Autor: David Gay-Perret

I was born in 1989 in Annecy, France, where I lived the first 20 years of my life. Now, I live and work in Sweden, the land that my heart calls home. I wrote „The Chronicles of Galadria“ (CoG) over the course of 7 years, from the age of 13 to 20. Coincidentally, the end of the story coincided with my departure for Sweden, and the debut of my own „new life“. During those 7 years, „CoG“ took up all of my time: I tasked myself with writing everything that I lived through, saw, discovered, or experienced into the story. To a certain extent, I lived more in the book than in reality. To be truthful, the central idea of a dream world was inspired by reality: I dreamed of living in this „Other World“, and my response to this desire took on the form of a book. And I didn“t realize until the end of the story that life itself is actually a form of dream. Another interesting point is the disconcerting way that events in „real“ life corresponded with the events in the passages I was writing: the difficulties that I encountered or the lessons that I learned naturally found their places in the story, making me advance in life to the same beat as Glaide (or vice-versa?). I wasn“t alone in my work, though. I did indeed begin the story at thirteen, but it wasn“t until I was seventeen that I really found the courage to write the story down more seriously, with the support of my French professor. My French teacher read the book and encouraged me to continue in my work. The writing process then passed from being a vague, background activity to being central in my life. It was at this period that Arthur Clément, a close friend of mine from childhood, became one of the most important people for me: he was present at each step of the process for discussing every aspect of „CoG“, and is probably the only person who understands the full scope of this saga. Finally, I want to underline the importance of music t