What got you started writing books?
The bug hit when I was five or six years old. My grandfather used to read to me a lot, and when it got to the point where I could read to him, we would have conversations about what I’d read. During the conversations, I started making up what I thought the story might have gone if certain things had happened. Eventually, he tasked me with coming up with my own stories, and I’d sit there, making up wild tales that made no sense, but he sat there and let me ramble on during these sessions.
By the time I’d learned how to write full sentences later in grade school, the passion had taken root, and the rest was history.
What keeps you motivated?
My grandfather and my father had the same saying, “If you enjoy what you’re doing, you’ll never have to work again.” Writing is my passion. Conjuring stories and worlds is what I was born to do. It’s a gift that’s been cultivated for almost the entirety of my life, and it’s a reflection of all the people who have poured into me and encouraged me to be exactly who I am in the present day. So, in a sense, there’s no need to motivate myself to put words together. I do that daily anyway.
Where do you find the time to write, you know, with work and all?
My schedule is pretty static, and I’m blessed to be able to work from home now, so I get work done with my primary job and carve out enough time to get some minor outlining done, some quick writing sprints, and things like that. Once the workday is over, I’m pretty much rolling in the writing lab, taking breaks to get dinner handled, etc. Our kids are grown now, so I don’t have to worry about homework and keeping up with them like I did when they were younger, so it’s easier to get writing done now.
Back then? I wrote at night when everyone was asleep, and I could write uninterrupted. I still write at night from time to time, but not as much as I used to. I like sleeping LOL!
Bio
Shakir Rashaan has been “corrupting minds, one book at a time” and creating unique and lavish worlds for years, writing engrossing stories that revolve around strong-willed, complicated people. When he isn’t conferring with characters, new and old, inside of his “NEBU Universe,” he can be found binge-watching series on various streaming platforms.
Shakir lives in suburban Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife and two dogs, a hyperactive Jack-Chi and an even more energetic Jack-Pit puppy, and is a father of two—a newly minted college graduate daughter and a son proudly serving in the US Armed Forces.
Author of NEVERWRAITH ... NOW AVAILABLE wherever books are sold!
Conjurer of Worlds. Sorcerer. Man. Myth. Legend. Prototype.