Interview with Intisar Khanani, author of THORN and THE THEFT OF SUNLIGHT

Thank you to Qamar Blog Tours and Hot Key for providing an e-ARC as part of this promotional tour.

Here is the second part of my blog stop!

I got the opportunity to ask Intisar some questions about THEFT and THORN. Enjoy!

1. For your novel, THORN, we know that the inspiration behind it was Goose Girl. Are there any other real or fictional worlds that inspired the Dauntless Path series?

As a young duckling, I imprinted as much on fairytales as I did on Robin McKinley and the early books by Tamora Pierce. I’ve had more than a few readers mention that they can see that influence in my writing. But for the Dauntless Path stories themselves, beyond THORN, I don’t have specific places or cultures that have consciously influenced my writing. I have travelled extensively, lived in the Middle East, and my family is originally from Pakistan—so you’ll see that I built a non-Western culture in which to base the kingdom of Menaiya. But it doesn’t pull specifically from one culture over another; I really was striving to create a secondary world that doesn’t directly parallel our own. 

2. Both THORN and THEFT deal with heavy topics such as trafficking and domestic violence. What prompted you to take these heavy themes and weave them in?

The interesting thing about this question is the premise that I had a story to write without these themes… but I really didn’t. Both stories grew out of different places. As a retelling of The Goose Girl, THORN had a readymade plot, but was missing the kind of character motivation that would make a princess turn her back on her rank and title in favour of a life of hard labor. In my first draft, when she came from a loving family, it made no sense and the story simply didn’t work. To make it work, Princess Alyrra’s rank and title had to afford her none of the safety or power one would normally expect. So her background as a survivor of domestic violence and abuse became an intrinsic element for the whole story to hang together—and perhaps the most important aspect of Alyrra’s arc. Without it, there’s no story.

In a slightly different way, I had a character, Rae, and a setting, Menaiya, and no story. I didn’t know what Rae was fighting against. I knew she came from a happy family—YA has too few of those and I wanted to give her that—so the trouble in her life had to be extrinsic. But what? Then, while flying on Emirate airlines, I picked up an envelope designed to collect spare change for a non-profit fighting human trafficking, and knew I had the meat of my story. Until that moment, the children who disappeared in THORN had a very minor mention; it was a problem I figured Alyrra would address as princess. But once I knew what a real and deep issue human trafficking is, THE THEFT OF SUNLIGHT began to grow and develop.

3. What were some of your favourite scenes to write? 

I really love the deeply emotional scenes that also have a bit of hope or happiness to them. Alyrra, when she realizes that to fight for others she first has to fight for herself, and that’s where her power really comes from. Rae, on a rooftop with a street thief, struggling with who she is and the violence she’s done. Alyrra, in her first real conversation with the man she was meant to marry and walked away from, both trying to understand each other while neither trusts the other at all—or knows them for who they really are. So I guess I also really like writing scenes where multiple things are happenings and dynamics are changing. …And I better admit right here when I say I like writing them, that doesn’t mean I don’t complain about the seven drafts I have to do to get them right… XD

4. Which of the characters, in either THORN or THEFT, most resembles you in their personality?

The mangy dog? Just kidding! I don’t know that any one of my characters really deeply resembles me. But my values and beliefs do come through in the principles my characters have, so I’m gonna say the good guys are more like me than the bad guys. Or at least, I really hope so.

5. Which book got you into reading?

I have no idea! I’ve been an inveterate reader since I was a kid—my parents read to me when I was tiny, so as soon as I could sink my teeth into books on my own? I went for it.

6. What is your writing process like?

I tend to journal a lot about a story before I get started—figuring out a bit about my main character, what I think their arc is, the setting, the main plot points, that sort of thing. Once I have a general concept of the story, I set my journal aside and start writing, sometimes with just a one or two sentence description per chapter, sometimes with nothing at all. At the end of that first draft, I usually have something that only resembles my initial concept if you squint really, really hard. And hold your breath. 😉

I then go through as many as five more drafts, usually including two or three rounds with beta readers as well as a couple rounds with my editor, before the book is ready for copyediting and proofreading. It’s a gruelling process!

7. And lastly, what was the hardest scene to write in both THORN and THEFT?

I really can’t remember what the hardest scene was for THORN. It’s been so long since I wrote the first draft (hitting 20 years this fall), and the book has changed so much in the 16 or so drafts it’s been through since. I really don’t recommend this as a smart approach for your own first book. 😉

For THEFT, I think nailing the ending was the hardest part for me. Figuring out both how much to reveal and how I could possibly bring Rae to a strong moment after all I’ve put her through—while also writing a cliffhanger of sorts? That was a trick. I actually really dislike reading cliffhangers, so it was an exercise in humility to realize that there was no other way to end this book that would actually work, given what needs to happen in the next book. And then getting that right while still giving readers something to hang on to? I really hope I don’t have to do that again!

To support the author, make sure to preorder THEFT and recommend it to your local library! Thank you to Intisar for taking the time to answer these questions.

THEFT is available to preorder at:

Amazon  |B&N | Kobo  | Apple  | Google Play  | Indiebound

About the author:

Intisar Khanani grew up a nomad and world traveler. She has lived in five different states as well as in Jeddah on the coast of the Red Sea. Intisar used to write grants and develop projects to address community health with the Cincinnati Health Department, which was as close as she could get to saving the world. Now she focuses her time on her two passions: raising her family and writing fantasy. 

You can find Intisar at:

Website: http://booksbyintisar.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/Intisar_Khanani

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/booksbyintisar

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/booksbyintisar/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/booksbyintisar