Minaal Maan is a young freelance writer and author, originally from Lahore, but now living in Islamabad. She has just published her debut novel, “Our Tainted Souls,’ available in paperback and e-book form. Our Tainted Souls is a novel of contrasts, highlighting the divide between Pakistani elite society and political class and the rural poverty many in society are destined never to escape. Our Tainted Souls has received excellent reviews by notable authors such as Alan Gorevan, Awais Khan and Laaleen Sukhera and has a 4.7 rating on Goodreads. It is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Walmart as well as Readings, Liberty Books and Saeed Book Bank. She has also recently launched “The Pakistan Chronicle” an online magazine that aims to highlight emerging voices focussing on inclusivity. It can be found on Instagram @thepakistanchronicle. Minaal enjoys writing about strong female leads as well as the transgender community and is drawn to the contemporary fiction genre. Her Instagram handle is @minaalmaan and she tweets at @minaalmaan May I begin by saying how much I enjoyed reading Our Tainted Souls. As someone who has visited Pakistan, albeit for only a short time, I am fascinated with how Pakistani writers are beginning to make their mark in English literature, introducing a new audience to the rich landscapes, people and culture in Pakistan Through your work and that of other Pakistani authors, Pakistan is being depicted and written about authentically, something both necessary and important. Thank you so much for having me here, Tony! Knowing that you enjoyed reading Our Tainted Souls means a great deal to me, and it is so wonderful to be able to talk to you about it. It truly is wonderful to see more Pakistani literature coming out into the world and I am so glad I get to be part of the process of depicting it authentically to the rest of the world. Could you tell me a little more about Our Tainted Souls and where your inspiration for writing the novel came from? Our Tainted Souls is a story of two individuals who come from completely opposite sides of the spectrum, but they come together under the most unlikely circumstances. Set in the glimmering world of upper-class Lahore where everything is not what it seems and the squalling village of Zaleemabad where staggering mud walls and cloth curtains hide the despicable prejudices held by Pakistani society, Our Tainted Souls is a journey of two people, Ahmed and Seher towards and then away from each other. The two characters are on separate journeys that start from a point where they despise themselves to the point where they can’t stand to see themselves in the mirror to an ending where they finally find peace by having the courage to change. The story is set against the glamorous background of upper-class Lahore and explores how themes of the lust for power, fighting your inner demons and about hope. I also wanted to explore the fact that we are each on our own journey and are ultimately responsible for our own happy endings, and this is reflected through both my characters. I don’t think that I can deem one moment or event as my inspiration for the book. I think it was more from stories and events that occur every day but are often overlooked. For me, it was the stories I had heard from the staff at my house, what I’d observed going on around me as I lived in Lahore, from friends and from what I had been reading in the papers. There is so much going on in the world around us, and sometimes we are barely aware of the prejudice we, or people around us hold. I just wanted to give a voice to it all as well as to the people who actually live those stories. Our Tainted Souls was for me a very honest book, highlighting inequality and injustice, lack of opportunity and inherited privilege across Pakistani society. Do you think the gap between rich and poor is widening further and what role do you see yourself in effecting positive change in society? I do think that the gap between both classes of people is very wide right now. However, I would like to believe that with continued awareness and resources, several attempts are being made to bridge it, and I hope they will be successful in the future since nobody really deserves to feel like an inferior citizen in their own country simply because they lack the privilege inherited by the upper class. I think every person can bring some form of change if they choose to, in any capacity. As a writer, I feel like I can help change the way readers see the inherent privilege of the people around them or their peers as well the lives of people they normally might not have access to. I’m hoping that prompts a change on an individual level which can then lead to something greater. The two main characters, Ahmed and Seher, are strong-willed and determined to lead their lives in their own way, despite societal and familial pressures, norms and expectations. How much do you think literature can influence conservative societies, enabling discourse and debate? I think literature is one of those things that has the power to shape lives both on a subliminal and larger scale, that’s one of the things I love most about it. I believe that reading literature opens up your mind, enabling you to see things from a different perspective as well other possibilities. So even if there is no immediate change, literature does hold the power to enable a discussion and debate about change, which of course is the first step towards actual change. Once you realize that things can be different from the way they are, you are on your way to making them change as well. We all view the world in a certain way and sometimes it can be hard to look at it differently or to see others differently, but I feel like literature can help change that for most people. To be a writer is to open yourself, your words and your craft, to public comment. This is increasingly widespread on social media, as well as sites such as Goodreads. Do you pay attention to