Soraya Bouazzaoui: 'It’s always a writer’s voice that captures my heart first'
BY Maya Fernandes
7th Apr 2026
In this interview Soraya Bouazzaoui – Senior Commissioning Editor at Headline Eternal, fantasy author and Modern Stories: It Must Be Love romance competition judge – discusses worldbuilding, romantic yearning and her editorial technique.
'As an editor, I can always tell in the writing when an author had lots of fun writing it. As a result, I always have fun reading it and I think it makes the romance that much more delicious and compelling!'
We spoke to Soraya about the inspiration behind her debut novel Aicha, her editorial process, what she's looking for from Modern Stories: It Must Be Love competition entrants and the romance tropes she has been loving recently.
Your debut novel Aicha is a bold romantic epic fantasy that reimagines the Moroccan legend of a warrior goddess. What first drew you to Aicha’s story, and how did you go about shaping her world and the characters who inhabit it?
I grew up with her as a monster who came for you in the night. Aicha Kandicha was who your parents threatened with if you were misbehaving, and so she’s always kind of been with me. In early 2022 I started wondering how her story originated and started researching/asking my family about the myth and discovered she had been a freedom fighter in 16th century Morocco! So, I started building the story and her character around that.
Worldbuilding can be one of the trickiest parts of writing fantasy. Do you have any advice for writers who are trying to create immersive, believable fantasy settings?
I feel like a bit of a cheat, because the world of Aicha is partly set in 16th Century Morocco. So, the worldbuilding isn’t anywhere near as extensive as some epic fantasy books that have to build whole political systems, monarchs and magic systems. Mine relied a lot on existing culture and pre-Islamic magic that comes from Morocco as well as its history. However, I do think there are great blogs and videos online that help with worldbuilding much better than I could!
As both an editor and an author, do you find it challenging to separate your editorial eye from your creative voice, or do you feel that having a knowledge of both perspectives strengthens your work?
Oh my god, I really thought I’d be a better writer because of my editorial background and I’m not!! I am, in fact, like other girls. No matter your experience in this industry, it is always hard to separate yourself from your book as a writer. I still got too lost in the weeds and needed help with structural work. I was confident I created a good romantic subplot, but structural work did not come easy!
What is your editorial process like after you receive a manuscript from an author?
I try to block out two days on my calendar to just sit and read it. I do the first read on my laptop, so that I can make track comments on it as I go – for myself and for the author. It contains my general reader reactions for vibes, and editorial feedback on what’s working and not working. Once I’ve finished reading, I go through all my comments and make sure everything is cohesive and makes sense. If I need to go into more detail, I usually write an editorial letter to accompany all the track comments. They go away, work on the book, and then we do this one/two more times!
Which books do you always recommend to others?
Insomniac City by Bill Hayes, Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson, You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria, It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard and Cinderella is Faking It by Dilan Dyer.
What’s your favourite romance trope?
Ohhh, I don’t have one! I am always in specific moods for specific things. So, for instance I’m going through a really intense phase of loving angsty/yearning romance and devoured The Lair by Lisina Coney and loved People Watching by Hannah Bonam-Young.
As a judge for the Modern Stories: It Must Be Love competition, do you have any advice for writers getting ready to submit?
Have fun with the work you’re submitting! As an editor, I can always tell in the writing when an author had lots of fun writing it. As a result, I always have fun reading it and I think it makes the romance that much more delicious and compelling!
What will you be looking for from entrants when reading for the competition?
Voices that leap off the page! For me, it’s always the voice that captures my heart first – regardless of subgenre or trope. I will drop anything I’m doing when a strong, charismatic voice pulls me into the book.
Get your hands on a copy of Soraya's fantasy debut Aicha, out now from Orbit (Hachette).
Soraya is part of the Modern Stories: It Must Be Love judging panel – she will be joined by multi-award-winning journalist Amy Beecham, founder of Book Lovers Bookshop Caden Armstrong, CBC’s Senior Courses Manager Abby Parsons, and authors Maame Blue and Rufaro Faith Mazarura.
We’ve teamed up with Headline Eternal to launch Modern Stories: It Must Be Love, a new romance novel-writing competition seeking to uplift and support emerging writers from Black, Asian, mixed heritage and/or multiple ethnic backgrounds. Submit the first 5,000 words of a novel-in-progress and a synopsis to be in with a chance of winning a variety of writing support prizes.
The books linked in this blog can be found on our Bookshop.org shop front. Curtis Brown Creative receive 10% whenever someone buys from our bookshop.org page.