Renata Stankova
This weeks Author of the Week is Renata Stankova who speaks about her debut book and what inspired her and what’s next for her.
Hi Renata, let’s start with you telling us a little about yourself.
Hi, I live in Bulgaria and work as an SEO Monday to Friday. Outside of working hours, I write action-packed stories with lots of romance and drama. When writer’s block strikes, I go on a mountain hike.
What got you into writing?
My parents told me that when I was a baby, they gave me a tray with different objects on it. It’s that old tradition that whatever the baby picks will be the baby’s path in life. And I picked up a pen. If destiny is real, then the moral is, whatever we become, it’s because we chose it as babies. We have no power beyond that. So, when I was little, I used to watch movies or read books and think “This shouldn’t be like that,” or “I would have made this unfold differently.” Yes, I was that insufferable child. One day when I was 15, I thought, maybe I should create something just the way I want it. And, I started writing.
That’s an interesting tradition. What’s the main thing you love and hate about writing?
Writing gives me purpose. I’ve heard other authors say the same, and I can relate. When the story and characters click in just the right way, I feel like I was put on this world to do just that. My life has meaning and I’ve found it. I thank fate and all gods and goddesses for allowing me to make something for the world. Other times, when things don’t work and I can’t find a solution, I want to bury myself and never look at another human being. All this hard work, and in the end, I’m producing garbage. Then my mind would go even further into Depressed Vile and I won’t even be able to look at my work for weeks on end. Another thing that makes me happy is when I read organic reviews. So far, I’ve only had a few, and all of them have been positive. I know that not everyone will have the same response, but the notion that my creation has made people smile is irreplaceable.
It’s nice knowing people appreciate your work, isn’t it. Who is the worst villain you’ve ever written, and why?
I’m not good at villains. My creations are mostly Man Against World storylines. I follow the journey of my protagonist as they navigate through a world that is against them for a completely non-personal reason. There usually is a final villain in the end, but the villain is simply another part of the environment. My villains are nothing special, I hope my readers focus on my protagonists. I once wrote a story where I had this personal conflict between two characters. The villain started as a love interest and thorough the story they turned into an evil person. I planned to have a final battle between the two leads, where one would kill the other and then kill themselves. But this bummed me out so much, I ended up deleting the entire project.
To read more go to, https://www.elizabethnharris.net/post/renata-stankova
