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AHMAD FAKIR
Ahmad Fakir is a man between worlds. His long career at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washinton, D. C. put him in touch with individuals from many walks of life. In addition to wor...view moreAhmad Fakir is a man between worlds. His long career at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washinton, D. C. put him in touch with individuals from many walks of life. In addition to working with administrators and clients, he also represented the department at different conferences. This experience gave him a deep understanding of many personality types and what motivates different people. He applies that understanding to his writing. In spare strokes, he paints each character in a way that quickly connects with readers... often while making them laugh.
The author's grandfather suffered from Alzheimer's disease. The illness took its toll on his life and the lives of his loved ones. Fakir's neighbor also has the disease, and the vacant look in her eyes is proof of the ailment's chilling effects. Bittersweet was written in part to help readers understand how the disease affects the patients as well as the lives of their loved ones.
Fakir's desire to help others extends to supporting literacy. Writing outrageous parodies is one certain step toward encouraging people to read more; his membership in Goodreads, an online book group sponsored by the D.C. public library, is another. He has already drafted three additional manuscripts, all of which use the same approach as Bittersweet.
In the Prayer Closet, the wife of a philandering preacher douses her husband with gasoline and sets him on fire, forever changing their lives. Glass Lake follows the son of a wealthy businessman visited by an African woman he's dating online only to discover she used much more attractive friend's profile photo to help her escape poverty in the U.S. And in A Sacred Sin, Pastor Blackwell Whitt starts a war on pimps when he seeks revenge for the death of his daughter at the hands of Sweet Jesus.
Ahmad's understanding of street life and the myriad characters readers meet in his books came in part from having lived most of his life in Washington, D.C. Currently he lives in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, where the crime rates are much lower. He spent six years with The Men and Women of the Gospel, a choir 125 singers strong. Every year they perform at the Kennedy Center. He enjoyed it so much he's considering joining up again.view less