Announcing the New Novel by S.K. Ali

#LoveAZ

Hafsah Faizal’s WE HUNT THE FLAME gets a cover!

In case you missed it, last week Entertainment Weekly offered a sneak peak at Hafsah Faizal’s May 2019 debut, WE HUNT THE FLAME! I highly recommend you check out the article, since Hafsah has some really beautiful things to say her cover and what it means to her as an #ownvoices author.

Chances are you’ve seen the cover (it’s been all over the internet by now), but in case you haven’t, check it out!

Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man to kill in the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her village. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating men foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the king. If Zafira were exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir showed any of the pity or compassion he felt, his father would dismiss him as weak. Both are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya — but neither of them want to be. Their paths cross when Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can save their cursed world, and Nasir is sent to kill her. But an ancient evil stirs, and the prize may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.

Find WE HUNT THE FLAME on Goodreads, and visit Hafsah online at HafsahFaizal.com and on twitter @hafsahfaizal.

Congrats to S.K. Ali on her Two Book Deal!

S.K. Ali’s SAINTS AND MISFITS has touched so many readers and received so much praise, including becoming a William C. Morrow finalist. Today we get to announce there’s lots more to come from @sajidahwrites!

Check out the announcement from Publishers Weekly:

Congrats S.K.!

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You can check out SAINTS AND MISFITS on Goodreads, and pre-order on Amazon, B&N, and Indiebound.

 

 

Congrats to Hafsah Faizal on Her Debut Deal!

A huge congrats to Hafsah Faizal, on her amazing debut young adult, WE HUNT THE FLAME!

Hafsah’s #ownvoices fantasy just sold to Farrar, Straus, Giroux in a four-imprint auction, in a two-book deal, for six figures a book. Check out the announcement in Publisher’s Weekly:

Hafsah was already well known to the Kid Lit community as the designer behind Icey Designs. Her evocative work has graced the sites of authors across the YA/MG community, such as New York Times bestseller V.E. Schwab, Angie Thomas, and Traci Chee. It has also been featured in BuzzFeed, HuffPost, Brit+Co, and BookRiot

You can add WE HUNT THE FLAME on Goodreads, follow Hafsah on Insta and Twitter, and read about her #DVPit success story in her own words!

I am so excited and honored to be working with this incredibly talented woman, and I can’t wait for you all to read WE HUNT THE FLAME! Some folks got an early look, and this is what they’re saying:

“With fierce characters, deathly challenges, and world-building both lyrical and spellbinding, WE HUNT THE FLAME is unputdownable.” – Marieke Nijkamp, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

“Hafsah Faizal’s voice is not one that simply speaks, but sings across the page. WE HUNT THE FLAME is a spellbinding tale filled with deception, political intrigue, and atmosphere that lives and breathes—I am obsessed with this story.” – Kerri Maniscalco, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

“Fresh, bold storytelling populated with vibrant characters marks Hafsah Faizal as an explosive new voice in fantasy. Charged with adrenaline and romance, WE HUNT THE FLAME held me enthralled and desperate for more!” – Jessica Khoury, Author of the Corpus Trilogy and THE FORBIDDEN WISH.

“I adore Hafsah’s writing; she has such a beautiful way with words.” – Beth Revis, New York Times Bestselling Author of A WORLD WITHOUT YOU

“This promises to be a very successful debut and an authentic #ownvoices book we really need in the world. Hafsah Faizal has a strong, clear, original voice. Authentic use of Arabic phrases and the pitch perfect prose style matches the terse, action-packed narrative. This is an assured debut that will stand alongside the best YA fantasy adventure novels.” – Ashok Banker, international bestselling fantasy author.

Congrats Hafsah!

 

 

Congrats to Joan He on her Debut Deal!

A huge congrats to Joan He, whose debut young adult deal was announced on her twenty-first birthday!

From Publishers Weekly:

CRANE is such a gorgeous, detailed, intricately-plotted fantasy mystery, and I can’t wait for you guys to read it! Way to go Joan!

#DVPitLive Video: On Pitches, Rep, and #OwnVoices

Last night I got to participate in this live stream for #DVPit along with Stacy Whitman, Publisher of Tu Books, and fellow-agent Quressa Robinson, hosted by the brilliant author Claribel Ortega. We answer questions about pitches, representation, #ownvoices, and all sorts of cool publishing stuff.

