I’m happy to welcome novelist and medical doctor Jani Anttola. Today, he shares his creative journey and new release, Father of One.

How did you come up with the title for your book?

Father of One is a story about a soldier who is trapped in the war in Bosnia and who has never met his infant son. His wife was pregnant when she managed to get out. It’s a true story, and one reason why the husband survived was, in fact, that he’d never seen his child. So, the choice of words was sort of obvious. Initially I wanted to call the book Fathers and Sons, but that bloody Turgenev had already stolen the title from me a hundred and fifty years ago.

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

No, I don’t see why I would. My first work was a memoir from the time I was a volunteer soldier in the Bosnian government army. It was a dirty war, but I had nothing to hide, and I believe that in the historical context, with that sort of subject, you want to stay accountable to the maximum extent. Writing under a pseudonym would have felt somehow underhanded.

What part of the writing process do you dread?

Not the writing itself, but what comes after: trying to convince someone in an agency to read more than the first line of my e-mail. If they do, then more than two lines of the synopsis. And if they continue, maybe they’ll read more than the opening paragraph of the manuscript. And if you do get published, the self-promotion. I’m not much of a talker. I’d rather just write and let my work speak for itself.

Are there any books or authors that inspired you to become a writer?

I read a lot when I was a kid, mostly classics, and I thought it was impressive how someone from a hundred years ago could speak to me that way. I don’t remember any specific author who made me want to write. Instead I just had some stories that I wanted to tell. Then, who knows, maybe I’ll also speak to somebody who comes a hundred years after me.

How can writers balance creativity with marketability?

The two don’t seem to depend on each other much, so just stay true to yourself.

Blurb

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.

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.

Author Bio and Links

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 | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Guild

Giveaway

A randomly chosen winner will receive a $25 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card. Find out more here.

Follow the author on the rest of his Goddess Fish tour here.