Melati Lum is a lawyer specializing in criminal law whose work helps her craft the Ayesha Dean Mysteries. She kindly took the time answer my questions about writing one of the few female Muslim heroines in middle grade fiction, travel and what’s coming next from her pen.

1. Can you share a bit about your background and how books have influenced you?

My parents migrated to Australia from Malaysia in the 1970s before I was born. Back then, the place I lived had very few people of colour in our community and very few Muslims. As I was growing up in a white dominant environment, I wanted to fit in, but was frequently reminded that I was different not only because of how I looked, but also because of my religion. Even so, I was lucky to have a great childhood with loving parents and a tightknit community, as well as supportive friends from various backgrounds and religions.

I’ve loved reading from a young age. I think the ability to experience different worlds, different times, settings, and points of view just by picking up a book has always been and continues to be fascinating for me. It’s hard to compute just how much books have influenced me because so much of my knowledge about everything comes from books.

2. You began in criminal law, what started your pivot to writing?

I’ve had a dream of being a writer for a long time, but never did anything about it. I was finally motivated to start writing when the publishing industry was opened to self-publishing in around 2015 and I knew there were hardly any books around for a preteen audience featuring a Muslim protagonist.

I’d previously tried to find entertaining books for my son when he was a preteen that had a main character who perhaps had a similar background to him, or was a person of colour, which wasn’t the norm according to the traditional publishing industry in Australia. I couldn’t find what I was looking for. So, when self-publishing became an option, I worked up the courage to start writing and give it a go myself.

3. How does your other profession influence how you plot your mysteries?

The latest novel in the Ayesha Dean Mysteries, The Lisbon Lawbreaker, is closer to a police procedural than the previous two. For many of the scenes, given my background as a prosecutor who worked daily with detectives, I didn’t have to do a lot of research into how things work in the criminal justice system. I could rely on my knowledge and experiences in the industry.

What was more of a challenge though, was how to bring real life processes into a fictional novel for preteens without any of the bureaucracy and slow-moving parts from real life. In the novel, for the criminal justice aspect of it, I had to keep things moving at a faster pace than what would often ordinarily occur in real life.

4. Ayesha Dean is one of the few female Muslim protagonists in children’s literature, how do you feel about her impact?

When Ayesha Dean first came on the scene, I felt relief at being able to offer this character as an alternative to what was already out there. Knowing readers have related to her and enjoyed her escapades is something that makes all the effort worthwhile. I’m happy young Muslims who may not have seen themselves reflected in the books they’ve read before can now find a bit of themselves in Ayesha, and I know of a lot of young people who have Muslim friends in their class at school have enjoyed reading a story from a different perspective from what they’re used to.

In places like Australia, the USA and UK, our communities are diverse and multicultural, and the next generation of readers are looking for books and stories that are more reflective of the world they live in today. I’m glad the Ayesha Dean Mysteries have contributed to the diversification of children’s literature.

5. Is there a particular interaction with readers or fans that stood
out in your mind?

School visits are always fun, but one stands out the most. I attended a school visit for a class who’d read one of the Ayesha Dean novels over the course of the term as part of their curriculum, and they made me feel like an absolute star. After the talk, as they queued for autographs, I overheard one girl say this was the best day of her life and I MELTED.

While those interactions don’t happen every day, I love it when the parents of readers send me messages about how much their child loved the books, and I’ve seen photos of girls dressing up as Ayesha Dean for Book Week. It’s an awesome feeling knowing I’ve written a character that lots of young girls can identify with and be proud of, and that knowledge helps motivate me to continue writing. 

6. Did you feel any community expectations when writing Ayesha and
showing her spiritual faith or were you more bolstered by the good she
can do?

It’s always difficult being the first, or one of the first few in trying to break into an industry where people aren’t used to seeing Muslims or people of colour.

As Ayesha Dean is a character created for preteens, I was aware she needed to also appeal to the parents who buy books for their children. And because Ayesha is a proud Muslim, as a writer I was conscious that she could be seen as a role model for preteens in the Muslim community.

Before Ayesha Dean came on the scene, the Muslim community struggled with mainstream media throwing a negative light on Muslims or Muslim characters on the one hand, whereas most of the Muslim characters created for a middle-grade audience from within the community had been moralistic and beyond reproach. That was something I wanted to get away from in my series.

I didn’t want Ayesha to be another character who always did the right thing and never got into trouble. So, knowing what many people in the community had come to expect of Muslim characters in novels or stories, and balancing it out with what I wanted to write for Ayesha, was sometimes a bit of a challenge. I wanted Ayesha to be a role model in certain respects, but as a parent I would never have allowed my child to get into the dangerous situations she finds herself in!

In the end I just went with writing the type of book I would have enjoyed reading as a preteen, and sticking to my gut feel on what kind of character I wanted Ayesha to be. 

7. Since you’re an experienced traveller, what is your research like into the various cities Ayesha and her friends travel to?

I’m fortunate to have visited many cities and countries around the world over the years and I love setting Ayesha Dean stories in locations I have visited and enjoyed. While I’m writing, I get to revisit all the memories I had in a particular place and can draw on the wonder I felt when seeing or experiencing something there for the first time. While I have my memories, often I forget certain details, or I may not be sure of the history of each location. So, thankfully the internet comes in handy when I need to delve a bit deeper into the research about particular aspects of a location.

8. Were there any interesting facts or parts of the cities that you wanted, but weren’t able to include?

There’s so much more history I’d love to have included about all the locations of the Ayesha Dean Mysteries but I’d run the risk of turning them into history textbooks!

9. What is the most important thing you want readers to take away from Ayesha and her friends?

I’d love for readers to come away feeling empowered to stand up for themselves in the face of oppression or bullying. Ayesha is great at that, and even when she faces extreme challenges, she doesn’t give up, and she always tries to help people along the way. I hope readers come away with a desire to learn more about the world around them, and the fascinating history of the people and places she visits.

10. Any upcoming books or news you’d like to share?

I’m currently working on a few different projects. A new YA novel separate to the Ayesha Dean Mysteries, another Ayesha Dean installment, and my most exciting news… the first Ayesha Dean book, The Istanbul Intrigue, is being adapted into a manga! I’m working with Fictional Frontiers multimedia platform and an amazingly talented manga artist to bring Ayesha Dean to the manga world. It’s going to take a while, but I’m enjoying the process, and I can’t wait to be able to share it when it’s done.