When I think about the voices that have shaped me as a writer, a few stand out, especially one book that hit me hard: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
He’s an Afghan writer, and what he captured in that novel—the pain, the trauma, the complexity of what happened to his country and his people was unforgettable. I remember finishing the book and thinking, Wow. It was powerful, emotional, and honest. And it made me think about my own story, about the pain and the beauty in the region I come from. That book was one of the earliest moments that made me believe I could write something meaningful, too.
I’ve always loved spy thrillers and espionage stories. I enjoy reading them, and I love watching them. I’m a big fan of stories like Jack Ryan—they’ve always drawn me in. There’s something about the tension, the strategy, and the global stakes that just pulls me as both a viewer and a writer.
Another influence for me was the movie Argo, directed by Ben Affleck. I didn’t read the book it was based on, but the film really stayed with me. It was about Iran, about real events, and it was done well. The pacing, the storytelling, the tension—it worked. It made me think about how stories from our part of the world could be told in a way that reaches a global audience.
So while I’ve learned from books, I’ve also learned from film. I’ve learned from the way emotions are built, from how structure creates impact, and from stories that don’t leave you when they’re over.
Those are the stories I want to write—ones that that leave a mark!.