One of the things I love most is finding out what writers have inspired authors I love! It personally makes me happy when I see authors I love fangirling (or fanboying) about other authors I love. I just LOVE knowing what they love and which writers have inspired them and why.

I’m so happy to have debut author Aisha Saeed on the blog today to talk about 5 writers who inspire her and why. I just finished Aisha’s novel, Written in the Stars, over the Easter weekend and I cannot WAIT to talk about it (look out for a post about it in the next few days). It was a wonderful novel that I so appreciated because it allowed me a glimpse into a cultural practice (arranged marriage) that is not my own. I found myself reading so tensely as the Naila’s story played out. If you want more information on the book, I’ll provide the summary at the end of this post!

Now that I’ve blathered on I’ll let Aisha do the talking. I hope you’ll welcome her to the blog with me!!

The Five Writers Who Inspire Aisha Saeed

1. Jhumpa Lahiri: From The Namesake to Interpreter of Maladies, Lahiri’s work is beautiful and evocative. She inspires me not just with her skilled storytelling and character-building, but because she was the South Asian female author I saw make it big in the writing world. Seeing the interest in the type of stories she told motivated me to tell my own stories too.

2. Ha Jin: Jin’s writing is spare but the emotions his characters experience and consequently make you feel are powerful. His work inspires me to write with the goal to make a scene come alive by honing in on emotion.

3. Zadie Smith: Smith writes characters who will stay with you forever. She inspires me to truly consider my characters’ inner lives.

4. J.K. Rowling: I admire Rowling not just for how wonderfully she writes but because she worked so hard and believed in her writing. So many publishers rejected her but she never gave up. Even when she was struggling as a single mother and battling depression and on the brink of poverty, she honed her craft and kept on going.

5. Stephen King: Horror isn’t exactly my favorite genre but I make an exception for Stephen King. His storytelling is taut and suspenseful and has kept me up well past any reasonable hour, reading away. There is much to be learned from his writing even if it’s outside of my genre. His book, On Writing, served as the motivation for me to actually put pen to paper and write my novel.

Thank you for sharing, Aisha! I’ve heard amazing things about Jhumpa Lahiri and Zadie Smith and own some of their novels but have yet to read them. STORY OF MY LIFE.

Readers, I’d LOVE to know if you’ve read any of these authors (I’m assuming JK Rowling is an all around yes for most of you) and if you are a writer…what authors inspire you??

THE GIVEAWAY

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Other tour stops ( I highly recommend checking them out, some good stuff!):

YA Highway – 3/24
IceyBooks – 3/25
Jessabella Reads – 3/26
Alice Marvels – 3/27
Pandora’s Books – 3/31
Pop! Goes the Reader – 4/2
The Young Folks – 4/6
Forever Young Adult – 4/7
Cuddlebuggery – 4/8
HERE – 4/9
The YA Bookworm – 4/13

More about the book and author:

At 21, Aisha Saeed agreed to an arranged marriage. Having only met the groom in person once, it was a leap of faith, and a lucky one, because she ended up happily married to someone who turned out to be the love of her life.

Her debut novel, WRITTEN IN THE STARS, tells a different story: the story of a Pakistani-American girl named Naila, who, at odds with her family, finds herself caught in a situation beyond her control: trapped in a foreign country, being forced to marry someone she doesn’t love. Naila must find a way to hold on to her hope, her dreams, and her freedom.

Naila’s story, unfortunately, is more common than you might think. There are young women, even within the United States, who are or will be the victims of forced marriage. Unlike arranged marriages like Aisha’s, these women have no say. Aisha grew up with many such girls—girls who were engaged by the time they were fourteen. WRITTEN IN THE STARS is a gripping, emotionally-charged, page-turner of a read, but it’s also a nuanced look at an important cultural issue. All sides of the situation are examined—under different circumstances, Naila may have even liked and willingly married the man her family chose for her.