Goodreads asked Kia Abdullah:

What’s the best thing about being a writer?

Kia Abdullah I could wax lyrical about creating imaginary worlds and inspiring other writers, but if I’m being 100% honest, I would say that the best thing about being a writer is being able to say that you’re a writer. It instantly piques others’ interest, lends you intellectual gravitas and – if you wear it well – conjures an air of raffish subversiveness (“I didn’t succumb to the desk job! I lived life my own way!”). Writing is an indulgence and being able to say that you do it for a living is an absurd privilege, especially for a working-class girl from east London.

I have to say though: it took me a long time to get here. Even after I had published two novels, I still felt that I wasn’t a “real” writer because I wasn’t making a full-time living from my work. That has changed now and I’m finally comfortable in the skin of a writer, pallid and sun-deprived as it may be.

flag