Today we talk about Dear Heartbreakers, a book by Vivien Kis published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Vivien Kis to get to know her better, where she found the inspiration to write her book Dear Heartbreakers. She also told us how “Love” can somehow help us to survive in this very complex era we are living in.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- Where did you find the inspiration to write this collection of poetry?
My inspiration was these beautiful, complex and complicated beings called humans. All throughout my life, a lot of my friends and just as many strangers have shared their deepest, darkest fears and emotions with me which has always made me ponder and reflect. In addition, I was also inspired by my own feelings. Someone I deeply cared for had disappeared in thin air and my dearly beloved father was dying from cancer so I had to process an overpowering amount of pain. During that difficult time, I was reading a Paulo Coelho book and the line “If you want to see the rainbow, you first have to see the rain” instantly resonated with me. I had come to the realization that in order to deal with my pain, I first had to see, feel and acknowledge the “rain” and the heartbreaking sorrow I felt. This all happened roughly 7 years ago when I was living in Rome, Italy. I loved how the people in the Eternal City were so in tune with their emotions. I had never seen that before. It touched my heart deeply and gave me the audacity to be more expressive like them. And then I just let the pain I was feeling write its own melody – which resulted in this book.
- What message did you want to send out with your book?
In today’s world, we usually hide pain and fear as if they were something to be ashamed of. It has been very interesting to me that we are most ashamed of the things we all feel or felt at some point. We as a society tend to not want to share what we have most in common as human beings – fear, pain, anxiety, loneliness, etc. I was fascinated by this phenomenon so I made it my mission to try to portray pain and overpowering emotions in their most raw forms and see what comes out of it. Nowadays, we are inundated, almost bombarded, by all these perfect images found on social media. Everyone seems to be having the time of their lives, and yet, what statistics show is that depression and suicide is growing among teens and adults alike. That is why I thought it’s important to create a piece of work that is very authentic, something all our souls crave for. While this book may at times have a very dark and gloomy tone to it, it’s actually more about empowerment if one thinks about it carefully. I was fed up with all the love poetry clinging to that person someone lost and emphasizing how wonderful he or she was although the relationship ended tragically. Now imagine, what if, we were able to admit that a certain person hurt us and that he or she did not treat us the way we would deserve – it’s extremely liberating and catalytic. I see so many people insisting to stay in their toxic relationships and I hope that by reading this book they will come to the realization that there is more out there for them and that they are not alone in their struggles. There is more than just pain to these heartbreakers – there is also growth, learning, accepting, forgiving and most importantly, moving on. That’s exactly why I’ve named this poetry collection “Dear Heartbreakers” instead of just “Heartbreakers”. Thus, I would say that the main message I wanted to convey with this book is that you can choose to look at your heartbreak as an opportunity to deeply feel, learn and reflect, instead of letting it crush you.
- How do you think that Love can somehow help us to survive in this very complex era we live in?
I believe love gives us a certain assurance that we are not alone which in turns gives us faith and strength to keep going when facing difficult times. Especially in tough times and in a complex era like the one we live in today, a lot of negative emotions like greed or envy can arise and push love away. I believe it’s crucial that we don’t let that happen since love and gratitude have the power to transform negative emotions into positive ones. In addition, only if you do things out of love, will you not give up and have the perseverance to keep going. There is no other emotion in the world that would make humans as persisting and determined as love. Moreover, you will even feel better about yourself when you do a good deed or make someone feel loved. Consequently, this will give you confidence and faith to tackle any challenges in life that you may currently face. We could talk for hours about what role love plays in our lives and I think there wouldn’t be a right or wrong answer. The only certainty is that it does play a major role and that we should honor that.
- How did it feel to see your book published?
I have yet to realize that my book is really published because it feels so unreal. Seeing your dreams become reality and accepting that they are no longer just dreams can take a while to digest. However, I have always imagined that my book would get published one day because I had faith in my words being able to make people feel deeply. At times though, I feel slightly nervous about the fact that anyone can read the words my heart poured out but thinking about how people may feel less lonely when reading this book reminds me why I wanted my poems to get published in the first place. Even if my words touch the heart of just one person, all the work and effort will have been worth it.
- Are you working on a new writing project?
I am not actively working on a new project for now but I have started to edit some of my old poems and have had a lot of new ideas on what I could be writing next. I would have enough material to publish a second version of Dear Heartbreakers but I am also quite intrigued by trying out new genres. I tend to be a very intuitive person and once I get inspired by something, I fully immerse myself into my writing. So, whatever my next writing project will be, the source of my inspiration will be coming from my heart, just like it happened with Dear Heartbreakers.
Europe Books thanks the author Vivien Kis once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside her on the editorial path that led to the publication of her book Dear Heartbreakers. We wish her the best of luck for her future works.
To you, my dear reader, I wish you to feel love and gratitude, to transform negative emotions into positive ones, to do things with love because this will allow you not only to feel better about yourself but also with the world around you.
So, my dear reader, I just have to wish you to enjoy your reading!!!
Your editor!