How did you realise that you wanted to write fantasy fiction?
Well, first I read The Chronicles of Narnia and I was very inspired by it. Since then, I knew I wanted to be a writer. I started writing poems and short stories. And then I wrote Howl, because I wanted to write a full novella. After that, I took up the rather ambitious task of writing a novel series.
How do you go about the process of universe-building and plot development?
There is a process of improvisation as I write. It doesn’t necessarily go in a straight line. I maintain files for ideas. I make maps of my fantasy worlds. At times I even reenact in my own room various events, to help me describe things in my stories. For instance, when a character is to fall off a balcony, I might reenact that by “falling off” the edge of my bed! That makes things more vivid. I enjoy living at the same time in both that fictional reality and this real, material world. When I’m writing, I’m living in that other reality.
How do you play around with time and space when you are in the process of universe-building?
I just start out with a more or less random idea that such-and-such is how the fictional universe ought to be, and I start to make it as unique and different as possible from the existing reality that we live in. As an example from one of my works, let’s take Instrumental Queens. To begin with, there is magic in that fictional world and it is placed in a medieval setting. They have a different concept of time from us in that world.
What role do your characters’ beliefs and religions play in these universes that you make? One sees a lot of this in contemporary fantasy fiction.
Well, in general, I read a lot of mythology, and this is reflected in my fiction. Sometimes the process involves taking gods and creatures from various mythologies, and adapting them for my stories.
Are you familiar with any work from other fantasy fiction writers, of your age or otherwise, from a Pakistani background?
Well, there are those of my friends who say they are writing books, but they don’t seem to have completed anything just yet.
Do phenomena and experiences from the real world affect your fantasy worlds? This could be, for instance, things you hear in the news. Do these things have an impact on your fiction?
Yes, they do, in a way. I do take some very brutal things from this, our reality, and they are reflected in some events in my work. For instance, the tragic attack on the school in Peshawar is echoed in my fantasy fiction as a castle, with very few adults and mostly children. That castle is besieged by evil/demonic forces. So that would be an example.
Your books are being published and distributed mainly in Pakistan. Considering how young you are, what sort of response has this work brought you?
So far the response has been very good. There has not been much criticism as such. I’m told that Instrumental Queens is a unique blend of mythologies, and they seem to have appreciated it.
What are you currently working on?
Firstly, of course, it’s the five-part series ‘The Quotus Instruments’, of which the first part, Instrumental Queens has been published. The second in this series is mostly complete, but needs some finishing touches. The third novel in the series is also in an advanced stage.
What direction do you see your fiction taking in the next few years, as you grow older?
I do have some ideas, especially for some stories where I bring magic into this, our own world. I might also go into further details, perhaps explore characters who haven’t so far been fully explored, from within my existing works.
Well, first I read The Chronicles of Narnia and I was very inspired by it. Since then, I knew I wanted to be a writer. I started writing poems and short stories. And then I wrote Howl, because I wanted to write a full novella. After that, I took up the rather ambitious task of writing a novel series.
How do you go about the process of universe-building and plot development?
There is a process of improvisation as I write. It doesn’t necessarily go in a straight line. I maintain files for ideas. I make maps of my fantasy worlds. At times I even reenact in my own room various events, to help me describe things in my stories. For instance, when a character is to fall off a balcony, I might reenact that by “falling off” the edge of my bed! That makes things more vivid. I enjoy living at the same time in both that fictional reality and this real, material world. When I’m writing, I’m living in that other reality.
How do you play around with time and space when you are in the process of universe-building?
I just start out with a more or less random idea that such-and-such is how the fictional universe ought to be, and I start to make it as unique and different as possible from the existing reality that we live in. As an example from one of my works, let’s take Instrumental Queens. To begin with, there is magic in that fictional world and it is placed in a medieval setting. They have a different concept of time from us in that world.
What role do your characters’ beliefs and religions play in these universes that you make? One sees a lot of this in contemporary fantasy fiction.
Well, in general, I read a lot of mythology, and this is reflected in my fiction. Sometimes the process involves taking gods and creatures from various mythologies, and adapting them for my stories.
Are you familiar with any work from other fantasy fiction writers, of your age or otherwise, from a Pakistani background?
Well, there are those of my friends who say they are writing books, but they don’t seem to have completed anything just yet.
Sometimes the process involves taking gods and creatures from various mythologies, and adapting them for my stories
Do phenomena and experiences from the real world affect your fantasy worlds? This could be, for instance, things you hear in the news. Do these things have an impact on your fiction?
Yes, they do, in a way. I do take some very brutal things from this, our reality, and they are reflected in some events in my work. For instance, the tragic attack on the school in Peshawar is echoed in my fantasy fiction as a castle, with very few adults and mostly children. That castle is besieged by evil/demonic forces. So that would be an example.
Your books are being published and distributed mainly in Pakistan. Considering how young you are, what sort of response has this work brought you?
So far the response has been very good. There has not been much criticism as such. I’m told that Instrumental Queens is a unique blend of mythologies, and they seem to have appreciated it.
What are you currently working on?
Firstly, of course, it’s the five-part series ‘The Quotus Instruments’, of which the first part, Instrumental Queens has been published. The second in this series is mostly complete, but needs some finishing touches. The third novel in the series is also in an advanced stage.
What direction do you see your fiction taking in the next few years, as you grow older?
I do have some ideas, especially for some stories where I bring magic into this, our own world. I might also go into further details, perhaps explore characters who haven’t so far been fully explored, from within my existing works.