A Conversation with Malia Zaidi, author of 'A Darker Shore'
Malia Zaidi is the author of A POISONOUS
JOURNEY. She attended the University of Pittsburgh, and studied at English at
Oxford University. Having grown up in Germany, she currently lives in
Washington DC, though through her love of reading, she resides, vicariously in
countries throughout the world. A POISONOUS JOURNEY is her first book in the
Lady Evelyn mysteries series. The sequel, A
DARKER SHORE, is her latest novel.
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About the Book:
1926: A year has passed
since the events of "A Poisonous Journey" and Lady Evelyn has made a
home for herself in Greece, living with her cousin, Briony, her husband,
Jeffrey and Daniel Harper. Disturbing this island idyll is a letter, which
arrives from France with troubling information about the Daniel’s
long-believed-dead brother, Henry. A new journey awaits! With the shadows of
the Great War reaching out, Lady Evelyn and Daniel voyage to Amiens in Northern
France with the aim of discovering the truth behind the ominous letter. Upon
their arrival, they are met not with clarity but rather with crime. Murder, to
be precise. Is it linked to their presence in France, or even worse, to Henry
himself? Evelyn and Daniel must confront
their history as they try to make sense of the present before the killer can
strike again, and the secrets of the past are lost forever.
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Q: Welcome to The Writer's
Life! Now that your book has been
published, we’d love to find out more about the process. Can we begin by having you take us at the
beginning? Where did you come up with
the idea to write your book?
The idea of the Lady Evelyn
Mysteries really started with the character. I had an idea of this amateur
sleuth in my mind, but wanted to give her depth and a story that would make her
someone people could root for and identify with. The idea of setting the first
novel in Greece
came after a trip I took to the country in 2010. It left a great impression,
and I felt it would serve almost as a character in
itself. My new book, the
second in this series, “A Darker Shore”, takes Lady Evelyn away from Greece
to Northern France. The books are set in the 1920s,
which was a time still touched by the ghosts of the First World War. Northern
France played a tremendous and tragic role during this time, and I
knew there was a story to explore there.
Q: How hard was it to write a
book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on which would make
the journey easier for other writers?
With a mystery, there are always
challenges in planning. I didn’t want people to guess easily at the resolution,
and yet I needed it to be logical once the whole truth was revealed. To do
this, I tend to make a rough outline for the plot and the direction the story
should go, however the characters often take on a life of their own and changes
need to be made. Added to that, parts of the research for this book could be a
little emotionally draining. Reading
about the First World War, the lives of soldiers and those left behind was
absolutely invaluable, and yet so sad it was hard to shake them, which is
really as it should be. History must be remembered, and for me, historical
fiction has always been a useful teacher in this regard. I hope, with “A
Poisonous Journey” and “A Darker Shore” I can offer my own small contribution
to this cause.
Q: Who is your publisher and how
did you find them or did you self-publish?
I self-published with
Bookbaby. It was a process in which I feel I learned quite a lot about
publishing and what goes into turning a Word Doc on my computer into a book I
can hold in my hands. I’ve found it to be a challenging, but ultimately
rewarding process.
Q: Is there anything that
surprised you about getting your first book published?
The fact that people wanted to
read it! In all seriousness, I think as a writer, I underestimated how much
work would go into the book, even when it was already published. The marketing
aspects are more complex than I initially assumed, but I’ve been very
pleasantly surprised by the wonderful community of readers I found on
Goodreads, where I was active long before I was an author.
Q: What other books (if any) are
you working on and when will they be published?
I am working on the next Lady
Evelyn Mystery, which should be published in late autumn next year.
Q: What’s one fact about your
book that would surprise people?
I think it is that Lady Evelyn,
the protagonist, is more introspective than people may have guessed. She has a
past and is trying to reconcile that with her present, which for her, as for
many of us, can be difficult.
Q: Finally, what message (if any)
are you trying to get across with your book?
The mysteries in “A Darker Shore”
like those in “A Poisonous Journey” are not black and white. I suppose if there
were a message to focus on in these books it would be to look deeper, not to
underestimate the motives behind what people do and to try to understand the
world around you. These are the challenges Lady Evelyn often contends with and
considers, and though she is like me, and has not arrived at any definitive
answers, she keeps looking and exploring in the hope to be a more
compassionate, interested person.
Q: Thank you again for this
interview! Do you have any final words?
Thank you, and I hope everyone
enjoys “A Darker Shore”!
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