I'm a Jordanian-American author and journalist with over two decades of experience.I help authors, both aspiring and established, publish their books through book coaching or memoir ghostwriting. I publish the weekly newsletter "The Storyteller Quest," offering tips on monetizing your writing and navigating the content-creation journey.
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My fiction is going to France
Published about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Hi friends,
It's been a busy week, so here's a quick look at the business.
A few wins. I spent part of the week interviewing some genuinely remarkable women for my Bethesda Magazine "Women Who Inspire 2026" feature—the kind of conversations that remind me why I got into journalism and writing in the first place.
Meanwhile, a client memoir kept moving through edits and toward publication through my imprint, and there were also fresh episodes of the Read and Write with Natasha podcast. In other news, Daoud and I also kept "Two Arab Journalists, One Levant" going live every Monday.
And I keep coming back to book coaching—it's still the part of this work I love most. My latest client is a young writer in Istanbul who's been running with every piece of guidance I give her and turning in 4,000+ words a week. Watching someone catch fire like that never gets old.
Another wonderful news update is that I just signed with a French publisher who will translate my short story, The Agency, into French and include it in an anthology featuring Jordanian short stories. This is the first time my fiction has been translated into other languages.
And a moment that had nothing to do with metrics and everything to do with why I do this: I spent Career Day at my son's elementary school—not as a mom, but as an author. I told a room full of kids what I actually do: I make things up, write them down, and turn them into books people can hold. We read The Lonely Cucumber together; I gave away copies to the kids who answered questions about the story, and then we invented a brand-new one on the spot. Every hand was raised, and every idea was welcome. We called it The Watermelon School.
Watching kids create without fear of getting it "wrong" was a masterclass—most writers spend years trying to regain that freedom. We wrote a book in minutes, and it was pure fun. I hope a few of those young storytellers grow up to be authors themselves.
The best part came after: one of the moms picked up The Lonely Cucumber to read to the class as part of the school's parent reading program—and invited me back to answer the kids' questions as the author. There's nothing quite like a seven-year-old's questions about your book.
That's all for now, and as usual, if you have a book in you, let's chat.
Stay creative! Natasha
✍️ This week's insight: Write with the tomato technique
The single most useful habit I give stuck writers isn't about writing at all. It's a kitchen timer.
It's called the Pomodoro Technique—"pomodoro" is Italian for "tomato," after the little tomato-shaped timer its inventor used. The rule is simple: set a timer for 25 minutes, write with zero distractions until it rings, then take a 5-minute break. That's one "pomodoro."
Here's how I apply it specifically to writing:
One pomodoro, one job. This block is for drafting the chapter, not for editing or fixing the last paragraph. Naming the single task before you start the timer is the key.
Drafting and editing never share a tomato. They use different parts of your brain and sabotage each other. Separate timers, separate sessions.
When it rings, you stop — even mid-thought. That unfinished line is your running start tomorrow (a little trick I borrowed from Hemingway).
Protect three a day, not ten. Three honest pomodoros equals 75 real words-on-the-page minutes. Do that most days, and a book quietly appears.
You don't need more discipline or a better mood. You need a timer and one small, named task. Start there.
🖼️ Photo of the week
Reading from The Lonely Cucumber as part of my son's school Career Day
🎁 The Writer's Goody Bag
✍️ Tool of the Day: Hemingway Editor. Before a manuscript goes anywhere near production, it needs one honest polish pass. Hemingway Editor flags the long, tangled sentences and passive constructions you've stopped seeing after the tenth read. Free in the browser, brutal in the best way. Run your final chapter through it and watch it tighten.
🎧 Read and Write With Natasha Podcast I had awonderfult conversation with Alisa Kriegel, Manhattan psychologist and author ofFrom Sexless Marriage to Sex Goddess(Simon & Schuster). How do you write a deeply personal memoir that tells the truth without burning anyone down?
Alisa drafted her earliest pages in the Notes app during subway rides and made deliberate choices about privacy, real names, and refusing to turn her ex into a villain. It's an honest look at writing a story that's unflinchingly true and responsible—exactly the tension every memoirist has to navigate.
My monthly masterclass (free for my Substack paid subscribers) was about the publishing path. I had several authors and aspiring authors show up and engage in a lively discussion. If you are interested in rewatching this masterclass titled Self-Publish vs. Traditional vs. Hybrid: How to Choose Your Path, you can grab it here for only $9
I took part in the National Publicity Summit, where authors submit pitches to appear on my podcast. I accepted pitches from amazing authors, and I can't wait to bring them on my show
I ran a free webinar on how to start your podcast from your bedroom. The session was organized by Women Business Owners of Montgomery County. It was fun to see how many women business owners want to start their own podcasts. By the way, if you are starting one, I also do private coaching here. Let's chat.
🚀 Work with me
This spring, I published someone else's book for the first time. Not ghostwritten. Not coached. Published through my imprint. A client finished her memoir, and I carried it the rest of the way. Cover. Interior. ISBN. Distribution. The whole machine. I started out as a writer. Then I became a ghostwriter. Then a coach. And now, somehow, I am the one who takes a finished manuscript and turns it into an actual book on an actual shelf.
I help other people become authors. Didn't see that coming. But it might be the most satisfying part of the work, handing someone the thing they'd almost stopped believing they'd hold.
My client Karen Holmes with her newly published book
If you've got a finished (or nearly finished) manuscript and you're staring at the gap between "done writing" and "real book," that gap is precisely what I close now. DM me the word "manuscript" and let's chat.
I'm a Jordanian-American author and journalist with over two decades of experience.I help authors, both aspiring and established, publish their books through book coaching or memoir ghostwriting. I publish the weekly newsletter "The Storyteller Quest," offering tips on monetizing your writing and navigating the content-creation journey.
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