An Interview with the author of Bon Voyage- Fatima Younis

Introducing the author:

My name is Fatima Younis, and I am sixteen, a Muslimah, and a hockey player. I just recently published my debut novel, Bon Voyage, a few weeks ago and I was so excited at all the support I got. I loved the entire writing process, and while it did get a little tedious at times, I'm glad I went through this journey of writing a novel. I am so thankful to have this opportunity to be interviewed on this awesome blog (it's my honor and pleasure to interview such a great, young author like you :D) .

Questions:

1. What is your favorite book (besides bon voyage obviously)?

It's so hard to pick a favorite book because I've read so many amazing books, but one book that's been special to me ever since I was very young is Anne of Green Gables. I also really like the Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa, the Airborn series by Kenneth Oppel (who is my favorite author), and science fiction books in general.

2. What are common traps for aspiring writers?/ Give some piece of advice to new writers

Some common traps for young writers are that feeling of being stuck in the middle when you're writing, or having writer's block (which is one I personally experienced). My advice to aspiring writers would be to keep writing and to write every day, even if it is just a journal entry.

3. Have you ever felt writer’s block? If so, how do you overcome that?

I have felt writer's block, and I'm actually going through it now that I've published my first book and trying to work on my second. When I was writing Bon Voyage, I overcame writer's block by putting aside what I was working on for a while and working on something else until I found inspiration to finish what I was writing.

4. In your opinion, what is the most important quality for a writer?

In my opinion, the most important quality for a writer is perseverance and determination. Writing takes time, and it's very easy to give up in the beginning, and you have to be determined to go on. Another reason it's important is because when you submit your writing to professional places, it will get rejected several times before someone accepts it. It happens to everyone, so don't get discouraged. When I was submitting my poetry to literary journals, I got rejected several times before the Claremont Review accepted one of my poems. From then on, the road was much easier.

5. What was your biggest inspiration to write Bon Voyage at such a young age?

My biggest inspiration to write Bon Voyage was that I saw a lack of appropriate books for kids my age. Every book I picked up seemed to be about a romantic relationship or have a swear word every other sentence. So I decided that I would write a book about travel and the relationship between grandmother and granddaughter, which has been one of the most important relationships in my life. I did end up dedicating the book to my grandmother, because I based Gigi's grandma off of her.

6. If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

If I could tell my younger writing self anything, it would be that all these picture books I used to write and illustrate and staple the pages together aren't for nothing. It would also be to not give up when you get rejected or when you get writer's block, because writing a novel is long and hard work. Lastly, I would tell my younger writing self to keep writing stories because it will all lead to something someday.

7. What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel? My favorite underappreciated novel is probably the Secret Language of Sisters by Luanne Rice and This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel. What I've found out is that the best novels are the obscure ones, and that my favorite novels that I've read aren't the really popular ones, but the ones that no one else knows about.

8. How many hours a day do you spend writing? I usually work on one of my journals at night right before I sleep, and sometimes during the day I might write a letter to someone or work on my next novel. It all depends on how I'm feeling , but I usually write anywhere from half an hour to an hour a day. When I was writing Bon Voyage though, I would spend several hours a day during the summer working on it.

9. How do you choose the names of your characters? For Bon Voyage, I chose the names of my characters by using a random name generator until I got a name that I liked. However, for my future novels, I'm choosing the names based on people in my life that I really admire (or dislike, if the character isn't nice), or names that I really would love to have.

10. What are your future project(s)?

I’ve already published several of my poems in literary magazines, so watch out for more. Also, I'm working on two more novels at the moment, From Golden to Grey and the Acquirement, so look for updates on these in the next six months.

#journal