So … yes … hello everybody!

I always have problems when I write about myself, because I never know if I’ll hit the right tone. This looks like a friendly place however, so I guess I’ll go at it easy this time.

My name is Yordan Zhelyazkov and I’m from Bulgaria. Yes, weird, I know. “Well, what are you doing here, then?!” you justly ask. See, the thing is that Bulgaria is a bit small, as far as countries go and books there aren’t exactly hitting the very high numbers in term of sales. So, in a moment of madness, I decided to get my debut novel – When They Shine Brightest – translated into English. But I’m getting ahead of myself, so let’s do this in order:

Why do you write:

Because it’s the only thing that I can do. Or rather – the only productive thing I can do without throwing everything in the air after a couple of hours. I’ve been writing as a hobby since I was a kid but it took 4 wasted years of studying marketing and 5 different jobs in 5 years for me to finally decide that, if I’m going to spend my life doing something, let it at least be something that I enjoy. And so it began.

What do you write:

Currently my passion is fantasy, namely modern fantasy with a classical taste. When I first started writing however, I did intend to write historical fiction, since history has always been a great interest of mine. I wanted to write a novel, describing the way we twist history, when we write it down and how that twisted history in turn twists us later on.

So I wrote a plot, spanning generations but as the plot grew and grew it got too big for… well, for the historical reality.

So I had a dilemma – either reduce the plot or forget about the historical reality. And since I also loved fantasy, I chose the latter. The idea for that historical novel turned into an idea for an entire fantasy world and here we are – in front of just one novel in that world.

What did you do to publish your work:

Oh, boy, where do I begin?

As I said, I’m from Bulgaria and When They Shine Brightest was initially written in Bulgarian.

At first I joined a competition about fantasy novels, organized by a local publisher.

The book got qualified for the finals but then some delays happened and the looong wait for the results began. And as it often happen in those situations – another publisher swooped in and offered me a contract.

Since they – Enthusiast – were even bigger than the organizers of the competition, I simply left it and got a contract!

But what does that have to do with you – the English-speaking readers?

Well, in the meantime I hired a professional translator with 20 years of experience – Alexander Gurovski – to translate the novel into English.

The moment I got my contract with Enthusiast I also started a crowdfunding campaign to pay for the expenses. And it was a success! I hired designers for a cover, maps and a website.

Enthusiast arranged for the book to be edited by one of the biggest modern SFF writers in the country – Luben Dilov Junior.

I also paid for an English editor – award-winner Tia Bach from ibgw.net after the translation was over.

After all that action, now the book is getting self-published in English, simultaneously to its release in Bulgarian!

What other interests and hobbies do you have:

Uhm, this isn’t going to be short either. For starters, I must admit to being a gamer. A former hardcore, semi-professional gamer. Nowadays – a recovering one, limiting myself to ~1 hour per day. Yes, it’s hard, thank you for the sympathy.

Although it might be a bit misplaced, because I do cheat from the “1 hour per day” rule whenever I can. What can I say – old habits. Once you’ve been in Top 100 in Europe, you just can’t stop.

It’s far from just games however. I’m a huge movie buff and watch lots of movies, including movie blogs and vlogs. And TV series. Lots of them, too. They are my little rewards at the end of a good day of writing.

I love music, especially rock and metal. In fact, I can’t write unless I’m listening to music – either power/epic metal, or soundtracks of some specific fantasy games. The genre demands it.

I was also briefly into archery and I loved it, but once you become good enough to start going to competitions and so on, it starts taking way too much of your time and I had to stop.

Oh, and reading! Do I need to mention that? I guess I do, just to be sure.

I don’t read nearly as much as I want, mainly because I’m not a particularly fast reader – I enjoy reading one book at a time and doing it slowly.

I can read quite fast, I’ve worked as a manager in a publishing house, I just don’t like to. It takes away from the pleasure.

I think that’s it. At least what I can think of right now.

If you’re curious to find out more, I also have a detailed bio, as well as some other interesting things on my website and social media.

Also check my book’s blurb on Amazon, Goodreads or my website – if you like fantasy, I’m certain you’ll like it!

Cheers!

YZ

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