“(Writing) is my purpose and destiny in this world”

It was nearly a decade ago when she was attending Qatar University (QU) to study Mass Communications that Kummam al-Maadeed began writing. Ever since, she has dabbled with everything from running a movie review blog to, now, penning a full-length novel.
At the 27th Doha International Book Fair, last month, al-Maadeed launched her labour of love, a romance fantasy novel titled The Lost Rose. Currently available here in Virgin Megastore, the book will soon be out on Amazon Kindle and Apple’s iBook. The Lost Rose, which is al-Maadeed’s second novel — the first is yet to be published, she says — has already begun garnering a positive feedback from young adults and fantasy fans.
The synopsis is rather promising: Clara has a terrible secret, a sin she won’t reveal, not even to Luca, the man who rescues her from the lake where she’s thrown herself, hoping death would silence her pain. While Luca nurses Clara to health and tries to gain her trust, mutiny is brewing in Tharun, their neighbouring kingdom. When news of this reaches Luca, he and Clara travel together to stay out of danger. But little do they know that the usurper, Adrian, an evil sorcerer determined to magically enslave Clara into marriage, is already on their heels.
Clara’s sin catches up with her as she and Luca meet the magical Wanderers who reveal her secret. As they stand in the middle of a battle against Adrian, can Luca forgive Clara’s sin and stay true to his promise of keeping her safe? Will Clara’s own magic and determination prove enough to repel Adrian’s sorcery? And even with the help of unexpected allies, will the couple be able to save the kingdom they have lost to darkness?
To know those answers, you will have to read the book, of course. Community spoke to the 20-something Qatari author, who currently works at Qatar National Library as a PR Specialist by day and dreams about her next novel at night, about what went into putting out her first self-published novel.
Why did you decide to write this particular story The Lost Rose?
One day, back when I was a student at Qatar University, I stayed up very late. As I went to sleep, an image of a girl standing at the edge of a lake passed my mind. I can still see it — she was wearing an ancient dress, breathing heavily, and was on the verge of deciding to jump. Why? I remember asking myself — why did she decide to jump? What drove her into doing so? I couldn’t sleep that day. I wrote all day long and throughout the following week to answer that question. I probably wrote half of the story before I myself managed to discover her secret sin that drove her to despair. So, it was from that one image that the story was born.

Did developing the story and its various characters, setting and mood come naturally to you?
Producing The Lost Rose took a lot of time, effort and resources. The first draft was written within months. It was the skeleton of the story, a mere 20,000 words. But the development of the story, as it now is, took me about a year and a half, with the help of an American freelance editor, Amelia Beamer, who advised me on the characters, plot gaps and the story structure. We went through five drafts and a great deal of comments and edits. She was great at pushing me to dig deeper into the characters and questioned me in order to add more details to the world I had created.
I was required to read more books and do more research on historical periods such as the middle ages and the Roman Empire to breathe life into the story. I also had terrific support from fellow aspiring writers who I met in a writer’s forum called Authonomy (it no longer exists). The forum, which was run by Harper Collins Publishing house, provided me with an amazing platform to develop and test my stories and ideas. Since I was writing in English, finding this kind of writers’ community here in Qatar was very hard. So I was blessed to find that forum and I owe a lot of the story development to the talented people I met there.

What about romance fantasy as a genre appeals to you the most?
It’s the endless possibilities of a fantasy world that attract me the most to this genre. You can mix up cultures or time periods and just make up a whole new race or culture or even land. I have always been fascinated by how each writer created their fantasy worlds and what cultures they based their stories on. For me, it is a beautiful art form; like painting an enchanting scene. I also like the emotional side of a fantasy story, as emotions are the essence of being human and alive. Whether its finding love in the middle of a battle or trying to figure out who you truly are when destiny calls, the fantasy genre always manages to deliver those emotions in the most magical and fascinating ways. For me, fantasy combines all of my favourite topics which are history, culture, romance, exciting adventures, and of course, magic, and super powers.
 
You say you believe in magic and existence of fairy worlds. Do you enjoy transporting yourself to those worlds mostly as a means to escape from reality?
I do, actually. Making up stories and also reading fictional stories made me go through the toughest times of my life and this is why I feel passionate about writing fantasy novels. If one of my books manages to destress a reader and help her or him through dark times or tough days, I’d feel like I have done my part in this world. To be able to give joy and a moment of peace to a human being is a precious gift and I hope that my stories can help me achieve this.

The illustrations in the book are top-notch. How difficult was it to collaborate with an artist and ensure she translates your ideas and words into visual art?
The illustrator I worked with, Jowhara Mohammed, is one of the most talented and most dedicated people I have worked with. She managed to produce all of those illustrations, including the cover in one month, in order for my book to be published at the 27th Doha International Book Fair. Jowhara and I went to QU together and she was actually one of the first to read my skeleton draft. So she understood the story and was very excited to work on it when I reached out to her last October. We held many meetings so that I could brief her on what visuals I was seeing in my head and for her to show me her sketches and ideas. She did a ton of research on the clothes and the setting. She needed to illustrate and produced many versions of each illustration until she drew the perfect visual. We were in constant contact. She was great at understanding my vision and she truly gave my story a very beautiful soul.

How important is it for you to keep writing, and why?
The moment I wrote my first scene in my first book, I just knew that feeling I had was what happiness feels like. It is a whole different level of pure magic. So, it’s very important for me to keep writing and creating more worlds and characters that I want to share with the world. It is my passion and I believe that this is my purpose and destiny in this world.
I also understand how the written word can impact the reader and literature can change their lives. So I hope I could inspire people to tell their own story and help people find joy, even if it is for a mere passing moment.

What is your next book project plan?
The Lost Rose was actually the second novel I ever wrote. My next step, therefore, is to return to my first novel, a huge epic fantasy adventure, and get into the thick of the editing and developing phase.