The Pilgrimage of Death
Vandella follows a young girl with cancer who exchanges her soul for her grandmother’s and takes a supernatural journey through the world of the undead. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
Actually, the main inspiration for the story was a near-death experience of my grandfather. In his “dream” he traveled to the hereafter and experienced the Pilgrimage of Death I describe in the book, but a woman halted his journey alleging “his time was not due yet” but she warned him, it will, in fourteen days. And when the term fulfilled, my grandfather died. If interested, you can read the whole story in my author blog: https://yourlastdesire.com/vandella-what-the-novel-is-about/
Maia has many ups and downs in life before embarking on this adventure into the world of the undead. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
In the world of the undead, I wanted Maia to face an exponential version of her fears in real life, as a metaphor of how our subconscious perceive them. Maia’s story is not a tale of an extraordinary protagonist doing incredible things, but rather about a commoner pushing herself to overcome the extraordinary obstacles in her way. I wanted the “escapist” nature of the fantasy in Vandella to be used as a journey of introspection for Maia to find herself at the end.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Self-sacrifice as the purest form of love. Learning to find happiness despite problems, not because their absence. And the beauty found in the evanescence of life, were the main themes driving the story of the novel.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
Currently I’m working in Vandella’s sequel titled “Resilience” which will hit shelves in 2023.
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Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2022/10/08/the-pilgrimage-of-death/
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