I’m thrilled you mention The Brothers Lionheart! Astrid Lindgren is possibly the writer I admire more than any other. And that particular book, my favourite by her, has been very important for me – probably influenced my fiction writing. I was eleven when it was published, twelve when the translation came, and my teacher (who also encouraged my writing for years) read it aloud in class. By that time I was proud of reading Victor Hugo, Dickens and Russian classics, but my teacher and Astrid Lindgren gave me my first experience of a children’s book being not only for children. I also remember the controversy around that book’s theme and (fantasy and perhaps symbolic) events: was is all right to write to children about something that looked like suicide?

You got me carried away. Above all, I hope you’ll continue to find joy and inspiration in fandom, and stay!