reviews and how much do positive reviews lift you, or negative reviews, affect you? How much of a thick skin do you need as a writer today? In my opinion, writers today need to develop a very thick skin, not just after they get published, but earlier to when they are sending their work out. I remember how scared I was when I finished my last round of edits before publication before that meant that the book was now out of my hands and it would now be available to agents and publishers for comment, and that not everyone would feel the same way towards it. Social media has made it so easy to access the reader and gage their reaction to books and that is such a blessing for an author because positive reviews give us the validation that motivates us to be confident in our craft and to write more, but at the same time, there will always be people with different opinions. So having a thick skin is very important. I try not to let negative reviews get to me and tell myself that not everyone feels the same way about certain things. I also tell myself that for every negative review, there is a positive one as well. Were you worried that the themes in Our Tainted Souls, political corruption for example, may ‘ruffle a few feathers’? Were you concerned at possible criticism of the book? When I first started writing the book, I was solely focused on political corruption and I knew that some people would have strong opinions about it which was understandable seeing as it is a very layered and sensitive topic. I was afraid that it would be taken out of context as well. Later when I decided to link it with inequality and lack of opportunities, I knew that that might irk some readers as well seeing as we all all have our own way of dealing with problems, and they might not agree with my main characters or what I was trying to show. But in the end, what pushed me to go forward was the fact that we, as individuals have a right to feel how we feel about certain things and to express those feelings in a productive manner that is not harming anyone. I told myself that even if it ruffled some feathers, it might at least start up a conversation or allow someone to see things in a different light. I am so glad that so far the book has not received major criticism, but I feel like every writer is concerned on some level about possible criticism, and what keeps us going is the love we get from readers through reviews and messages. I try to focus on that and let it be a guiding light for me. Writing a novel takes a lot of dedication, but also inspiration. Initially to come up with a fresh, original and interesting idea, but also to continue through to the end. Where did you find the motivation and inspiration to keep going and finish the book? I absolutely agree. Sometimes we have so much going on in our lives that even if you are not working on something, simply going through life can be very stressful when you are studying or working. I was actually doing my undergrad when I started writing Our Tainted Souls and I finished it while I was studying as well so there was just so much to do and keep up with all the time. Sometimes I’d have assignments and papers due and writing felt impossible at that time. But what kept me going was just this overwhelming desire to complete the novel. I wanted the writing process to be completed while I was at university, and I was very passionate about the story and the characters. Sometimes I did feel like I literally could not write or finish the story, but at the end of the day, I felt like I had a duty to my characters and I really wanted to see the book completed and in a bookstore one day and that’s what kept me going. How did you go about getting Our Tainted Souls published? Is it available internationally or only within Pakistan? Do you have further ambitions for the book? Publishing in itself is such a daunting prospect, and I feel like it’s especially challenging for Pakistani authors since we do not have any literary agencies or large publishing houses here. For me, the process was a little different as compared to other writers. I chose to self-publish on Amazon first since I really wanted the book out as soon as possible and the import ban and Covid had really limited my options. It was available in paperback and e-book on Amazon for a whole year before it was picked up by Auraq Publications which is a local publishing house here in Pakistan. Our Tainted Souls is currently available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Walmart internationally, and in Pakistan, you can find it at Readings, Liberty Books and Saeed Book Bank. You can also purchase it directly through the publisher’s website. Right now, I am hoping that the book is available across the USA someday and am working on making that happen as well. I also want it to reach as many people as possible so having translated sounds wonderful! And I know it is far-fetched right now, but several readers have expressed that they would like to see Our Tainted Souls on the screen and that would be a dream come true for me too! Do you plan on writing a sequel or another standalone novel in the near future? I have been asked for a sequel to Our Tainted Souls by numerous people, and I haven not completely shelved the idea of a sequel but at this time I feel like Seher and Ahmed’s story has ended. I am currently working on another book which is essentially a collection of short stories with strong female leads who are all trying to overcome certain obstacles in their lives, and it follows the same tone and themes as Our Tainted Souls. I have also started working on another stand-alone novel. Which authors and books have you learned most from and what did they teach you? I have been an avid reader for as long as I can remember, so I had the opportunity to read and learn from numerous authors over the years. But I’d have to say F. Scott Fitzgerald and Harper Lee. To Kill a Mockingbird was the first book that I read as I was coming of age