When did you first WANT to write a book?

Since I was very young, I have loved reading and writing.

Every day, I spent hours imagining characters and situations and then would sit down and write for hours.

I would be inspired by anything I would see in my surroundings, and I would come up with a story just by looking at the cloud shapes. Fiction and adventure were my favourite subjects, and I felt very inspired by Jules Verne and Alexander Dumas, amongst many other adventure writers.

At 17, I finished my first handwritten book; it was a collection of children’s stories, which my friends and family enjoyed. But I had so many other interests and hobbies, so I did not see writing as something I should pursue and took it only as a pastime.

I concentrated my efforts on my university degree and my passion for software programming and astronomy projects. Writing became something that I used to do, nothing more.

More than thirty years after that first book, I found myself wondering, “What If..?” I believe that it is never too late when you are determined to achieve something, so I started to get back into writing.

Writing a book in English was an amazing challenge for me, plus I had to do it while working full-time.

It has taken me five years to see my book project finished, and I hope readers find it as fascinating as I do.

When did you take a step to start writing?

I’ve always been fascinated by science and technology and the intense emotions stirred by love stories. Hence I started wondering, “How powerful can love be?”

I had a lot of ideas in my head, and the more I thought about them, the more ideas came.

Eventually, I had to sit in front of the computer and write down all these stories, whether they made sense or not. It was such a relief to see all my ideas come to life in the form of written words on a document. Then after that, I could not stop.

Then I realised that my ideas were developing into a love story set in a science-fiction background where I could let my imagination go free without limits.

I found the creation process so enjoyable and satisfying that I had to write something every evening after dinner. It did not take long to set myself targets and goals and take my writing seriously.

Five years later, my book “The Space Traveller’s Lover” was published

How long did it take you to complete your first book from the first idea to release?

It took me five years to complete my book, from the first idea to release. As I am working full-time, I only could write in the evenings and at weekends. The process of writing, reviews, illustrations and interior design was very time-consuming but very satisfying as I achieved every milestone.

Focusing on your latest release. What made you want to write this book?

Since I was very young, I have always wanted to write a book. I love writing, especially about a subject close to my heart, like science and technology.

Once I had so many ideas inside my head that I could possibly hold, I knew I had to write them down and develop them further, so I set out to achieve exactly that.

What were your biggest challenges with writing it?

One of my biggest challenges was writing in English since it is not my first language. Although having lived in the UK for thirty years, all my thoughts are in English.

I had so many characters and subplots that it was challenging to organise the whole book. So I had to draw out the scenes and the character’s physiques and make a wall chart where I could place carton cards containing a summary of each chapter to set up a storyboard from the initial, middle and final scenes.