People say that some writers are born and others are made, but the truth is probably somewhere in the middle of that. Writers can be born, but they also have to be made. Fangirlish had a chance to talk to Niyla Farook, author of Rida and Madiya, about her journey to her debut book, writing for young readers, how her heritage informs the stories she tells, and also who she is as a person – because there’s nothing we love more than getting to know the authors behind the books we love.
The journey, for her, has not exactly been straightforward. “I became a writer the hard way and on the hard road,” she shared, and though this is more common than one might think, it’s not talked about as much as it should be. There were many queries, and years (two), before Farook found an agent. “Then, Rida and Madiya was sold to Bloomsbury Education, and we parted ways.”
So, “the journey to where I am right now has been bittersweet. Bitter because I’ve had to work hard to find representation, and sweet because I have a published book under my belt.”
Farook does have good advice to aspiring writers: “If I could do this all again, I would make many more writing friends. And I’d be more patient and maybe take my time on projects. Oh, and I’d live in the moment and just ‘switch off’ the writing part of my days instead of just going and going, burning out and sacrificing family time and just living. With all that said, I definitely wouldn’t change the bumps along the road—I’ve learned a lot with each rejection and problem.”
All really, really good tips that we could apply to more than just writing.
Farook’s Rida and Madiya is a book aimed at middle-grade readers, and writing for younger readers requires a very particular mindset. In that regard, Farook shared that “it’s definitely fulfilling,” but that you do have to be mindful of certain things. “Before writing Rida and Madiya, my background was in writing Young Adult and Adult books, and with older readers, you can definitely do a lot more without a filter.”
However, there’s something to aiming for a middle-grade audience. “Writing Rida and Madiya required me to break down my walls and color outside the lines. I unlocked my inner child,” Farook confessed, and “I had the best time.”
Part of it was also Farook’s desire to bring her heritage into the stories she tells. “I am a BIPOC person of South Asian descent and, living in a white-majority, Western country definitely didn’t enable me to have an easy relationship with my heritage,” she told us. “When I was younger, there were no brown characters in my reading books (at least, none that were the heroes or main characters), let alone brown authors. I didn’t think I could become an author, based on the color of my skin. And my religion, for that matter. What’s even more heart-breaking about that is that I’m a millennial who’s had this experience, so the generations above me must’ve had it worse.”
And though it isn’t the only reason she became a writer, there is a lot of thinking that just by being out there, she’s making a difference for the generation coming after her which inspires her to continue writing. “I always knew that I wanted to contribute to diversifying published books. I never want to see a child so sad that they don’t see themselves authentically portrayed as the main character in a book. Any book written by Niyla Farook will have an authentically diverse cast and a brown main character. My background has everything to do with that.”
But Niyla Farook is also just – more than the writer. She’s British. In her twenties. A bookworm, who loves Criminal Minds and dreams of putting her “useless criminal/murderer knowledge to some use as a plot device in a novel.” Her favorite song changes all the time, but The Immortals by Kings of Leon remains one of the top ones, no matter what. These days, she also can’t stop listening to A Dustland Fairytale by The Killers.
“It reminds me of my grandparents, especially now that Cinderella has gone to sleep.”
Her favorite ice cream flavor is bubblegum. She always wanted to be a writer, even though she went through a couple of years disliking even the concept of reading. However, when she rediscovered her love of reading, the dream of becoming an author came back and burned brighter than ever before.
And, perhaps, almost as importantly, if she could take her characters Rida and Madiya anywhere, she would take “Rida, the older, quiet sister (a bookworm and a wallflower), and Madiya, the younger, louder sister (a daredevil and a tearaway), complete opposites who she loves equally …. well, home.
“I love the moorlands and in West Yorkshire (where I live), there’s lots of greenery that are perfect for hiking and rock climbing. Even though I’d probably regret it instantly (Rida and Madiya are quirky individually and unhinged together!), I’d love to see what it’s like to go into the wilderness with them both. It’ll certainly be a wild (pun intended) adventure!”
Every second with Rida and Madiya is, indeed an adventure, but a quite enjoyable one nonetheless.
Niyla Farook’s Riday and Madiya is available now, wherever books are sold.
