Welcome back to Behind The Debut, a podcast to shine a light on first-time authors and their journey to publication.

In this episode, I chat with a brand new young writer and poet from Pakistan, Sarah Ali. Sarah published her first English short story in January this year through Draft to Digital after struggling to self-publish in English in her home country. I was so enchanted with Sarah’s story, her resilience and determination to publish her own work against the odds that I just had to have her on the show.

In our conversation, you’ll hear:

How Sarah found her voice through scriptwriting but moved away from that to discover herself as a short story writer and novelist

How feeling separate from her main character made it challenging for her to continue Ava’s story and how she finally reconnected with her again through her own emotional challenges

The ‘itchy’ feeling that kept Sarah motivated while she was writing the first draft, wanting her work to rise out of her journals and into the world (something other authors will recognise!)

The very harsh criticism that helped her to improve the manuscript and how she even used it within the story itself!

How Sarah worked with beta readers and other feedback to ensure the intense emotions she wanted to convey in her story resonated with readers

How Sarah turned a creative block into an opportunity by channeling her writing energy into poetry

The challenges Sarah faced publishing "The Callings" in English within Pakistan's market, and how she discovered a channel that enabled her to release her work worldwide

How Sarah is challenging herself with her first novel, writing in a new genre that she’s never worked in before.

ABOUT ‘THE CALLINGS’

I'm Ava. I'm a trumpet player. Nothing much interesting, right? But I love what I do. Actually, I learned to love it. I had to learn that life can be an open pathway, where you can walk down any road you want for yourself. A white piece of a paper where you can write your story and paint it with your own color. In that way life gives you an opportunity to see what you really are and what you can be. Life is the only thing that gives you a power over itself and shape it in any way you want. So feel it within your core and live it to the fullest. Spread your colours and write a story which makes your life worth living for.

CONNECT WITH SARAH ALI

Instagram

Read The Callings for FREE on Kobo, Apple Books, Smashwords and more.

HOW TO LISTEN

Listen on your favourite podcast players including Apple podcasts, Spotify and Pocketcasts

If you’re interested in appearing on the show, drop me an email to [email protected]

Show music by music_for_video from Pixabay

CONNECT WITH MICHELLE

Join me on Substack at michellreeveswrites.substack.com where you'll find the latest episodes of Behind the Debut, plus behind the scenes chat about author life, books, writing, publishing and more.

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