A Deeper Look Inside “Sophie James & The Untold Truth”

Author: Waniya Aneel IX-H

Interview by Warisha Zain

A piece of exciting news for fantasy lovers! The book “Sophie James & The Untold Truth” has been morphed into a published storyline written by one of the youngest and most gifted authors of Beacon Light Academy named Waniya Aneel. The book explores a young protagonist named Sophie James who unveils herself towards an incredible adventure. Join us as we dig deeper into the author’s mind and comprehend the process behind this book.

 “What was the real reason behind implementing this sort of genre into the book?”

I have always loved fantasy and wanted to write one of my ones as well. So, I gathered my imagination and created my fantasy world. It indeed can be magical as it helps one to escape reality.

“As an author, what age group do you think this book is suitable for?”

My book is suitable for pre-teens and I would highly recommend it for middle schoolers.

“Could you say by any means that this book was inspired by some sort of true events?”

Haha yes, the part where Nancy Scott tells Sophie James that her friendship is fake and toxic has for sure been inspired by true events. Even though, in the book, later on, they still are friends.

“I’ve read about how writing this book took a while, would you please give the readers a little bit of insight regarding the entire writing process”

 Indeed this book took 4 years to come out, I had to find a trustworthy publisher and a good graphic designer who would make my book cover the perfect way. Editing and re-editing took time too. I lost one of my book’s drafts because my laptop stopped working out of nowhere and I remember it was stressing me out. I had to re-write the whole novel from the start and I added a lot more as well.

“As a successfully published author, who in the literary field inspires you?”

Holly Jackson and Leigh Bardugo inspire me in the literary field. Their way of writing and plot twists always amuses me.

“Your book seems to have many protagonists including Sophie James, who would you say took the longest to construct as a character?”

 The villain of my book, De Morte. His appearance, his name, his personality, and all the other character development took a lot of my time and I am glad it turned out well. I even have a sketch of him which makes him look like an actual “villain”.

“You’ve often stated that your favorite genre is fantasy, what other genres would you want to implement into your writings?”

Other than fantasy, I am really into murder mystery stories too. Planning to implement that in the upcoming volumes as well.

“Have you up till now received any criticisms regarding your book? If so how do you deal with them?”

 After publishing this book, I received criticisms like “You copied it”, “You didn’t write this on your own”, and “It will be a huge flop”. There are still so many more I haven’t mentioned but I still dealt with them. I believed in myself and I know that I didn’t copy it or I didn’t take anyone’s help. I wrote it myself, it took a lot of my effort and I am really glad it got the appreciation it deserved.

“As a young author, what did you think was the hardest part about publishing a book or morphing it into reality?”

I was afraid of failure. I didn’t want this to be a flop, I didn’t want all of my efforts to be wasted, but Alhumdulillah is getting love and receiving good reviews about my book from everyone.

“What more can the readers expect after reading Sophie James and The Untold Truth? Is there anything more to look out for?”

 Everyone is asking me when volume two will be out. I will start working on it soon, other than my series I also worked on an anthology with other Pakistani authors, it will be out soon, In Sha Allah. Loving the enthusiasm of all the readers towards my book. Thank you for loving the first volume

Well, my readers there you have it. Aneels’s perspective on exploring the fantasy world and dealing with harsh realities such as failures and criticisms reveals the depth that is visible despite her very young age. Her success in publishing this book has enlighted a great deal of support from the teachers and students of Beacon Light Academy and as members of the BLA Blog Committee, it is our job to find out the hidden talents of BLA  and showcase them to the world.

“Best friends till last breath, I promise”

                                                       (Nancy Scott)

A big shout out to Waniya Aneel for being so cooperative about this project. Don’t forget to hit that follow on @waniya_aneel on Instagram.