Journals of the Undead

Tag: latvian literature

  • My Creative Challenges of 2023: Not Writing Enough and What Can Be Done About It

    My Creative Challenges of 2023: Not Writing Enough and What Can Be Done About It

    It’s only a few weeks and 2024 will be over. By comparison to 2023, it feels like I’ve done very little. Last year I was busy with editing and getting the Latvian version of my novel, “Šķautnes”, published and then doing the promo work (in addition to my day job and everything else, of course). This year I did some creative writing but nowhere near as much as I intended. It made me remember the old times some 15 years ago when nothing could prevent me from writing: if an inspiration struck during a lecture I’d simply stop taking notes and start writing my latest story instead. A busy day at work? I’d still write in the evening. My ability to focus and write for hours non-stop was incredible, a sharp contrast with the present day when a million thoughts are rushing through my mind every day and I get distracted easily.

    My plans for publishing a revised English version of my vampire stories, Journals of the Undead, had to be shelved. Hopefully the updated version, this time with illustrations, will see daylight in Autumn 2025. We’ll see…

    This year I made some progress with the English translation of Parallel World, my other vampire stories. It’s an old project of mine that I can’t seem to finish (ongoing since late 2019 so it’s been a while!). I think it’s taken me so long because the stories are quite old now. They were written in 2010 and published online on several Latvian sites. It was only some years later that I thought of an English translation for Wattpad but it wasn’t until 2021 when I actually sat down and translated 20 out of the 35 chapters. I had set myself a target of one story per week to motivate myself. The thing is, even though it was my creation and I do love my characters and the story lines, it was an old text for me and therefore I found working with it again boring. I like to create, to turn the page and do something new. That’s what excites me. Returning to something I wrote years ago doesn’t. Therefore, it was inevitable that at some point I lost interest. At the same time, I don’t like to abandon projects and I had readers who enquired when new chapters would be available. During an extended holiday earlier this year, I talked myself into going back to Parallel World and that resulted in a few new English chapters. Now I only have 5 left. Would be great to get them all done by New Year’s Eve but the realist (or pessimist) in me thinks that’s not gonna happen. I’ll be lucky to translate two chapters max before it’s time to sing the Auld Lang Syne again.

    My plans to launch a YouTube account for book reviews with a twist remain just plans. The same goes for comedy sketches for Instagram of which many have been written but none have been recorded.

    I’ve tried to understand what led to this… I don’t even know what to call it. Tiredness? Procrastination? Laziness? Apathy? Or is it just an inability to focus for long enough? I’d like to blame life getting in the way but it’s not as simple. When I’m passionate enough about something, everything gets moved out of the way so I can pursue that passion. The trouble is, I can’t quite reach that state of mind these days.

  • My Storytelling Mistakes: Avoiding Foreshadowing

    My Storytelling Mistakes: Avoiding Foreshadowing

    I’ve made quite a few mistakes as an author. When I was working on Journals of the Undead, I liked the idea of surprise. Giving my reader a clue, foreshadowing things? Nah, it’s more fun to introduce something new without any warning!

    I wouldn’t do it again. It works for some authors but I’ve grown to appreciate the beauty of clues, suggestions, little touches that might seem insignificant at first but make sense in hindsight and make me admire the level of thought and effort put into that story. The first example, which is also one of the best examples, that comes to my mind is Breaking Bad, one of my favourite TV shows. Better Call Saul, except for some weird filler episodes and several characters acting out of character on occasion, was also very enjoyable to watch. The level of detail in both shows is insane, the way it all weaves together… There were a lot of things I didn’t even notice until I started watching YouTube shorts and reading comments!

    And you know what, that was one of the reasons why I decided to start telling my own stories differently. I don’t want them to be too predictable but I do want them to become smoother and use “and because of…” instead of “and so…”. A story needs to flow, even I, the author, cannot just take it in any direction I want it to go. A story needs to make sense not just to me but also to the reader.

  • What’s Next?

    What’s Next?

    This has been one of the most frequently asked questions recently. Yes, I am working on my next novel. I don’t like to talk much about ongoing projects but there are a few things I can share…

    The new novel will be a spin-off of Journals of the Undead and will focus on Beatrice. As I’ve mentioned before, she was supposed to be the female lead in my debut novel, however, life (and Lucretia) had other plans. I always felt bad about that so now I shall use the opportunity to rectify things.

    Unlike JotU, the spin-off will be set entirely in the 19th century, apart from the occasional flashback. Readers of my debut novel said that they loved the stories but thought that covering four centuries in 12 short stories was too much and I agree with them.

