Anniqua Rana is the author of Wild Boar in the Cane Field, shortlisted for Pakistan’s UBL Literary Award 2020, and co-founder of the blog Tillism طلسم – Magical Words from around the World. Her writings on travel, gender, education, and books have appeared in Rova, TNS, Naya Daur TV, International Education, Ravi Magazine, Bangalore Review, Fourteen Hills, The Noyo River Review, and other publications. She has taught at the San Mateo Community Colleges, University of San Francisco, Lahore University of Management Sciences, and Stanford University. She travels, writes, and lives between California and the Potohar region of Pakistan.

First, I’d love to hear about your influences. What inspires you, as a reader and as a writer?

(AR): Recently, I heard Carvel Wallace talk about his memoir, Another Word for Love—about the loneliness of an only child of a single mother suffering from addiction and homelessness. He talked about leaving space for readers to enter the narrative. As he read passages tracing the loneliness of his childhood to the worldliness of a well-traveled and well-read journalist, podcaster, and writer, he also mentioned his early education and the influence of drama, in particular, Shakespeare, on his work as a writer.

What was interesting for me is that I am also reading about Shakespeare in The Man who Pays the Rent by Judy Dench. This took me back to my childhood when my mother—a literature enthusiast—first introduced me to the likes of Shakespeare and Cervantes.

More recent additions to my library include The Work of Art—analyzing how artists across the spectrum think and create their art. Also, the Nature Writer, Linda Cracknell’s memoir, Doubling Back: Paths trodden in memory—about walks she has taken and the history around them—is helping me think of the path I am taking while writing my own memoir, That These Should be Lies: Tilting at Windmills.

I am always inspired and influenced by writers who create a space for me to enter their narrative.

Other influences are culture and gender specific, Shehnaaz Habib turns travel on its head. She says, “European male is the de facto observant superior with surroundings that made me realize that my
personal story of discomfort is connected to this larger history of how travel and tourism are created from specific ways of seeing the world.” My current work is about travel, and I am very aware of how I see the world and how I present it to my readers.

When I was a teenager, growing up in Pakistan, Bapsi was the first local writer who pulled me into her world of South Asian history and culture. I had not read contemporary writers from Pakistan before, and I was lucky that she was one of the writers who shared a blurb for my novel Wild Boar in the Canefield.

On that note, tell me a little bit about the writing process and inspiration for your debut novel, Wild Boar in the Cane Field.

(AR): I grew up on a farm in Pakistan. That experience was so unique, and I know that from friends in school and college, urban life was dramatically different. When I realized that uniqueness, I felt I had to write about it.

So first I started writing about that experience in essays. It took a few years before I realized I wanted to create my own magical world, where flies are the witness to the lives of Tara and the people around her. Tara, a baby covered in flies, rescued on a train by Amman Bhaggan and Bibi Saffiya, is inspired by the resilient women of that region.

When and how did you first realize that you wanted to pursue writing professionally?

(AR): I was six when I wrote and bound a book of poems but didn’t we all! Then, as a teenager, I started to write a novel but was so intimidated by the process, I left it and wrote academic papers instead. Then somewhere when I felt settled as a professor at the community college where I’ve been for over twenty five years, I decided to return to writing creatively, for myself.

Then, I started to attend conferences, like the Mendocino Writers Conference, and the San Francisco Writers Conference, and I became more motivated. I learned about the communities of writers like the California Writers Club, The Writers Grotto, and, of course, the Women’s National Book Association, and I started taking it more seriously.

That’s what led me to publishing my first novel. And since then I have been writing fiction, creative
nonfiction, and memoir.

You have an extensive background in higher education, particularly international education. How does that background factor into your writing?

(AR): One of the highlights of the California community college system—where I work—is that it is open to all and from my understanding and research it is the only such system internationally that allows anyone to re-introduce themselves into an academic, professional, or vocational field. I have also taught at universities here and in Pakistan and provided training extensively to colleagues in both systems.

As an educator, I invite people into a world of ideas that is new to them. As a writer, I encourage my reader to focus on images and themes that are important to me because of my experience in education for over thirty years. Writing is a way for me to add more of myself to what I share with the world and helps me enter the story-telling community that has always inspired me.

Can you tell me a bit about Tillism طلسم – Magical Words from around the World? What
inspired you and your co-founder, Selma Tufail, to create and curate that space?

(AR): When COVID hit, Selma was in Malaga, Spain and I was in California. We started connecting by taking online classes together. We revisited Urdu literature in one of the classes and we focused on digital storytelling in another. Then we joined the local Shut Up and Write Groups. And they were a lifesaver.

We realized we enjoyed this collaboration and wanted to share what we had written with our friends. Then we invited others to post with us—poets, sculptors, visual and thread artists—all of them from Nigeria, Canada, UK, Pakistan, India, and the US, chose to come together and share their perspective on how literature, art and creativity and the languages that they were exposed to impacted their life and thus tillism.com was born.

I hear that you’re currently working on an exciting new project, That These Should be Lies: Tilting at Windmills. What can you share with our readers?

