The purpose of my series Jewels is often mistaken to be a fight for women's rights. Don't get me wrong, I'm a hardcore advocate of women's rights and I don't shy away from saying it; but that was not my purpose of creating this series.

Numerous readers over the years have reached out to me and applauded my penchant for representing single-parent/unconventional family structures in my books, telling me how important it is to break those taboos. When I began writing, I didn't do it for that, my purpose wasn't to educate; it was simply due to the fact that not including at least one 'unconventional' family made me uncomfortable. Because I, myself, was born and raised in what society calls an unconventional family structure. So it was representation of myself above anything else.

People view these unconventional families as taboo and uncomfortable; if they're empathetic - as tragedies. It is through my interaction with my readers on Wattpad I learned that people who do not belong to a society's standard of perfect, or conventional, are considered to be marginalized society. I think I always knew that deep down, I just didn't realize it before. I have seen such people (the unconventional and different) to be treated as second class citizens within their own families. In a way, it is this mistreatment that lead me to create the series in the first place. But I didn't know how to word it at first. Now I do. This is who I want to give voice through this series, the second class citizens and the marginalized society.

I feel very wary about weaving religion in my writings. My knowledge is highly limited and biased due to my own life experiences. I try to do ample research before I put forth something as 'Islamic' in my books... despite that, I feel like I can never know if my interpretation is right. But I also can't help it. I began practicing my Faith at an early age, and its teachings shape up a lot of my perspective of the world. So I wouldn't even know how to write characters who are not religious.

So this whole series was born out of the conflict between religion and culture. When I started becoming familiar with my religion, I started to realize that the acceptance and equity I have been searching for has been there all my life; maybe not from people or society, but from God. The very religion that society uses to look down on the marginalized people, is the very religion through which I found my respect and voice; because what is practiced as Islam is not Islam at all, but a twisted, perverted version of it.

Despite having validation from Allah Himself, I still didn't always feel comfortable voicing my views. When you have been conditioned to think a certain way all your life, it is immensely difficult to break out of that. When I began the first book Sapphire, you could find me in the comments sections reassuring others like, "yes, I get why it's uncomfortable...". However, I have realized I no longer want to do that, I no longer want to understand why these things are so highly uncomfortable to talk about for some people.

What felt like empathy from my side at first, now feels like stroking a fragile ego. People who feel uncomfortable at the mention of such taboo topics do not realize that the ability to feel this discomfort is a privilege in itself. Because some people do not have the luxury to learn about these things with hesitance through second-hand experiences; they are slapped in the face with such circumstances as a reality of life and have to find a way to paddle through it in highly ignorant societies.

This series is mainly women-centric because it is the women in my life that had a prominent role in my upbringing. Because of my circumstances and experiences, I realized something early on in my life - that a women's role in society without a man's, especially in a South East Asian society, is feeble and unstable. Even those who come from 'privileged', wealthy backgrounds. Yes, men are supposed to be the protectors of women; but people who use this as an excuse to demean and disrespect widowed/divorced women and single-mothers do not realize that not every women has the fortune to rely upon the men in their lives. Sometimes they have to find a way to take care of themselves - not out of pride, but necessity. Most people do not become taboo by choice, understand this.

My intention isn't to view the marginalized society I talk about as victims. If you have read my writing, you know I'm all about finding strength and peace. I'm sick and tired of people with different family backgrounds, or with one or two unfortunate experiences in their lives, to be constantly portrayed as misfortunates. It's not always like that, it doesn't have to be. Peace and happiness can be found in yourself through healing, without having to search for society's standard of a happily ever after; and there is something truly liberating about being able to break through cultural bindings.