As you watch, appreciate the fact that my cat is just off-screen trying to climb in my lap, and my awesome wife is ten feet away making a dinner that smells so good you can practically see me drooling. Thanks to Beth Phelan and the #DVPit crew for having me!

Happy Pub Day to Saints and Misfits!

Happiest of Pub Days to the phenomenal S.K. Ali, and SAINTS AND MISFITS! S.K. Ali’s debut novel is also the first young adult from Simon & Schuster’s Muslim Voices imprint Salaam Reads.

Order right now on Amazon, B&N, and Indiebound.

Saints and Misfits is an unforgettable debut novel that feels like a modern day My So-Called Life…starring a Muslim teen.

There are three kinds of people in my world:

1. Saints, those special people moving the world forward. Sometimes you glaze over them. Or, at least, I do. They’re in your face so much, you can’t see them, like how you can’t see your nose.

2. Misfits, people who don’t belong. Like me—the way I don’t fit into Dad’s brand-new family or in the leftover one composed of Mom and my older brother, Mama’s-Boy-Muhammad.

Also, there’s Jeremy and me. Misfits. Because although, alliteratively speaking, Janna and Jeremy sound good together, we don’t go together. Same planet, different worlds.

But sometimes worlds collide and beautiful things happen, right?

3. Monsters. Well, monsters wearing saint masks, like in Flannery O’Connor’s stories.

Like the monster at my mosque.

People think he’s holy, untouchable, but nobody has seen under the mask.

Except me.

Follow S.K. Ali on twitter at @sajidahwrites, and check out her piece on her quest to find an agent.

 

S.K. Ali Talks Family, Togetherness, and Ramadan at NBC News

So cool to see SAINTS AND MISFITS author S.K. Ali talking about blended families, togetherness, and Ramadan with NBC News.

“With my remarriage nine years ago, my single-parented family of three gained two appetite additions: the nuanced one of my gourmand husband and, for two to three months of the year, that of my teen stepson, Jochua, solidly rooted in good ol’ southern American fare.

Which, for him, being brought up as a Christian, includes bacon. (Thank Allah for quality halal beef bacon ready to do fill-in duty!)

You could say my son Hamza is also a meat ‘n potatoes kind of guy. Halal meat and turmeric-laced potatoes that is. My mother, an amazing cook, has nurtured his taste for good ol’ southern Indian fare.

And then my daughter, Bilqis, turned vegetarian four years ago. The kind of vegetarian who thrives on the sameness of her favorite foods, like veggie sushi rolls, with drizzled spicy sauce on top (i.e. she’ll eat it every day if she could).”

…See the full article here.

Check out SAINTS AND MISFITS (which has garnered three starred reviews!) on Goodreads, and pre-order on Amazon, B&N, and Indiebound.

Follow S.K. Ali on twitter at @sajidahwrites,

Congrats to SAINTS & MISFITS – 3 Starred Reviews!

Saints and Misfits is an unforgettable debut novel that feels like a modern day My So-Called Life…starring a Muslim teen.

There are three kinds of people in my world:

1. Saints, those special people moving the world forward. Sometimes you glaze over them. Or, at least, I do. They’re in your face so much, you can’t see them, like how you can’t see your nose.

2. Misfits, people who don’t belong. Like me—the way I don’t fit into Dad’s brand-new family or in the leftover one composed of Mom and my older brother, Mama’s-Boy-Muhammad.

Also, there’s Jeremy and me. Misfits. Because although, alliteratively speaking, Janna and Jeremy sound good together, we don’t go together. Same planet, different worlds.

But sometimes worlds collide and beautiful things happen, right?

3. Monsters. Well, monsters wearing saint masks, like in Flannery O’Connor’s stories.

Like the monster at my mosque.

People think he’s holy, untouchable, but nobody has seen under the mask.

Except me.

—

Check out SAINTS AND MISFITS on Goodreads, and pre-order on Amazon, B&N, and Indiebound.

Follow S.K. Ali, @sajidahwrites,

9 Great Young Adult Novels For Politically Engaged Readers

Really exciting to see S.K. Ali’s SAINTS AND MISFITS in the Huffington Post (and in such great company). When people ask “what’s changing in YA?” I point to lists like this.

Things aren’t changing fast enough, but we’re moving in the right direction.