Dixen Victor
Interview with Victor Dixen
Today I have for you something extra! I'm presenting you a interview with Victor Dixen - Autor of Phobos.
Polska wersja znajduje się tu : KLIK
Adriana Bączkiewicz: Not everyone knows how to cook, but everybody likes to eat something delicious. What kind of food could you eat without limits?
Victor Dixen: I think I am quite a foodie – aren’t all French people supposed to be?
I must also say that I was spoiled as a kid, as my father is a great cook. One of my favorite dishes that my father does very well is a very traditional, French dish, dating back to the Middle Ages. It is called « Poule au pot » (which means: “Chicken in a pot”). The much-loved King Henri IV famously said that he wanted every family in the kingdom to enjoy a nice Poule au pot every Sunday!
Here is the recipe:
Do you think that TV reality shows are necessary in our lifes?
We live in a society surrounded by screens: TV screens, smartphone screens, tablet screens, etc. As with all technological progress, it is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing, because it has never been so easy in human history to reach out to other human beings, wherever they are on planet Earth. It is also a potential curse, because we strongly feel that we have the duty to keep connected all the time and reflect a perfect image of ourselves – like a soft dictatorship of appearance.
TV reality shows are an illustration of this paradox. Ideally, they should allow us to better understand the lives and concerns of other individuals, thus generating more empathy. But unfortunately, in most cases, they are organized to generate on-screen clashes and drama. Contestants are not really themselves, they play a part due to the pressure of the show. I tried to expose that in PHOBOS, this tension between outer appearance and inner self.
Sport is a part of our lifes. One of us like individual sport like running, others like team sport like basketball. What’s about you?
I think too that sport is very important, even more so maybe for a writer. Writing is an activity of the mind, and you can spend entire nights at your desk, immersed in the story you are trying to tell. It is important to reconnect with the body – and sport just allows that.
My favorite sports are swimming, running and yoga – so more individual sports I guess. But I am also a keen horse-rider. And horse-riding is all about the relationship between human being and animal.
Each of us has such an author, whose fully worships . If you could ask your favourite author only one question, how would it sound and whom you asked it?
In my case, I am truly unable to name just one favorite writer. There are so many I love, for different reasons: J.R.R. Tolkien for the nostalgic poetry of his evocations; H. P. Lovecraft for the mind-striking power of his imagination; Ray Bradbury for the musical beauty of his writing; Philip Pullman for the way he artistically mixes fiction and philosophy; many French poets like Charles Baudelaire, Gerard de Nerval, François Villon ; and countless others.
I also think that most of what a writer has to tell should be contained in his or her books ;)
That being said, I would like to ask a question to David Bowie, who was a great songwriter and an artist I admire for many reasons, one of which is that he continued to create until his very last day. I would ask him: “Looking back, what do you consider to be your greatest achievement, and why?”
Ignoring the time nor the money, what would you prefer to do in your life? To increase curiosity we rule out writing books ;)
Smart choice to rule out “writing books”, as this would have been my answer! :)
But apart from writing I also love travelling, and I had the chance to live in several countries and places (France, Denmark, Ireland, Singapore, Colorado and now New York). There are many other places where I would like to go, taking the time to go there – as they say, “journey is also the destination”. So if I had the time and money, I would like to sail the seven seas around the globe by boat, cross Mongolia with a horse, kayak around Greenland… and of course make the trip to space (but with a return ticket !)
How looks your ordinary day?
I usually wake up very early, around 4AM, and start writing right away. The end of the night is the perfect time for me, as everything is so quiet and silent, the only thing existing is my story. I have breakfast around 9AM, then I do some sport (running, swimming or going to the gym). After lunch, early afternoon is dedicated to e-mails, letters, phone calls to publishers, and reading. I then resume writing till 6PM, but after that time I switch off to be totally available for my family!
You’re sitting comfortable in your chair, then the journalist/reporter in TV announced the end of the world. How would you spend the last day in your life?
Wow! Now, that is what I would call breaking news!
Well, first I think I would try to understand what this is all about, if it is a scam, what is the source of the information – as we discussed, I tend to distrust screens :)
But then, if I am really convinced the end of the world is going to happen, I would spend that last day with my family and those I love, to be 100% here for them. Yes, the more I think about it: it may be the only day in my life when I don’t write down a single word ! :)
For readers who would like to know more about me and my books, here is my Website : http://victordixen.com/
We are also organizing a little competition with Moondrive, to offer PHOBOS to 3 readers. All the details are here: http://victordixen.com/the-journal/
