This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
What perspectives or beliefs have you challenged with this work?
Let’s be clear, the genocide in Srebrenica was a monstrous, evil undertaking. The same goes for any of the bloody rampages in our collective history, whether it’s Bucha, My Lai, Rwanda, you name it. But while those who carry out or enable such atrocities should be held responsible, we sometimes forget that there are always perfectly rational and humane individuals within any national or ethnic group, too. It wasn’t explicitly my intention, but I hope Father of One evokes the idea that demonizing and stereotyping people based on their culture, religion or identity isn’t very constructive.
Did you include any hidden messages or Easter eggs in this book?
If I did, I wouldn’t advertise them. I don’t want to lead my readers by the hand, so it’s best they interpret everything through their own lens.
Do you work with editors? If so, what has your experience been with them?
When my first books got published in Finland, I was fortunate I could work with two very good editors. It was a major publisher and back then they had their own editors. A good one does far more than just fix grammar and typos, so it was like having someone in the literary trenches with me. My latest novel is through an indie publisher in the UK. This time I didn’t have the luxury of collaborating with a personal editor, but I commissioned a structural edit. It was also very helpful. Whether it’s been a full content edit or a light evaluation, every time working with an editor I’ve learned something, and I’ve come to enjoy the re-writing process. This is important for indie-published authors who, at the end of the day, must do most of the editing themselves.
What is your favorite television show?
I don’t have a TV or Netflix or such, so I wouldn’t know about any shows. I travel a lot, so I sometimes watch movies on airplanes. I usually go for anything that was filmed before the 2000s. I find the new CGI-riddled slop insufferable. It boils down to the same fundamentals as good literature: storytelling, dialogue and substance often suffer when a work relies too much on gimmicks meant to impress you.
Quote somebody from the top of your head.
“Don’t believe in anything they say – the day after yesterday is all it takes.” Buddha said so – take it from me.
Maka, a young Bosnian soldier, has survived three years under siege. When the enemy forces launch their final attack on his hometown, he must escape to the hills. But traversing the vast woods is a task against all odds: to stay alive, and to find his infant son and his wife, he is soon forced to make a desperate move.
Set against the harrowing background of raging guerrilla warfare and the genocide in Srebrenica, Father of One is, at heart, a story of deep humanity, compassion and love. It is the account of one man’s desire to reunite his family, separated by war, and of bonds unbroken by trauma, sustained by loyalty and tenacity. Writing in a voice that rings with clarity and authenticity, Jani Anttola lays open a dark moment in Europe’s recent history.
Enjoy an excerpt:
They walked up to the plaza where narrow streets led from the ancient town gate towards the centre of the promontory and the Saint George’s church and its cemetery gardens that overlooked the old fishing town. Most of the shops lining the plaza were shuttered. Turning up towards the rectory, they came to the café bar. A young, lean man in a dress shirt and round eyeglasses was sitting by the window with an espresso and listening to the radio that the waiter had placed on the counter. A newscast was on and a woman newsreader was talking in rapid, tense sentences about something.
“Good morning,” said the waiter. “Lovers up so early?” He was an acquaintance of the hotel owner, a smooth-mannered boy who came from the lavender country in Istria. The old man had recommended the place for their shop-roasted coffee.
“Good morning,” Maka said. Amelia dismissed the innuendo with a little laugh. “How are you?”
“I’m good as always.”
Maka, leaning to the counter and taking off his sun hat, looked at the radio. “What’s the news?”
“Their Teritorijalna Odbrana got the orders to start a counteroffensive.”
“No,” Amelia said, looking at the grave-faced waiter.
“When was that?” Maka asked.
“Last night. There’s armoured columns advancing towards Ljubljana. Six JNA brigades.”
“It’s happening too fast. They declared independence only three days ago.”
“Well, it’s happening, all right,” the waiter said. “Yesterday they shot down two helicopters. Now there’s fighting on the Italian border. The Slovenians have bogged the tanks down and are busting them.”
“But it’s insane,” Amelia said. “Everybody’s lost their mind.”
“The generals seem to think it makes perfect sense,” said the bespectacled man by the window. He lit a cigarette and blew smoke towards the ceiling, his head leaning back, then stared out to the street, where a group of loud young men was passing, waving Croatian flags.
Jani Anttola is a Finnish novelist and a medical doctor. In the 1990s he served in Rwanda with the French military and fought in Bosnia as a soldier of the Bosnian army. His works have been published in the UK and Finland. He has spent most of his adult life abroad, working in Africa, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific.
Website Buy the book at Amazon UK, Amazon, or Book Guild.
Thank you so much for featuring FATHER OF ONE and Jani Anttola today.
This looks like a brilliant novel. Thanks for sharing.
This sounds like a great read.
The book sounds very interesting, and intense. Thanks!
Sounds wonderful
Sounds like a very interesting story!