I had so many plans for blog posts during the last few months but in the end I didn’t do a thing. A combination of tiredness, a huge amount of work, and just general procrastination meant a short hiatus. But I would like to write a sort of an update, because a lot of interesting and fun stuff is on the horizon, and I would like to share it on this space too. Not to mention I’m on vacation, so I really don’t have any excuses.
First of all, while the novellete is my preferred form when writing stories, I managed to write two short stories (in English) for anthology submission calls that looked perfect for my interests and genres. One story got accepted, which blows my mind (and I hope I’ll get to talk about it more soon), and for the other I’m waiting for the answer. Regardless of it, whether it’ll be accepted or rejected, I’m actually very happy because it’s shorter than what I write, and it still works for me, which is a sort of personal success.
I’m still bad at setting personal deadlines, which is why I’m still writing my dark urban fantasy novel in Croatian, even though it was supposed to be in revision right now. There are still moments when I think why do I even bother, but I’m getting better at shutting up that particular voice.
Sometimes, something particularly cool happens, like the fact that I had an amazing collab with students and professors at out local Academy of Applied Arts in Rijeka. The students did an awesome job illustrating scenes from my stories, collected in the book Mistress of Geese, absolutely making my day when I got to see their art. It’s really amazing when you see a scene or a character, from something that exists only in your mind, suddenly conveyed in another, visual medium. In someone else’s interpretation. So I’m beyond happy that the mentors chose my book for the students’ exercise. We’re also going to share the art on Shtriga’s social media in the following week, so you can check it out via @shtrigabooks on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
I’m also editing Igor Rendić’s debut solo novel A Town Called River, and having a lot of fun doing it. If you’re interested in urban fantasy inspired by Slavic folklore, more specifically south Slavic, and even more specifically Croatian folk and culture, this will definitely be a book for you. It’ll be out in fall this year.
Another exciting thing that happened is the publication of the first issue of Morina kutija (Mora’s Box), an online Croatian speculative fiction magazine I’m co-editing with Igor Rendić and Vesna Kurilić. Three of the stories published in there are in English, from our regional authors. We’re currently sharing individual stories on our web too, hoping to reach out to audience in every possible way.
Mostly, at the moment I’m enjoying my summer, reading fantastic books (mostly thrillers and horror) and swimming in the sea which, in turn, inspired me to write an aquatic horror novella, set on a Croatian island. That last part is the worst because, as I mentioned, I should be working on my novel which, admittedly, also has some tiny aquatic horror moments. Maybe it’s just because I live in a coastal town, or it’s because my grandma is from an island, so I spent a lot of my childhood summers on it too, or because I have specific fears regarding the sea, that are very helpful when you want to write scary stuff. I mean, last year my vacation on the island Korčula inspired me to write folk horror story with aquatic creatures, which is published in my previously mentioned story collection, so I hope this new idea, also born from the sea, salt and the sweltering heat, will show to be fruitful. Even if not, it’s making me want to write.
I see that the sun is slowly crawling closer to my body, which means I’m steadily loosing my shade. That’s a sure sign for me to cut this short. Let’s hope it’ll not be months before I write something for my blog again.
Haunted Narratives 