Five Questions with Ammar Habib

by Julie Tetel Andresen | February 23, 2018 |

Five Questions Series

Female authors are typically featured in my Five Questions series, so readers may be surprised to get a male perspective this time around. Ammar Habib is an award-winning author from Lake Jackson, Texas. Writing has always been a passion of Ammar’s since he was in elementary school.

1. As a best-selling and award winning author, you know what it’s like to constantly practice your craft. What did your journey look like early on and how did you reach this level of success?

Ammar Habib: First off, thank you so much for the interview, Julie!

So my journey has been an interesting one to say the least. I’ve been writing short stories since I was 7-years-old, but started writing professionally when I was 19-years-old. After writing Dark Guardian in 2012, I went through over 300 rejection letters before landing a middle tier publisher for it in August 2013. That was my first real dip into the publishing world!

After that, one project just led to the next. Dark Guardian was a big success for the publisher in 2014, which prompted it to become a trilogy (the final book releasing last November). During the course of that trilogy, I also wrote Memories Of My Future, which was a national award winner, and I also finally landed an agent.

Between all these novels, I’ve had some short stories, essays, and poetry published as well and am currently continuing to pursue my dream of one day being a New York Times bestselling author in the very near future God-Willingly!

2. Dark Guardian, your first book, has received much praise amongst fans of thrillers. What draws you to write mystery and suspense stories?

Ammar Habib: I’m a big fan of the action, suspense, thrillers, and mysteries genres! I believe that you have to write what you’d like to read, so I always try to adhere to that rule of thumb.

I do try and branch out into multiple genres just to keep things from getting stale, but the suspense and mystery genre is one that I am very fond of.

3. What advice would you give a new author wanting to write both short stories and novels? Which one should they tackle first and why?

Ammar Habib: For a person that has not written anything ever before or is trying to get into the swing of things, I’d definitely advise to tackle short stories first. Even if you don’t plan on trying to get them published anywhere, short stories are a phenomenal way to hone one’s craft and find your voice before trying to write a novel. Short stories also take less of a time commitment than novels, so you can experiment with them without worrying if they never get picked up for publication or not.

4. Your latest police/crime novel of yours, Ana Rocha: Shadows of Justice, was co-written by Detective Glenda Mendoza. What was it like working with a cowriter, and would you recommend it?

Ammar Habib: It was a very positive experience working with Glenda for this project. I’d recommend working with a co-author whenever the variables are right. What I mean by that is that you have to get along with the co-author, understand what role each co-author will play, and each co-author should bring something unique to the table that the other author can’t.

For Glenda and me, we were already friends before working together, so we knew that we got along just fine. She’s a great storyteller and I’m a great writer (at least I think I am), so it made for a great combination.

Ana Rocha is a crime/police novel set in Houston in 1999. It follows a young Hispanic, female officer, Ana, who has recently become an undercover narcotics officer. Glenda’s experience is that she was an undercover narcotics officer several years ago and worked in the Greater Houston Area. With her background, it helped add a level of authenticity to the work that would have otherwise not been there.

The novel is up for pre-order, so we’re excited about seeing the audience reaction for it!

5. In a recent interview, you offered several tips about rejection. What is the single piece of advice you could offer someone whose work was turned down today?

Ammar Habib: Remember that a rejection is never a personal attack. Also, the best way to get over a rejection is not to over-think why they rejected your work; instead, the best way to overcome rejection is to keep submitting your work and putting it out there.

Ammar Habib enjoys crafting stories that are not only entertaining, but also have something useful to say to the reader. He lives with his family, all of whom are his biggest fans.

To sign up for Ammar’s newsletter and receive updates on his writings, please follow the link below:
ammarhabibnewsletter. Learn more about Ammar on his website at ammarahsenhabib.