Hello Lovelies,
So one incredible thing I have been able to do this
year was interview Katarina West as well as review her book! The book
review is first and then is the interview in this post! I hope you enjoy!
Katarina's newest book that
she has released is called 'Absolute Truth, For Beginners'. The book is the
second written by Katarina and I have to say I loved it! Elisa Mancini is the
main character whom I was easily able to relate to. She is very insecure and
has little confidence in herself. She is also like me, a book nerd. She much
prefers them to people.
On
the other hand we have the popular. Judith Shapiro is intelligent and
the ruler of everyone around her. What will happen when the two worlds collide
and Elisa realises that she is truly, madly, deeply in love with Judith... who
is the same gender as her.
I don't want to spoil too
much of the story for you, but you can read the book following the journey of
the two girls becoming who they are. Will it be okay in society for them to be
together? Will Judith's social status be ruined? Like I said I don't want to
give away much of the book but I am giving it 5 stars out of 5. The books
written exceptionally well and I love how the story evolves. Anyway I
will leave my review there.
The
book will be officially published on the 15th of December however you can
currently pre-order it on amazon. For the first two weeks it will only be £0.99 however
it will be £3.99 from then onwards.
So as I said above I was able to also ask Katarina some
questions which I felt extremely privileged to do! You can read all about it
below.
Who was your inspiration off
for Elisa Mancini? (Or did you think of it all on your own?)
This novel grew really
slowly. In the first versions it was a fantasy story about a school for
talented children, and Elisa’s predecessor was one of the students. She was
some ten years younger then. Then I decided to make her older, and get rid of
the school. It really was a slow process, making this story come alive.
Where did you come up with
the idea for your book (inspiration)?
Well, I was fascinated with
the notion of time… I knew I wanted to write about it, but I didn’t know what.
So I kept collecting material. And then I started to create characters, and
think what might happen to them.
What is the hardest thing you
have come across when writing a book?
Maybe there isn’t any single
thing that is hard, but rather the fact that you are creating an entire world
all by yourself, and at times that can be overwhelming, and confusing, and even
lonely. Having said that, this is also one of the best things about writing a
novel. It’s a double-edged sword!
Whenever I write a blog post
I like to be in a quiet environment normally my bedroom. Where is your
preferred place to write?
I have my study. I can write
elsewhere too if I must, but without doubt that’s where I work best. It’s
almost as if I feel the presence of my characters when I enter my study.
When did you realise that you
wanted to become an author?
I was about twelve years old.
I actually solemnly vowed, to myself and to all higher powers present at that
moment, that one day I was going to write stories. Later on, when there were
difficult periods with writing, I always came back to that decision.
Are there any writers whom
you looked up to as a child?
Agatha Christie, for example.
I read the children’s section in our public library rather quickly, and
continued reading adult books, especially suspense. And then I started to write
murder stories à la Agatha Christie. I was probably about ten years old. The
problem was, I was so afraid of my own stories that I couldn’t get any sleep at
night. That was my first creative crisis!
Did you enjoy English when
you were at school?
Oh, absolutely. But I must
admit I was a bit lazy with languages. I come from a bilingual family – my
father speaks Swedish and my mother Finnish – so I got used to the idea that
you don’t have to sweat that much to learn languages. Till I started to study
French in my teens, and couldn’t understand a word of it! French is still my
weak point. I just can’t figure it out. Sometimes when my writing isn’t going
well, I take a pause and read irregular French verbs. It actually helps, you
know.
Do you have any tips for
aspiring writers?
Read, read, read. Plus, write
daily – a thousand words a day keeps the writer’s block away! There are so many
wonderful tips for writers, but I think these two are the most important ones.
Because if you read and write regularly and as much as you can, you have to get
somewhere.
I hope you have enjoyed this blog
post! I would like to thank Katarina for giving me this opportunity, and you
can find her at all the links below!
-Abigail x
