Today, I am excited to introduce you to the main characters of my book, “The Extraordinary Life of Riz”. You may have noticed them on the book cover, too. The illustrations are by my sister, Sama N. Izhar, who is an animator in her day job, and has worked on countless animated movies and TV shows. 🙂
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First, let’s meet Riz. After learning about his parents’ story from his Uncle Qasim, Riz has always stayed away from the females of his species. He is happy as long as he has Uncle Qasim and Big Al by his side. But deep down, unknown to himself, Riz has always craved a large family. Just like everyone around him already has.

Big Al is Riz’s best friend. The one who saved him from a bully in his childhood. And the one that Riz has been saving from all sorts of trouble ever since. 🙂

And Dua? Well, Dua is the shemantis (female mantis) who comes in and disrupts everything in their lives. 🙂

Here’s the book blurb, to tell you a little more of their story. 🙂

Riz needed no one in his life except his best friend, Big Al, and Uncle Qasim. And he especially did not need any of those annoying, pesky, fatal shemantises.

Until Dua came into his life.

When Mother Nature steps in to ruin Riz’s life and happy ending, Riz and Big Al are thrust into an extraordinary adventure, running for their lives from an enemy who knows them too well and will never give up.

If they manage to survive this adventure, could they find the answer to the most mysterious question of it all:

Can a praying mantis have a happy ending?

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I am so excited to bring this story in front of you. I hope you will all enjoy it when you get to read it.