Today we talk about Dragonflies, a book by Anthony Caine published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Anthony Caine to get to know him better, what prompted him to the writing of his book Dragonflies, as well as why he choose a dragonfly as the connector among the stories here told.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- What is the moment that brought you to the writing of your book?
In the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic, my planned trip to visit my son and my 3 young grandchildren had just been cancelled for a second time. It was unclear when and if international travel restrictions would ever be lifted. My own two grandfathers had both died before I was born. The little information I have learned about who they were has all been acquired from second or third hand sources. By writing Dragoinflies, I was able to give my grandchildren, Isabella, Hudson, and Austin an opportunity to learn something about their grandfather, his personal tribulations and his personal values. Writing Dragonflies proved to be an effective catharsis — a means by which I would successfully navigate my way through my personal recovery after a recent divorce. A personal transformation that my grandchildren are as a result now able to witness.
- What is the message you want to communicate to your readers?
The 20 sequential short stories in Dragonflies allow the reader to witness a journey of personal revalidation, a transformation, a type of rebirth experienced by a man well into his later years of life. Along the way, using the magic of mysticism as a cleansing agent, the emotional baggage of the protagonist’s unfortunate past is confronted and reconciled. What is the message? Difficult to say. Maybe that it is never too late to come to terms with our past and to step into new labyrinths — to embrace life’s perpetual, affectionate mysticism.
- Why did you choose a dragonfly as the connector among the stories?
You are asking me to explain why the collection of stories is entitled Dragonflies. This, I will not do. The question is to be answered by each reader individually. It is part of the book’s mystery.
- How would you define your writing style?
I don’t know that I have a writing style. I didn’t sit down with the intent to write 20 interconnected short stories. They emerged individually, and on their own. For example, the ending was not known until the last story was written. I was reading a number of works of non-fiction at the time. (The reader is given reference to many of these works in Dragonflies’ stories.) As I read these works, the stories emerged organically, without forethought or contrivance. Your question brings to mind the words of the Czech author, Bohumil Hrabel, who in his essay Why I Write, explains:
…And so I wrote for the sheer pleasure of writing, for that kind of euphoria in which, though sober, I showed signs of intoxication. And so I wrote according to the laws of reflection, the reflection of my crazy existence…
- Are you working on a new writing project you can tell us about?
In Dragonflies’ story number 8, Café Central, Jorge Louis Borges states that “black swans” provide fertile material for writers. All three of my published works: Fog Bound, Passage to Yarmouth, and Dragonflies, have emerged in response to my confrontation with black swans. No, I am not working on another writing project at the moment. I am waiting to encounter another black swan.
Europe Books thanks the author Anthony Caine once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside him on the editorial path that led to the publication of his book Dragonflies. We wish him the best of luck for his book and for his future works.
To you, my dear reader, may this book inspire with your personal revalidation and transformation, as the author says about his book. Remember to never give and always remember it’s never to late! Ever!
So, my dear reader, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading!
Your Editor