Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats With S.K. Ali on Misfit in Love

S.K. Ali is famous for her first book, Saints and Misfits, which is a 2018 William C. Morris Award finalist and winner of the APALA Honor Award and Middle East Book Honor Award.

In Saints and Misfits, Janna is a teenager who deals with being sexually assaulted by a prominent member in her community. In the new sequel, Misfit in Love, a couple of years have passed and Janna has since graduated from high school. She is a stronger person now and becomes more resourceful throughout the book. As Janna’s older brother is getting married, she believes that now is the perfect time to tell Nuah how she feels about him. But what she doesn’t expect is that other suitors will attend her brother’s wedding and attempt to capture her heart.

Pop Culturalist got the opportunity to talk to S.K. Ali about her upcoming book!

PC: Will there be any talk/mentions of how Janna is coping with the aftermath of what happened in Saints and Misfits especially now that she’s older?
S.K. Ali: Yes, readers will learn that Janna is moving to a better space in terms of processing her assault. While it’s not the book’s focal point, her journey of healing is included and clearly shown to be ongoing, as is the case with survivors. And because it was important for me to communicate that her focus was broadening to include other emotions—including joyous ones—I made sure to show there’s a lot going on in her life.

PC: You said that Taylor Swift’s song “Enchanted” is Adam and Zayneb’s song. Which Taylor Swift song do you think would best describe Muhammad and Saint Sarah’s relationship? What about Janna and her potential love interests?
S.K. Ali: Aghhh, I’m being asked to Taylor a playlist for all my YA novels (see what I did there?). [laughs] How to do this when so many songs—or bits of songs—fit? Okay, here are my tries! Muhammad and Sarah’s relationship would best be summarized by the oldie but goodie “Love Story”—especially since Muhammad had a bit of a hard time getting Sarah’s parents’ permission to proceed with their relationship. For Janna, I hope this is not spoilery (if you hate anything close to spoilers, please move Swiftly to the next answer!), but it goes from “You Are In Love” to “Begin Again.”

PC: Do you have any advice for Muslim authors who want to write lovable and authentic Muslim characters (just like how you’ve created Janna and Zayneb)?
S.K. Ali: Write from within your own deep self. That self unhampered by how the “outside” world views Muslims and our identities, without giving attention to what we’re “expected” by our societies to focus on. Like proving we’re not the stereotypes we’ve been assigned or “clearing up” misconception or any of the other tasks thrust upon us due to a build-up of misrepresentations and mal-representations and erasure. Don’t write to someone else’s agenda; write to your own beautiful tune, and honor your Muslim-self while doing so.

PC: Can you tell us about any upcoming writing projects? What’s next?
S.K. Ali: I’m working on vastly different things, including a romantic comedy set in Istanbul that has taken me so, so long [sobs] because the characters are…unique, which is a euphemism for uncooperative (but I still love them), a middle-grade project that’s tons of fun, a humorous historical novel with a friend, and I’m also currently in the process of researching something I feel I was meant to write because it circles back to the first piece of fiction I ever wrote that I was proud of—back in university. I’d like to expand on that short story and turn it into a multilayered saga, insha’Allah. Oh, there’s one more ambitious project that’s brewing and two more picture books coming from me to be announced!

PC: As a writer and as a reader, I love how you mix happy and sad scenes together. One scene in particular still stands out to me (and I’m sure other readers will agree): the french fries scene in Love from A to Z! Can readers expect to see any sad scenes in Misfit in Love?
S.K. Ali: Well, I wasn’t sure of this until I came upon my husband reading the ARC [advance reading copy] of Misfit in Love with tears running down his face. I asked him, “Is that due to my book?” and he nodded while wiping his tears and said, “I’ve cried so much already.” So apparently there are sad scenes.

Oh, I just remembered my editor told me she teared up too, so I’m guessing so. This is all surprising to me because I cried while both writing the french fries scene in Love from A to Z and on every subsequent read of it, and so did everyone, young and old. I read it before submitting it to my editor. I kept sharing that scene with others because I wanted to check what was going on with me that reading about plain old french fries was making me sob on loop.

From the unanimous [sobbing] reaction to it, I got the sense that it was indeed a sad part of the book. This, the full-on crying, didn’t really happen to me while I was writing Misfit in Love. I did, however, have to swallow several lumps in the throat when writing about Janna trying to reconcile discoveries about her family with what’s personally going on with her heart…and a certain important someone in it.

PC: What is your writing routine like when you’re on a deadline?
S.K. Ali: It is relentlessly writing and pausing to let things sit. And then relentlessly writing/rewriting. (And when I say relentlessly, I mean like sometimes fifteen-plus hours straight.) I wake up early, go to sleep late, and it’s really terrible. But the adrenaline helps somehow. Since I was very young, I’ve always known I’m a write-best-under-pressure, marathon-writer person, but as I get older, I’ve increasingly realized it does wear you down so I’m learning to be another kind of writer. I hope, one day, I become that other kind of writer, insha’Allah.

PC: Who inspires you to write and why?
S.K. Ali: The world and the nature of the world and beauty and miracles and the existence of immense joy despite pain all inspire me. And the hope evident even in the midst of hardship. So I guess life inspires me. And making sense of it and its variances. That’s a very airy answer so I’ll also share that truth inspires me. I know the truth of growing up Muslim and yet I never saw that truth captured anywhere. Instead, I saw the opposite of that truth shown as “my story,” as the stories of Muslims, particularly Muslim girls and women. So I’m inspired to keep writing to capture truths in story form. I’m also really cognizant of young Muslim readers and their right to loving, positive, warm, you-are-loved representation in books and other creative media. So if we want to identify one tangible thing that inspires me, it would be my young Muslim readers.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Will readers get to see Zayneb and Janna interact? They both have such strong personalities so I’m sure readers are wondering how they’ll react to meeting each other.
S.K. Ali: Yes, they will indeed interact. It will be at the right moment for Janna. And it will be high-octane and will include sugar and powdery potato chips dust and lots of dancing.

PC: How has Muhammad and his dad’s relationship changed since Saints & Misfits?
S.K. Ali: Let’s just say that Muhammad’s dad is hosting Muhammad’s nikah and has given Muhammad free rein to become a groomzilla.

PC: What’s one thing you hope readers can take away after reading Misfit in Love?
S.K. Ali: That we need to commit to change within us and our own circles. Changing and impacting your world leads to changing and impacting the world—because our efforts, even small ones, cause ripples. They reach out to touch those beyond us.

To keep up with S.K Ali, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Pick up Misfit in Love today.