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Neela Sakaria: Thank you for joining us. When you first started writing the book, you didn't necessarily intend for it to be published, correct? Can you tell us more about how BRICK LANE came about?
Monica Ali: I started writing Brick Lane in July 2001, the day after my grandfather's funeral. We went on holiday, and it was a really nice sunny day and I felt that I couldn't put off writing any longer. My husband took the kids outside and I drew the curtains and I started writing that day. I think there is something quite galvanizing about a funeral that means you shouldn't keep putting things off. So that's how I got started. Before that I had been writing short stories, just by myself really. I used to go on the internet, usually late at night after the kids had gone to sleep, and there are these online writing groups. They do all different kinds of things. Some of them are resources for writers, you know - finding agents and things. The ones that I found useful were where people submit a short story and then you critique each other's work. I don't think I learned how to write that way, but I learned how not to write that way. And it just got me into the habit of writing on a regular basis.
Neela: Were the short stories that you were writing at all related to what became Brick Lane?
MA: There were some of the same characters, with different narratives. If I were to look back at them, which I never do, I can remember that there were some seeds of some of the things that I'm actually writing about. So yes, I suppose they were a start. Back then it was Nazneen and Hasina and Chanu that I was thinking about...I was carrying them around for a long time, really.
Neela: So then what happened? You started writing BRICK LANE and then how did you come into contact with the publisher?
MA: Well, it's quite extraordinary. My plan, as far as I had one, was that I would write the whole book and then try and find an agent. If I was really lucky I'd find an agent and then hopefully get people to buy it. What actually happened is that I showed the first two chapters to a friend of mine, just for some friendly feedback. She happened to have started a new job with a publisher. She asked if she could show it to an editor here, and I told her to go ahead, thinking nothing of it. But I got a call the next day asking if I had any more. I did have another 3 chapters, and I was quite reluctant to send it because it was a first draft and everything. But she persuaded me and I emailed it off. A couple of days later I got another call asking if I would like to meet for lunch. It all went from there. I got an agent and everything and we've got about 26 foreign edition languages now. It was all a bit like a fairy tale, I couldn't quite believe it..
Neela: How long was it from when you started writing until the time you got the call from the publisher?
MA: It was about three months or something like that. It all happened very quickly.
Neela: So now you're on a book tour. Looking back on all of the things that have happened, are you surprised by the successes you've had so far?
MA: Yes. I think every writer starting out hopes and dreams of one day being published. But to expect all the interest and everything that has come…you know, you'd have to be insane to expect it. So yes, it's a constant surprise and it has been quite a trip.
Neela: You must have felt a great sense of personal satisfaction in completing the book since these characters had been living inside you for so long. How does it feel to accomplish what you set out to do?
MA: That initial feeling of satisfaction came really came when I finished writing. It's immensely satisfying -- quite a big book, of about 150,000 words. When I finished that, there was an enormous feeling that that was exactly what I wanted to say. Then you have to step away from it to do publicity and talk about it quite reductively really. Of course you do because you have to communicate to people something of what's in the book. That's a much less satisfying process than saying exactly what you wanted to say.
Neela: You mentioned that you came into contact with the publisher before you had even finished the book. Did that in any way restrict your creativity or were you able to put that aside and continue writing?
MA: You have to write with the door firmly closed. You can't write with anybody looking over your shoulder. When we were working through the deal with the publisher, I stopped writing for about a month. I did worry about how it would affect my writing when I started again, the feeling that somebody would be looking over my shoulder. Fortunately, as soon as I sat back down to write it didn't make any difference at all, I was completely obsessed with what I was doing, and totally obsessed with my own world. You know, that's the way it's got to be.
Neela: Regarding BRICK LANE, was there any personal or family history involved or did you do research?
MA: All of the above. I'm sure everybody will tell you the same thing. You are always drawing from your own experience. So with every character you're writing about, you're writing about a part of yourself. Even with the darkest characters, you're reaching inside yourself to the less nice parts of you. You're always writing on that level. Also, many of the issues I deal with in the book are things that I've thought about for a long time. The concept of the generations in an immigrant community is something I lived with myself and experienced. Then I did do research as well. I interviewed a lot of people around the area of London, social workers, police workers etc. But you know, I'm not a journalist so I did step back form that for a while and allow myself to imagine the particular context. There is another aspect which is my father's storytelling. He grew up in Bangladesh and tells stories of village life. I wanted to preserve some of that for my own children. Like Makku Pagla and his famously patched umbrella that he drowns in the well, was a story from my father's village.
Neela: Nazneen's character centers around this issue of accepting fate and life as it comes. Does that notion have a cultural or religious basis? Where did that idea come from for you in this story?
MA: Nazeen's central dilemma is this question of what she can control in her life, and when is it better to accept things. For her it is social, cultural, religious, and part of her family background. But we all deal with that very same issue. It is a fundamental human question. In the UK and the West and I'm sure in America too, we see the external manifestation of this dilemma. On the one hand we have all of these self-help books, suggesting that we are in control of our lives. On the other hand, we have this increasing awareness of what is predetermined in our lives. Whether it is genetic science, or Freud telling us you are the way you are. Added to that we have this interest in meditation and spirituality and finding your inner peace. We all veer around various readings of this. We say "well if it's meant to be it'll happen," but on the other hand we're constantly making lists of what we want to achieve and what we want to do. So yes, the question is the same for Nazeen, she just talks about them in different ways.
Neela: How does that concept translate to you and your writing?
MA: Well I always like to live my life as if I'm in total control of it. The more I'm forced to think about it, the harder that assumption becomes. The more I've thought about it and analyzed it, the more complex it becomes. But anyway, the pig-headed person that I am, I pretend I can control everything in my life.
Neela: What advice would you give to the aspiring writers out there?
MA: I always think that the people who are going to do it are going to do it anyway, regardless of what people tell them about how hard it is. My main advice is to read a lot. I think that plays an important role. It helps in developing an ear for language. There are plenty of ways now that people can improve their craft, from groups online to workshops to books about how to do it. But I think the main thing is to be a good reader.
Neela: After the book tour, are you working on any other projects?
MA: I'm working on a second book, a second novel which may take a little bit of time. I've done some research and begun writing. So that's my big reward at the end of all of this. I get to go and sit and stare at blank walls - that's my idea of a good time!
Neela: How do you define success for yourself?
MA: I suppose what I'm proudest of in my life is my family and my kids. That for me is the biggest success that I could have had. If I can keep on writing, that is a success in it's own right, regardless of how the next book comes out. If I can keep writing about things I care about - that's really it.
Neela: Anything else you'd like to share with our readers?
MA: I think we've covered quite a bit!
Neela: Thank you for your time and good luck.
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