An indie author, potentially

Notes from the messy middle.

I'm learning how to turn a persistent idea into a book. This is a living record of the drafts, discoveries and small brave steps along the way.

≈ 50k words infirst draftstill becoming

On the writing desk

2026 update

The Stars Know My Name

Speculative Romance · first draft

Twenty-eight-year-old astrophysics student Maya Ahmed has always trusted evidence more than superstition. But when a name begins appearing in Urdu across the night sky, her search for a rational explanation leads her to Zayn Ameer—the man whose name is written among the stars. Set against the misty mountains of Pakistan, The Stars Know My Name is a speculative romance about fate, free will, and whether the stars can guide us towards love without choosing it for us.

Placeholder book cover for The Stars Know My Name
Cover artwork to come

Current focus

Moving through the second half of the first draft, protecting the story’s momentum and leaving the polishing for revision.

First-draft word count

≈50,000 / 80,000

63%

The road to a manuscript

Drafting

  1. The idea

  2. Finding the shape

  3. First draft

  4. Revision

The journey so far

From wondering to writing

  1. The idea

    The beginning

    An idea worth following

    It started with a feeling, a handful of questions and the kind of idea that kept returning long after I had put my notebook away.

  2. Finding the shape

    The foundations

    Turning possibility into a story

    Characters emerged, fragments began to connect and the idea found enough of a shape to become a manuscript rather than a someday.

  3. First draft

    50,000 words and counting

    Writing through the messy middle

    The draft has reached roughly 50,000 words of a planned 80,000. The next landmark is a complete story: imperfect, surprising and real enough to revise.

  4. Revision

    On the horizon

    Making the story earn its place

    Then comes the patient work—stepping back, listening to early readers and returning with sharper eyes.

Notes to self
01

Rewrite

Currently rewriting and completing the first draft, lots of plot holes to fix!

02

Making it real

Build characters with contradictions, tenderness and something to lose.

03

Keep showing up

Hoping to write a little every day, even if it’s just a paragraph or a page.

On the shelf

Ideas I'm keeping warm

Not every story needs to be written at once. These ones are resting while TSKMN gets the centre of my attention.

Novel ideaIncubating

Untitled project II

A story that I'm writing in the background, about a herbalist and alchemist in a small town, working towards solving a mystery that has been plaguing the town for generations.

Novel ideaShelved for now

Untitled project III

A promising romcom novel where a girl dies and has to navigate the afterlife, with an insufferable yet charming grim reaper.