 Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself? As you probably learned above, my name is Jelena and I come from Croatia. Been a horror lover for most of my life and when I say that I really mean it. When I was a kid, instead of requesting Little Red Riding Hood as a bedtime story, I pushed my dad to read me E.A.Poe. What else can I say? Well, I’m living with my boyfriend Danijel, my dad Ivan, four cats and a senior dog. I work as an editor, columnist and blogger in several Croatian literary magazines and am an illustrator who is pushing towards as many solo art exhibitions as possible. What do you like to do when you're not writing? That’s a tough one as I am writing something most of the time; if not for my job, than working on my books. Except from that, I love spending time with my family, playing with my pets; I do some gardening and am playing piano and bass guitar every now and then. Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing? Life itself. I enjoy human psyche in all its shapes and forms and I think we can all agree that human behavior is an endless source of inspiration. The term horror, especially when applied to fiction always carries such heavy connotations. What’s your feeling on the term “horror” and what do you think we can do to break past these assumptions? Well, I could write an entire book on this topic, but let’s make it as short as possible. Horror genre in general (as every other genre) has some bad seeds. If we look upon the horror that focuses mostly on visual shock and gore, we can’t expect that everyone will like it or just learn to like it. But then there is horror that has a message behind all the blood, terror and psychological “poking”. Horror can be a great way to push people to think about life and the society they live in and make them think of ways they could improve. How to break the assumptions? By showing quality, relatable topics, include mythology and other similar topics into the whole community. Most of all, we can show other people that we don’t kill people out of hobby and that most of horror appreciating community are people just like any other. We can also tell them that we like ice cream…that always helps. A lot of good horror movements have arisen as a direct result of the socio/political climate, considering the current state of the world where do you see horror going in the next few years? I really don’t know and I’m a bit afraid to write of the ways it could go considering the currant situation. Let’s just hope that world domination, mass murders and all other similar topics remain on the big screen and in the books. What are the books and films that helped to define you as an author? It would be great if I could name only horror and thriller movies and books, but the truth is that everything I have watched and read shaped me into the author I am today. You can’t only look upon good stuff you’ve seen/read. The poorly executed work has influence on us as well. What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off? I’ll be a bit short on this one and would like to take the opportunity to mention a fellow Croatian writer named Viktoria Faust. How would you describe your writing style? Straight down to the core honest. A bit cynical. That type of writing that makes you think about yourself and your beliefs. Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you? I am a lucky one and for the most part reviews have been great. But there are some funny stories about people who didn’t understand my books. When I published the first Croatian edition of Shtorka (the book is about a young girl suffering from schizophrenia that talks to her in an archaic language, forcing her to kill everyone who deserves punishment) one girl contacted me, asking if Shtorka is in reality a cat. Yes, you have read it correctly. What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult? I don’t find writing difficult at all. Everything that comes after writing is much harder. Is there one subject you would never write about as an author? Never thought about that really. Straight out of the head-there isn’t. How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning? I use names of my friends and their children in books that are not so gory. And in some books I try to think of names that are different because I think every character should be an individual. Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years? Fantasy was the genre I started in. It was also dark, but still fantasy. Then I moved on to Sci-Fi before finally discovering that horror and thriller are genres that suite me the most. What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers? Brain and a normal amount of ego. :D What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing? Any story needs to be logical no matter the topic. Getting your worked noticed is one of the hardest things for a writer to achieve, how have you tried to approach this subject? As I have started of in Croatia, I tried to focus on the reviews and reaching out to media. Time did the rest. Now, my best strategy is by doing the same thing and along the way I am trying to promote Croatian mythology as it is the topic more relatable to a bigger specter of people. To many writers, the characters they write become like children, who is your favourite child, and who is your least favourite to write for and why? Well, I would say that books are my children, not the characters. Why? Because I end up killing most them in the end so I try not to attach myself to them. If I had to pick someone let me pick two from the book Shtorka. Era Torin would be my favorite because she is fragile; a murderer, but fragile. And the one I hate most is probably Amon Amnest because he is a hypocritical child molester. What piece of your own work are you most proud of? You can’t ask a mother of books that question. Just kidding. I am actually proud of everything because I can see personal growth in each sentence. And are there any that you would like to forget about? No. None. For those who haven’t read any of your books, which of your books do you think best represents your work and why? I think Shtorka and Shtorka Manifest best represent me because I have written them to my liking, not thinking about what other people will think of them. Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us? The first contact of Shtorka to Era: May I be here and by thy side linger, while the world is cracking and dense roots over you it grips. Devoted will I lie in the darkness of the attic, till your luck bares fruit. May this darkness be holy because in her lap I shall nurture you. Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next? Well, this is actually the first time I am telling it out loud, but I am working on the third book in Shtorka series. Last book was Shtorka (part 1) translated and published in English. If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice? The human stupidity of running upstairs to save themselves. What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you? The last great book was I read was S. King’s Bag of Bones (I know, I know…am a bit late to the show) and the worst…let me just remain quiet there. What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do? And what would be the answer? J: Question: Would you like twenty million dollars, no strings attached? Answer: If you insist. Don’t judge me on this last one. You are thinking it as well, aren’t you? Jelena Hrvoj Jelena Hrvoj was born on April 17th, 1987. in Zabok, Croatia. The year 2005 she graduated graphic design at School for Art and Design. She began her literary career in 2014 by publishing her first psychological thriller Shtorka. Soon after, she started working for the online literary magazine Kvaka as an editor and columnist. In the year 2016 Jelena was accepted into the Croatian Literary Association/Croatian zagorje branch and started working for online magazines Amazonke and Book Club (Književni klub). In addition, Jelena is also active as a surrealist illustrator and had held three independent art exhibitions and is a proud illustrator of a poetry book. Except for Shtorka, Jelena has published three more books: Psychological horror; House of Durga (original title: Durgina kuća/2016.) Psychological thriller; Shtorka Manifest; the sequel of Shtorka (original title: Štorka Manifest 2017.) Thriller/Sci-Fi; Dedivination-Nation of Psychosis (original title: Dedivinacija-Nacija psihoze 2018.) Shtorka by Jelena Hrvoj One summer day after a devastating hale, young Era Torin wakes up to see that all of her hard work has been destroyed. As she mourns over her devastated garden, Era accidentally gets shot and barely survives. At that moment, an old friend awakes inside of her. Shtorka, the terrifying voice inside Era's head, starts commanding her to kill all the sinners in her town. Era goes on a rampage to fertilize the soil in her garden with the bodies of sinners so she can feed on the fruit of their sins.
Comments are closed.
|
Archives
May 2023
|
RSS Feed
|
|