticed it in people in general. This is a
rage against the Taliban for taking their
frustrations out on Pakistan, rage
against my government for letting
them, rage against the US (and the
world in general) for using us, rage
against the people for being so stupid
as to elect Taliban-sympathizers into
government (though they’re not likely
to remain in power too long, they way
they’re going).
Hi Natasha, I understand you would like
to remain semi-anonymous so no
picture of you, but instead a painting
that depicts what you could look like, a
beautiful Pakistani woman. I’m glad
you were willing to answer a few of my
questions.
Living in Pakistan, what do you feel is
the most challenging thing in your life?
The biggest challenge is undoubtedly
buying a house/apartment. An average,
2-bedroom apartment would cost us as
much as $40,000, and the best loan I
could hope to get would be at an
interest rate of 20%. We’re going to
have to sell our souls in order to buy!
How does the war on terrorism affect
your life and writing?
Probably the biggest consequence of
the war on terrorism is anger. It’s not
something that is visibly present in my
life, but I’ve noticed that I’m quicker to
anger now than I ever was before. I’ve
At the end of the day, there’s anger at
our own impotence. There seems to be
little we can do about the war on
terrorism except rant about it. Writing
helps. Especially writing fantasy and
romance – as far removed from
terrorism as I could get!
On the other hand, my next book is set
in Karachi and I’m thinking of
incorporating some aspect of the effect
of terrorism into this novel. Your
questions have given me ideas!
Where else would you want to live, if
you would ever wanted to leave
Pakistan?
Difficult question – I wouldn’t mind
Spain or Greece; definitely somewhere
in Europe for the history and culture.
Or someplace serene, next to a lake or
forest.
Is there any food or beverage that is a
constant factor in either your books or
life?
Not really.
Though just
around this time (May/June) we have
mango season, which means I’ll be
eating mangoes on a regular basis. We
also get a berry that is only found in the
subcontinent and I don’t know what it’s
called in English. In Urdu, we call them
‘falsa’ and I eat them by the
bucketload! They look like smooth
blackberries exempt that they’re purple
and are tart and tangy. I’m addicted to
them. There are four fruit that I wait all
year for (because our fruit are all
seasonal) and have them at breakfast,
lunch and dinner: tangerines, falsas,
mangoes and pomegranates.
What is your favourite dish and can you
give me the recipe?
One of my favourite dishes is a spicy,
tangy masala dish made with green
chillies. It’s called ‘mirch ka salan’ or
green chilli curry and is peculiar to the
state of Hyderabad Deccan in India. It’s
fairly complex, but here’s the recipe:
Ingredients