Interview with the author Kalina Duncheva

You’re both avid fantasy readers–what inspired you to take the leap from reader to writer?

I started writing as a way of calming myself down. I don’t remember exactly why, but one afternoon I was just really frustrated with my friends in school, and I realized that making up stories about sweet characters, who won’t annoy you like your friends do, or just making up stories about the adventures you wish you were having instead of living your ordinary life was very calming and... it made me happy.

How did you make time to write? How long did the process take?

The Wolves of the Afterglow took me... five years to write from first draft to, I don’t know, sixth. Parts of it I wrote or edited over breaks—I remember one spring break I just spent every day at home, working from morning to evening on my book because I really wanted to get to the next stage of the process and to just be done with the editing; a lot of the book I wrote early in the morning from 5 am to 7 am before school. Then I learned that it wasn’t very healthy for my developing teenage brain to be missing out on sleep so much so I stopped doing that and... I’ve actually never been as productive.

Here in the Libraries, we’re always thinking about research. I don’t know if all readers realize just how much research goes into building a magical world. Could you describe the types of research you did while you were working on your books?

As an international reader, I’m always excited when the novels I read—which are usually written by American or British authors—mention my country or another country I identify with, like Greece. Sadly, this doesn’t happen very often. So I made it a priority for myself, in writing The Wolves, to include as many countries, cultures, and languages as possible. My research included a lot of—just going down rabbit holes reading random facts about countries like Peru, where the the main character Rie is from. I spent a lot of hours on Google Earth, just tracing with my finger streets and roads in Switzerland and Italy, trying to see, “Ok, is it even possible for my character Riaan to travel from this place to this other place..., how long will it take him to get where I want him to be...” So, yeah, it was a lot of travel research, I guess.

Publishing Process

The publishing industry–like the library field–is overwhelmingly white and mostly women, according to the 2023 Diversity Baseline Survey by Lee & Low Books. Year-over-year data show trends moving toward increased diversity, but incredibly slowly. A lot of ink has been spilled about how these demographics impact what gets published in the US, and the short version is that homogenous gatekeepers publish homogenous books. We’ve talked before about how both of you worried that an editor at a trade publisher might not “get” your book or keep the most important parts intact. Can you say a little more about this and about your reasons or self-publishing?

I wouldn’t say that I necessarily don’t trust traditional publishers to “get” my book, but back when I was starting to write The Wolves, I was simply ... terrified of showing my work to anybody, of sending it to an agent or a publishing house, so... I made a deal with myself, “Okay, this is gonna be self-published, you’re working on your own terms, you got your pen name, but you just gotta finish it, you gotta do it.” I think now I’m ready to actually try traditional publishing and get my fair share of rejections, but back then, self-publishing was the only path I was brave enough to take.

It seems to me that the freedom that comes with self-publishing is both a blessing and a curse. Without a formal editing process, how do you decide when your book is ready to be published?

Now that’s a really good question. We had a lot of discussion at home with my mom and other people who wanted to read the book, “Okay, when are you going to finish it? You’ve been working on it for so long” but... I just didn’t feel like it was good enough. I knew that I was going to finish it—I had plans: during editing stage four, I’ll be working on this. Editing stage five, I’ll look into this. So I had plan, it was all organized and... At some point by the end of the editing process, I had to rewrite the ending entirely—it was a whole new ending. Several brand new chapters. And I think having been through the ending and thinking, “Okay, that’s much better. I feel this sense of closure” is what really helped me decide, that’s it. I revisited the ending. And now I’m happy with it. There are a thousand things in this book I’m not happy with, but... that’s it. I gotta move on. There are other projects I want to be working on, and... even if this book is not as good as I want to be, it’s fine for the stage in life in which I am.

Who should read your book, and how do you hope they feel when they’re reading it? How have you gotten the word out to your target audience?

My target audience is anybody aged nine or ten to seventeen, eighteen. I don’t know if adults will like The Wolves—I haven’t lived long enough to be writing about things grown-ups will find meaningful, but... I think kids will be entertained. And as to what I hope they feel when they’re reading it: I hope they feel wonder. The Wolves touches a lot on nature stuff—I love birds, I love mountains, I love being outdoors, so there’s a lot of that. If I can spark this love for adventure and nature exploration in others, I’d be more than happy. As for actually reaching out to my target audience: well... I’m notoriously bad at self-promotion. I contacted a few bookstagrammers over the past summer, but... I’m working on this.

Rapid-fire wrap-up questions

What’s the last book you read that you really enjoyed?

The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith

What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone considering writing their own novel?

Just write. Don’t spend too much time preparing to write. Writing is the best way to figure out what works for you and what works for your readers and where these two overlap.

Are you working on a sequel?

Yes! It’s called The North Star and it’s about a boy who sees monsters no one else sees.