Today we are very excited to share an interview with Author Lila Riesen (Free Radicals)!
Meet the Author: Lila Riesen
The daughter of Afghan and Australian immigrants, Lila Riesen was raised in the United States. Her undergraduate studies in English were completed at Indiana University and the Australian National University. In 2017, Lila graduated with a master’s degree in English literature and linguistics from the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Free Radicals is her first novel, inspired by her cashew-coveting baba and all the Afghans fighting for peace, in the US and abroad.
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About the Book: Free Radicals
Afghan-American Mafi’s sophomore year gets a whole lot more complicated when she accidentally exposes family secrets, putting her family back in Afghanistan in danger in this smartly written YA debut.
Sixteen-year-old Mafi Shahin is well-aware that life is not always fair. If it was fair, her parents might allow her to hang out with a member of the male species, other than her cat Mr. Meowgi. If it was fair, her crush and basketball hottie Jalen Thomas might see her as more than just her brother’s kid sister. And if it was fair, her baba’s brother and wife would be able to leave Afghanistan and come to America.
Life might not be fair—but she can make it a bit more even. Working as the Ghost of Santa Margarita High, Mafi serves dollops of justice on her classmates’ behalf as the school’s secret avenger. They leave a note declaring the crime and Mafi ensures the offender receives an anonymous karmic-sized dose of payback. Keeping her identity as the Ghost a secret sometimes means Mafi has to lie. But as those lies begin to snowball both at school and at home, even compromising their family’s secret past and putting their relatives back in Afghanistan at risk, Mafi is forced to decide how she wants to live her life—trying to make the world more fair from the shadows or loudly and publicly standing up for what’s right.
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~Author Chat~
YABC: Who is your favorite character in the book?
Baba. Partly because he’s modeled after my own Baba—my grandfather—who died over a decade ago. He wasn’t perfect by any means, but he loved his grandchildren dearly and was an activist for human rights, especially for minority groups in Afghanistan. I still remember the way he called me “Lie-lee” with that playful twinkle in his eye. I still remember the day he fell walking the track at the YMCA when I was on shift, and I had to clean the blood off his white shirt. I still remember him wheeling over to me in the nursing home, showing me math equations after the dementia had taken hold. I wrote the character of Baba with a lot of love. Because real Baba was just that—loved.
YABC: How do you know when a book is finished?
When I know that after sending it out into the world, my day or mood won’t be swayed by either positive or negative feedback because I love it. Me. I am my own worst critic, so if I love it, I know it’s ready to go public.
YABC: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. My sister and I shared a bedroom growing up and would write stories and read them aloud to each other. I wrote my first novel when I was eighteen. It was full of flowery language that embarrassingly was an attempt to show how many big, fancy words I knew. Then when I went to university, I had a creative writing teacher write, “Let me know when this is published, Lila!” on my final project. That was the lightbulb moment where I realized that maybe I could be an author. It took another ten years to write something that wasn’t some derisive emulation of an author I adored, but I never gave up trying to find my own, authentic voice. (I’m still looking, don’t you know.)
YABC: How do you keep your ‘voice’ true to the age category you are writing within?
A few things. I follow lots of Gen-Z’ers on TikTok. When I go to cafes, I drop some eaves around teenagers and listen to how they speak. I have a minor in linguistics and am naturally curious about how language is used in different groups and settings. I also used to train teen clients in fitness and martial arts, so naturally I learned what they were up to. Any neologisms I don’t know, I look up right away. I’ve also kept a diary from my teen years and thank goodness! (But no one is ever allowed to read it but me. Especially my big bro or sister. That’s inscribed underneath some doodles as rule #1 on the diary’s first page, BTW.)
YABC: What type of scene do you love to write the most?
Anything steamy or romantic in nature—with a splash of comedy. I used to write Narnia, LOTR, and Harry Potter fanfic as a teen and would print up pages for my friends to read at lunch. You could count on Mr. Tumnus making an appearance in some make-out scene (James McAvoy, am I right?). I think some of my friends have kept these stories, somewhere… I’d love to read them for a good ol’ cringey laugh again.
YABC: What word do you have trouble overusing?
Not a word, but a phrase that my editor said to watch for in the next book: “I know for a fact.” I also use “smirk” way too much, and the dialog tag “said.” Editing is my favorite part of the writing process because I can remove all the unnecessary stuff to make my writing as clean as possible.
YABC: What is your favorite writing space?
I don’t really have one at the moment. I bought a fancy desk a while ago, only to sell it because I never used it. I usually write in bed or at my favorite coffee shop. I feed off of the energy of indistinct chatter and espresso screeches; they inspire me to write.
YABC: How do you plan to celebrate the launch of your book?
I was going to go skydiving with my book, but my husband and I found out a few months ago that we’re expecting! I’ll happily do a few local book readings and signings, a Nutella banana croissant from my favorite bakery in Los Angeles and will visit bookstores to autograph some copies. It’ll be a big moment for me, since I’ve spent the last ten years writing in coffee shops and bookstores, dreaming that one day I’d look over my laptop to see my book displayed on the shelves. Honestly, if I just sat in bed and did nothing on launch day, I’d still be giddy that I made this dream of mine a reality.
YABC: What hobbies do you enjoy?
My husband and I love to travel. I also get a bit too amped about lifting weights, writing up new workouts, and the gym in general. I used to be a personal trainer and exercise science lecturer and am addicted to that endorphin rush. Of course—reading in bed with an espresso, croissant, and candle at my side is and will forever be a huge hobby of mine. Bonus points if it’s thundering or snowing and I’m in Switzerland.
YABC: What’s your least favorite word or expression and why?
My least favorite expressions are “I’m proud of you” or “Wow, I’m impressed.” Seemingly harmless, but coming from the wrong person, both expressions can feel like a slap in the face. Unless you are extremely close to the hearer and have an understanding of their struggles and journey at large, both can feel like backhanded compliments. It’s almost as if the speaker underestimated the hearer, never expecting that they actually had it in them to self-actualize their dreams. “Huh, I’m impressed!” with that dreaded eyebrow raise is just the worst. *Grunts*
YABC: What kind of animal would your main character be and why?
Mafi would definitely be a feline of some sort. She skulks in the dark and is involved in all sorts of mischief and tomfoolery. She’s also playful when she wants to be, but when you make her angry, she’s got no problem biting your hand.
YABC: What other age group would you consider writing for?
My next project might just be an adult book. I love writing YA protagonists, but my agent, author friends, and readers have been poking me to do a book with an adult protagonist. I’m currently working on four different projects at once!
Title: Free Radicals
Author: Lila Riesen
Release Date: 3.21.23
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Genre: YA Fiction, Romance, Social Themes, Prejudice and Racism, Friendship, Coming of Age
Age Range: 12 and up
