Author Interview: Ashe & Magdalena Stevens

For my first Author Interview, I'm honoured to be joined by Ashe & Magdalena Stevens, authors of Lost in Beirut. 

An memoir of war, hope and survival, I was so excited to learn more about the experiences that led them to write this story together, their inspirations, and what's next.

I'm always impressed by people who create their own journey, and their own path.  I know you've shared a little bit of the reasoning before, but what led to the decision to self publish your book? Was it out of necessity or preference?

For us, self publishing was a preference. More than anything we wanted to maintain full artistic control over Lost in Beirut. We believe it’s an unconventional memoir and didn’t want a publishing house to change or commercialize our story to fit their predetermined marketing mold. The ability to choose our entire team, including our phenomenal editors, was a blessing in disguise. The chances of us working with editors like Britt Collins, who is a NYT bestselling author, and Heather Sangster, who has edited numerous works including such names as Margaret Atwood, would be slim for debut authors in a big publishing house. The audition and editing process with these two is something we will always cherish. Not to mention we also were able to hand pick our cover and web designers who were both spectacular and truly passionate about Lost in Beirut story. After our contributors agreed to be involved in our project, we knew it was going to be something special. These artists are extremely selective of who they work with, and to be honest, we felt honored they all passionately believed in bringing this story to life.   

Can you tell me about the process of writing this book together? Clearly this story shares Ashe's experiences, but I'm curious how you worked together to create Lost in Beirut.

Because Lost in Beirut is a true story that Ashe did not initially want to relive, the writing process was very unique.  Every word we wrote together.  Literally.  Some buried secrets fight to remain uncovered so for Ashe it was very cathartic to finally put down on paper. 

I can't imagine the toll the events told in the book had on your mental health. Can you speak a little bit about your journey after the book (or should we expect a sequel)?

Yes, there will be a sequel. We’re working on it currently. As far as my mental health after the events in the book. It deadened my eyes and silenced my voice for sometime. But I hid that pain well until I met Magdalena. She gave me hope to feel that not all was lost. Then our daughter, Lucrezia, really breathed a new life back into my heart. When you heal, it comes slowly, in an incremental fashion. 

Are there any books, films, or music that specifically inspired you when writing Lost in Beirut?

Yes! Music. We never wrote a word without music playing in the background. 
The Mustard Seed by Hildur Gudnadottir & Johann Johannsson
Vespers by Lisa Gerrad 
Fada by Andre x Jad
And lots and lots of Hans Zimmer 

The cover of the book is beautiful.  What was the process like for creating the cover and how much input did you have?

Because we self published we had a full control of all the creative process but there would be no cover without Xavier Comas, creator of Coverkitchen. We looked through thousands of covers and cover designers but ultimately we decided to only reach out to one. We couldn’t imagine anyone but him designing our cover. A veteran in the field for over 30 years, award winner, contracting with the big 5 publishing houses, Xavier was a reach for a shooting star. It’s funny, because he took almost a week to reply to our initial email and we were freaking out. Then we got his reply stating it’s inter coincidence that our email came on the same day as he received a Facebook reminder of a photograph he took while living in Beirut. It was magical and meant to be. Because we are indie we could make the important decision of giving him full artistic freedom and he came up with this gorgeous, unconventional design. We know, because of the initial critiques of the design from friends in the industry, that a publisher would not have approved of this cover. We kept being advised to go with a bigger title and have our names larger on the cover but we trusted his vision for our book. We said fuck it! It’s our book and Ashe’s story and we want to reach our readers in an authentic way. The final product is a striking image in Beirut that is highly symbolic. A man having the time of his life, cannonballing into the pool on a rooftop of a luxurious hotel, unaware of the incoming missile.  Even the color of the letters going from white, a color of innocence, to red signifying danger, are purposeful.

The duality of the story is further captured on the hardcover when you take off the jacket and see the aftermath, smoke from the explosion. This was Xavier’s artistic expression on full display and he left us speechless. 

If there is one message you want readers to take away from your story, what would that be?

Image courtesy of https://lostinbeirut.com/

I say this to my wife all the time, that there’s something living inside this book and I don’t know what it is. It’s a message but for everyone it’s something different. That’s why when we connect with our readers , it’s such a gift to see what kind of message they take away from this journey. 

Other than Lost in Beirut, what is one book everyone should read?

The one book everyone should read is their next. Don’t stop reading! Books hold wonder within their pages waiting for you to discover it. 

Visit the website for Lost in Beirut to learn more about the authors and where you can purchase your copy.