Blog Archives
Romance, Travel, and Turmoils
Z. Vally Author Interview
The Green Line Divide is a genre-crossing novel with elements of romance, travelogue, and humor as well. Did you start writing with this in mind, or did this happen organically as you were writing?
Yes, I entered a Commonwealth competition in my younger days and in my mature years i expanded it. So, i already had a skeleton, and this is why romance comes late as the hero was not in my competition story. Truthfully, i did not think much about romance at that time in my youth.
I found Alexis to be a very well written and in depth character. What was your inspiration for her and her emotional turmoil through the story?
She is what i was when i was in my twenties, and perhaps what i would have like to be. And, some turmoils, both inner and external are true.
This novel does a fantastic job of exploring the culture of the places that Alexis visits? Did you do a lot of research to maintain accuracy of the subject?
Yes, a lot of research had gone into it. eg for skiing i contacted the ski club in Cyprus; researched on fruits and vegs for the seasons; timings for boat travel between the two islands; vintage cars and perfumes; it took me 3 days to find something on Russia and i came up with the Russian watch anthem; i phoned around to ask for Cyprus beverages; I contacted the Cyprus and Swedish embassies in the UK who provided me with correct information, eg on Swedish wedding traditions, and Cyprus on the boundary greenline between the north and the south. And since i have lived in Cyprus and visited Rhodes Island, it was not difficult to visualise and write about it.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be published?
I have started one which i have put aside as i am concentrating on hospital training as a clinical coder. The next book will be romantic again but more of a serious nature. It has started off on a comical political footing though.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon.uk | Amazon
![The Green Line Divide: Romance, Travel, and Turmoils by [Vally, Z]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Uc1oiICvL.jpg)
Romance, humour, and drama abound in this fast-paced, playful novel–and so, too, do questions and surprises. The Green Line Divide: Romance, Travel, and Turmoils encounters readers with people from various parts of the world, including exotic destinations like Cyprus and the Greek island of Rhodes. And follow a young woman named Alexis as she struggles with gamophobia and tries to come to terms with her independence, relationships, and the future.
Smitten with a handsome Swede named Sven, a United Nations officer, Alexis plans to marry him, but has a lot of issues to confront if she’s to make it down the aisle–and, as she confronts them, The Green Line Divide is sure to touch your heart, educate you, tickle your funny bone, and put a smile on your face.
Will Alexis ever marry? Or will she find an excuse to run away from it all–again? Step into this book for answers. Along the way, you’ll also learn new travel, leisure, and entertainment ideas.
Review: Game by Anders de la Motte
‘The game’, as it’s called in the book, gives egocentric narcissists with impulse control issues something to do with their free time. It’s a game with real world consequences and real world rewards. HP is a recent inductee into the game and quickly finds himself the center of attention for his criminal exploits done in the name of the game. But one rule of the game, like Fight Club, is you don’t talk about the game. When HP breaks the rule he becomes the target of other players that are trying to come up through the ranks. To stay alive HP has to separate fact from game fiction. He starts seeing the tentacles of the game all around him. The game is everywhere, the game is everyone; you are either a player or a pawn.
There are two main characters in the book; HP and his sister Rebecca. HP is the stand out character in the novel, someone you love to hate for his selfish and arrogant ways, but his love for his sister grounds him and spotlights his humanity. Most of the entertainment in the book surrounds HP and his work for or against the game. Rebecca’s character seems to serve the purpose of telling the families tragic back story, and in these instances the novel seems to suffer from slow uninteresting story telling. Even the moments where Rebecca is not lamenting her past she’s stuck describing her ordinary encounters at work or at home. Her story is interesting only in those rare moments where her story intersects with HP’s. The only reason why I gave this a rating of 3 out of 5 is because Rebecca’s story takes up about half the book. On the other hand there’s HP: smart, witty, resourceful and generally a jerk. His story is really the backbone of the novel. He’s uncovering secrets of the rich and powerful, evading the police, vandalizing, fighting, terrorizing and running for his life all in the name of the game.
The book is a translation from a Swedish book called, Geim. I didn’t see any hiccups in the translation. Dialogue seemed a bit awkward at times, but I doubt that’s due to translation issues. One thing was odd for a Swedish book; there was a lot of references to US culture and locations. I wonder if these were inserted for an American audience or if it was in the book the whole time and my world views are just very limited or depreciating to the US, lol.
Paperback: 368 pages
Published: December 5th 2013 by Blue Door
ISBN13: 9780007500277
LITERARY TITAN 