Our interview today is with Serafima Bogomolova the author of My Trickster. Before we get to the interview a brief book description: When enigmatic Angela Moreaux, a woman he thought he had exorcised from his brain, calls and asks for his help, reluctant, but unable to resist, a hedge fund owner and an expert in stock market manipulation, Juan MacBride flies out to Moscow. On his arrival a bitter disappointment awaits him as he finds out that Angela fails to show up for their meeting in the Ritz. Instead, Juan is greeted by an elderly Swiss gentleman, who passes a mysterious note to him embarking Juan on a journey of discoveries that he wishes he never made…Interview with Serafima Bogomolova
1. What’s on your desk?
I have got a big glass desk with things that either inspire or delight me: for example, there are always some fresh flowers, colorful crayons, my diary with daily quotes from Paulo Coelho books, two big Swarovski crystals, a Bedouin sculpture from Sicily, and a Murano glass female devil playing a violin.
2. What is your favorite book from childhood?
My favourite book from childhood is ‘Dunno’ (Know-Nothing) by Soviet children’s writer Nikolay Nosov. This was my very first book that I ‘read’ at the early age of 4. I loved its illustrations and strange symbols, letters and words, that I studied for hours trying to figure out how they were all connected. Then I would take it to my father and ask him to read it to me. And while he was reading it, I would memorize the story page by page, and then later, on my own I would flip through it and ‘read’ it reciting it by heart.
3. How did you get interested in writing?
As far as I remember I have always been interested in writing. I cannot recall a precise moment in time when I realised I want to be a writer. Deep in my heart I have always known that. It is just that until recently I was not ready to properly acknowledge my own talent and share my writings with wide audience. But now I do, and that is why I have written my first book, ‘My Trickster’.
4. Please tell us a little about your debut novel ‘My Trickster’.
I started ‘My Trickster’ in January 2011 and finished it beginning of December 2011. The book is partly based on true events, and all of the characters are based on real people whom I have met and dealt with in my life. The story line was developing as I wrote, I never planned anything in advance, I even did not know what the end would be until one day I saw it in my mind’s eye. The title for the book came to me when I was half way through the story. But one thing for sure, I knew from the very beginning that it is going to be a thriller, a fast paced one, with many twists.
5. What inspired you to write the book?
My own life!
1. What is unique about the setting of My Trickster and how does it enhance the story?
The uniqueness of the setting of My Trickster book is in its movement related attributes such as cars, trains, hotels, planes, and airports. The book is set in four locations: Moscow, St Petersburg, Geneva, and Venice. It is this international travelling flavour that gives the story a sense of a journey through time and space. The settings and the attributes used in the book in connection to the main characters also help to unfold the story and show progress in their relationships.
2. What specific themes did you emphasize throughout My Trickster?
There are three main themes that are continuously emphasized throughout the book: internal conflicts of the main characters saturated with doubts, mistrust, and misperceptions; relationships between women and men corrupted with psychological games; and ‘nothing as it seems’ situations presented through different perspectives and angles.
3. What were you trying to get across to the reader?
My goal was to show the reader that life is a game with many unknowns. That it can be scary in its unpredictability. That we live our life making decisions and placing judgments based on a handful of knowns without realizing it can be just a mere illusion. The story of ‘My Trickster’ is like a train journey: the characters get on and off, some stay for a longer period, and some just for few episodes, some of them the reader gets to know better than others, and some remain in shadows for the duration of the journey with very little information revealed about them. Just like in life.
4. Do your characters seem real and believable? Can you relate to their predicaments?
Yes, very much so, simply because they are drawn from the real life people I have met in my life. Their predicaments are very much my predicaments especially the ones of a main heroine, because she is drawn from me, and lots of traits of her character are the ones that I display. The predicaments and dilemmas she faces during the story are the ones I have faced in my life on numerous occasions.
5. Did certain parts of the book make you uncomfortable?
Yes, there is an erotically charged scene towards the end of the book that makes me particularly uncomfortable. I have written it because the story required it, however, after finishing the book I could not bring myself to re-read it. It is not quite clear to me yet why this particular scene makes me uncomfortable because I am a very open minded person when it comes to erotic and sexual expressions. I hope the answer to this perplexing question will come to me one day.
7. What research did you have to perform to back up your story? Any research, which really opened your eyes or gave you new respect for a topic or profession?
Since my story is based on real people and true events, I did very little research to back up my story. It was backed up by the reality itself. However, I did do some research on places and some products I mentioned in the book, just to make sure there are no errors in their names and descriptions.
8. What is your method for writing a book?
I do not have any particular method or a writing routine. I write when I feel like and have something to say. When I write I use my writing ‘clairvoyance’, in other words my creative intuition. I feel my way through a story, moving forward one step at a time. I try to be as careful and gentle with my creations as I can. Sometimes, pushing too much can destroy the magic of creative process. Some days, I don’t feel like writing at all, and I do not attempt to. When I was writing ‘My Trickster’ I felt as if I was guided through the story: it was literally unfolding right before my eyes. I ‘watched’ my book as if it was a movie!
9. What did you find out after finishing MY TRICKSTER? What weren’t you expecting?
The most important finding for me after finishing ‘My Trickster’ was discovery of my own unique writing style. The style I was not aware of, but which crystallised in the cause of writing my first book.
What I did not expect is that on completion of the book I would immediately start missing the connection I had with my own creation. But, I felt that I had to distance myself from it, in order for the book to start living its own life.
Learn More:
Book site: http://mytricksterbook.com/
Personal site: www.serafimabogomolova.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/
Twitter: @MyTrickster
Buy the book:
Amazon – My Trickster
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