I remember someone, somewhere, came up with the phrase, “An author is a writer who didn’t give up.” There is some truth to that statement. Everyone is a writer, in some form or fashion.
“Everyone has a story,” I remember my sister explaining one day when we were talking about why we write. To be honest, it’s always been in me; from the age of six years old until tonight as I type this blog post to get the thoughts out of my head and onto the screen for you to read.
I’ve put pen to paper, with the goal of being able to get as many stories that are in my head out for public consumption for eleven years and counting. I think further back, though, to when I was sixteen years old and scribbling my thoughts away in high school, and I realize that this was always in me to do this. Not for the fame (although it is funny sometimes when I get recognized on the street), or for the money (it would be nice to do this full-time, but hey), but the reason—the REAL reason—that I write can be boiled down to one simple word:
PASSION.
It’s that passion that has me having conversations with my characters at God-awful times of the day when everyone is asleep (or should be sleeping). It’s that passion that has me doing the research necessary to make sure that the story arc is plausible, even when it feels like it isn’t. I mean, hey, it is fiction, after all. Most of all, it’s that passion that takes me into places in my mind, to scenarios and worlds that I could only dream about, and in some cases, are as real as the nose on my face.
In that vein, there are times when the novels, novellas, and short stories tend to rub readers who are not familiar with me or have yet to get a chance to get to know me on a more cellular level, the wrong way. Early in my commercial career, I had to develop a thick skin, because art is subjective, and unless they are crucifying my character, I couldn’t take a lot of what they said to heart. I’m not going to lie, some nights were more brutal than others in those first few years because I hadn’t yet developed that dragon scale toughness needed to deal with a reading public that has no problems telling you how they feel about what you’ve put out there for public consumption.
I made a decision earlier in my writing career that, no matter who it was, they would never get me to shy away from who I am as an artist and a writer, and that no one would ever shame me into being anything less than my authentic self. I’ve had my sanity questioned at times, I’ve been told that my story arcs and storylines were unbelievable, that they could never happen in real life, I’ve been confused with women writers because I would dare write in a coherent manner and with enough descriptive capability that my books could not be considered pornographic. I sit back and laugh about it now because I can do that, but back then, I was quick with the comeback because I’m not going to take a punch and sit there and do anything.
I keep a specific meme on my IG that sums up my ability to stay true to myself, the genres that I write in, and get rid of any doubts of my abilities in a heartbeat. The words of that meme are, quite simply, “It is better to write for self and have no public than to write for the public and have no self.”
I will always stand in my truth, no matter how much it may make other people uncomfortable, because I’m more than comfortable in the skin that I’m in. My father’s favorite saying when it came to people who didn’t understand the method to his madness was “those that mind don’t matter and those that matter don’t mind.”
So, to those who have mattered, the ones who have rocked with me from the very first novel, from the bottom of my heart, I say thank you for understanding the method to my madness, for taking up residence in my ever-expanding universe, and that there’s no telling where I may venture into next.
To those who are just finding out about me, whether it was through those who are already a part of my Secret Society and they couldn’t wait to tell you about the Master of the Mindfuck and how much my books have entertained them, or if you happened to stumble upon me through your own paths, I hope you will give me a chance to let you see what my universe is all about, and that you stick around long enough to know what my Society already knows.
That I’m THAT dude, and that I’m DAMN GOOD at creating worlds that give people the freedom to be themselves and indulge in whatever they want to indulge in.
Thank you for your time and attention, and it’s time for me to get back to creating. I have some things upcoming that I will be announcing SOON, and I can't wait to share them with you.
Shakir