    The novel will show Beatrice’s life as a vampire at a particular point of her life, reveal how she became a vampire and tell what her human life was like. It will feature a few vampires from JotU, as well as introduce some new characters.

    I love mixing real life with fiction, so expect historical facts woven into the story. Some of the plot is inspired by real events.

    When will the novel be available to buy? Best case scenario, Autumn 2025 for the Latvian version and Autumn/Winter 2026 for the English edition. This time I want to write in both languages simultaneously as opposed to translating the Latvian manuscript like I did with Journals of the Undead.

  • What Would I Do Differently…

    What Would I Do Differently…

    …if I were writing Journals of the Undead today? I’ve thought about it every now and then, especially as I was preparing the Latvian edition for publishing. In short, quite a few things but here are the main ones…

    Firstly, I would not cover four centuries and the stories would be in a chronological order. With JotU, I left them in the order in which they were written. I came to know my characters, their background and the events that shaped them gradually and this is reflected in the pace of the novel.

    Secondly, since I’d cover a much shorter period of time, there would be less characters. Four protagonists is fine but there’s a considerable amount of supporting characters in JotU who only appeared briefly and that’s a shame as some of them deserved more time in the spotlight.

    Thirdly, there would be at least one Latvian character.

    And, in general, the stories would be more light-hearted. My characters would still deal with the worldly winds and the pros and cons of eternal life but there would be more humour.

    I could have added all this to the manuscript but I chose not to. I have edited JotU several times over the years but those have been minor edits. The biggest change I made was re-writing a dialogue between two characters in the 5th story, The Encounter, where they discuss whether vampires have a soul. My thoughts on the subject have changed so I replaced the original dialogue with a new one. Apart from that, I’ve left the stories as they were, concerned that any cardinal changes would weaken and worsen the novel instead of improving it.

  • 2023 Summary

    2023 Summary

    Christmas and the end of the year are fast approaching so I decided to do a summary of my 2023 post.

    In short, it’s been a roller coaster year. I was been thinking about publishing the Latvian version of Journals of the Undead, “Šķautnes”, for quite a while. I had found a company that could take care of printing and distribution and had an illustrator, too. My plan was to edit the stories first and then set the thing in motion.

    However, back in January, I realised I could spend another few years without getting anything done. Instead of “someday” I needed a deadline, that’s how I work. Given that my novel is about vampires, October/November seemed the best time to launch the book. I emailed the Latvian publishing house Sava grāmata, we discussed deadlines and got the ball rolling.

    Or so I thought. I made a grave error (pun intended) of underestimating how much time editing would take. I only did minor edits as I feared that any major editing, no matter how well intended, could potentially weaken or dilute the original story. I wrote the novel when I was in my 20s, I’m in my 30s now, I’m a stronger and better storyteller now but… Journals of the Undead were written and belong to a particular time in my life and should remain there. By removing some of its weaknesses I would risk damaging its strengths. There will be sequels and an alternative version of the same events where I’ll have the opportunity to demonstrate my current skills.

    In short, I couldn’t stick to my own deadlines. This was due to various reasons, including my day job and other commitments. I reached a really low point in August and even considered postponing the project for a year. Feeling lost, I emailed Sava grāmata, who – bless them! – displayed angelic levels of understanding. They assured me we can still manage to launch the book this autumn. “Who knows what’s going to happen in a year’s time? It’s now or never,” I thought. And so the manuscript, written mostly in Riga but also in Hamburg and Copenhagen, was finally finished at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. “Šķautnes” was officially released on September 19 and hit the shelves in selected Latvian bookstores shortly afterwards.

  • Music & Editing

    Music & Editing

    I usually listen to music whilst editing as it helps me: a) get in the mood; b) stay focused. When I find a song I really like I can listen to it for hours on repeat – I’m not exaggerating! One of such songs is Burn by The Cure. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve listened to it, one of my all time favourites! The Crow (1994), one of my favourite movies by the way, had a great soundtrack but I like Burn the most.

    And then there is the opposite… I realised early on that Type O Negative and editing don’t go together. I love the band but find Peter Steele’s voice to be too distracting. Instead of doing what I was supposed to be doing I ended up watching the band’s music videos instead.

    The trouble with editing is that I need to be super focused and, because I have a day job and other commitments, the time I can set aside for this task is limited and needs to be used as efficiently as possible. Writing is different: I let my mind wander and I write down everything without thinking about it much plus writing can be done anytime as I nearly always carry pen and paper with me and, if I don’t, then I record a voice message on my phone.

