Inspiring My Path

Butterflies are usually a fairly obvious metaphor - it’s the caterpillar that transforms into the colourful butterfly. It’s all about transformation and coming out of your shell towards a new beginning and a new you. Something fairly ugly becomes a colourful, delicate fluttering insect that brings joy to us on days when we don’t expect it. In The Vanishing Café, the butterfly is a metaphor for the fragility of life and the narrator, Nina’s new journey towards spirituality and seeking inner knowledge. The butterfly appears at vital moments in the novel - a subtle kiss between two characters in the café, to show how Sarah’s marriage fell apart and her vulnerable inner state and the dance that James does, with his swirling dervishes attire on. Nina knows that the café is a special place when she first enters it because she sees the butterfly outside and feels the presence of her dead grandmother is close by. The butterfly is a prompt and a guide to another doorway and Nina knows that ...

I loved writing about the character of Eric in my novel, The Vanishing Café. For that role I interviewed a Buddhist friend of mine, also from Kenya, like Eric. He is an amazing guy with a strong presence, shiny black skin, good looks with striking eyes and medium length dreads. The best thing about my friend is his warmth, compassion and smile. His smile draws people in and his quiet laugh keeps them there. He is a charismatic character in the novel, understanding the narrator’s complex search and sympathising with the uncertainty of the journey to truly find oneself. It’s a journey that Eric has also been on, joining various cults and religions in his search, finding little fulfilment. Eric knows that Nina is grieving and as such he identifies with her struggle to find some meaning in her beloved grandmother’s death. Yet he is also able to balance out the dramas unfolding in the café. His calming presence is important for Davla - the café owner, who is going through relationship iss...

I love the title of this blog, it just made me smile as it came to me this morning on the tube, heading to work. Yes, how do your transform your personal pain into power? This is the subject of several books, so for the purposes of this blog, I’m going to keep it short and sweet. And I’m talking about emotional pain - the kind of emotions that can cripple you, such as anger, fear, guilt or grief - which is what Nina, the narrator in my novel, The Vanishing Café, felt after the death of her grandmother. So here are the steps towards resolving it: Acknowledge that there is an issue. What is the emotion that is prevalent in your life? Of course, you can only do something once you realise it is there and it is having an effect in some way in your daily life. Seek help in addressing it, whether this is with a professional therapist or anger management course or by seeking support and advice through a family member or friend first. Unfortunately, you can go through a few therapists or cou...

It’s been a tricky process trying to place my novel, The Vanishing Cafe, into any kind of category. It’s not a thriller, hardly a satire, not erotic and definitely not a murder mystery. I didn’t intend it to appeal only to women or older people when I wrote the novel - although I appreciate that it probably does appeal to them more than anyone else, because of its strong themes of emotion, spirituality, a female narrator and death and loss. Then again, I feel like I’m limiting my book by saying that. I wrote it because it felt right - it is based on a real cafe that I used to visit years ago in Soho, although none of the characters are the same and it’s now a dinky little shop, selling mobile accessories- the last time I looked. It’s changeover seems to be rapid, so it may actually be something else by now. The Vanishing Cafe is certainly not in any way similar to Dan Brown or Jean Le Carre or Jodi Picoult, however, it is a book about feeling. It is a coming of age tale for the narr...

The café in my novel, The Vanishing Café, appears to be a small place, tucked away in central London. The narrator, Nina, doesn’t find it special in any way, until she realises that it isn’t an ordinary place. In fact, it is a magical place, where she can read the thoughts of other people (much to her and their confusion) and at one point, the café transforms itself into a temple. Nothing is quite what it appears to be! Often Nina senses her grandmother who has passed over in the café. To complicate things further, only Nina and another regular in the Café, realise that the place is special, holy somehow but not in a religious way. It’s a spiritual journey for Nina, an awakening to her higher truth - after her previous unhappy and ‘shallow life’ - that awakening is similar to our realisation that we have a Higher Self, a deeper connection to ourselves and the Universe. Is there something beyond our five physical senses? Are there other realities, is there anything more after we ...

Nina is the narrator of my novel, The Vanishing Cafe, and she is searching for answers after the death of her beloved grandmother. She’s asking herself whether life continues after we die, is there more than what we see in this world? Many people are searching for answers in this day and age that lie beyond the five physical senses. How do I know this? Because they tell me! I’m talking about my friends, my clients, friends of friends, even religious people. People seem to want more than the daily grind, many are fed up of trying to make ends meet and feel angry, or even ‘empty at the state of the world today’ - as one friend told me. The endless playground of politics, celebrities and consumerism is affecting many of us. Often we feel meaningless or powerless, but we are not and when we are hungry for answers, that’s when our search really starts. So, the next step is what is it that empowers you? There’s a palpable restlessness out there, people want to know that they belong, that...

Why does anyone feel the need to write a letter, a poem, a novel etc? It’s a way of reaching out to others, a great way of communicating and getting beyond your Self, your own boundaries and stepping into the unknown and of course, it’s an outlet for your thoughts, your imagination and your ideas. As an author, I didn’t know myself how the novel was going to unfold and I started by writing the last chapter first and almost worked my way backwards. I knew how it was going to end, I just wasn’t sure of anything else! There was a pressing need for me to write The Vanishing Cafe after the passing of my mother, a major relationship break up & a whole lot of other issues coming up. The time was ripe to write about a novel that came from the heart and was born out of a yearning and a need to explore the possibility of life after death, the loss of love and the grieving process and a genuine curiosity of other realities beyond our five senses. The Narrator Nina’s search is one that sta...