After it was sold, I did a light revision, some copyedits, proofreads, and viola: completed novel. “Then, it went through a couple of minor rounds of edits revisions before it was sent on. This process works best for me and makes me feel very productive when I end up with two books at the end.”Īzad said that the novel went through “one deep revision” where she “essentially rewrote the entire story using the first draft as a foundation.” “I ask myself questions, work through the snarls in the plot, write up character bios, and make aesthetics. “When I write a novel, I keep a notebook that serves as a world-building workbook,” she said. Along with the draft, she worked on a second “book.” “I simply couldn’t write it on my laptop, so I persevered,” she said. “The girl became Fatima and the city became Noor.”Īzad said she wrote the first draft by hand and in five months. “When I was in my early twenties, I was haunted by this image of a girl running desperately down the street of a city,” Azad said. In addition to the aforementioned Shakespeare quote and election results, Azad credits an image from her past for the novel. The Candle and the Flame, a “sweeping, sprawling tale,” is her second work, and as such, it came to her in bits and pieces. Though it ultimately did not sell, that first novel got Azad her agent. “She taught me the mechanics of storytelling and guided me through my first novel.” De Vries has written eight children's books and a memoir, and teaches creative writing at the University of British Columbia. “For my thesis, I wrote a YA novel under the supervision of Maggie de Vries,” Azad explained. She then pursued a master's in children’s literature. There, she pursued three-quarters of a biology degree (because her immigrant parents “stressed the importance of stability”) before switching her major “one afternoon without any thought” and ultimately graduating with a B.A.

Though it is her debut, it is not the first novel Azad has written.īorn and raised in Fiji, Azad immigrated to Canada with her family in 2001. “I wanted to write a place where everyone is accepted and welcomed,” she said. “Like the rest of the world,” she was “horrified” when she heard the results, especially when it came to “the barrage of toxic rhetoric or social and traditional media regarding Muslims and other minorities.”

In spite of living in Canada, Azad says her novel was inspired by the U.S.’s 2016 presidential election results. If that sounds political, it isn’t a coincidence. Names are also an essential aspect of identity. “Naming and language mean everything in Noor, a city of many cultures and identities, so it seems fitting that names are a fluid and essential aspect of the story,” wrote Paxson in a recent review. Though there are quite a few names and djinn, NPR books reviewer Caitlyn Paxson found them ultimately rewarding.

The candle and the flame by nafiza azad