The Monster interviews Anthony Standcomb about leaving urban living for a new life on a remote island off the coast of Croatia and the book about that journey, Notes from a Very Small Island.

Notes from a very small island is mainly a collection of experiences surrounding the island of Vis. Are you speaking from personal experience when it comes to the books content?
Yes. We moved to the island a few years ago.

Click to see more beautiful photos of the island of Vis!

I consider this book nonfiction. Is it all nonfiction or were there parts where you had to take some creative liberties?
It’s all non-fiction – though as in the disclaimer on the information page at the front, I do admit that I have changed a lot of names, times and places to help the narrative flow and I have on some occasions embellished a few of the stories to make them more entertaining. 90% of it is completely factual, however.

Why do you think it’s important to tell these stories?
I want to get everyone to feel what I felt and to appreciate the strange but wonderful island I live on.

Dario had outspoken views in regards to Croatia becoming a part of the EU. What are your views on this subject?
As it turned out Dario (and I) were probably wrong. The economy got so bad in Croatia that they do need the EU hand-outs!

Follow the author: GoodReads | Website