Today I’m joining the blog tour for Guns And Almond Milk. I’m sharing my Q&A with the author with thanks to Zoe O’Farrell for inviting me on the tour and to Mustafa Marwan for answering my questions!

Have you always wanted to write?

I have always wanted to read. Writing came later. It started with 1 page in 2006. I returned to this page in 2016, and it became a full novel.

What were your previous jobs? Have they helped you with your writing process?

I have been an aid worker, trainer, lecturer, customer service assistant, telemarketer, pharmacist, first aid responder and assistant. Each helped not only my writing process but how I see and digest the world.
In particular, my job as an aid worker showed me how truth can be stranger than fiction.

What was your inspiration for Guns and Almond Milk?

When working for an Arabic NGO in Libya in April 2011, we took a dangerous trip in a small tugboat from Benghazi to the besieged city of Misrata. The city’s harbour was being shelled over our heads, and moreover – we didn’t realize it until later – there were possible land mines under our feet planted by Gaddafi troops who didn’t want anyone in or out of the starving city.

As soon as our medical team set foot on land, my pen was poised. I started asking the city’s medical coordinator about their needs and how we could help. He raised a hand.

‘Relax, my friend. It’s enough for us to see people coming from far away to be with us in our plight. To witness our story.’

This is one of the reasons I wrote Guns and Almond Milk. To tell the story of these unsung heroes. Civilians in war.

How do you construct your characters? Do they have traits of people you know?

I see the characters’ skeleton in my head and add flesh and sinew as I go. When I finish, I feel like I have known them all my life.

What does your writing process look like? Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I am something in between. For me, it’s like driving a car. I see only a few meters ahead, but the road unfolds before me the more I drive. I also like to have an idea from the beginning about where I want to end up. For example, with Guns and Almond Milk, I wanted to ask questions that are relevant to today’s multicultural world, and hoped it would contribute to correcting some misconceptions about Islam and Muslims in the West.

How did you research Guns and Almond Milk? Did you enjoy it?

Many events in this book are based on personal experience before joining my current work (with which I abide by confidentiality agreement). This book combines facts from history, observations from reality and imagination from the pen.

I definitely enjoyed the research process. For the first time, scrolling over the internet or watching back-to-back YouTube videos didn’t feel like a waste of time.

Who are your favourite writers? Are you influenced by them?

Chuck Palahniuk, Dennis Lehane and Craig Clevenger to name only a few off the top of my head. I am not only influenced by them, they made me want to be a writer.

Who would you least like to be stuck in a lift with and why?

Anyone who regurgitates automatic pleasantries and fears talking about honest, what-really-matters topics.

Who would play the main character/s in a film version of Guns and Almond Milk?

I think Ramy Youssef and Tom Hardy would make a great duo as Luke and Max!

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Spend time with my family and read.

What is next for you?

Three books are in the pipeline. One is a memoir of my time working in seven of the Arab Spring countries. Another is a sequel to Guns and Almond Milk.

Favourites:

Book?
I have a new favourite book each half a decade. No book of all-time though.

Film?
Fight Club

Band/Singer?
I listened to and liked Michael Jackson in my easily imprinted early teenage years. Hard to beat that.

TV show?

It changes with time too. At one point of time, it was the early seasons of Fargo and Black Mirror or the first season of True Detective

Colour?
Blue

Place?
Wherever my wife is

Biscuit?
Tim Tams of course!

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Guns And Almond Milk is available from Amazon.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here: