Photo credits: 9699186 - pixabay Edited by Vaishali I'm so pleased to have had the opportunity to interview Sarah Beth Goncarova, author of Harnessing Light. After finishing up with the brilliant book that took me on a unexpectedly brilliant journey, I had to take the advantage to dive into Sarah's writing practice and talk through this beautifully romantic peregrination of time, transition, distance and love. Harnessing Light is extraordinary, and Sarah Beth Goncarova commands a stellar hold on life and language that deeply resonates with lifelong inquiry. I hope you enjoy everything she had to say as much as I did! Vaishali (V.L. Book Reviews): Tell us a bit about yourself… S.B. Goncarova: I’ve been a visual artist for 20 years, but my background was first in music. Writing I feel is an extension of both my visual art and music; I love to paint pictures with words, and I love to play with the musicality of the spoken word. I have a passion for travel, and I love to meet people and hear their stories and learn about their lives. I spent three years living out of a suitcase, first being a caretaker, then volunteering, then studying martial arts in Southeast Asia. And now I am making a home in Montreal, which is an amazing hub for creative types of all genres. I don’t know if I’ll be able to stay, but I’d like the chance to try at least. I have a bit of a hearing problem which I compensate for by looking very deeply at a person to hear them, kind of like lip reading. So in a way my hearing problem has made me become a very good listener. Vaishali: It’s exciting to collaborate with you on this project for your new release ‘Harnessing Light’. Can you explain to us a bit about what this narrative explores… S.B. Goncarova: It started out as a love letter, written out by hand. It was written journal-entry style, just little segments of my day, my thoughts at the time. I was going through a lot, trying to immigrate to a new country, not feeling like I could make it my home; feeling very lost. It was six months of writing this letter and 300+ pages in before I felt I had anything good enough to keep. But I kept going...I was travelling all over the world, exploring, volunteering, teaching, helping. All throughout that journey I kept letter-writing as part of my daily practice. Vaishali: Describe yourself in three words… S.B. Goncarova: listening, learning, loving. Vaishali: Three words to describe your writing… S.B. Goncarova: A lifelong quest Vaishali: What do you think makes a good writer? S.B. Goncarova: First and foremost, being a good reader. Also, listening to music. And taking time to just sit and observe. Vaishali: What was the hardest and easiest part of writing Harnessing Light? S.B. Goncarova: The easiest part of writing Harnessing light was polishing; I polish with a set of headphones and an ASMR high-gain mic. The hardest part was trying to go through all the writing at the end and decide what to keep and what to toss; I only wanted to keep the best writing, and perhaps I might have been too draconian in my choices, as it left holes and the reader is asked to fill in what happened in-between. Vaishali: To you, what does the role of a reader play In a writer’s world? S.B. Goncarova: I try to write about my darkest places to try to show readers if they are there too, if they are going through something similar, that they are not alone. I think we can all be a beacon in the darkness for others. It gives our struggle a reason, a meaning, if in some small way my story can somehow bring comfort to someone else. I want to reach across oceans and ether. I want my writing to bring something special to a reader’s life. Vaishali: Writing can be described as an expression to purge and create. Does this art practice offer something similar or different to you? S.B. Goncarova: During the course of my journey I discovered that I was actually trying to purge myself of the stories that I had been telling myself; the stories that I had been letting define who I was in my eyes. We are not our stories. And yet they are and always will be; I studied Muay Thai with guys of Maori descent who document the stories of their lives in ink on their skin, starting with their ancestors, so that they never forget who they are and where they come from; I love that. To me the urge to create pervades my breath, thoughts and dreams, it always has, I can’t help it, that’s what I do. I’m an environmental artist creating magical environments in words and sound and film. Vaishali: All arts share the purpose to storytell. Writer’s are storytellers. What propels you to put pen to paper and tell some of these stories? S.B. Goncarova: I love creating beauty in words and phrases and imagery, but I am definitely still learning about what makes a good storyteller. I feel like the best writing comes from what people know best. So I tend to put myself into tenuous or even dangerous situations to develop content. Probably not the smartest strategy, as then I’m putting myself into tenuous or dangerous situations. But it makes for compelling writing, (or at least I hope It does. Vaishali: How much of your time do you devote to writing? S.B. Goncarova: As much as I can; sometimes it is only an hour a day, sometimes I will drop everything and do nothing but drink coffee and write for days at a stretch. Vaishali: Did you have any personal learning experiences with Harnessing Light? S.B. Goncarova: So many. I met so many people along the way and from each person I learned something from them. I think at the core of this book is a search for home. Over the course of my travels I asked everyone I had a conversation with what home meant for them. I got so many lovely answers; a hut by the beach, sharing space and time with a lover, a place with a garden, vivid description of a physical place filled with friends and family, a patio with a trellis and an outdoor table, a kitchen table, a guitar, neighbors who feel like they could just pop in at any time. I learned that