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In conversation with Sahar Abdulaziz

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When suspense writer, Sahar Abdulaziz isn’t busy plotting a stabbing, a garroting, or a murder (all on paper of course) she’s busy writing about her crew of highly-entertaining, quirky, unpredictable book characters. Some have been lovely, big-hearted, gentle souls, merely temporarily lost and in search of answers, while others have been eccentric, unconventional, writing their own rules – determined to live their best life to the fullest. A few … okay, perhaps more than a few, have been devious, duplicitous, and dangerous. Undeniably not the kind of personalities one would want to cross paths within a dark alley or locked in some seedy hotel room.

Listen to the interview

Takeaways from this episode:

  1. Sahar is an award winning author who writes about emotional, sexual, domestic and generational abuse
  2. Her work provides readers with an insight into a world they may not know anything about and, rather like Stieg Larsson, educates by stealth
  3. Change always starts with one person and we can’t predict what will happen in the interference patterns it creates
  4. Truth is only ever a construct or a concept, it’s open to interpretation and depends wholly on your perspective
  5. Sahar was raised never to take what was taught in school as fact. She was encouraged to ask questions and never be satisfied with the status quo
  6. Writing fiction provides a platform to speak the truth about challenging and controversial topics
  7. Having a voice is a gift, it’s a gift we give ourselves when we share our truth; and it’s a gift we offer others in allowing them to do the same
  8. Muslim fiction is a growing genre allowing many diverse voices to be heard, often for the first time, by those outside the community
  9. It’s easy to be taken down the rabbit hole of confirmation bias and filter bubbles. The easiest way to challenge this is simply to have a conversation with others
  10. The differences between people are miniscule when compared to the commonality.
  11. Sahar’s latest book is The Gatekeeper’s Notebook

Mentioned in this episode:

Meet Sahar

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If you have any general questions or comments for the show, leave me a comment below and I’ll get back to you.

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