5. Ask the Author

[Fiorella]

BTW I am really enjoying the discussion!

[Fonch]

It is curious but i do not know another writer, who says the opposite. The Professor said to me the same. His characters has his own life. There is a novel written by my friend "The Jacob's ladder" about this topic.

[Emmy]

I occasionally write as well, and my characters have taken on their own personalities and motivations in ways that I did not expect. I think this enriches the narrative!

[Manuel]

Actually, as Fonch suggested, I am also an author who has been surprised by my characters, who sometimes do something completely different from what I had predicted they'd do.

Sometimes I wonder whether we'll meet our characters in the other life, together with our family and friends. I wouldn't consider it impossible :-)

[Fonch]

This Vicky Professor 😁. I have a big weakness for Arturo and León and i loved it the saga of the Magic Jigsaw. You have the discussion of this saga in this group.

[Emmy]

Fiorella, two more questions for you. What is your favorite of all the books you've written? And will you be collaborating with KV Turley again?

[Fonch]

Good questions 🤔. It would have to have done before 😲.

[Fiorella]

Good question! I always feel guilty naming a favourite book, it feels like admitting to having a favourite child 😁 however, I would probably say that Poor Banished Children is the book closest to my heart but I enjoyed writing A Most Dangerous Innocence most. In terms of future collaborations, I very much enjoyed working with KV Turley but he stopped talking to me nearly two years ago. My feeling is that novelists are soloists by nature 🙂

[Fonch]

Well i regret that Mr. Turley gave up speaking you after the writing of the novel "In this thing of darkness". I am for the Page 81 and it is very interesting. It is remembering interesting authors that i have read it before. This is a praise.

[Emmy]

Thank you, Fiorella! I'll have to check out A Most Dangerous Innocence very soon! I'm sorry to hear about you and Mr. Turley. That was an amazing collaboration and I enjoyed it very much.

[John]

Fiorella wrote: "Interesting question re the life of the character. This may sound a bit mad, but I completely believe that my characters take on a life of their own. As the author, I create them, obviously, but th..."

I don't recall who, but I read a comment by a famous author who claimed that you haven't created a real character with depth if they don't surprise you (the author) from time to time.

[Emmy]

John wrote: "Fiorella wrote: "Interesting question re the life of the character. This may sound a bit mad, but I completely believe that my characters take on a life of their own. As the author, I create them, ..."

Hi, John: what a great quote!

[Don Mario]

Thank you, Fiorella, for writing such a beautiful book, and thanks to the group for choosing it!

I’ve shared my review here. I hope I’ve captured the theme accurately, and I also hope Fiorella won’t mind the reasons I didn’t give it a full five stars. (My heart wanted to so badly!)

One aspect I’d love for Fiorella to expand on is the fascinating paradox of telling a story that, since it’s shared in the context of a confession, will ultimately never be told! The idea that countless incredible stories remain untold—known only to God—is deeply thought-provoking. I sense you touch on this theme in this discussion, when you mention the untold heroism and sacrifice of so many, and here you’ve woven another narrative of hidden suffering and heroism into a novel.

Lastly, I warmly encourage Fiorella and everyone to read Bakita by Véronique Olmi. Sometimes, real-life stories can surpass even our wildest imagination! I'm not sure how to submit it for future voting, but it does deserve consideration.

[Manuel]

Don Mario wrote: "Lastly, I warmly encourage Fiorella and everyone to read Bakita by Véronique Olmi. Sometimes, real-life stories can surpass even our wildest imagination! I'm not sure how to submit it for future voting, but it does deserve consideration."

You should nominate it by adding a comment here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Emmy]

I agree with Manuel! I saw a film on St. Bakita a few years ago and it was excellent! I'd love to read about her, too.

[Fonch]

I watched the amazing movie about Bakhita directed by the italian Director Giacomo Campiotti. Excellent. It might be one of my favorite movie. I love the RAI's tv serie. This is the story of a Black slave converted to the catholic religion and she become a nun. I have been a big fool i would have to have thought in Bakhita. I express my thanks to Don Mario for posting this comment about Bakhita.

[Fiorella]

Don Mario thank you for a very thoughtful review. I would love an Italian publisher to produce an Italian language translation - perhaps someone will one day!

The paradox of the confession holds a clue about Warda's future. She muses 'if I die, my story will die with me." The implication is that she may live to tell it outside the confessional. One of the sad things about a time before easy communication is that the threads cannot always tie up. Fr Antonin cannot discover what happened to Warda after she vanished from his life, nor can Fr Dan. They can only hope and pray.

[Fiorella]

In terms of the positive depiction of the priesthood, that was entirely deliberate. I wanted to convey something of the extraordinary heroism of priests like Fr Dan (a real fugure) and a recusant like Fr Branton. However, Fr Antonin is a more ambiguous character, on the side of the angels, certainly, but at least some of his actions are troubling.

[Don Mario]

Fonch wrote: "I watched the amazing movie about Bakhita directed by the italian Director Giacomo Campiotti. Excellent. It might be one of my favorite movie. I love the RAI's tv serie. This is the story of a Blac..."

I missed the film! Thank you Emmy and Fonch for mentioning it. And I do agree that RAI is producing amazing stuff, mainly thanks to the fact that the best (possibly only) script writing school here is that of the Catholic University of Milan. They are setting the standard, and it's a good one.

[Don Mario]

Fiorella wrote: "I would love an Italian publisher to produce an Italian language translation - perhaps someone will one day!

But for that, your novel needs to be known a little more. I will do what I can, though the only publisher I know personally is not very inclined to translations.

[Fiorella]

Maybe someone can persuade RAI to make a film 😁

[Fonch]

Fiorella wrote: "Maybe someone can persuade RAI to make a film 😁"
Who knows, maybe we'll see Warda's story one day. I've been interested in two Italian writers lately. There's a reason why they call me the collector of Catholic writers in two Italian women writers Elisabetta Sala and Vania Russo The latter usually likes my reviews and the progress of my readings.
Fiorella wrote: "Maybe someone can persuade RAI to make a film 😁"
Hopefully who knows. Anything is possible. I was a fan of a group of miniseries that in Spain was known as great stories, which divided the miniseries into two parts. Many were from RAI. I saw many American and Italian ones. My favorites were those of Merlin, Joan of Arc, the Ring of the Dragon, the princess and the beggar, and those of Bakhita and Moscati. Generally, except in the last two cases, the first episode was much better than the second.

[Jill]

I don't see threads relating to our October book, Beheading Hydra. I presume our moderator is otherwise occupied, and my husband and I leave early tomorrow morning for 16 days in Uganda, so I'm not likely to post again this month.
I've read about half of Longenecker's book and find it disappointing. He's witty, but his analysis tends to the superficial, as if poking fun at something proves it wrong, rather than taking seriously the contentions of those who don't share your worldview. For example, cathedrals don't prove anything about the truth of Christianity, and if you're going to make a contrast, it should be with the Taj Mahal, not a paltry pagan hut.
Is there no value to modern art?
Surely all efforts at ecumenism aren't based on indifferentism. There's great value, for example, in Catholic and Lutheran theologians being able to get beyond controversial terminology and anathemas to discover their profound agreement on salvation by grace alone.
I like the way he presents the Devil manipulating Scripture!
I tend to think engaged, committed Christians have always been a minority, sad to say.

[Mariangel]

Hi Jill, you can find the discussion about Beheading Hydra here:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

Enjoy your trip to Uganda!