On Tuesday, ASU alumnus Masoud Torabi will finally see his hard work come to fruition as his debut novel, “Every Step Back,” launches.
The novel, which began as a screenplay, will be available as a paperback and e-book on Amazon and will be available through iTunes later in the week.
“The book is my first novel of any sort,” he said. “Throughout the whole process, I was really attached to the idea, and the story was so mesmerizing. It connected to who I was as a person and as a writer, so I decided to try writing it as a novel.”
After Torabi began writing, he realized he felt more like a fiction writer than a screenwriter, he said.
Born in Tehran, Torabi and his family migrated to the U.S. when he was in high school. While at ASU, he enrolled in the Film and Media Production program.
Diana Anchondo first met Torabi while they were both students at ASU. They have remained friends since then.
Torabi has always been passionate about writing, Anchondo said.
“I’m very proud of him,” she said. “He is such a hard worker.”
"Every Step Back" takes place in the modern day and in 1940s Nazi Germany and follows a young woman’s quest to find the heir of her grandfather’s estate.
“A girl makes a promise on the deathbed of her grandfather after he passes away that she will travel to Berlin and find the woman to whom he left his fortune,” he said. “All he leaves her are the pictures of him and her when they were younger. It turns out the woman is Jewish.”
Torabi handled all aspects of the book’s production, including publishing and marketing.
Throughout the writing and publishing process, Torabi worked a day job as a banker.
“You don´t always get that luxury of having that big publisher,” he said. “I have to juggle my personal life, the job I have right now and my writing and kind of take care of all the different aspects of it, but I do it because I know that it’s a story that can touch so many people’s hearts.”
A day before the book’s release, Torabi said he could not find the words to describe the anticipation he was experiencing.
“It’s such a surreal experience to see something that started as just an idea and then grew into a book and now other people are going to be reading it,” he said. “This is a big milestone in my personal and professional life.”
Torabi’s best friend Raul Sanchez said he is eagerly waiting for the launch.
“I’m extremely excited for him,” he said. “He’s been working on the book day in and day out.”
Sanchez read “Every Step Back” and said he loved it.
“Masoud is the person who puts his whole life into the things he does,” he said. “Anything he touches is extremely successful.”
Torabi said he drew inspiration from his personal life to write the novel.
“We all go through a stage in our life, in our late teens and early 20s, when we are trying to come to terms with who we are,” he said. “At the time that I began writing the story, I was going through a lot of stuff. It was a dark place. The only way I knew how to express it was through my bestest friend, which is my writing.”
A self-described "lover of love," Torabi said he hopes people will get that heartfelt message through his writing.
Reach the news editor at dpbaltaz@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @dpalomabp
