In 2019, we made it our goal is to work with as many debut authors as possible and spread the word about their debut novels. It was such a success last year that we decided to continue the fun this year as well! Follow us this year as we pick the minds of the 2020 debuts and chat with them. Also stay tuned for news of giveaways, Twitter chats and more!
At the end of 2019, we Tweeted about wanting to discover more debut authors and their books. We ended up finding Syed M. Masood and his novel MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE, and we have been interested in it ever since. We are so excited to have Sheena on the blog today to answer some of our questions!
Syed grew up in Karachi, Pakistan, and currently lives in Sacramento, California. There have been plenty of stops in between though. He's a first generation immigrant, twice over. He's been a citizen of three different countries and lived in nine cities. He is, as Goethe, said, “nothing but a wanderer […] on this earth.”
Syed:I feel like I should give a cheerful, upbeat answer to this one. But honestly, with the pandemic still ongoing, I think all experiences are a little touched by sadness, by grief for those who have suffered and who continue to suffer. So, let’s just say that the bright flame of optimism, hope and excitement with which my debut year started has flickered at bit. But it has not gone out! I’m so glad that MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE is a comedy, which will hopefully provide some relief from the grim news around us to those who read it. I believe it will bring readers joy, and that brings me joy.The Book Bratz: In your opinion, what's the best part of the writing process? What's the hardest?
Syed: The best part of the writing process is the end. That sounds flippant, I guess, but I really mean it. The last fifty pages are the most fun I have with a book. I write in a pretty chaotic way. I don’t have outlines, I don’t plan out anything, I just pick a scenario and start typing and hope a story will reveal itself. So, the beginning is pretty tough—this, by the way, is the answer to the second part of your question. I end up throwing out a lot of words. In terms of volume, I probably tossed out a novella while writing MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE. By the last fifty pages though, things have all come together, and I’m dying to keep writing, so that everything can be pulled together, and I can see how what I’ve written connects. “My fingers emit sparks of fire with expectation of my future labours,” as William Blake wrote. This is the time in the process where I won’t sleep, I’ll often write though an entire day and entire night, consuming reckless amounts of coffee and pushing to reach the end. It’s exhausting and it is amazing and I love it and I am very tired.
The Book Bratz: Where did you get the inspiration for MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE?
Syed: I feel like this kind of question is easier for people who actually plan out their books and actually plot them! I will say that I’ve written three books now (two are coming out in 2020, the third in 2021) and with all of them there has been a poem or song that has been vital to unlocking the secret of the text for me. It’s a song I’ll listen to again and again while drafting, while driving, whatever. For MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE, it was a piece by Faiz Ahmed Faiz, who was a brilliant Pakistani poet. It’s called “Mujh Se Pehli Si Mohabbat Mere Mehboob Na Maang.” There is a musical version from Coke Studio on YouTube with English subtitles, if anyone wants to check it out. However, it loosely translates to “Beloved, don’t ask me to love you now like I loved you once.” It’s about how when you are young and unaware of the world’s realities, you can love absolutely and with innocent joy, but as your understanding of the world becomes more complex and you become concerned with the pains and ills of society and history, there is less joy in romance, and it is less all-consuming. So, a shout out to Faiz, one of the greatest poets the world has ever seen, and one you may never hear of again, unfortunately, because of the way the literary canon is constructed in the West.The Book Bratz: Who was your favorite character to write? Who was the most difficult?
Syed: I think I was lucky, in that my favorite character to write was Danyal Jilani. It’s rare, I think, to get to write a protagonist with that little cynicism about him, with a heart as generous as he has, who naturally tends to be kind, in the way that Danyal does. One of his greatest flaws is his genuine failure to see how brilliant he is, even if he isn’t brilliant at all by any academic standard. Writing him was a special experience. Most difficult to write, I think, was Alan Rhodes. He actually has a small role, but I find those characters are always challenging. You want to try to do every character justice, to make them all well-rounded, but characters like Rhodes—a classmate who looks down on Danyal because Rhodes knows he’s Danyal’s intellectual superior—can be difficult to write because they don’t get a lot of time on the page, so it becomes a struggle to capture their voice and do them justice.
The Book Bratz: What were some rom-coms that inspired you and encouraged you to write this book?
Syed: I love rom-coms, but I wasn’t inspired by any particular one. There were other inspirations. I’ve talked elsewhere about Ray Romano and how his work influenced me and my vision of what art is and what it’s purpose is. But books I was reading when MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE came together were Nic Stone’s DEAR MARTIN and PAPER TOWNS by John Greene. Those definitely had an impact on me.
The Book Bratz: What do you hope that readers will take away from MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE?
Syed: I hope they enjoy themselves. That’s the first goal, always. But also, obviously, the book asks some serious questions. The books dwells upon the question of who gets to write history and why and asks if that is fair. It questions who gets to be forgiven and why they get to be forgiven. These, I think, are important questions and I hope readers give them some thought.
The Book Bratz: Do you plan on returning to the world of MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE in the future, or do you have any other projects in mind? Can you tell us anything about them?
Syed: OMy next book, THE BAD MUSLIM DISCOUNT, coming November 2020, is adult fiction, not YA. The title is based loosely on the setting of the book. A large part of the book is an apartment complex owned by this Pakistani uncle. As the landlord, he makes moral judgements and gives out discounts on rent to people he determines to be “good” Muslims. However, he misjudges how religious the main character is and ends up giving this “bad” Muslim a “good” Muslim discount. It’s another comedy, but it isn’t a rom-com. My next YA book, coming in 2021, which I’m working on now, is another rom-com. It isn’t set in the world of MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE, and I don’t have any plans to return to that world yet. I also don’t have a lot to share about that project right now—it doesn’t even have a title—but I will say that it’s about physics and dancing. Hopefully, readers will have fun with it when it comes out.
Title: More Than Just a Pretty Face
Author: Syed M. Masood
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 4, 2020
Summary: Danyal Jilani doesn't lack confidence. He may not be the smartest guy in the room, but he's funny, gorgeous, and going to make a great chef one day. His father doesn't approve of his career choice, but that hardly matters. What does matter is the opinion of Danyal's longtime crush, the perfect-in-all-ways Kaval, and her family, who consider him a less than ideal arranged marriage prospect. When Danyal gets selected for Renaissance Man--a school-wide academic championship--it's the perfect opportunity to show everyone he's smarter than they think. He recruits the brilliant, totally-uninterested-in-him Bisma to help with the competition, but the more time Danyal spends with her...the more he learns from her...the more he cooks for her...the more he realizes that happiness may be staring him right in his pretty face.
Thank you so much to Syed for stopping by and answering our questions! We are super excited about MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE and can't wait for it to be out in the world on August 4th!
