Interview with Basel Helal – Author of Gifted New Moon

• Before we begin, would you please tell our readers a little about yourself?

I am Basel Helal, a passionate filmmaker. I always had the passion of creating stories, and I’ve always used visual methods as in short films and videos to tell stories. Yet I always wanted to try writing as another method of creating, so I took the chance to start right away.

• We know that you have been through a lot in your life, can you tell us more about why you decided to pursue all those activities and how it felt to partake in each?

  Since I was young, I always loved all kinds of adventure. And most probably it’s all because of Dad who made me play sports since my early ages. So to me trying out those activities takes away any anxious feelings or stressful thoughts out of my mind. Everyone in this life is going through something probably no one will ever know a thing about. Seeking something new is always a way to take away some of those horrible parts of life. So, writing this book helped me heal a lot.

• At Book Loot, we know that writing is also a journey on its own, and since your book is about your path in life, we would like to know if writing Gifted New Moon, added to your experience? And if so, how?

  Yes, a lot. Writing a book has influenced me a lot, now every time I think of something I say, “hmm maybe I could write about that”. And also, it helped me in filming. Now whenever I edit a video, I always imagine that this is a book that I am writing. How should the story begin? How will it end?

• Gifted New Moon is an interesting name. Why did you choose it?

  I always wanted this name to be a secret that not everyone could get it. But since I am going to put it out, Gifted New Moon has 2 meanings. The first is a bit too obvious that A New Moon means a new life, so Gifted New Moon means a new life that I’ve been gifted with.
  The second is my name is Basel Ehab Helal, Ehab is an Arabic name that means Gift, Helal means Crescent moon, and a moon appears as a crescent in the beginning of each lunar month so it seems as if it’s a new moon. so Gifted New Moon stands for my dad’s name, since the book is actually about him.

• What was the most difficult part about writing a book for you?

  I always look at those who write books and wonder how do they do it? Is it even possible? I started Gifted New Moon at first without having the intention to publish it. It was all draft thoughts in the beginning, written on paper. Then one day I decided that this might be a book. So, I searched a lot on how to make a book. It was quite challenging for me since I had no experience on how the book industry works. Starting with which font should I use? How about the book design? The cover? Should I create it on my own? How do I know the size of the cover? What’s an ISBN? How do I publish a book? I had many questions that frustrated me, yet when I took each step on its own it became easier and now, I understand it more.

• Why did you write Gifted New Moon and what do you hope for it to achieve?

  It’s a book dedicated to my dad. I had many thoughts about him that I couldn’t speak out loud, so writing was a method to let my words come out. After publishing the book, I got some really good feedback from people around the world saying that the story touched them, some said that the book inspired them, which was the purpose of the story. And at the end of the day, it feels satisfying when you hold your own book. It feels like it’s your baby somehow.

• Now that your book is out, what’s next for you? What great challenge are you planning to tackle next?

  Gifted New Moon was just the beginning. I spent so much time to finish such project to learn almost everything in a field that I had no knowledge about, so now I am more experienced to hopefully start writing my second book.