A look inside Prince Zaaki's kingdom with Heba Hamzeh

DAP sat down with Heba Hamzeh, author of the Prince Zaaki trilogy. We talked about her characters, her writing process, and her daily life.

DAP: Can you give us a brief synopsis of your book?

Heba: In my latest book, Prince Zaaki and The Knights of the Altar of Truth, the six Knights are formed and called upon to protect their world from the antagonist, Shaytanicus.  

Prince Zaaki, the other Knights and the Goddesses try to unite all the people in the Kingdoms to fight Shaytanicus and his army in order for peace to prevail.  

The Knights must try to find a way to rid their world of this evil without causing any pain or suffering.    

DAP: What was the inspiration/motivation for writing your book? 

Heba: Creating stories at bedtime for my children became a nightly occurrence, so I decided to incorporate important values that, as a parent, I wanted to teach my children—or at least open their eyes to.  

Prince Zaaki learns the importance of kindness, compassion, fortitude, helping others, and of standing up to injustices during his journey of self-discovery across his Kingdom.

DAP: What is the key takeaway you want people to have after reading your book? 

Heba: I want to spread positivity, faith, unity, peace and good intentions towards the whole world.  

DAP: What inspires you? 

Heba: Primarily, my children inspired me to create the adventures of Prince Zaaki when they were younger, and they continue to inspire and motivate me to pursue my passion of writing.  

Although the Prince Zaaki trilogy is youth fiction, I wanted to add some form of reality, something meaningful to put to the world in an engaging storyline for all ages.

Deep within my books is a spiritual element of reincarnation. I come from the mountains of Lebanon, and growing up, I would hear stories about young family members remembering their past lives and souls moving from one body to another. The mystery of reincarnation fascinated me and without realizing it at the time, this intrigue was the foundation of the bedtime stories that I created for my children. Upon reflection, the stories I had heard as a child also inspired me to create the Prince Zaaki novels.

DAP: What does your writing/working space look like? 

Heba: As soon as I began the journey of writing the Prince Zaaki books, I had next to me some plain paper to draw the map of the Kingdom of Luella as Prince Zaaki explored it. He was visiting places he had never been before, so as I was creating every place in the Kingdom and meeting it for the first time in my mind, so was Prince Zaaki.  

The map evolved the more I wrote and the more kingdoms and islands and seas I created. I ended up creating a whole world without realizing it!

The plain paper soon turned into Post-its with descriptions of mysterious places, mystical beings, dragons, witches and wizards and supernatural beings. My table with my computer sitting in the middle of it became engrossed with whiteboards covered in Post-its, notes and drawings. I positioned my working space by my windows so that I always had a view of the sky, trees and street in front of me.

DAP: What are you learning/listening to/reading right now? 

Heba: Right now, I am reading a book called Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder—or I should say, I am re-reading it, as it has many historical philosophical ideologies within it that take time to fully comprehend. One philosophical question that appears in this book and is discussed is: "What came first - the chicken or the 'idea' chicken?" I will leave that with you to ponder.  

As for music, I usually have piano music in the background when I'm writing, and I like to sit in stillness and silence when I'm reading.

DAP: Are there more books in your future? What about? 

Heba: I hope so; I am always writing.

DAP: How do you select the books you want to read? 

Heba: Currently, I am intrigued by the history of philosophy, like Socrates and Plato, so I am choosing books based on that genre.  

DAP: Is there a book that you’ve read multiple times? What is it, and why do you keep going back to it? 

Heba: The Prophet by Khalil Gibran is a book I read once a year or maybe even more. There are teachings and wisdom within this book for everyone. Every time I read it, I gain something new. A favourite piece from The Prophet is when He is asked to speak of Children, and he said: 

Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

DAP: Share one fun fact about yourself, something that your readers would never guess. 

Heba: I love to swim, and I try to swim most mornings. It's a positive start to my day and allows me to focus on the day ahead.