home was not a physical place, but a state of mind. For me home is that space of being able to create, in whatever form that may take. Vaishali: Most (if not all) writers extract ideas from the world around them and touch on their own experiences of life when they write. Did you find that this was the case for you when writing Harnessing Light; Do you believe in the idea of imparting pieces of yourself into your work? S.B. Goncarova: Absolutely. Everything in the book was based on either personal experience or trying to describe to the best of my ability the situations in which others found themselves. Vaishali: What do you think forms the basis of a good story? S.B. Goncarova: Where the character goes on a journey that makes them delve into an inner strength they always knew but always had. And that the protagonist and the reader is forever changed from it. Vaishali: I had many favourite picks from ‘Harnessing Light’ which made selecting just one story above all else tricky. Each had something memorable to offer. Which is your favourite piece from ‘Harnessing Light’ and why? S.B. Goncarova: I think my favorite piece from harnessing light is the last piece, a personal essay entitled, “For the man who once built me a throne of snow.” I wrote it about my dad, who suddenly got sick with stroke-like symptoms while I was living abroad in a very rural place without access to transportation. I couldn’t get home to see him and no one knew what was going on. I was so scared of losing him and it made me realize how much I love and appreciate all that he has done for me. I’ll never be able to show it to him, it’s too heart-wrenching. It makes me choke up still when I read it aloud. I’ve never been able to record it in one take. Vaishali: Many writers claim to experience 'writers block' often and we hear the term everywhere. Do you believe in it at all; do you have your own take on it? S.B. Goncarova: It’s funny that you ask this because I’m actually struggling with a bad case of writer’s block right now! I’m working on a screenplay of 'Harnessing Light' for a feature film. But in order to make it work, it needs to feel more like a continuous story. I have to fill in a lot of the blanks I either left out or cut out during the editing process, and recreate tons of dialogue. And that is overwhelming; I’m not sure how to sift through it right now. Coffee helps, a comfortable working desk helps, and for some reason having a set of headphones on helps, if just to block out sounds. Vaishali: ‘Harnessing Light’ falls into the poetry/anthology variety: an unconventional love story told through short scripts of prose and poetry. What genres do you personally enjoy reading? S.B. Goncarova: I love reading anything that sounds like music, regardless of genre. Personal essays, historical fiction, poetry, page turners… it kind of depends on my mood and what I just finished reading. I’m always looking for recommendations!! Vaishali: What do you relish after writing the most? S.B. Goncarova: I love polishing, because I know it’s almost there, when I can hear it in my ears and it starts to sound lyrical. There is where the most satisfying surprises happen. Vaishali: Do you have a favourite book or author that you look to for comfort or motivation? S.B. Goncarova: I love the work of Rebecca Solnit, she’s one of the greatest writers living today. I absolutely love The Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Recently I’ve just finished a masterpiece by Wally Lamb called This I Know To Be True, which, when I read it I felt: this is going to change the way I write, I know it. Vaishali: ‘Harnessing Light’ is a pursuit of seeking and searching; physically, spiritually and intrinsically, while remaining uncertain of where and when we’ll find the answers. It shares this idea that we’re always searching, always feeling, always losing, learning and experiencing, but still on a path to finding. Do you have your own philosophies, some sage guidance that you live your own life by? S.B. Goncarova: One thing that I am still learning is to cultivate patience with myself. It’s important to be kind, be gentle with yourself. Do what you can, take baby steps each day. And if you can’t do it one day, that it’s ok to devote as much as you need to self-care and self-nourishment. Remember, tomorrow’s another day. Vaishali: How do you Harness your own light in this fragile world? S.B. Goncarova: I am still learning this; cultivating this, and there are a lot of people much further along on this journey than I am. I know it means reaching out to the people you love, not being afraid of telling them how much they mean to you. And learning unconditional love for yourself. And it takes time, patience, a lot of un-learning in a lot of cases. Vaishali: If you could offer a piece of advice to every fresh-faced writer what would it be… S.B. Goncarova: Read read read as much as you can. When a passage strikes you, don’t be afraid to write it down, to help your brain assimilate it. Vaishali: Where can people find you to follow your work and your new projects? S.B. Goncarova: I have a blog a http://harnessinglight.ca and a channel on Youtube for short film projects called Abba ASMR. I’m on Facebook and Instagram, Goodreads and Amazon Author Central under my author name (S.B. Goncarova) if people want to connect there, I’d so love it! THE BACK OF THE BOOK
A big thank you to S.B. Goncarova for participating in an interview. It was truly a pleasure and if you haven't already, I direly suggest you give 'Harnessing Light' a read!! __________________________________________________ R E L A T E D P O S T S: ● Book Review: Harnessing Light by S.B. Goncarova __________________________________________________ I love interacting with fellow readers, reviewers, bloggers and writers! Hearing about reader opinion is the fuel to my reader appetite, so get in touch and comment below! SHARE ON FACEBOOK Leave a comment and let's talk
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