A Goodreads user asked Jessica Khoury:

I've just finished reading "The Forbidden Wish." You are quite high on my list as one of THE most talented YA writers I've ever read. Your book was fantastic and your writing even more wonderful. I wanted to ask how long you researched Arabian myth and culture before writing the story? There were so many vivid details and your incredible imagery seems like it took you a lifetime of research!

Jessica Khoury Ah, what a compliment! Thank you!! I did a lot of research particularly on ancient Middle Eastern/Southeast Asian female queens and generals, of which there are sooooo many awesome examples! Some favorites of mine were Zenobia (Syria) and Artemisia (Persia). I also did a ton of research on jinn folklore, which informed much of how they’re presented in TFW, along with some unique twists of my own. I planned to do a research trip for the book, specifically to certain parts of Syria where my grandfather grew up. The civil war there of course made this impossible, so I relied a lot on my grandfather’s stories and questioned him about the geography, etc.

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