(AR): Selma and I are sisters. We’ve taught in the same institutions, traveled together, and connected often through art and literature. We share memories that we don’t always agree on, and that is where we find humor in our lives—and rather than argue, we laugh about the discrepancy. We wanted to share that humor with others.

We know there are others like us. Others who have lived full lives and have much more to learn and give—most importantly to create. So we decided to invite them on a vacation through the cobbled streets and courtyards of Spain in That These Should be Lies: Tilting at Windmills.

As we travel, we take our readers to our childhood with humorous conversations of monsoons and mangoes in Pakistan, and crumpets and tea in London. All this helps us escape the pressure of our personal and professional lives. Along with these tender memories, we are reminded of the military rule that they endured in Pakistan.

Following our literary mentor Cervantes, we fight against windmills of our past and present and
plan the next phase of our lives.

Finally, as a published author yourself, is there any advice that you’d like to share with aspiring writers?

(AR): Enjoy the creative process of writing. You will find your voice and niche as you support fellow writers and encourage them to share what they have written.

There will always be someone—or many—who are waiting to read what you are writing, so find a
platform to share your thoughts whether formally or informally.

B. Lynn Goodwin is the owner of Writer Advice, www.writeradvice.com. She’s written You Want Me to Do WHAT? Journaling for Caregivers, Talent, Never Too Late: From Wannabe to Wife at 62, and her latest novel, Disrupted. Talent was short-listed for a Literary Lightbox Award, won a bronze medal in the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards, and was a finalist for a Sarton Women’s Book Award, while Never Too Late: From Wannabe to Wife at 62 won a National Indie Excellence Award and was a finalist elsewhere. She is a reviewer and teacher at Story Circle Network, and she is a manuscript coach at Writer Advice.

I’d like to start by discussing your background in theater. Who or what sparked your passion for the stage? How does that background factor into your writing?

(BLG): My mother sparked my interest. She’d wanted to be an actress and I cast her in a couple of my shows when I was directing community theater. At that time there weren’t as many opportunities to explore what you wanted to be, or if there were, I didn’t know about them. I loved teaching high school and college theatre because I enjoyed coaching actors and watching them transform into the characters they were supposed to be. I also loved showing them ways to tap into their creativity and analytical skills. Little did I know it would lead to writing.

Here’s a key tip: Every character in a play or a piece of literature wants something. Identify what the character wants, what s/he can do to get it, and what is in her/his way. Whether you’re acting from a script, performing in a commercial, or writing fiction, memoir, or even self help, these principles will give you three-dimensional characters.

Tell me a little bit about the writing process and inspiration for your latest novel, Disrupted.

(BLG): Disrupted was inspired by the what ifs that lurk in my mind. What if the long-predicted earthquake on the Hayward Fault actually happened? What’s the aftermath of losing a sibling in the war? For that matter, what’s the aftermath of being displaced? And what can you pull off in terms of constructive contributions when you’re young, optimistic, and eager to make the world work as it should?

First drafts provide clay. They give you the material to sculpt. You can add clay, remove clay, and reshape it. Revision empowers writers. You get to see what you can do with the words on the page.

What do you do if you have no ideas? Write anyway. Make a list of what you need to do or the things you’ve already done this week. Let one idea lead to the next and don’t worry about structure. You’re just getting ideas on the page.

What do you do if your first draft is perfect and you need no revision? Check your ego. Read looking for what’s missing. Have a peer read it to you and notice where she hesitates and when his forehead crunches because he’s puzzled. Ask him what he likes and what trips him up. Listen to responses. Don’t hesitate to do one more draft, even if you’ve already revised it 9 times.

How will you know when it’s ready to submit? Put it away for a month or so. When you take it out, you may see places to improve. Trust the distance of time and space as well as your instincts.

On that note, let’s talk about your influences in general. What inspires you, as a reader and as a writer?

(BLG): Although I’m not a skilled marketer, I like helping other writers by acknowledging what’s right in their work. The desire to do that influences me. I’m inspired by authors who write character driven novels that share insights into the workings and motivations of people in clear, well-written prose. I love a psychological thriller, a well-written mystery, most memoirs, lots of book club selections, and almost every book sent to me for review. I’m a fan of good, character-driven, contemporary YA and coming of age as well.

You’ve mentioned that reviewing plays an important role in the writing community, connecting and empowering writers. Can you elaborate a little bit on that idea? Was Writer Advice born out of that desire to connect and empower writers?

(BLG): Nobody likes to feel stuck. A good, non-judgmental writing community can help a writer to move forward. I love it when I’m working with a writer who writes back to tell me how useful my ideas are. I like triggering new ideas in their mind as much as I like explaining the basics to those who’ve never learned them but have a passion for telling their story.

I originally created Writer Advice, www.writeradvice.com, because I wanted to learn the secrets of published authors and if they took the time to answer my questions, I thought I should share their ideas. The idea was to give them publicity and spread the word. Writer Advice has grown and changed and so have I. I hope it has something valuable to offer you, and I’m always open to your questions and suggestions as well as editing work.

Finally, as a published author yourself, is there any advice that you’d like to share with aspiring writers?

