(MENAFN - Daily News Egypt) "True Love is the pure happiness that's free of any fears. It's about loving for the sake of love itself. Does sun wait for people's actions to decide if it will send them its light or not? Does it think if people on earth deserve its tender or bid? Sun sends us its light under all circumstances because it enjoys shining and it doesn't wait for anything in return, that's what true love is about!"

By these sentences, writer Ahmed Abdel Mageed defines his remarkable understanding of love in his outstanding novel "Eshq". Although he studied Computer Science at Cairo University, he was always drawn to writing giving it the first priority in his life.

In 2013, the 35-year-old writer published his first novel "Tarnemet Salam" ("Hymn of Peace") that was nominated to win Sheikh Zayed Book Award in its 8th session. After two years, He published his second novel "Eshq" ("Passion") to satisfy the needs of his awaiting readers.

In an exclusive interview with Daily News Egypt, Abdel Mageed discussed the controversial ideas in his novels, replied to readers' criticism and accusations and explained how the Egyptian book market has changed dramatically over the past few years.

When did writing start dominating your life? And does it have anything to do with your childhood?

When I was a little child, my parents were so keen to bring all the children magazines that were available in the market at that time and they used to read them for me. That's how my passion for reading and writing started, as I wanted to imitate what I was reading. I used to bring my drawing notebooks and try to copy the drawings and the pictures I found in Mickey and Sameer magazines, Egyptian children's magazines, and tried to make up other different stories on those pictures. When I was a teenager, I used to read the series of "The Five Adventurers", "Ragol Al Mostaheel" and "Malaf El Mostaqbal", which played a crucial role in attaching me to the magical world of writing.

Did you face any problems to publish your first novel "Tarnemet Salam"("Hymn of Peace")? And what are the most popular obstacles the novice writers face when they publish their first novels from your point of view?

I kept sending "Tarnemet Salam" to different publishing houses for many months. Some of them refused to publish it and others ignored me, until I sent a copy to "Non" publishing house that was enthusiastic to publish it. However, I think that the Egyptian book market has changed dramatically over the past few years. In the past, the writer had to wait for many years until he finds a good publisher and unfortunately some writers couldn't get their literary works to light despite the long years of painstaking research. However, after the 25 January Revolution, things became much easier so I can't claim that I faced real obstacles. Many publishing houses decided to adopt and support the young talents. However, I see it as a double edged weapon as some of these houses try sometimes to exploit the young writers, which affects their name in the market afterwards.

In your first novel "Tarnemet Salam" ("Hymn of Peace"), you took readers into a journey in which the main character was searching for the inner psychological peace and satisfaction. So how could you prepare for such novel? And what are the main messages you wanted to convey to your audience?

After long years of reading about spirituality, trying to get into these experiences through meditation and contemplation, I found out that I had huge amount of feelings and thoughts that need to be formulated and phrased in words. I wanted to convey a main message to my beloved audience; I wanted to tell them that we live in a friendly, amiable world that we can ally with, unlike most of people think. I also wanted them to feel capable of taming and exploiting the surrounding world to meet their own needs and interests!

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Egypt- Defining the meaning of love and spirituality