MY BEST FRIEND IS A PUBLISHED AUTHOR

Meet my best friend, Alex Goica. I have known her for seven years and we have been friends since that time. Our timeline of friends is a long one and it's quite an interesting one. Long story short, we started out as pen pals, writing each other e-mails periodically (back when writing e-mail was the form of communication on the Internet), spreading out over a period of two years. Then, when we discovered the world of Facebook, that's when we were able to keep up with each other. We could comment on each other's photos, write messages to each other, and check what the other person was doing. It was a lovely way of communication (and one of the reasons why I like Facebook, because it brought me and her together much closer than e-mail could). Then, she came to visit me in Canada in the summer of 2011 where we met for the first time. I remember meeting her at the airport in Toronto nervous because I would finally meet the friend that I've been writing to for three years. Then, I visited her in Romania every summer the past two years, while also making a pit spot in Spain when she studied near Madrid this past winter. 

Now she's a published author.

Wait, what?

A young college graduate has published a novel, her very own. What's even more spectacular about this accomplishment is our mutual love for writing, reading, and stories. Talking about our favourite novels and books and bringing her beloved novels whenever I would visit her is something that occupied a great deal of our time. Her talking about wanting to write and share her love for writing has always been a goal for Alex. So when she told her that book, Jurnalul Soldatului Ranit (The Wounded Soldier's Journal in English), I was beyond excited. Happiness, being proud, elation, and utter joy were a few of the emotions that overwhelmed when my best friend told her that she is now a published author. Alex has always been a ferocious chaser after her dreams (studying in Spain, publishing her book, to name a few), so she not only encourages me to chase after my dreams, but actually do them. Having the utter privilege to interview her on behalf of her novel, her words speaks sheer wisdom and promise of a young author in the big, wide world of writing.

1. What inspired you to write your book and where did you draw the inspiration? 
I have always loved to write. No matter what happened in my life, I put everything on paper. I always dreamed to have my own book, my own novel. I admired other writers and only wished to become one of them. To go on with finishing my book inspired me the change of surroundings: travelling, change of people and culture. This is what always inspires me. With the help of my imagination, I managed to take notes, which were later transformed in pages.

2. Why did you decide to write about your book about a wounded soldier? 

A high school teacher from Oravita (a person that has always read my blog and texts throughout the years) gave me the idea. He said that my style of writing would go perfectly with a war story. Since history and me are not best friends, at first I said it's impossible to write something about any kind of war. Imagination knocked on my door and proved me wrong. The story is 100% fiction, although I was inspired from some true stories too (i.e. the stories of my 93-year old great-grandfather who fought in WWII; the stories of my mother and her mentally ill patients at her work). I  then combined them along with the fiction present in the novel. Time and space are not precise, simply because I wanted to leave them open. The war and "the wound" are nothing but a metaphorical meaning of our life.

3. What does writing mean for you and how does writing affect you? 

Every time I wrote a sentence or a page, I felt better. For me, writing is the best therapy in the world. I could not imagine myself without writing. The best gift that someone could offer me is a book, or a journal...or better: an idea for a new book! Writing helps me get through both happy and sad moments in my life. It makes me stronger!

4. When did you fall in love with writing? Was it a book or story? 

I first fell in love with writing in high school. Although I was used to writing before, in high school I "discovered" my inner author. From that day, we're best friends.

5. If you could give a word of advice to fellow writers, what would it be?

It's hard to be a writer nowadays. We live in the fear that we won't be acknowledged by the society. I think that's a risk any writer should take no matter what. Never stop writing! It doesn't take a thousand of readers to make you feel better, you will feel awesome after the first reader that shares with you his/her impressions. Good luck!

Psychologists say that if you wish to be a visionary, sound yourself with people who have vision. Their thinking, their comportment, and their ideas will rub off you, thereby inspiring you to have vision. Alex Goica has proved to not only be a visionary, but a dreamer. I've always bragged and told my friends about her, my best friend in Europe. Now, she is indeed someone I am proud of, someone I can't wait to tell what she has accomplished. Alex, never stop dreaming. You inspire people, myself included. 

Have I mentioned that she's my best friend?