Today we talk about Spending Time with an Angel, a book by Paul Lazor published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Paul Lazor to get to know him better, where he found the inspiration to write his autobiographical book of poetry Spending Time with an Angel , as well as the sensations he felt by ‘reading’ his life on the pages of his book.
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Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- Where and when did you find the inspiration to write your autobiographical book?
It was Friday July 9th 2004 when I first put pen to paper as I waited for Julie to undergo an operation. Waiting in a busy visitors’ area close to the operating theatre where Julie lay unconscious, the afternoon turned into evening and the evening into night. I waited and waited and soon silence descended and I was the only person left accompanied by darkness as lights were switched off except for the one close to where I sat. As I waited for the Doctors to arrive and operate my mind wrestled with the past and the pain and suffering that the family had gone through, especially the children. These thoughts acted as a catalyst to bring back memories of my childhood and the pain and suffering that my family went through as foreigners in England after the war. My father died when I was only 8-year-old and I was left alone to care for my young sister of 18 months and my mother. This night the same thoughts and fears brought back the mental pain I endured all those years ago, I knew I had to care for the children. I leaned forward and opened a notebook I carried with me and started to write, I felt compelled to detail what was happening and I continued till the last day of my wife’s life.
- What is the message you want to convey to your readers?
The world carries an immense history of suffering, what ever your faith or creed may be. But your time on earth is only short and therefore whatever happens no matter how great the suffering, somehow you must find the energy, the will, the desire and determination to continue to live and carry on. I like many other people who have experienced traumas in their lives, these will have been interspersed with the good things that happened. It was the good things that had occurred that spurned me to write and let people know that the great experience of life has its gold and diamonds as well as its problems. Those wonderful sublime and breath-taking experiences are a part of the DNA of a person’s life. They may be short lived but they are to be treasured and never to be forgotten, they can eclipse the bad and spurn the desire to carry on. Twenty years after the death of my wife, I remarried a wonderful woman, a Spanish lady who is slowly reading my story. Testimony to the will to survive and find happiness once again in life and never give up.
- What is the most significant life experience you wrote about in your book?
Throughout the story the hope of Julie returning home to share a family life once more was ever present in all our minds. My sister, my mother, my three incredible step children, we all shared that hope on a daily basis. In early September I made arrangements with my sister for her to come and visit us and of course Julie along with my mother for a family get together across a long weekend. A few days after the planned trip was arranged, I had a meeting with Julie’s hospital Doctor, Guy Lucas who had become a family friend. He told me that he wanted Julie to go and spend time at home with everyone. I was elated, and I wanted to break the news to my sister as soon as possible. The happiness was short lived, Guy spoke silently and slowly, his mood sombre as he did so, I could see darkness in his eyes.
- “I want Julie to go home and spend time with her family” he said.
- “Paul, she has little time left and she should spend it with the ones she loves”
- On the 24th of September, my family arrived to celebrate Julie’s return. I had prepared a meal for us all to share together before visiting Julie in hospital the following day. Once everyone was seated, smiling, laughing and pulsating with excitement, I quietly turned towards everyone, paused and told them in a trembling voice, “Julie was coming home to die!”
- What sensations did you feel by ‘reading’ your life on the pages of your book?
The book opens up many deep wounds, and I have been reading it again with my Spanish wife Julia, translating page by page. The book brings with it the great pain, and at times this becomes clearly visible when I cry as I recall what we all went through. Whilst the book documents the last few months of Julies life, her illness and ultimate death spanned four years. Those four years embraced cataclysmic events in every respect. The intensity of deep pure unadulterated passion and love were inextricably linked to the innocence of an angel.The book brings back memories of times gone by, as the book opens up the doors of my childhood, memories of my father’s incredible love for my mother. The wonderful carefree times at university with my great and closest friend Danny, (who sadly is no longer with us). The book takes me to paradise and back, as well as hell and it is the latter that brings with it the fear of the demons returning that creates a sense of panic as I turn the pages of the book when reading of my torment by these creatures. I suppose a roller coaster best describes the story and its sensations.
- Are you working on a new writing project, you can tell us about?
The story was written 20 years ago and now living in Spain, life has opened up the doors to happiness once more. My life in Sales took me to many countries some I have forgotten about so perhaps the story telling may well re-immerge as thoughts of past come back my mind. The heat of my first Thai Curry, the kindness of the Vietnamese, incredible Mexican laughter, the sadness of Soviet Russia, the bawdy Americans. Also, my childhood days in England, not my country I was just born there, but another dimension.The urge to put pen to paper is surfacing again, my life in Spain is not just another chapter, but another book that may have buried within it recollections of the past, fascinating stories of my Ukrainian upbringing in Britain as the proverbial “bloody foreigner”. My meeting with Julia my now wife here in Spain.Yes, there is still much to talk about and ultimately read and reflect upon. ¿Qué será, será?
Europe Books thanks the author Spending Time with an Angel 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 Paul Lazor. We wish him the best of luck for his book and for his future works.
To you, my dear reader, may this book remind you that life is worth living by finding and maintaining the energy, willpower, desire, and determination that allow us to move forward despite the difficulties we encounter every day!
So, my dear reader, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading!
Your Editor!