    Editing is when I assemble, filter and arrange text so my mind needs to be completely present. Also, as much as I like to burn the midnight oil, I cannot edit at night. Write yes, edit no – I’ve tried it and lost hours the next day dealing with typos and silly mistakes from the previous night’s editing session. So no editing past 9 pm for me.

  • Why I Didn’t Have a Launch Party

    Why I Didn’t Have a Launch Party

    In short, because I felt too drained for that. I had spent months editing, communicating with the publishing house and my book illustrator, working in my day job, doing my radio show, and planning how to promote the novel. By the time the Latvian version of Journals of the Undead, “Šķautnes”, was printed I just wanted to have a break and not do anything book related for a while. So, instead of a big launch my book illustrator, Santagora, suggested an event at a library. I thought it was a nice compromise so that’s what we did. We chose Lielvārde, a picturesque town about an hour away from Riga, and it was a small event in collaboration with a local school.

  • “Šķautnes”

    “Šķautnes”

    I don’t like to talk about projects until they’re finished so I didn’t… But now I can. The Latvian version of Journals of the Undead, titled “Šķautnes”, which means ‘facets’ in Latvian, is out now! I feel happy and tired at the same time so this will be a very short post. I would like to thank “Sava grāmata”, the publishing company, and Santagora Torma, the illustrator. “Šķautnes” will be available in selected Latvian online and bricks and mortar book stores soon.

  • Journals of the Undead vs Parallel World

    Journals of the Undead vs Parallel World

    I have another vampire story, Parallel World, written in short chapters and available on Wattpad. Parallel World originated from some left over material that didn’t quite fit into Journals of the Undead. Also, JotU deals with tough stuff: loss, betrayal, loneliness and depression a lot, which was starting to have an impact on me. There is a bit of humour in my novel but not much so I wanted to write something more light hearted to keep things in balance. And that’s how Parallel World was born. Of course, as it often happens, the characters started to evolve and have their own ways therefore altering my initial idea.

    The main differences are…

    Number 1: less lead characters. Unlike JotU, Parallel World has only two protagonists, Elisa and Jack, and all but one of the chapters are told by Elisa. 

    Number2: Less jumping between centuries. All episodes take place in 2009/2010 apart from the occasional flashbacks.

    Number 3: Whilst writing my book, I discovered how I enjoy using historical facts (the more bonkers the better) and mixing them with fiction. I’m very interested in European history, especially Hungarian, and you’ll notice that when you read Parallel World.

    Number 4: the vampires in Parallel World are less homogenous. When I was writing Journals of the Undead, I was still working out what my vampires would be like. As a result, they all had roughly the same abilities and limitations, and no special powers. By the time I was working on the next story, I started to find it rather boring and mixed things up. Therefore the vampires in Parallel World are a very diverse bunch, including one who can turn into an owl. And I’ve thrown in a vampire hunter to make things even more interesting.

    Number 5: the supporting characters are a truly motley crew. Unlike Journals of the Undead, where the vampires are essentially good guys and girls who only do bad things if the situation requires it, some of the vampires in Parallel World are rotten to the core and no-one can do anything about it. The good vampires tolerate the bad ones and vice versa but they’re all stuck together in this parallel reality.

    Number 6: Latvians! Journals of the Undead had none and it is one of my regrets about the novel. I rectified this in Parallel World, which features three Latvians, all very different, and one of the chapters is set in Latvia.

    The stories were originally written in Latvian and there are 35 chapters in total. So far, I’ve managed to translate 25.

  • Behind the Scenes: Arifay

    Out of all my characters, Arifay is the one I know the least about. How could this be if I created him and wrote the stories? Well, it’s more a case of writing them down. The characters all came to me and revealed as much or as little as they wanted.

    Arifay’s date of birth, surname and home town are never revealed in Journals of the Undead. He’s in his mid 20s and, like Yuri, was born in the 18th century. Romantic yet cynical, more of a thinker than a man of action, calm yet determined, often smiling but with a dry sense of humour, Arifay avoids the spotlight but leaves a big and lasting impression on the humans and vampires he meets. A natural born teacher, he loves sharing knowledge and has remarkable levels of patience. Arifay normally keeps himself to himself but, once he becomes close to someone, he is a loyal friend.

    People have asked me about the origins of his unusual name. The answer is: I don’t know. It just came to me.