Interview with John Righten, Author of Resilience

What can you tell us about your new release, Resilience?

Resilience is the second novel in The Lenka Trilogy, following on from Heartbreak. Irish teacher, Lenka Brett, is now part of a convoy delivering aid into war-torn Bosnia. She is surrounded by tough, roguish veterans of humanitarian aid work, whose respect she has earned due to her quick wits, astute judgement and resilience. Hunted by mercenaries, as she enters Snipers’ Alley she finally learns of her lover’s dark secret.

What books are currently on your nightstand?

Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light, which is meeting all my expectations, and The Confederacy of Dunces, an outrageously humorous novel written by the late John Kennedy Toole, whose failure to find a publisher for the novel contributed to his tragically short life.

What advice would you give your teenage self?

That a sharp wit, can cut deep.

If you had an extra hour each day, how would you spend it?

With my wife and son, doing absolutely nothing of substance but revelling in the moment.

What makes your world go round? Why does it bring you joy?

Apart from my family, it is writing, creating a world on a page and then waiting until the day it is published with a combination of excitement and trepidation, as I steel myself for the reaction of my readers.

What scene in Resilience was your favorite to write?

The first scene, which is set three years after the rest of the novel, as an unknown driver – we don’t even know the driver’s gender – ploughs a truck through a warzone, attacked from all sides. The first chapter in Heartbreak, Resilience, and the final novel in the trilogy, Reflection, follow that heart-pounding chase, and it is a challenge to the reader to identify the driver from the roguish characters they will grow to love in the novels, before his/her identity is finally revealed.

John Righten is the author of the new book Resilience.

Connect with John
Author Website
Facebook