Guest Interview with Iris Novak, Author of An Independent Woman in Yugoslavia: A Memoir

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

The memoir of a woman named Iris who determined to succeed, although she was born as a poor and frightened country girl in what was then Yugoslavia. To achieve her goals, she used her abilities to gain knowledge from everything around her, and so triumphed against the odds and grew into a successful and independent business woman.

I'm pleased to welcome author Iris Novak to The Writing Desk:

Tell us about your latest book

My latest book is a memoir that describes the life of a woman in the ex-Yugoslavia. It speaks about my social background that did not offer me any support to succeed. Although I became the best pupil in a good Slovenian school, these years brought also bitter moments, because my father seemed determined to make our family unhappy, as he was himself. 

When my mother, my brother and I seemed to have been left without anything, we were accepted by my mother's family and started to live a normal life, without violence. I entered the secondary school and had to struggle again to become equal to my brilliant schoolmates. I fell in love, but soon found out that the young man did not deserve the love I felt for him. 

After some miserable months, I met another boy and thought that I finally found the love of my life. I graduated from the university, found a good job, got married and had three children. I was happy as a mother, but had to overcome struggles as a business woman in an environment in which business was the realm of men.

What is your preferred writing routine?

Up to now I used every free moment to write, but I wish that I would have enough time to write in the morning.

What advice do you have for new writers?

I think they should be honest and objective and read, read, read.

What have you found to be the best way to raise awareness of your books?

I first asked quite some friends to read my book and to tell what they thought about it. Only recently I discovered book blogs and I must say that I enjoy reading them. I intend to become a book reviewer for biographies.

What was the hardest scene you remember writing?

I had bitter feelings when I described domestic violence. But it somehow helped me to analyse it and leave it behind me.

What are you planning to write next?

I would like to write about life in Slovenia after it became an independent country and about European Union. One would expect that it would be much better and free than in the ex-Yugoslavia but it is not always so. I would also like describe my struggle to help my son recover from Crohn’s disease. And about my Camino de Santiago.

Iris Novak

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About the Author

The author writes under the pseudonym Iris Novak. She was born in the second half of the twentieth century in Slovenia, the northern part of the then Yugoslavia. She graduated from English and German, acquired my MA in Management and PhD in Librarianship. She worked in the international business, in librarianship, was director of a school for foreign languages and finally established her own business: employment agency and college. She lives in Slovenia, is married and has three children.