Interview With Author Bo Gregner
1. What inspired you to write this book? A mind opener occurred when I met the Tibetan
exile leader the Dalai Lama in his home at the foot of the Himalayas in north
India. I could finally bring the meaning of life to the table. Simultaneously
the American actor Richard Gere, who was around, pointed out a grim reality:
the unique culture of Tibet was in the process of getting wiped out after the
invasion/liberation by China. Only debris would remain among refugees outside
Tibet. So there I was surrounded by so many lovely people who said ”Thank you”
when giving something away and who regarded monasteries as gyms and who laughed
a lot. Highly existential. The South African bishop Desmond Tutu came by. The
Dalai Lama thought of him as a good Buddhist and Tutu called Dalai Lama a
very good Christian. They laughed a lot together. There a new backdrop was set
behind the stage of my life, hope interwoven with those old disillusions about
politics and economics, warfare and violence.
But why so many shortcomings of humankind? I
stumbled over the same roots again and again: greed driven by ego. Call it
evil. What about love? What if? What if love between two people, no matter how
impossible, had a potential of winning over evil? A late lama Lobsang Dharjy in
MacLeod Ganj encouraged me to follow that thread. And slowly a story emerged as
if it had already been written. My task was to take it down. If I didn’t do it,
the story would never come to life. So, curious as I am, I wrote.
2. What exactly is it about and who
is it written for? In the Indian Himalayas, a fake Tibetan monk
on a secret mission meets a Western woman who wants to become a monk. 30 years
later in Sweden, a female journalist meets a Tibetan monk at an exhibition. The
meetings, both in 1969 and 2001, trigger what appears to be epileptic seizures.
The convulsions include a strange wordless language seemingly giving away
predictions about the future. A man and a woman and a woman and a man and
something bonding. Coincidence anyone? Rumours of the incidents reach some dubious
faceless individuals who personify desire and greed. To them the idea of a
possible access to realms beyond the normal is paramount. The same goes with an
eccentric lama who’s destiny is to undermine the rules of evolution.
Who is Mango Chutney? As a writer, I sometimes
have to grasp for resonant symbols and imaginary without necessarily fully
understanding it myself. Imagine love as a beam of light. Imagine evil as the
Hydra in Greek mythology. If one head is chopped off two new grow out. Can love
between two people develop and bloom against all imaginable bad odds? Sweet
mango and spicy chutney?
The book is written for anyone who at any
point or any time has come across the question ”What is the meaning of life?”
Could fiction be a kind of magic to reveal truths that are dulled by our
senses? Time to challenge our contemporary ego culture? And what about
similarities of faiths rather than differences? And how about the idea that our
precious species Homo Sapiens does not fully understand everything about time
and space and the nature of love? Oh yes, so many question marks…
3. What do you hope readers will get out of
reading your book? My hope is that the reader will surrender to
the prerequisites of this book. As I point out in the pretext, it is not based
upon a true story but upon a myriad of true story fragments. Truth? One piece
is what happened a long time ago, when Buddhism came to the Himalayas. Demons
of shamanism had to be tied down by sacred mantras because some were able to
act beyond the illusion of time and space. Alas and abrakadabra, there you have
a different kind of authenticity. You don’t have to embrace science fiction or
quantum physics to perceive, that there might be angles of reality that we are
not yet aware of.
"There is no such thing as the super
natural, everything is natural”, said a Tibetan friend of mine and laughed. So
this book is as much an internal journey as an external. I hope that the reader
will be confused on a higher level. I hope that the reader will come to the
conclusion, that love has a potential to beat evil.
4. How did you decide on your book’s title and
cover design? The title ”Who is Mango Chutney?” evolved over
time, as mysterious to me as to anyone. Obviously you can obtain a lovely jam
by mixing sweet mangos with spicy chutney. I guess that could also go with
relationships. If mixed wisely with care. Or perhaps the question is somehow
wrong? Maybe the title is a verb or an adjective? How to mango-chutney
something? Or how to turn something mango-chutnish? Any input from readers
would be valuable.
The cover is borrowed from a traditional
Buddhist Thangka painting, suggesting various spheres of life in the Universe,
though slightly out of focus. The white field in the middle of the picture is
added for the reader's interpretation. Someone suggested that it is the intense
bright light experienced at the time of death.
5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have
for fellow writers – other than run!? As a writer, you will never have time enough.
You have to grab it. Once you start a project, write each and every day in
order not to lose the thread, come sun come rain! When writer's block occurs,
even one single hour or 22 words will do. Something is always more than
nothing. Don’t lose the thread. I always start each session by reading what was
created the previous day. Some days you may write more, other days less but
most important: the average amount of words should stick to a plan over time.
You have to compensate for lazy days and are of course entitled to enjoy some
relaxed time after very productive days. Start by estimating the total number
of words for your book, then divide the sum with a realistic average output per
day and you will automatically get the amount of time for a first version. Then
of course, writing is rewriting.
