Copyright © 2024, Raidah Shah Idil. All rights reserved.
I hope that those of you who are celebrating have had a wonderful, safe and blessed time with your loved ones. I pray that one day soon, every oppressed family will be able to celebrate in safety and happiness.
Exposing the Passover – With the Red Heifer and Day of Ashura – Episode 1
Podcast: Gaza’s Strength, Our Weakness | Shaykha Zaynab Ansari
A little late, but here it is. For those who celebrate, I hope you had a good, safe and reflective Raya. This is yet another lockdown Raya for my household in Malaysia. Vaccinations are rolling out though so reaching herd immunity is something to look forward to.
I’ve been learning a lot about staying still and counting my blessings during this time. All it took was a global pandemic to keep me in one place :p I miss my loved ones overseas and am so, so grateful for technology.
My latest article for SBS voices is up – My Malay-Indian kids help me get closer to my roots.
I’m working on another book! What it is exactly remains to be seen LOL. I’m leaning towards Muslim romcom or a Middle Grade fantasy. SFF (sci-fi and fantasy) will always be my first love, but after writing and revising my YA contemporary fantasy, a genre change could be refreshing. Wait and see eh.
I’m a very intuitive (read: chaotic panster) writer so I start off with immersing myself in audiobooks. I’m jotting ideas or sparks of inspiration now in an actual journal, using actual colourful pens!
Some non-SFF audiobooks I’ve really enjoyed so far are:
Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik
The Other Half of Happiness by Ayisha Malik
Ayesha At Last by Uzma Jallaludin
Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalalludin
Selamat Hari Raya/Eid Mubarak! My kids are all asleep after an exciting and exhausting first day of Eid. We made it, alhamdulilah, to the end of Ramadan. And what a Ramadan this has been. May we meet many, many more. May there be an end to global oppression.
We’re back to MCO 3.0 in Malaysia. Inconvenient but necessary because Covid19 numbers shot up once again. This is my second Raya/Eid in lockdown…I miss my family and friends back in Sydney. I don’t think we’ll be able to fly back to visit anytime soon, so in the meantime, we have our family Whatsapp groups, video calls, messages….this is our new normal. What a test of patience.
In writing news, my latest article on SBS voices is up: I loved reading fantasy growing up but there were never any characters like me. Stay tuned for more!
Raidah Shah Idil, MG Author 