I had the pleasure of interviewing an amazing author and interfaith activist, Saadia Faruqi. She has written books for different age groups. I met her at the Tucson Festival of Books at the U of A campus.

She has written books for all ages, including the Yasmin series for early readers. Faruqi says she was 8 years old when she began to write stories, but she didn't get serious about writing novels until later.

“I always loved storytelling, in all sorts of formats, and I wrote for fun almost all my life,” says Faruqi. “I decided to turn that love into a career when I was in my early 30s.” Faruqi told me that she doesn’t have a favorite among her books. “All my books are equally precious to me because I wrote all of them, and the same amount of hard work and emotion goes into each book,” she says.

I recently read her book “A Thousand Questions.” I asked Faruqi how long did it took her to write it. She told me that she wrote the first draft in two or three months, and spent another month on revisions.

“However, there's a long gap between writing a book and getting it published, because there is editing, copy editing, cover design, marketing and all that,” Faruqi explains. “I wrote the first draft in 2017 and it was published in 2020.”

She is currently writing several more books. Later this year her first picture book, “Rani's Remarkable Day,” and her first graphic novel, “Saving Sunshine,” will be released.  Faruqi is currently working on a second graphic novel and a new middle grade novel.

Faruqi advises young writers to “Keep a journal or notebook and a regular writing time where you practice the art of writing. Also, read a lot for inspiration and to give free rein to your imagination.”

I am looking forward to reading more of Faruqi’s books, and I encourage you to do so as well!