Why I write fantasy based on Arabian mythology

In Morocco, riding a camel into the Sahara Desert

My debut novel, A Djinn’s First Wish, is largely inspired by Arabian mythology. I am often asked why I don’t write fantasy inspired by medieval western Europe, as is far more prevalent within the genre.

I was raised Jewish. Yes, Sunday school, bar mitzvah, the whole shebang. Despite this, I have struggled with my cultural identity my whole life. There was something about judaism that never quite connected for me. The teachings from the Torah were incongruous with the world I saw around me, especially Israel and their treatment of Palestine. We were a people who had suffered so much throughout our history, as recently as the Holocaust, and yet here we were treating another people as less than us.

Even at a young age, I sought a broader view of the world beyond the bigoted beliefs held by some members of my family. I spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer living in Kyrgyzstan, an Islamic country, where I provided job training to locals. After that, I spent time in several middle eastern countries such as Palestine, Lebanon, and Morocco.

These experiences gave me a deep appreciation for Arabic and Islamic culture. With A Djinn’s First Wish, I hope to shine a light on a culture and mythos underrepresented in fantasy.