The thrilling courtroom drama Take It Back by Kia Abdullah found an enthusiastic fanbase. Now, fans can look forward to several more thrillers in the same vein. HQ has announced the forthcoming novel Next of Kin.
Now, Abdullah gives some first-hand advice to budding minority authors like herself: “Don’t wait for permission.” Abdullah has found that creating an audience and a niche through blogging or podcasting can help an author get their bearings and set themselves up for success.
Kia Abdullah: Creative writing, journalism, and blogging
Abdullah has written for and published in many notable publications, including The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The New York Times. She has written on a variety of topics, including her choice to be childfree, relearning the Bengali tongue, and being a secular Muslim.
In addition to writing opinion pieces and about her own life, Abdullah has also conducted various high-profile interviews with people such as Riz Ahmed and Anoushka Shankar.
She spent three years as a freelance writer before joining a consultancy firm. But she quickly became disillusioned. Luckily, only a week later Abdullah was offered a position with Asian Woman Magazine. “I’m interested and fulfilled by what I do,” she says.
Kia Abdullah chose an unorthodox path, according to her family
“I wanted to be a writer, but chose to study Computer Science as it offered better job prospects and more stability,” says Abdullah. But she could not resist the desire to write. “I quit my job in IT and took a 50 percent pay cut to write,” she elaborates. “I’m not sure my mother has ever recovered! She still tells people that I ‘work with computers’.”
Outside of her writing, Abdullah enjoys hiking and has spoken frankly about her upbringing and identity.
“I was angry for nearly my whole twenties,” Abdullah explains. “Raised in a conservative Muslim family, I struggled with the pressures it placed on me: to marry early, to be quiet, to be docile, to be good. I struggled with the faith-based tribalism that said ‘if you act this way, you can’t be one of us’.”
But Abdullah hopes to show that rejecting certain elements of her upbringing does not invalidate her identity. “[Cultural Muslims] want to remain tethered to our heritage,” she explains. “The patterns and rhythms of our childhood are comforting and familiar.”
Kia Abdullah pens a series of successful novels
Abdullah will soon publish her third courtroom drama novel, Next of Kin, in September of this year. Her previous books, Take It Back and Truth Be Told, handle intense topics in an engaging manner.
Take It Back tackles Islamophobia and the #MeToo movement with the story of a young Muslim lawyer confronted by a 16 year old female client who accuses four Muslim classmates of assaulting her. The book explores how the lawyer handles accusations of betrayal from her community during the case. Truth Be Told tells the story of Kamran Hadid, a young boy whose promising life nearly unravels after a terrible encounter.
But Next of Kin will take a slightly different approach, including more family drama. The main character is faced with the realization that she may have accidentally caused a tragic accident, resulting in the death of her nephew. However, the trial reveals that “there’s more to this case than meets the eye.”
Abdullah looks forward to seeing the reception of Next of Kin, given the “profoundly enthusiastic readership” of her previous novels.
Purchase Kia Abdullah’s books here.
