Part 1: YOU
1. What is your name and/or Wattpad username?
My name is Aaisha Sanaullah but I go by Ash here on Wattpad and my username is LoveUnconditionally.
2. Tell us a bit about yourself. (Age, Hobbies, Interests, etc.)
Well, I'm seventeen years old and soon-to-be college freshman (insha'Allah!) as of August 2014! I never realize how boring I sound until I try to list my hobbies but I like reading, writing, baking, experiencing new cultures and religions, and analyzing everything and anything I can get my hands on. And thinking. I really like just sitting in a nice, quiet place and attempting to fathom a lot of what I don't understand.
Other than those basic, boring details, I'm a quiet person by nature although I'm not shy. I like doing my own thing and continuously challenging myself to get out of my comfort zone. My family means the world to me. I'm ridiculously excited about becoming a pediatric neurosurgeon and offering free services around the world whenever I can and wherever I'm needed (it's a really big life goal).
And I'm also hopelessly, completely, totally in love with Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. He's bae.
Edit: I've never heard anyone call Mr. Darcy bae. That's a first. ^-^ I hopr you reach your goal, and I think it's wonderful that you would like to help others less fortunate than you.
3. Have you written any books on Wattpad?
Yes I have! Confessions of a Muslim Girl is my first and most popular one. There's a compilation of one-shots from COAMG that I also post. Battered, With Love came next. I started this new thing that was originally intended to be one-shots from different characters from BWL but it turned into its own book titled The Art of Breaking Her told from the point of view of Hamza, a major male character in BWL. Lastly, I have this thing called The Ash Chronicles which is a collection of personal rants and essays by yours truly.
4. What was your inspiration for writing?
Feeling lost and not wanting anyone else to experience that. I mean, being a girl isn't easy. Being an Indian living in America isn't easy. Being a first-generation immigrant isn't easy. Being Muslim isn't easy. I'm all of those things put together and I had to grow up with no older role model who was like me, who I felt like I could relate to, who I felt understood the struggle.
My mom had always stressed writing so I had the skills, allhamdulillah, and just that internal turmoil and confusion and frustration morphed into my decision to essentially rant and write down how I felt because I felt like it was the only way to deal with my confusion; it was my only outlet. Perhaps the bottom line of what inspires me to write is the idea of giving a voice to people who have none and to say and inspire in others what I'm attempting to fathom myself to change and shape a person's perception.
5. What genres do you prefer to read/write? Any books that you really enjoyed?
I really just enjoy anything that's real and thought-provoking. I used to be crazy about mystery novels when I was a kid (Nancy Drew and the Boxcar Children) but that's tempered out the older I get. I'm not a fan of romance, though.
I really don't know what genre my books fall into. They're deeper than most young adult novels I've read but they're not "adult" and it's just hard to classify. So I just believe I write about anything that's real and things that matter.
Edit: Let's just say your books are amazingly inspirational, if that's the word you want to use. They truely are thought-provoking.
6. Is there a genre you particularly dislike? Why or why not?
