Featured Interview With Vered Neta
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
My Name is Vered Neta. Since the 16th century, my family has lived in what today is Israel, but for the last 28 years, I’ve been living all over the world.
Today, I live with my husband in Tenerife in the Canary Islands on an off-the-grid farm, creating a sustainable life through permaculture agriculture and a food forest that we tend on our farm.
We live in the middle of a pine forest, and the nearest village to us is 3.5 miles up the mountain, so it's basically me, my husband and our chickens, dogs and birds here. We also have a grown-up daughter who lives in London.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I've always been drawn to books. I was a "book nerd" even before that expression existed. However, I started writing only at the ripe age of 57 after having, as I call it, 3 Past Lives in this lifetime.
I've been an archaeologist, a top manager in high-tech companies and health institutions and, for nearly 30 years, a personal coach, trainer, and motivational speaker while owning and running the fastest-growing training centre for entrepreneurs in The Netherlands.
But after doing all that, I came to realise that I’m not growing anymore. I still had more things I wanted to learn and develop, which is how I came to challenge myself with a new career as a writer. Being heavily dyslexic, as a non-native English speaker, writing novels or scripts seemed like a Mission Impossible for me. Add to it years of non-supportive beliefs that I’m bad at writing, and that I am not creative enough, and that sounded like a good challenge to tackle and grow through.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
This is an unfair question. I have so many of them. I used to be a lonely child, and books were my haven. I used to say that people can disappoint and betray you, but books are always there for you, so I surrounded myself with books.
I would go through periods of reading the Classics like Dickens and Jane Austin and the Bronte Sisters, and then expand to Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy and Kafka and, on the other side of the world, authors like Gabriel García Márquez and Paulo Coelho.
Today, my favourite genres are historical fiction, fantasy and women's literature, but I also read many non-fiction books about philosophy, personal development, spirituality and, of course, the craft of writing.
So, as you can see, I have an eclectic influence. What they all inspired me to write about was human nature and human relationships. They inspired me to write stories that would bring light into the world, even during hard and dark times, stories of hope, kindness and love.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
The book is called “Full Circle”. It started as a movie script I wrote during the 2020 lockdowns and the George Floyd riots. I wanted to write a script about a friendship between white and black women who are fighting against racism and the connection with freedom. However, I kept getting feedback that it had too much of a “White Saviour” element to it, and a friend recommended that I should focus on the secondary story of the white woman in Prague during the Prague Spring of 1968.
That’s how I started writing the novel. When I finished the first draft, I wasn’t sure about it. Still, then Russia invaded Ukraine, and it all became so real and relevant as it resembled what had been done to the Czech Republic, which wished for more freedom from Moscow during the period of Dunbcek in 1968 and ended up being invaded by the Soviets. Ana’s story became so relevant, and I wanted to remind us all about a period that somehow is between history and current events and tends to be forgotten. It was a period when the word freedom had consequences. We got used to taking our freedoms for granted.
"Full Circle" explores an age-old dilemma: the struggle between unwavering principles and the harsh embrace of survival. In the face of imminent peril, it challenges the core of our beliefs, prompting us to redefine freedom, bravery, and strength.
In the blaze of revolution, Ana's dreams ignited her defiance – and sealed her fate.
1968, student protests are everywhere. But in Prague, behind the Iron Curtain, Ana dreams of becoming a doctor. Nothing would distract her from that path until she reconnects with her childhood friend, Jan, who gets her involved in the demand for freedom that sweeps the country.
Helen, Ana’s mother, haunted by the Holocaust, knows the dreadful cost of subjugation and tries to persuade her not to get involved, but Ana is determined to fight for her beliefs in freedom.
As Soviet tanks invade Prague, Ana and Jan find themselves at the frontline of a protest that will forever change their fates. Amidst the chaos, a single act seals Ana's fate, and her own government is now hunting her. She knows that her only chance to fulfil her dream is to find a way to escape beyond the Iron Curtain.
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