Sheila Yasmin Marikar: Don’t Be Precious About Your Process
In this interview, author Sheila Yasmin Marikar discusses the ups and downs of marriage and adulthood in her new novel, Incidentals.
A prolific journalist and an avid traveler, Sheila Yasmin Marikar drew inspiration for Incidentals from multiple trips to the Maldives along with the stories and people she has encountered while reporting from far-flung destinations. Her travel writing, culture chronicles and feature-length profiles have appeared in such prominent outlets as The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Economist, and Vogue. She is the author of two other critically acclaimed novels, Friends in Napa and The Goddess Effect. Her New York Times Magazine profile of the chef Gaggan Anand was anthologized in the 2021 edition of Best American Food Writing. A native of New Jersey, Marikar studied history at Cornell University and began her career at ABC News. Follow her on Twitter, Tiktok, Facebook, and Instagram.
In this interview, Sheila discusses the ups and downs of marriage and adulthood in her new novel, Incidentals, her hope for readers, and more.
Name: Sheila Yasmin Marikar
Literary agent: Claire Friedman, Inkwell
Book title: Incidentals
Publisher: Little A
Release date: March 31, 2026
Genre/category: Literary Fiction
Previous titles: Friends in Napa, The Goddess Effect
Elevator pitch: A couple’s luxury vacation in the Maldives takes a sinister turn when they’re befriended by two wealthy strangers—could this trip destroy their marriage or be the best thing that ever happened to it?
What prompted you to write this book?
I first visited the Maldives in 2021 and was struck by both its natural beauty and how far away it felt from the rest of the world. Many resorts occupy an island all their own, and when you’re in an overwater bungalow, with a few wooden stanchions separating you from the deepest ocean in the world … it can feel kind of eerie. It seemed like a great place to set a story where things can be both over the top and horribly wrong.
I’ve talked with hoteliers about how often couples fight on vacation. Unmoored from their daily routines, two people can lose their cool pretty quickly, and it doesn’t matter how fabulous the hotel is—if anything, the more expensive the place, the worse the fights. A “seven star” resort in the Maldives felt like prime territory for arguments of all kinds.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
The idea of setting a book in the Maldives crystalized in 2024, but initially the novel was going to be about a beauty influencer retreat gone wrong. As I started writing, I realized I didn’t know enough about the machinations of beauty influencing to skewer it convincingly, and I didn’t want to go the distance with the characters I’d conceived. I decided to write about something closer to home, which is a couple navigating the ups and downs of marriage and adulthood.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
The narrative shift during the “reveal” came as a surprise. I didn’t know that I wanted to do that until I got there and realized that I wanted to see the drama from a different perspective—neither Sarah nor Sam’s.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
That no relationship is perfect, and appearances often mean nothing.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Don’t be precious about your process. Write on your phone, on a scrap of paper, on whatever you have on hand, for whatever time you’ve got—five minutes or 50, an hour or 10. It all adds up.
