Author Spotlight: Aleksandr Jarid
From the imagination of self-published writer, Aleksandr Jarid comes Fateful Hope, a quick-witted and thrilling debut novel which splices adventure, romance, and adds more than a few twists along the way. It tells the tale of two lovers, whose encounter with one another leads to a web of deception, conspiracy and danger. Before they know it, the fate of a great deal more than their own lives are at stake. Weaving an intricate narrative across various timeframes and set across an expanse of locations, Fateful Hope may well keep readers hooked until the very last page.
It was therefore The Book Network’s great honour to talk to Aleksandr Jarid about all things Fateful Hope, and the creative processes that went into the novel’s formation, starting with what we can expect from the book. As Jarid explained, the intention was to take the reader through two separate journeys: The first being some of the iconic cities of the world, and the second, a journey of emotions.
‘The book lends itself to have the reader thrown into the mix of a heartbreaking love story that turns on its head to evolve into conspiracy, deception and murder. The book is full of twists and turns that keeps the adrenaline pumping from the first page. But the adventure it takes the reader on rests on the backdrops of some beautiful cities in Europe. There is history and culture teased throughout the narrative of the book and this was how I wanted the reader to really fall in love with the real physical aspects of the story. So they can actually follow in the paths of the characters and feel, touch, smell, taste every emotion that they experienced... Hopefully not the murder bit.
‘I think the overarching theme and moral of this story is that nothing is ever what it seems on the surface. Sometimes happy endings are not always the best endings.’
Aleksandr went on to tell The Book Network what originally inspired him to write the novel, and how difficult personal times and the challenges accompanying them paved the way for that powerful creative outlet of writing and storytelling.
‘There were a number of personal and professional aspects of my life that I was dealing with all at once, and it got to a point where I struggled to cope with everything. It was at that time that I decided to find a therapist to help walk me through all those aspects. I recall, looking back now, how difficult it was for me to talk in the sessions. I would attend week after week and struggle to verbalise aspects that I was struggling with. My therapist was, and still is, amazing. One way she taught me to try to allow my thoughts or emotions to come out and be processed was to just write them down on paper. I did not have to do anything with them, but just write them down…
‘That is how my writing journey began. I will leave the judgement to the reader to identify what aspects could or could not be based on real events. However, I personally feel the more I write now, the stronger I become as a writer as I am constantly learning more and more on the details of beautiful narrative formation.’
Jarid does indeed demonstrate a clear passion for his craft in Fateful Hope, and with hidden mysteries unlocked at every turn, readers are kept constantly on the edge of their seat in anticipation of what secrets are revealed in both the past and present tenses of the novel. Aleksandr reveals some of the challenges that came with writing such a fast paced story, whilst humbly acknowledging the learning curves of this process.
‘If I could look back now and do this novel again, I would make the timelines so much more simple. I think I was way too confident in my own skin at that time to try and write a manuscript that is clever. But it was so challenging to really keep the plot lines all going where they should be and make sense at the meaningful times of the story. There would be aspects of the story, a tiny clue, in the beginning of the book, that would be so important later in the story and that was a challenge to make sure it all made sense to the reader.
‘I also made it even more complex because I wanted to fill the backstory of the characters, which was more of a softer storyline compared to the fast paced main narrative of the story. So I had to be careful not to confuse or lose the reader totally. I still feel I have not got it spot on. But that is the beauty of developing as a writer.’
Credit to Aleksandr, there probably isn’t an aspiring writer reading this who won’t relate to that testimony. And so, we have some of the inner mechanics of Jarid’s writing covered. But what about the most enjoyable parts of writing a book?
‘There are a few things we all do as humans. I mean, more than just being born and breathing and so on. We all dream. Be that when we sleep or day dream in the day time. The one thing that is fundamental to me with creating a novel is exactly that: Dreaming. I don’t often plan a novel or story line. I let my thoughts just come out and let any dreams just come out on paper. Once I have a rough idea of a plot line, I then use that as an excuse to actually teach myself something that I have passion about.
‘I love history and art. Art in the sense of both structural and paint form. So I would then add aspects of that in my writing, so I force myself to go and research that aspect of a building, a city, a painting and so on. It takes me on my own journey of discovery when I write. As an example with Fateful Hope, the locations are real locations that I actually visited to feel everything that the character would feel so I could try to paint the picture with the words…’
…Art of course is one of the biggest hooks of Fateful Hope, and one of Aleksandr’s greatest inspirations going into the creation of this book. This however, was not his only influence…
‘As I have mentioned, art and history and locations are a big aspects of my loves. So I wanted to share those with the reader and the creative process. So you will quickly see that the book has many of the great masters of the renaissance art period referenced in the story. I would read about a certain artist or work of art and weave that into the story. Italy is one of my great places in Europe, so this book naturally has a lot of creative inspiration from there.
‘When I write, I always have music in my ears. The music would reflect the tone and pace of the emotion I am writing for that particular moment. As part of the novels, I created a playlist to really get me and the readers using as many senses as they can to feel the narrative. The natural books that I gravitate to read tend to be a mixture of genres. I will be honest, the classics, I still have a long way off getting to really admire and fall in love with them. I am a big fan of John le Carré and have many of his 1st signed edition novels. I have read Terry Hayes’, I am Pilgrim 5 times now, and still am fascinated by his writing.’
With Aleksandr having developed such a strong passion for writing as well as the world of books, other authors hoping to follow in his footsteps will be pleased to hear that he was keen to pass on his advice.
‘First and foremost, before putting pen to paper, ask why you want to write. If you are writing to earn millions and get a film deal and have a massive house in the hills and 7 cars, well, save yourself the heartache and keep that pen and paper in that draw. The literature world, just like any other creative industry, has changed so much. Gone are the days of getting publishing deals that will earn you millions. It's so competitive and everyone wants to be the next Stephen King or Margaret Atwood. For any new writer, please, be realistic and write for yourself.’
‘Write because it’s your passion, your craft, something that is personal to you. Fall in love with your creative process, make it fun and enjoyable so you can then also deal with the frustrations and anger that often come with any form of writing. But if you remember the passion and personal aspect of the writing for you, then that is the key to keep you forming the plot lines and developing your characters. Be proud that you are allowing the world to view your mind. If some people don’t like it, well they can read other things, can’t they!’
‘And the future for Aleksandr and his Fateful Hope series…’
‘Fateful Hope has now turned into a trilogy. I think as I wrote Fateful Hope, I knew it was probably heading that way. Perhaps even to write some short stories around the main narrative. I have finished part 2, which is with the editors and I am half way through part 3. Which I based in Florence and Paris, as I wanted to go there.
‘There are 2 other books that I have finished. Sunflower which will be out later this year and 23 Minutes. Both of these books again are very emotive, personal and share many of my passions. 23 Minutes was a very much experimental way of writing which I hope readers enjoy. There is also an anthology of short stories out under the name, Mask Of Lies. It has 5 short stories which were fun to write and cover a number of twists and plot lines.’
Great to hear that there is so much in the pipeline. You can check out these novels and more from Aleksandr Jarid at his Website. Follow him on Twitter at @JaridAleksandr
