Interview with Author Laury Silvers

 

Welcome Readersto another installment of our author interview series. Today we have thepleasure of chatting with Laury Silvers, author of multiple historical fictionbooks with a Medieval Islamic setting.  

JMR-Welcome tothe Books Delight, Laury. Tell our readers where you live, what you do for funand what does the perfect day look like?

LS- A perfect dayincludes a very long walk in one of Toronto’sbeautiful ravines. It is called a city in a park for a reason. My mind gets towander, finding a peaceful place, and I get much-needed exercise. Time to writeor think about writing, as well as small tasks associated with writing, areessential to this perfect day. Then come the other essentials: good coffee,good food, good company, and a good book. If my grandson lived nearby, and Icould add seeing him daily to this mix, that would be the cherry on top.

JMR-What’s yourfavorite historical time period? Why?

LS- The earlymedieval period in Islamic civilizations is my favourite. It's the time beforeinstitutions of learning and other forms of social and political authority weregaining traction. I particularly love the early period and just after it whenreligious ideas, rituals, and legal practices were still taking shape. Thediversity of thought and practice, including gender roles, was still evolving.I adore researching the time before an accepted truth was considered true atall – just one position among many, sometimes under wild dispute for the mostinteresting, and sometimes banal reasons

JMR-Who is yourfavorite historical figure? Why? If you could ask them one question, what wouldit be?

LS- "This isa challenging question for me to answer. When it comes up in conversation, Itypically bow out. As a believing Muslim, I would, of course, say the ProphetMuhammad. The chance to sit with him, to learn directly from him, and simply tobe in his presence would be the culmination of so many hopes to understand myreligion and my place in it.

However,if I were to choose a secular figure, it would be the 9th-century 'renaissanceman,' al-Jahiz. He was a great man of letters of African and Arab descent, afamed raconteur, scientist, essayist, and humorist who wrote numerous books.Some engaged with earlier Greek sources, such as his 'Book of Animals,' whileothers were hilarious compendiums of the shortcomings of his contemporaries,like 'The Book of Misers.' He seems like he would be a heck of a lot of fun.

JMR- How did youcome to be a writer of historical fiction?

LS- I retiredfrom academia, where I was a historian of early medieval Islam. Despite leavingthe formal world of academia, I found that I still had stories to tell aboutthe period and its people. Encouraged by my family and friends to pick up thepen, here I am.

JMR-Historicalfiction and murder mystery seem to be a popular pairing. Why did you choosethis subgenre as opposed to a purely historical novel?

LS- I have alwaysloved mysteries and would read and discuss them with my mother. It was she whourged me to bring my two loves together. Mysteries, I've found, are the perfectform to explore the big questions about history and humanity without gettingbogged down. The search for 'whodunit' keeps the story moving and thehistorical baggage light.

JMR- Did youvisit anyone of the places in your book? Where did you feel closest to yourcharacters?

LS- I have neverhad the opportunity to visit Baghdad, unfortunately. I still hope to gosomeday. However, I did live in Fez, Morocco. Its old city is not dissimilar toaccounts of medieval cities further east. I always imagined the people Istudied as living, breathing individuals with all the possible weaknesses andstrengths. Some of them did live in Fez, and their tombs were there or nearby.Their traditions lived on, allowing me to imagine them in a way I could neverhave done had I not had that opportunity. When I began to bring them to life infiction, it all came together.

JMR- Laury, tellus about your new book, The Peace: A Sufi Mystery.

LS- The Peaceis the final book in my Sufi Mysteries Quartet. Each novel is a mystery untoitself, but collectively, they unpack particular historical questions about theperiod. The first, The Lover, explores the fate of early pious and Sufiwomen. The second, The Jealous, delves into gender roles, ideals,freedom, and enslavement, especially within legal systems. The third, TheUnseen, focuses on early Shia communities and their relationship with theSunni caliphate. Despite the distinct mysteries, all the books narrate thestory of twins, Zaytuna and Tein, as they navigate the spiritual and emotionallegacy of their famed mystic mother—from trauma and pain to eventual peace. ThePeace, as the final installment, delves into the history of the Quran andQuranic scholarship, exploring debates around manuscripts as they finally cometo order. The narrative also brings a spiritual and emotional resolution to thecharacters' journeys.

JMR-What projectsdo you have in the pipeline?

LS- I have anovella out in a collection entitled Revenge in Three set in aalternative history medieval world. All three of the novellas are based on TheCount of Monte Cristo. Mine, Rat City, is a noir story with apost-menopausal hard-boiled detective. Rat City is a semi-finalist for aspeculative fiction award. I’m waiting on the announcements for finalists.

Next, I am takingone of the characters from The Sufi Mysteries Quartet, Ammar, the formerfrontier fighter and investigator for Baghdad’sGrave Crimes Section, and giving him his own series: A Ghazi Ammar MedievalMystery. In this new venture, Ammar is now a private investigator. While majorcharacters from the first series do play a role, they take a backseat toAmmar's narrative. This new series is intentionally lighter in every way. Itwill be less historical, with history moving into the background to make roomfor more straightforward mysteries. The focus will be less on the religiouslives of its characters, but it will still vividly bring medieval Baghdad tolife.

JMR- Tell ourreaders how to find you on social media and the web.

LS- I am rarelyon the former Twitter anymore, but my account there is @waraqamusa. On allother platforms I am laurylsilvers. But the best place to find me is mywebsites www.llsilvers.com

JMR- Whatquestion were you hoping I’d ask but didn’ t?

LS- I love thequestion about the audience. While I initially hoped that my first series wouldbe read more broadly, I quickly realized its appeal was primarily to historynerds—specifically, those interested in exploring beyond Western Civilizationbasics. So, that narrowed down my audience significantly. With this nextseries, I'm aiming for a broader appeal, going for a 'Cadfael in Baghdad' feel.I hope there are readers out there looking for just that.

JMR- Thank you,Laury, for stopping by. Your books look really intriguing! Readers, I’veincluded a link to Laury’s books below. Please be sure to check them out.

 

I will add abutton and link to the book.