2026 Reading Challenge

Ask the Author: Gian Sardar

“Dreams of worlds not your own. Meeting someone you felt you already knew. Inexplicable fears or loves. What if the answers stretch beyond this life? My novel, YOU WERE HERE, explores this subject.” Gian Sardar

Answered Questions (7)

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I finished reading Take What You Can Carry last night. I have read the Wikipedia entries for Kurds and Kurdistan today. Can you recommend any other English translations of novels about Kurds either in their home countries or as immigrants? I would really like to learn more.
Gian Sardar hi! Thank you for reading! And thank you so much for your interest in the Kurds. Some good books to check out: DAUGHTERS OF SMOKE AND FIRE by Ava Homa, and THE KURDISH BIKE by Alesa Lightbourne... and though not novels MY FATHER'S RIFLE: A CHILDHOOD IN KURDISTAN and AMINA: A KURDISH WOMAN'S TRIUMPH THROUGH OPPRESSION AND GENOCIDE. Again, thank you for reading and for wanting to learn more! :)
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Gian, When did you realize yourself as a writer? After writing first book, publishing , success or …? You know this feeling inside «I am truly a writer»
Gian Sardar Hello! I enjoyed writing from a very young age and as a kid I wrote "novels" (little stories in hardcovers - pretty sure I figured the hardcovers meant they were novels!). It wasn't until I was in college that I realized writing was something I took seriously and wanted to pursue. For me, being a writer had nothing to do with being published - it was just something I was because I wrote. I figure, if you write, you're a writer. If you can't NOT write, you're truly a writer. :)
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How do you deal with writer’s block?
Gian Sardar I get up and do anything else - gardening, cooking, taking a shower, a walk, whatever. Sometimes your focus is so narrow as you try to come up with exactly what you need that you don't leave room for inspiration. Let go to let in.
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What’s your advice for aspiring writers?
Gian Sardar You can't sell a blank page, so stop worrying or entertaining fears and just WRITE....and then write some more. You can edit till the cows come home, and for me that's the best part: honing, figuring out what needs to happen and where, figuring out the weak parts and what to fix. That process is where it all comes alive - but at the beginning? Don't be hard on yourself - just trust that you'll get where you need to go.
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What are you currently working on?
Gian Sardar Another novel! It's in the early stages, so I'm keeping quiet about it so I don't jinx anything.
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How do you get inspired to write?
Gian Sardar Reading some of my favorite authors always inspires me. Lauren Groff, James Salter, Anthony Doerr - just to name a few. I can't read but a few of their pages without wanting to hurry back to my computer.
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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?
Gian Sardar I've always been intrigued with the subject of past lives. From dreams I've had to inexplicable connections to people and places, it's a subject that I finally explored during a series of past life regressions. This book was born from one such session, not only in the subject matter but in the fact that I incorporated a scene I saw that day. For me, the idea that there are layers in our lives, histories we'll never know, is fascinating, and one I tried to explore in this novel. Also, because in life we're only exposed to our worlds, and yet I believe there is a much bigger picture, I tried to reflect that idea and play with the dramatic tension that's created when the reader knows more than the characters.
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Gian Sardar
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