But Ocean’s personality is inspired quite a bit by my husband’s personality. The obvious answer is no: I met my husband as an adult, and we were very different people than this character and her love interest. I’m going to get asked this question so much because she falls in love with this white boy, Ocean, and I’m married to a white man.
Is the love story based on personal experience too? She’s struggling against the stereotypes that dictate the way in which the world views her. She’s trying to identify herself in the way that every teenager is trying to identify herself, but she’s already been told by the world who she is and she disagrees with that. The book takes place the year after 9/11, and it’s inspired by my experience as a teenager living in this heavily frightened time in America: Shirin is hemmed in by the frustrations of being a teenager, but also the frustrations by being stereotyped so thoroughly by the world. I felt trapped, not just by the complexities of being a teenager, but because the world had already decided what kind of teenager I was. I was so angry and so frustrated by having to start over constantly. When the book starts, the main character has just switched to her third high school in less than two years and she’s still only a sophomore, and that was exactly my experience. I was a high school sophomore living in Orange County.
People of color are more than just our struggle, we also laugh, we also love, we also have complex, fulfilling lives. I didn’t want my identity to be tied to my struggle. I don’t only think about being Muslim and Middle Eastern all day every day. I didn’t want to shove myself into another box I wanted to have the freedom to write fantasy novels and paranormal romances and science fiction and whatever I wanted, because I’m a person with diverse interests. When I first started pursuing publication, I think I really wanted to establish myself as an author first, an author who could write anything. This is my story, the story I’ve been writing in my head for years.
What made you decide to write a novel based on your own experiences as a hijab-wearing teen in post-9/11 America? The book is a departure from your previous work.
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