Salaam friends,

I have been under the weather. I'm suffering from the flu, and since it's summer, the whole experience feels suffocating. So I'll keep this short.

I have read more than 20 books on writing and craft. I remember I used to listen to every interview I could find on YouTube of writers I admired. Every month, I would take the train to a bookstore 40 minutes away from where I lived and read the interview section of their issues of The Paris Review. This was all before I wrote my first short story. I had written some things, but they were nothing that resembled stories. I didn't know about writing courses or workshops where people paid to improve their writing. I yearned to meet other writers, and I knew they existed in bookstores and online. But I was not on social media back then, and I was shy about the whole endeavor. No one in my family or social circle was reading books, let alone make-believe ones.

So, I decided to put together a list of books that have changed my life as a writer. I first started with a list of 10, then pared it down to 5. The authors of these books have become my mentors, and I have reread them all. I will share the list and link on my social media this week (everything is already in place for me to post about this, but I have been procrastinating and I hope this holds me accountable).

🔖 Quote to ponder

"The wound is the place where the light enters you."
— Rumi

📸 Through My Lens