What inspired you to put together such an engaging tale of love lost and found?

Largely my own experience of Sardinia, combined with an unfortunate love affair of roughly the same date, although it did not take place in Sardinia.

What's the significance of the book's title?

There were two actual wines popular in the 1960s: Sardinian Gold and Sardinian Silver (for some reason named this way in English). The Gold is described in the book as "Full and rich, almost like a liqueur. A little sweet, perhaps, but not unpleasantly so. Like the true glory of a Sardinian summer, warm and delightful." The Silver as "less sweet, just slightly sad after the other one. More like a fleeting memory of something beautiful." Thus the title is symbolic of Arthur's experience in the island.

Is this truly a love story, or really a story about love?

About love, and the desire for it--at an age when love and sex are virtually the same.

What is it about Anna that makes Arthur so obsessed with her?

The circumstances, really, of their meeting, and the unexpected loss of an attractive woman.

How much of your own personal experience is peppered throughout the storyline of the tale?

A great deal, but heavily fictionalized. Many (but not all) characters were suggested by people I knew but the stories are largely invented: the way an author usually relies on his/her own experience, I guess.

You've referred to the particular folkways and mores of Sardinia as "relatively uncivilized"...why so?

Men and women couldn't go out together unless engaged (with the danger that there would then be a father standing behind them in church with a shotgun), so there always had to be a chaperone. The continent, including England, was considered "immoral." "We're more honest: if we go out with a girl we marry her." The men (as too in the south of Italy) largely went with prostitutes and regarded any attractive woman as fair game:  "'Mister Arturo, the difference between you English and us Italians is that if your sister slept with a man you’d do absolutely nothing. If mine did, I’d kill her, and the man too.' 'Sure,' I said, 'but in the meantime you’re busy trying to sleep with everyone else’s sister, aren’t you?' 'Of course,' he replied, 'I’m a man, aren’t I?' "  

Our reviewer commented on the vivid way that you capture the scenery and imagery of Sardinia. Is the island really as lush as you depict it to be?

I think so. The East Coast in particular is beautiful--and now a prime attraction for tourists.

What kinds of reactions have you gotten to the book thus far?

Reviews I've had have been very positive, and most people appreciate my efforts to create literary fiction.

What's the main message that you'd like readers to take away from the tale?

That life is complicated: there are many things between the lines that I hope challenge existing social attitudes.

How has your publishing experience been with iUniverse?

Very good on the production side, although one has to do a lot oneself. Marketing is more of a challenge.

What are your future writing/publishing aspirations?

I have a collection of short stories (published in literary journals) I want to get published as a collection. Also another, longer, novel--and I would hope to write another one in the near future. I also write plays, six full-length and three one-acts, some of which have won awards and/or been performed locally: but I'm aiming at professional performance.

We noticed that you're a former English teacher and current Professor of Russian. Please share more with us about your endeavors in the teaching field.

I have taught English only as a foreign language, as in Sardinia. I have always loved languages, and speak five reasonably fluently, managing a couple more at a more basic level. I taught Russian language and literature at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, for thirty-five years, publishing many academic articles (not only on Russian) and a major book on the Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov. 

How can our readers learn more about you and your ongoing efforts?

Check out my web-sites: www.sardiniansilver.com and www.acolinwright.ca. Some of my stories, as well as blogs and articles, are published in their entirety at www.authorsden.com/acolinwright. Part publication of my plays will gradually be listed on www.productionscripts.com.

Any final thoughts you'd like to share?

Attitudes towards God and religion are also important to me: "Sardinian Silver" has quite a bit on Catholicism, and there is more in the as yet unpublished novel mentioned above; also in my publications on Authors Den. 

Thanks again, Anthony, and best of continued success to you in all your endeavors!<Sardinian Silver - Anthony Colin Wright.pdf>