Ask the Author: Ahmed Al-Sheikh
Answered Questions (10)
Ahmed Al-Sheikh
The baby keeps crying all night. I leave toys on the headstone so she’ll stop.
Ahmed Al-Sheikh
I think I'd go to the Earthsea world by Ursula K. Le Guin. It's just such a different fantasy world than most, and I'd love to just travel and explore.
Ahmed Al-Sheikh
I'm taking the plunge and finally reading my first Stephen King book. And not just any book, but his horror epic It. I've been intimidated by this book since I was a kid, not just for the fact that the old TV miniseries version with Tim Curry scared me, but its sheer size.
Ahmed Al-Sheikh
Not exactly the normal choice, but Spider-Man and Mary Jane. It mostly stems from the fact unlike most comic couples, they're more down to earth, and also, they accept all facets of each other. MJ loves both the Peter and Spidey side of him, not like past love interests who loved only one side, and Peter sees MJ not just as the fun girl but the deeper, more serious side she doesn't always show people.
We all should have someone who loves all parts of us, shouldn't we?
We all should have someone who loves all parts of us, shouldn't we?
Ahmed Al-Sheikh
I was still in college, and I was on a long plane-ride back Saudi Arabia to visit family during winter break. I was playing a video game on my Gameboy Advance, an RPG, and there was one character class that could do magic and physical attacks, but was as strong as characters who specialized in a single category. I thought to myself, "seriously, in real life, this kind of character would find a way to be on par with those others, despite his limit," and I got the idea for Lunen right there. The rest of it, the moons, the other characters, the actual story, came as I developed it during that trip before I finally started to write it, but in this case, it was from that one thought that Lunen himself grew, and with him, the rest started to fall into place.
Ahmed Al-Sheikh
I draw inspiration from the things that made me want to be a storyteller in the first place, so film, animation, literature and the like. Basically, I get inspiration from every form of story I encounter, for better or worse.
Ahmed Al-Sheikh
I'm currently working on book 2 of Lunen. So far, the whole thing's been plotted out, and the first chapter has been written. I just hope that real life doesn't delay me too much.
Ahmed Al-Sheikh
Find your voice. Don't try to be like anyone else, although you can take influence from them. Tell the kind of story you would love to read, and others will find it. Never follow a trend unless your story just happens to. And no matter what, if writing is really what you want to do, if after each setback and heartbreak you still love to write and want to do it, then never give up.
Ahmed Al-Sheikh
Honestly, it's when you find out someone not only read something you wrote, but when they enjoyed it. When they managed to find something that spoke to them, either intellectually or just as entertainment, when your story manages to cross that grand divide between your imagination and theirs… There honestly is no feeling like it in the world.
Ahmed Al-Sheikh
By ignoring it. Basically, when I have writer's block, I take a break, don't focus on it, and either read a book, watch a movie or show, play games, hang with people, do things that give my brain a break and help subconsciously get the creative juices going again.
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