Today we talk about The Blanket, a book by Radoslava Antonova Kostadinova published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Radoslava Antonova Kostadinova to get to know her better and to discover all about her first published book The Blanket.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- What has led you to the writing of your first published book?
Many times, in life, a person sets out in search of one thing and finds another. Even the Great Christopher Columbus went in search of a shortcut to India, and he discovered America!…The same thing happens to ordinary people. I, as an artist, was looking for a publishing house abroad, where I could offer my services as an illustrator. That’s how I came across Europe Books, which collected manuscripts from all over the world. I decided to submit my own stuff written in the last 15 years. After some time, I received a reply from the publisher that they were intrigued by my stuff and wanted to publish it in a book. As they say in such cases: “The rest is history!…” It is extremely exciting to have your innermost thoughts and insights that you have come to in your life to be read by people from all over the world. Many great artists, famous people, teachers and ordinary people that I have met in my life have been an inspiration to me. It will be a great satisfaction for me if my things become an inspiration for many people around the world. That a portion of the proceeds from the book will go to building schools in Africa is also extremely Important to me! And it is a very strong incentive to continue to create and publish other books in the future – when I know that part of the income from them will also go to charity.
- What did you want to communicate with this book?
As I already mentioned, the works in the book were written over a period of more than 15 years. They were created by the way – while I was studying, while I was working – during lunch breaks and on the way there and back; while I was pregnant and afterwards – while I was raising my child, while I was walking him, taking him to and from school, while I was dealing with my household duties, etc. In Bulgaria we have a saying: “Work in vain, do not be idle in vain!” I.e. – When a person creates, when he does something, there is not always a 100% guarantee that he will make a profit from it. But that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t do that. Or as it is said in the wise books: “Throw your bread on the waters – sooner or later it will float!” I wish that in my book every reader or listener will find something for themselves – a thought, fact, conclusion, episode, emotion; something to touch him very intimately and leave an imprint on his mind and heart!…
- What particularly significant experiences in your life find expression in your book?
When a person has lived for some time and has gained some experience, he begins to feel the desire to share it with people. Some of the stories in the book are written on actual cases and refer to real people – for example, “The Blanket”, “If I stop working, I will die!”, “Confession of a book mouse”, “Office telephone”, ” On the shoulders of the Lord “, “Summer Idyll”, “The Wooden Mailbox”. Others contain personal impressions, reflections and insights. Still others are fictions, in which are woven both personal experiences and fragments of things seen, heard, shared. My childhood, adolescence, youth, student years, maturity, jobs as well as places I have lived; raising my child, writing and painting, to which I have devoted and continue to devote much of my energy, inspiration and time; love in all its aspects, the thirst for new knowledge, my relationships with people – all this kaleidoscope, all this rich palette of feelings, creativity and experiences are reflected as in a mirror in my book.
- How did it feel to see your first book published?
The excitement for me started as soon as I received a message from the publisher with a proposal to publish a book! I use the opportunity to thank Europe Books for making this dream come true – to publish a book with my works! The signing of the contract was also a very exciting moment. I felt it was a turning point in my life – before and after. Yes, the excitement is great! I feel like the way I did when I were accepted first in a high school art class, like the way I took the university state exam with the single highest grade in the class, like the way I opened my solo exhibitions, like the way I sold the first my picture, like the way when I gave birth to my child!…Each work of art is like a child to its creator – just like children it is made with a lot of love, just as loved and carefully looked after!…
- Are you working on a new writing project you can tell us about?
Yes, I write new things – with a lot of enthusiasm and inspiration! Their working title is “Tales for Grown Up Children”. I would describe most of them as fantastically humorous. In some of them, inanimate objects speak in the first person, like the characters in some of the things featured in my first book. But this time there are also different actions performed by them; main characters are in a variety of experiences and adventures. At the same time, in places between the lines, a irony creeps in – about some topical topics, about the rules, stereotypes and prejudices established in society, about the change in people’s attitudes, etc. At the same time, they are written with a lot of humor! There are also some children’s tales and legends made up by me. As well as several educational riddles, in which natural objects and historical landmarks communicate known and not so well-known facts about themselves, and the reader or listener must guess them. I will be very happy if it comes out in time as a separate book or as an expanded second edition of the first. I have about 20 things ready at the moment. As well as a few to finish. But I cannot as of now determine with certainty when they will be fully ready for publication. I can only wish myself many fresh and original ideas, success and creative inspiration!
Europe Books thanks the author Radoslava Antonova Kostadinova once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside her on the editorial path that led to the publication of her book The Blanket. We wish her the best of luck for her future works.
To you, my dear reader, I hope the experiences told in the book resonates with your personal experiences and allows you to reconnect with them, feeling the same emotions you felt and that are still good for your heart!
So, my dear reader, I just have to wish you to enjoy your reading!!!
Your editor!