Tristian: Hello S.K. Ali. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with us. Could you start by letting our readers know a little bit about you and your upcoming novel, Love From Mecca to Medina?
Hi Tristian! Happy to be here talking to you about Love from Mecca to Medina. A “bit about me” would be that I’m excited to have finally “grown up to become an author”, something I worked toward since I was very young. I studied Creative Writing at university in the nineties but didn’t break into publishing until two decades later, mainly due to not knowing how to get past the gatekeeping. It took social media activism for writers like me to finally get a chance to be seen as those with stories worthy of being published. Love from Mecca to Medina is the sequel to Love from A to Z, a story I told fearlessly. By this I mean that when writing it, I imagined all the naysayers had disappeared from the world and I was allowed to share the story I wanted, in the way I wanted to.
Tristian: What made you decide to write a sequel to Love From A to Z? Was that always the plan? Were you surprised by the direction your characters went in when you decided to write a sequel?
The idea for a sequel (completely unplanned) came about because readers wanted more Adam and Zayneb, the main characters in Love from A to Z, and I wanted to write more Adam and Zayneb (being so different from each other, they are super fun to write!) – so you could say it was a win-win situation for an author and her readers. And, yes, I was definitely surprised at the way the story unfolded; I guess that’s what happens when you’re negotiating the character arcs of such disparate personalities. I also wanted to be careful to honor the settings of the story, Mecca and Medina, while being candid about the country these cities are in. I didn’t want to shy away from any tough topic whether it’s the way love changes once a relationship seems “cemented”, to inner insecurities, to human rights violations, and more.
Tristian: Your books tackle very serious topics such as inter-community racism, Islamophobia, and the ups and downs of love, and you always tackle these topics so skillfully and respectfully. What is your process when it comes to addressing these topics as tactfully as you do?
I don’t know how or when I learned this, but I think of writing as the great detangler of truths. I really believe in its ability to find and isolate the nuances in a problem, allowing us to see what we couldn’t have, had we just spoken about an issue or learned about it another way. And fiction takes this to another level due to the character alchemy that occurs – where you have characters bring their whole selves into a situation and mix with the “baggage” other characters bring, leading to the brewing, simmering, or even boiling over, or explosions of emotions. Basically, some sort of unraveling occurs which allows us to see issues as multi-faceted. The key for me as a writer is to make sure that I have a handle on all my characters, whether they’re “monstrous” (as in Saints and Misfits, my debut novel) or deeply-flawed-but-trying-not-to-be-so-monstrous individuals. Writing each character as close as I can to who they believe themselves to be, as authentically as possible, is a way for me to address (and hopefully, honor) the issues unearthed in each of my books.
Tristian: What would you say are some of the major themes and topics addressed in Love From Mecca To Medina? What are some of the takeaways you want readers to leave with?
One of the major themes is to focus on our part in the world, in our lives, in our daily story – which boils down to only our efforts. Our society is very outcome-focused/based and one of the major sources of stress for young people is that when you live in such an unstable era in terms of climate destruction at unprecedented rates, the increase in online hate fanning irl acts of violence, the alarming prevalence of fake news, and the rise of corrupt leadership, it’s hard to imagine a good outcome or think you can have any part in reversing the race toward a bleak future. I hope focusing on what lies in our hands, in our circles of influence, in our days, is uplifting and hopeful. Thus, the epigraph that opens the book, There are no happily-ever-afters, There is only a story that begins anew each day, is not meant to be joyless…it’s an offer of a way to see life: that we can usher a better story every day by our choices.
Tristian: Can you tell us anything about your next project?
I’m working on a speculative fiction duology. I can’t describe more of it without being spoilery, except that it has one of my favorite things to write: an ensemble cast.
Tristian: What advice do you have for aspiring writers out there?
The advice I always share is to continuously learn the writing processes of different authors and try them out. You’ll be surprised at what you learn and perhaps a method will make perfect sense to you, and help you finish your project!
Tristian: Where can our readers connect with you online?
I’m on Instagram and TikTok at @skalibooks, on Twitter at @sajidahwrites, and at my website at skalibooks.com.
Bonus Question: Assign Yearbook Superlatives to three of your characters. What are their superlatives and why?
Adam: Most Likely to (Quietly) Brighten Your Day – because he’s always working on a little something for someone.
Zayneb: Most Likely to Be Your Boss – because she wants the best for others, whether she knows you or not, whether she likes you or not, and those are the kind of leaders we want.
Janna: Most Likely to Have a Library in Her Bedroom – because books enveloping her presence most definitely cures insomnia.
Writer. Video Essayist. Film/TV Critic. Pop Culture Enthusiast.
When he isn’t writing for Geek Vibes Nation or The Cinema Spot, Tristian can be found typing away at one of the novels or screenplays he’s been working on forever.