A collector
of kaleidoscopes and lousy relationships, Dahlia Kasper leaves her possessive
alcoholic mother and moves from New York to Barcelona. In search of lost bits
of her childhood, she starts living in an apartment where her father was
murdered when she was four. As soon as she enters the apartment, strange things
begin to happen.
Her favorite kaleidoscope becomes a gateway to another dimension where she
encounters a ghost of a famous physicist from the 19th century who tries to
persuade her that reality is like a moth-eaten sweater - full of holes. He
needs her to help him plug up these holes and save the world from vanishing,
while the only thing Dahlia really wants to save is her sanity.
This is just a part of Dahlia's problems. An elderly cello-playing neighbor
turns her emotional world upside down and her longing for lost home takes her
further than she ever imagined she could go. To collect all the scattered
kaleidoscope-bits of her life together, Dahlia needs to go through an intense
inner transformation that takes courage and a sharp sense of humor.
1. If you could work
with any other author, who would it be and why?
At this
moment, it would be Scarlett Thomas, the author of fantastic novels The End
of Mr. Y and Our Tragic Universe. There is a certain surreal note in
her writing, which I find very inspiring. She's fascinated by quantum physics
and I'm fascinated by human psyche. Through our characters, we both question
the nature of this reality and I believe that we share a similar love for big
and weird ideas. Who knows what fictional reality would emerge from
interweaving our two perspectives.
2. What would be a typical
working day for you? When and where do you write?
I write in
my study room in the mornings, usually from 7 till 10. This is the only time I
can write, because later on, real people's stories drag my attention away from
my fictional stories. I work as a psychotherapist and conduct a writing therapy
program, which is really fulfilling, but also demanding, so whenever I can, I
run over to a nearby café Laganini (this means Easily). In Laganini
I often think about the plot and characters or write answers to an
interview (as I am doing now) into my yellow-green notebook. In the evening, I
usually watch a movie with my boyfriend or hang out with friends.
3. What is the hardest part of
the writing for you?
When I
write two thirds of a novel and realize that I have to start leading the story
towards an end, I face some kind of an emotional wall. I feel disconnected from
the inner world of my heroine and need some time to collect myself. I know her
world will become alive again in the mind of a reader, but the process of
creation will end, and when I see it from my heroine's perspective, it's like
facing the end of the world. The borders will be set, the creative movement
will stop. For me, this is disturbing.
4. When and why did you first
start writing?
I was nine
years old and I wanted to share a secret with my father. I wrote it on a piece
of paper and gave it to him. He didn't really get it, but the paper did. The
paper had fully accepted what I wrote - without distortion, without judgement,
without advice. I think this was the seed of my love towards writing, which
later evolved into writing diaries, poetry and prose.
5. How did you come up with the
idea for your book?
The idea for
Kaleidoscope World was "kaleidoscopic" from the very beginning. First
I had the pieces: kaleidoscope as a magical object, cellist with a missing
finger and a half-crazy heroine. These pictures/ideas were somehow magnetic to
me, and when I put them together, they created the main idea: kaleidoscope as a
tunnel to another dimension. Which dimension is real - this one or that one? I
won't explain the cellist's role, because I don't want to spoil the reading.
What I want to point out is that the plot somehow created itself. I just had to
shake up the kaleidoscope bits, and the whole picture was there. Once I had it,
I dove into it and wrote Kaleidoscope World pretty smoothly in less then a
year.
6. Are you a big
reader? If so, what are you reading now?
(I would
skip this question, because unfortunately I don't have time for reading! I was
a big reader for years, but now - writing is priority).
7. Do you have any advice for
other aspiring writers?
Connect
with your main character closely. Think about her often. Treat her as your
imaginary friend. Don't just use her to tell the story that you want to tell.
Let her tell you her story too.