(BLG):
Write daily for at least 20 minutes.
Let one idea lead to another. You can edit later.
Read widely.
Review the books of others. You’re giving back to the community.
Edit carefully, asking yourself what you intended to convey.
Keep writing.
Find a writing community.
Don’t try to do it all in one day.
Look for the joys in life.
There are stories all around us, but no two people see them in the same way. What’s your version?

Eve Sprunt is the author of A Guide for Dual-Career Couples, Rewriting the Rules and co-author of A Guide to Career Resilience, For Women and Under-Represented Groups. Her latest book, Passionate Persistence: The Life of My Mother, Ruth Chew, explores her mother’s life as a popular children’s author and illustrator.

Let’s start by talking a bit about your writing process. What inspires you as a reader and as a writer?

(ES): Writing has played a huge role in my career. I realized very early that if I documented my technical work in writing, it was more difficult for men to steal the credit. I also learned that taking risks (and as I envisioned) walking a tightrope, I was more likely to succeed than if I were risk-averse.

Although all of my degrees are in geophysics (BS and MS from MIT and Ph.D. from Stanford where I was the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in Geophysics), early in my career, I realized that I had a better chance of staying employed if I impersonated an engineer. When I served as the senior technical editor of the Society of Petroleum Engineers in the 1990’s, I had a monthly column in the society’s publication. I leveraged that column to address the issues bedeviling the rank and file technical professionals.  

Later in my career when I was working in management roles, I was horrified that my employer was requiring female members of dual-career couples to declare whose career took precedence instead of offering opportunities and letting the couples decide what they were willing to sacrifice to advance. I collaborated with other women across the petroleum industry and leveraged several professional societies to gather information on issues facing dual-career couples. Immediately after I retired, I began writing A Guide for Dual-Career Couples, Rewriting the Rules, which was published by Praeger in 2016. 

When I read the letters my aunt wrote in the 1950’s while she was in Pakistan on sabbatical from her position as an English instructor at Mills College, I was enthralled. My aunt never shared the full story with her family! An American man she encountered while touring northern Pakistan by herself, came to see her in Oakland and repeatedly begged her to marry him. After twice rejecting his marriage proposals, she decided to sacrifice her career for love. When I read her love letters, I was mesmerized. I felt compelled to share her story and did so in Dearest Audrey, An Unlikely Love Story, which I self-published in 2019. 

In 2020, I co-authored Mentoring and Sponsoring, Keys to Success, which was published by Springer, with an Italian-Venezuelan friend, Maria-Angela Capello, while she was working in Kuwait. We have never lived in the same place at the same time and all of our collaboration has been done remotely. 

Then I persuaded Maria Angela Capello to co-author A Guide to Career Resilience, For Women and Under-Represented Groups,which was published by Springer in 2022. Our male editor at Springer insisted we tone down the book, but we still managed to hit most of the issues we felt were important.

What do you tend to read in your free time, and can you share a recent book or piece that impacted you?

(ES): I prefer to read non-fiction, because then I have to accept that the improbable events are real. I loved Sonia Purnell’s A Woman of Importance, The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II. Despite having a prosthetic leg and battling sexual discrimination within her own organization, the heroine accomplished seemingly impossible tasks. 

Could you tell me a little more about your latest book, Passionate Persistence: The Life of My Mother, Ruth Chew? What encouraged you to write a biography of your mother’s life as a children’s author and illustrator?

(ES): My mother, Ruth Chew, became a very successful children’s book author and illustrator after I left home. Her first book, The Wednesday Witch, sold over a million copies and she went on to author and illustrate 28 more children’s chapter books and was also asked to illustrate Shark Lady. My mother kept a daily journal, but made it clear we were never to read it. During the pandemic, many years after her death, I decided, “What’s the point in keeping her diaries if no one ever reads them. So, I did. It was like opening Pandora’s box. What I learned, I couldn’t forget. Passionate Persistence, The Life of My Mother, Ruth Chew (Author of The Wednesday Witch) is based on what I learned from her diaries. I thought I would be writing about how against tremendous odds, she became a great success, but was horrified to discover that after I left home, my younger siblings were left to fend for themselves. Her story was much more complex than I realized. Mother used to say, “I’m an eleven year-old trapped in an adult’s body.” Reading her diaries, I realized that she may have been so successful because her empathy level matched that of her elementary school readers.

You have an extensive professional background in engineering and the energy industry. When did you first realize that you’d like to pursue a technical degree? What advice do you have for young women interested in pursuing technical careers?

(ES): My mother wanted me to be an artist like her, but I like science and applied for admission to MIT, where for the first time in my life, I felt as if I belonged. Don’t let anyone tell you, “You can’t.” Get the best education you can and shoot for the stars. You can “have everything” – a career and a family. Keep an open mind. The people who you think would be less likely to support you may be your strongest advocates. Middle Eastern men (both Christian and Muslim) have been my strongest supporters, advocates and friends!

In a similar vein, do you have any tips for new writers?

(ES): Don’t listen to anyone who says, “You can’t.” If you care enough, you can figure out a way to do anything.

Are there any exciting projects that you’re currently working on, or would like to start one day soon?

(ES): I’m working on a memoir about my career and am revising the approximately 92,000 words of my draft.