6. What trends in the book world do you see --
and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading? One does not have to be a rocket scientist to
observe the obvious: a) The Book World is business, b) the writer's name is
often brand. A lot will go if the author is a celebrity or otherwise well
known, perhaps empowered by some talented ghostwriter, c) the future for books
looks bright. When it comes to fiction, mankind has never ever had more need
for storytelling than today. And the book is unbeatable as a medium. It is
compact, requires no electricity, is easy to transport and on the whole cheap.
As the written word is queen and king, books are furthermore excellent sources
for all other media.
7. Were there experiences in your
personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book? Did I jump into fiction writing at a ripe age?
No, I started very young as a kid, loosing myself in fantastic imagined Worlds
of trolls and fairies. But that window was soon closed by school and during my
later career as a journalist. I had to simplify facts so that people
understood. And only so called facts counted. Not totally in vain however, I
was able to meet all kinds of people who I otherwise would never have met. As a
journalist you are kind of entitled to approach anyone for a chat. And there were
characters for sure, some wiser than others, some outstanding, some less.
In private life, having children opened a new
dimension to me, in particular when my ex-wife at the time and I choose to
adopt. From that I learned that you cannot own children. You can actually not
own anyone. And maybe you can’t even own yourself being a part of something
much greater. So when writing this book, with that background, there were lots
of bits and pieces that came in very handy when I mixed them with a child’s
recovered joy for writing. Then last but not least, I was blessed with a loving
partner.
8. How would you describe your writing style?
Which writers or books is your writing similar to? Being a Swede I did choose to write in
Swedish. Only in that way I could truly connect with my inner. But
unfortunately just a tiny part of the World understands Swedish and I really,
really wanted to reach out. How about a translation to English? Tricky, because
something always gets lost in the process. And I could not afford a
professional translator. Would too much get lost? Could I make a virtue of
necessity?
The solution: back to journalistic simplicity.
This meant that I had to give up temptations of flowery language and elegant
phrases and instead focus on a development driven by story with a simplified
language I could handle. The situation also presented an additional
opportunity. I had to dig deep into the meaning of words, English as well as
Swedish. What do words literally and metaphorically stand for? In this respect
I was now back to the old journalistic rule of making ideas understandable. In
addition, I also implemented some experience from video and film editing into
my writing. Overviews and close ups are as essential as the cutting.
I would not dream of comparing myself to any
well-known writer, but with my back against a wall one first thought would be
Ernest Hemingway with his background in journalism. He also has a
straightforward approach when it comes to language. It is difficult to pick out
writers or books similar to mine as my genre hardly exists. ”Existential
thriller”, suggested the publisher. Fair enough, how about Paulo Coelho or
Carlos Ruiz Zafon or William Shakespeare?
9. What challenges did you overcome in the
writing of this book? The main challenge for me to overcome was when
I realised the extent of this project, to build 90000 consistent words holding
hand. Question: was I prepared to set aside the time required, would I be able
to finish it, would it be any good? Until then I had enjoyed the luxury of only
writing short stories, newspaper and magazine articles. Here I was to create an
entire World if not a Universe. Well, yes! So first step: I tried various
techniques of the trade preparing storylines, character development, spectrum,
settings, substance, antagonism, crises, climax, resolution and so on, and so
on and you name it. Second step: I abandoned the role of becoming an academic
writing engineer and returned to be an author. I buried all the rules in my
subconscious and focused on a beginning, a middle and an end of a story and to
identity the main characters, may it wear or break. Then I wrote. It worked. Third step: to know when to stop
and start rewriting. And when to stop rewriting. And then the translation which
turned out to be a second round of rewriting. A final challenge was to open the
story for an additional upcoming freestanding sequel.
10. If people can buy or read one book this
week or month, why should it be yours? The story will bring wings to lift you up from
your normal context, be it geographically or within body, mind and soul, thus
offering you a different angle to life. At the same time, you might recognize
scenarios and characters from around the World or closer than that. If you
apply the question ”why” to a selection of human shortcomings, the book will
definitely give you an alternative view along an intersection of mystery and
perceived reality. You might even find support from something bigger than
yourself. Compassion? As mentioned earlier, the book is entirely based upon
true fragments. Besides, I need your help to find out: Who is Mango Chutney?
About The Author : Born curious in the land of Vikings, I
started my career as a journalist covering news. Fate brought me to the capital
Stockholm where I worked with the News Agency TT and Radio Sweden. However,
over time, I noticed in the mirror how I turned more and more cynical from
covering too many shadows. I did not like what I saw and decided to go
freelance. And lo and behold, suddenly another World opened up. Adding
photography and film to my palette, I was able to find out what caused so many
of those shadows in the news: greed and desire on a human level. What finally
made me an author on the fiction track was when I met Tibetans refugees in the
north of India. A childhood's joy of writing was resurrected. On a private
level I share my time between the UK, where my partner lives, and Sweden, where
I have two lovely children and two grandchildren. For more info, please see: https://bogregner.ampbk.com/
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