June 12, 2025
BooKecCenTriC was
privileged to welcome Author Jasna Kaludjerovic to our virtual couch
for an interview about her book, Letters to an Embryo. Enjoy!
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What's your
book about, and what inspired you to write it?
Well, at the time
of my divorce, there was still one frozen embryo left from my last IVF attempt.
On one hand, I couldn’t just leave it there, unborn. On the other, I couldn’t
bring it into the world under entirely new circumstances. So, I began to write.
Writing was my solution, my way out of trouble.
The book was
written over the course of three years, during a period of deep inner struggle.
It follows a transformational journey - from uncertainty to clarity, from
emotional paralysis to a sense of peace and freedom. Letters to an Embryo
addresses modern dilemmas created by advancements in reproductive technology.
It gives voice to ethical and emotional questions that many women today
silently struggle with.
Who is your
target audience, and why do you think this book will appeal to them?
I see two main
target audiences for this book. The first are women who are grappling with the
questions of abortion or what to do with frozen embryos. As I began writing and
later publishing my story, many of my friends opened up and shared their own
experiences with abortion—stories I might never have heard if I hadn’t written
this book. I realized how many women carry those experiences silently,
struggling with the emotional aftermath alone.
My dream as a
writer is that somewhere out there, there is a woman wondering whether to go
through with an abortion—and she finds my book. And maybe, just maybe, it
becomes the reason she decides to give life.
The second
audience is anyone who feels stuck in life. Because on a deeper level, Letters
to an Embryo is not only the story of a mother deciding whether or not to leave
her child unborn. It is also a story about a human being carrying guilt,
feeling paralyzed, and not feeling strong enough to break through.
In that sense,
Letters to an Embryo is not just a book for women. It’s a book for anyone who’s
stuck. And I believe it might help light their way forward. At least, I hope it
can.
What's the one
thing you hope readers will remember or take away from your book long after
they finish reading it?
I hope they will
remember all those frozen humans left behind in test tubes. Maybe raising
awareness about their existence will improve the way we handle them and raise
their chances of being born in any possible way—for example, by our governments
improving procedures of handling them, storing them, and adopting them... Also,
I would like to give courage and arguments to all those stuck in guilt and
indecisiveness, to help them move on with joy and peace.
Can you share
a surprising or little-known fact about your writing process or research for
this book?
At first, it was
my diary. I was writing for myself. There was no real research - I was lost and
thought that maybe it would be easier to find the way out if I wrote. So I
decided to keep writing until I broke free.
And when I
finally did break free, I completely forgot about the book - for two whole
years! Later, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to clean up my laptop.
But before deleting any file, I would always check what it was. That’s how I
started reading my own book - and I liked it!
The details about
the real reasons for my divorce were removed before publishing, because I
didn’t feel ready to share that part with the public. Maybe the readers will
notice it and miss it, but it was simply my personal boundary - how much I felt
comfortable revealing.
Can you walk
us through your favorite scene or chapter from your book? What makes it stand
out to you?
Definitely the
letter from the trip to Jerusalem. Because it still keeps surprising me. My
book and my life before and after it are two entirely different stories. It was
the turning point.
It wasn’t that I
lacked strength or courage to face my issues, and then something simply lifted
me a bit. No - it was that the way I was searching for answers was completely
wrong. I could have kept going in circles forever, and nothing would have
changed.
Sometimes, no
matter what the rational arguments are, they’re just not enough. If faith is
what you’re missing, you can go on with rational arguments forever, and they
will lead you nowhere.
Jerusalem brought
a new perspective. And that shift in perspective was exactly what I needed to
finally find a way out.
What's the
most memorable or impactful response you've received from a reader, and how has
it affected you?
The most
memorable response I received was from my editor, who is a man. He told me that
the book sent him to sleep with thoughts—and that it’s not really about the
embryo at all. It’s about freeing yourself from a place where you feel stuck.
What's the
biggest misconception people have about being an author?
That writing a
book is just sitting and writing. That was my misconception too, before I
decided to publish it. But then - oh my god! Editing took another two years,
and I read it over and over so many times! That part was much more technical
and required real discipline and hard work.
If you could
go back in time and give advice to your pre-published self, what would it be?
Self-publish the
Serbian version too. It doesn’t pay off to wait so long to find a publisher.
Most of the work they’ll do for you - you can do yourself. And they usually
don’t put much effort into marketing, especially when it comes to debut
authors.
Your favorite
quote/saying to live by?
The one I learned
in Jerusalem. I often use it as a quote from my book: "Even
if I don’t see the path before me right now, that doesn’t mean it’s not there."
Any advice to
new/aspiring authors?
If you’re doing
this for money—don’t!
Write only if you
have something inside you that won’t leave you in peace until you put it on
paper and share it with others. Otherwise, it’s just too hard and too
expensive. You’ll do better in IT!
Do you have
any more books in the works?
Not yet. I do
have ideas, but let’s see. I wrote Letters to an Embryo mostly for
myself. Now I have a feeling it might help others the way it helped me. I have
a good career in IT, and for now, I want to see whether I actually have readers
or not. If I feel that I do - or if I feel that same urge to write, like I did
with my first book - then I’ll write more. Otherwise, this will remain my first
and only book.
How can
readers get in touch with or follow you (website, personal blog, social media
handle, Goodreads)?
Check out Jasna Kaludjerovic's author profile.
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Jasna Kaludjerovic was born in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, in
1978, and grew up in Nikšić, a small town in Montenegro. She studied Computer
Science and Informatics, first at the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and
Cybernetics at Lomonosov Moscow State University, and later at the Faculty of
Mathematics at the University of Belgrade, where she earned her Bachelor’s
degree.
Today, she works as an IT consultant and runs her own company in Belgrade.
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