We chat with author Juan Vidal about A Second Chance On Earth, which sees a father, a friend, and a favorite book help a teen boy understand love and loss in this moving and vivid YA novel in verse.
Hi, Juan! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I’m…Juan. A husband. A father. A writer.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I grew up loving hip-hop music, poetry, and martial arts films. Around middle school, writing became a way to make sense of the world around me; to understand my own thoughts and try to make them sing on the page.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: I don’t remember the first book I ever read but the first one to have a meaningful impact on me was The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka.
- The one that made you want to become an author: The Autumn of the Patriarch, by Gabriel García Márquez.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: The Book of Five Rings, by Miyamoto Musashi. I read from it almost every day.
Your debut novel, A Second Chance on Earth, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Symbolic. Colorful. Reflective. Poetic. Empanadas.
What can readers expect?
Readers can expect letters that form words which lead to sentences that, hopefully, tug at the head and heart.
Where did the inspiration for A Second Chance on Earth come from?
Who can know where ideas come from? Maybe it came to me in my sleep, while I was dreaming about dead writers, flying carpets, gypsies with untamed beards, poets, prophets, priests who can levitate, and the magic of Cartagena, Colombia. Writing a novel is such a subconscious process, but once I found the voice of the main character, Marcos, things began to flow and unfold.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I loved inhabiting Marcos’s thoughts and exploring his incessant search for meaning. Using verse to express his heartache, his joy, and his increasing love for his late-father’s favorite novel, and novelist, was a pleasure.
This is your debut YA novel! What was the road to getting A Second Chance on Earth like for you?
The road was long and it was winding. But eventually the path revealed itself and here we are.
What’s next for you?
I’m working on two other books — another YA one and an adult novel. And I’m juggling a couple of television projects that, with a little bit of luck, will see the light of day. Oh, and lunch.
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed so far this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?
Victim by Andrew Boryga, which came out earlier this year. It’s so smart and funny and astute and Andrew is a great human being. I also look forward to getting to my TBR pile, where at the top sits Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange.
