Captivating hearts

Young author and former Bahrain resident Ann Maria Thomson has released her debut romance fiction, Beside Me, featuring ‘a battle of hearts’ and emotions galore.

The 169-page novel revolves around 17-year-old April who falls for blue-eyed Charlie soon after they meet.

Fate takes April to Greens High School for the annual debate championship where she encounters her old crush and enemy, Miguel, only to realise that he isn’t as bad as she had thought. In a plot twist, April finds herself drawn to Miguel even more.

“Growing up, I was a fan of young adult romance novels and most of the books I currently own belong to that category,” the 18-year-old self-published novelist told GulfWeekly.

“I wanted to write something that I would love reading and that would resonate with my friends and people of my age. I came across the Indian publication house Hatchegg, based in New Delhi, when I was scrolling through reels on my phone and approached them.

“I believe self-publishing opens up new avenues to aspiring writers and is a great way to put out your creative work into the world.”

An excerpt from Beside Me reads, “He slowly lifted his eyes from the book and looked at me. I jerked at this sudden movement and buried my face in Pride and Prejudice. Blood gushed through my face; I didn’t want to stop looking at that beautiful face. Who was this guy? I had never seen him before...”

Ann was always inclined towards reading and writing, a passion she nurtured growing up in the kingdom and attending The Asian School Bahrain, but when she got down to writing this book, she didn’t know it would result in her publishing her first full-length piece.

“The only thing I was sure about was that my protagonist’s name would be April,” she said.

“The rest of the characters and plot line developed from there. I posted a few lines of the first chapter on Instagram last year in June, and my friends kept asking me what was going to happen next. That’s when I thought, maybe I should turn this into a book,” added the student who is currently pursuing a degree in psychology at Teresian College in Mysore, a city in India’s southwestern Karnataka state.

Ann took a month to complete the novel and another two for further additions and editing.

She has also written two poems As we stare to eternity and The rainy dusk, which have featured in two separate anthologies, Blooming Poets of India and Threads of Indian Poetry respectively.

A short story Not everything is gone appeared in the second volume of the anthology Echoes of the Unheard.

She is also a four-time winner of GDN Life’s short story contest in the under-18 category, her latest entry focusing on environmental pollution.

When asked if the book was inspired by her life, the former Salmaniya resident chuckled, “Oh! How I wish something like that had happened but maybe, it’s not too late to have one (a teenage love story).”

Born in Bahrain, Ann lived in the kingdom for 17 years with her parents Thomson George and Jincy Mathew. Jincy works as a nurse manager at King Hamad University Hospital. Ann has two younger brothers Alan and Aidan who she grew up with.

“I urge everyone to follow my Instagram page, where you will find a link to my book as well my other literary works, and share your reviews and suggestions,” she added.

Beside Me is available on Amazon and Flipkart.

For more details, follow @annmaria_writes on Instagram.