Hello API Romance Authors!

This month, we have picked "Hushed Confessions" by Beauty4evar for Book of the Month. If you'd like to read this story, we encourage you to check it out in our Hidden in the Stars reading list.

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Logline:

What do you do when a serial killer starts targeting you? You pair up with a hot cop and pray you survive.

Excerpt from the Book:

My heart stopped. The grief that etched into her eyes had once scared me because I thought she would one day collapse from the stress, but now it was a different story. There was a glimmer of hope hidden behind the sadness in those dark brown eyes. Her cheeks were stained, yet she was still the most beautiful girl I ever laid eyes on.

About the Author:

S. Nahar was born in Maryland, USA to Muslim Bangladeshi parents. She started writing when she was in middle school about Muslim characters that shared her identity, having two published books by the time she was twenty-one. When she's not writing, you can find her playing video games like Genshin Impact or working in her lab as a biochemist. 

Interview:

1. What influenced your story? What inspired you to write it?

I've always loved reading mystery/thriller books, but at that point, I was mostly known for reading romance books. My grandfather and uncle passed away around this time, and I had written a short memoir for school about the experience. As I was helping my family heal through this heartbreak, an inspiration struck me where I thought maybe that memoir could be turned into a story, one that could help me heal and could bring a new set of characters. I changed the ending of the memoir to include the death being a murder instead of natural causes, which ended up being the first chapter of "Hushed Confessions."

2. What were some challenges you faced while writing your story?

Some challenges I faced were coming up with plot twists that kept people at the edge of their seats. Part of why mysteries were so great was being presented clues and trying to figure out the identity of the killer only to be completely thrown off. Recreating that was a struggle for a romance author, so I drew a lot of diagrams trying to connect the dots myself before deciding who the killer could be. 

3. What message do you hope to convey with your story?

I hope to convey that life can be hard, but that doesn't mean you forget your worth or who you are. Sajdaa faces a lot of hardship in the book and a lot of discrimination, where she has to stand up for herself and her family. As other characters give her hardship, by the end a reader can see how her strength in her religion, herself, and her values essentially inspires others around her. Sajdaa doesn't care what others think as long as she believes that her actions are for good reason, that she is fighting for justice.

4. Do you have any advice for other authors who are interested in writing Asian & Pacific Islander Fiction?

Write a story that you wish you could read. That is what made me start writing in the first place. All the books I'd read would have characters that didn't have strict parents, could easily fall in love with whoever they wanted without cultural backlash, would have drugs and alcohol, or the characters lacked this faith in believing everything happens for a reason. My values didn't align, so I thought, maybe I should write a book with a character that grew up the way I did, and so many others who read my books saw themselves in the character. That is true diversity, to write a character that you wish you read about growing up. Chances are, there's a kid out there or even an adult wishing the same thing.

5. If you could write another story to be featured on the profile, which of our reading lists would you write it for?

I would probably write for "Whispers of the Heart," because it sounds like those soft romances that I think Asian/Pacific Islanders need to see more representation in. Not all romances are full of fireworks and drama. Sometimes your struggles are more mundane, but equally important is making you who you are.

6. If you are an author of Asian and/or Pacific Islander descent, what's one cool fact about your culture you can share with us?

One cool fact about my culture is we love mashing food into a cuisine that we call bhotha. My favorite is potatoes mashed with dried chillies, onions, and mustard oil. We eat it with rice, bread, or even by itself.

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Thank you Beauty4evar for giving us the opportunity to interview you and chat more about your book!

We'll see you all in the next Book of the Month.