and it has greatly shaped not just my writing, but the way I look at life as well. I connected with the themes and felt like those were things I wanted to write about as well. I also love the way Fitzgerald depicted the society during the Jazz Age in his works and I would like to hope that my writing on some level reflects that as well. How do you approach writing? Do you have a strict plan for the number of hours or words per day, a specific time to write when you feel most productive, or do you allow inspiration to strike at any time and write when you feel the moment is right? I always feel like policing my writing and setting a time frame for myself has never worked for me. I always end up staring at the blank screen for hours on end when I do that! So I just write when I feel inspired or motivated to write. Sometimes, I will think of something in the middle of the day and jot it down, but mostly, I end up writing during the night. I feel like it is more peaceful quiet then and I can really focus better on my work then. I try to get as much writing as I can at that time, and don’t set a word limit but I try to make it to at least 2,000 words. I have also found that I work very well with a broader deadline, so if I am told to complete the first draft of a book within a certain amount of time, I will get it done no matter what it takes. In the UK, there are many misconceptions about Pakistan. For me Pakistan is vibrant, diverse, exciting and stimulating, hospitable and unforgettable. In your opinion, is it the place of a novelist to ‘represent their culture’ on the page and to change perceptions of a country or society for the better? There are many misconceptions about Pakistan, not just in the UK, but throughout the West, and I do hope that my book dispels at least some of them. Mainstream media sometimes provides such a warped reality and people never really get a chance to see Pakistan for what it is, a land of diversity, culture and hospitable people at its core. We do have our share of problems and dirty laundry, like any other country of the world, but I’m hoping that my book and books by other Pakistani writers are able to present a much more real image of the country. I do not think that it is a writer’s duty or place to represent a whole culture since in my opinion, culture is very layered and is perceived differently by everyone, and representing all of that to the world would be a lot of pressure! But I do hope that Pakistani authors are able to highlight certain aspects of it and address some of the myths about it. When you look at the current publishing trends in the UK and other Western literary scenes, there is a predominance of female writers coming to the fore. This is quite a change from the past. How easy or difficult is it to become a successful female writer in Pakistan? In my opinion, becoming a published author in Pakistan is in itself a very daunting process, regardless of what gender you are. We do not essentially have access to local literary agents and the publishing industry in itself is very small. We also do not have any of the big five publishing houses here, so the only option writers have is to either pitch to foreign literary agents or sign with a local publisher. Apart from that, there is the added fear of piracy and whether people will actually be interested in reading the book you put out there. But I do not think it is more difficult or easy if you are a female writer. It just depends on your story, your marketing and distribution and whether readers enjoy it or not. Apart from contemporary fiction, which other genres do you enjoy reading? What books are on your current to be read list? I love the fantasy genre and have always been obsessed with Harry Potter since as long as I can remember as well as other newer readers such as The Mortal Instruments and Throne of Glass series. I also recently started enjoying the crime thriller genre and occasionally read dark academia and romance I currently have such a huge list of books that I need to read but here are a few: The Secret History by Donna Tart The Man Who Died Twice Richard Osman The Burning House by Neil Spring What advice would you give an aspiring writer who has an idea for a novel, but is unsure how to begin? Write. Write as much as you can and don’t let anything stop you from completing the first draft. I know this might seem obvious, but people often get demotivated earlier on and then it is hard to get back on track. The first draft is only for you and you can always edit it later, so I’d say just write whatever comes in your mind and do not let anyone else stop you. I also think that reading helps me a lot when I am unsure about a particular event or scene in a book. Reading other people’s work grounds, you and often inspires you to write as well. Apart from that, I’d say try to have a rough idea of how want your book to end and what you want readers to take from it, then work back from it. The actual story often ends up being completely different from how you pan it to be, but at least this way you will get an idea of how to start writing it. Before publishing Our Tainted Souls, did you enlist any family, friends, colleagues or ‘beta readers’ to give impartial, honest feedback. How much did the book alter in response to this feedback? I was too nervous to show my work to anyone as I wrote it and even after I completed Our Tainted Souls, I did not show it to a lot of people before it was published. But while I was editing it, I showed it to my best friend who offered invaluable advice and feedback that was a huge help and still means the world to me. It was honest and impartial and that’s something I can always count on. The story itself did not alter because of it, but the fresh perspective really helped me flesh out my characters and helped me see exactly what I needed to go in more detail about. The writer is a poet, writer, teacher and traveller based in Worcester, United Kingdom. He Tweets at @ateafilledpoet