Charmer Boy Gypsy Girl received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Shannon Harrington.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Charmer Boy Gypsy Girl; published: 11/21/2017
What’s the book’s first line?
“Bosko stared into the mirror, uncertain of the image he saw.”
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
Charmer Boy, Gypsy Girl is a saga of love based on the real-life events of the celebrated pair Bosko and Admira, also known as the Romeo and Juliet of Sarajevo who fall in love against the backdrop of a soon-to-be war-torn country. Over and over, Bosko and Admira promise they will be together, no matter what happens. Hope and despair, love and hate, ideals and pragmatism…all tie themselves together, showing the difficulty of being human in the midst of inhumanity. Caught in the vortex of a war they lived their lives with passion and unbounded love for each other and were never parted even as they were betrayed to their enemies by Bosko’s closest friend.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
An inspiring documentary on PBS Frontline – about Admira and Bosko
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
If you want to place yourself in a historic event and witness the story unraveling in front of your eyes, pick this book! It will break your heart and gray your world, but, in the end, it will leave you satisfied with a feeling that love triumphs all.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
The most distinctive aspect about the two main characters [Admira and Bosko] is their courage and will to survive while caught along with a half million other Sarajevans in the midst of the Siege of Sarajevo. Their resoluteness to never be parted or abandon one another when the possibility of escaping the city becomes available to Bosko. Who refuses to leave Admira putting his life in peril everyday he remains. Their choice to live and love against the odds, to choose love over death.
When did you first decide to become an author?
I first started writing poetry at a very young age. I continue to do so and now have developed a love for prose.
Is this the first book you’ve written?
Yes. This is the first novel I have completed. I have just completed my second novel which is with my editor being edited.
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
I work in the Financial Services Industry.
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
When I am not working at my job in Financial Services I am writing, crafting my next story. Typically I write every day at least 4 hours a day.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
Best part of being an Indie – I get to throw my hat into the ring and see if I have what it takes to tough it out.
Hard part of being an Indie – I get to throw my hat into the ring and see if I have what it takes to tough it out.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
Never stop for anything! Keep writing. It was the best advice I received from many authors when I was a young man and just commenced my journey as a writer.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
Yes I would go the traditional route if a publisher came calling but it would have to make sense to me both from the standpoint of having the novel receive their marketing and publicity machine, and that the compensation I receive be robust.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune? more sex?)
All Three. I am told that an honest conversationalist possibly makes for an honest writer. Everything else takes care of itself, a good story will breathe and puff like a delicious a souffle’.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
Living: There are so so many whom I admire who write fiction and non-fiction. Camile Paglia, John Le Carre, Ann Rice, Umberto Eco [I think he passed] , Gregory David Roberts …just the tip of the iceberg of authors whose works I relish reading.
Dead: Hemmingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry Miller, George Orwell, Boris Pasternak, Turgenev, Gogol, Tolstoy Josh Masters, Goncourt brothers … to name just a few.
Which book do you wish you could have written?
The book that is currently in my head and requires more thought before I physically take pen in hand … the wait is excruciating.