Journals of the Undead

Blog

  • New Year’s Resolutions: Yay or Nay?

    New Year’s Resolutions: Yay or Nay?

    Dear reader, 2025 is here and by this time in January many people will have failed their New Year’s Resolutions already. I’ll offer my explanation in a minute but first I’d like to say that I have mixed feelings about them. It’s good to strive and often we do need to push ourselves a little and set a time frame or a deadline in order to achieve something. I had that when I wanted to publish my first novel, Journals of the Undead, in Latvian. It wasn’t a New Year’s Resolution as such but it was January 2023 when I realised that the reason why I was stuck was because I wasn’t working towards a specific deadline. Instead, I thought that I would get it published once I’d finished the editing, which was very vague. So, I decided I want my collection of vampire stories to hit the shelves in Autumn 2023 and that made a massive difference. The Latvian edition, called “Šķautnes”, was released in September 2023.

    But why do so many New Year’s Resolutions fail? I’ve got several suggestions. These are my personal opinions, of course. Firstly, it’s the lack of commitment. I’m not a gym person. I’ve never been, never will. I enjoy exercising… outdoors. Let’s say I’ve been socialising with an active gym goer and suddenly start thinking I should get a gym membership after all. I wouldn’t last long because my own commitment would not be strong enough – I’d simply be influenced by another person and once that influence had worn off I’d probably end up paying for something I don’t use whilst hesitating to cancel the membership. Whenever you want to do something you need to be sure that it’s what YOU want. TRULY want.

    Secondly, and this is my personal observation here in the UK, is that a lot of people are too harsh on themselves. They’ve either overindulged over Christmas or feel bad about having had a nice festive season or both and feel like they have to saddle themselves with resolutions to compensate for it. I’m Latvian so it’s a foreign concept to me. In the Baltics where the weather is… well, Baltic, we like to celebrate and see no reason why the good times should stop just because it’s January. So we keep your Christmas lights on and keep eating Christmas food leftovers. Also, with the winters being cold it’s normal to hibernate and drastic changes are better saved for Spring.

    What I do instead is use January – the whole month – for deciding what I want to focus on this year. I really think it through and ask myself questions to establish why I think I have a need for this or that. Then I pick a few main goals and decide on a timeline. For instance, this year I want to focus on creative writing and I will share my progress with you in future posts.

    To sum this up, if New Year’s Resolutions work for you, go for them but make sure you know why you suddenly want to start running, learn how to play the guitar or have a surfing holiday in Portugal. If they’ve never worked for you, feel free to replace them with something that does work.

  • My Creative Challenges of 2023: Not Writing Enough and What Can Be Done About It

    My Creative Challenges of 2023: Not Writing Enough and What Can Be Done About It

    It’s only a few weeks and 2024 will be over. By comparison to 2023, it feels like I’ve done very little. Last year I was busy with editing and getting the Latvian version of my novel, “Šķautnes”, published and then doing the promo work (in addition to my day job and everything else, of course). This year I did some creative writing but nowhere near as much as I intended. It made me remember the old times some 15 years ago when nothing could prevent me from writing: if an inspiration struck during a lecture I’d simply stop taking notes and start writing my latest story instead. A busy day at work? I’d still write in the evening. My ability to focus and write for hours non-stop was incredible, a sharp contrast with the present day when a million thoughts are rushing through my mind every day and I get distracted easily.

    My plans for publishing a revised English version of my vampire stories, Journals of the Undead, had to be shelved. Hopefully the updated version, this time with illustrations, will see daylight in Autumn 2025. We’ll see…

    This year I made some progress with the English translation of Parallel World, my other vampire stories. It’s an old project of mine that I can’t seem to finish (ongoing since late 2019 so it’s been a while!). I think it’s taken me so long because the stories are quite old now. They were written in 2010 and published online on several Latvian sites. It was only some years later that I thought of an English translation for Wattpad but it wasn’t until 2021 when I actually sat down and translated 20 out of the 35 chapters. I had set myself a target of one story per week to motivate myself. The thing is, even though it was my creation and I do love my characters and the story lines, it was an old text for me and therefore I found working with it again boring. I like to create, to turn the page and do something new. That’s what excites me. Returning to something I wrote years ago doesn’t. Therefore, it was inevitable that at some point I lost interest. At the same time, I don’t like to abandon projects and I had readers who enquired when new chapters would be available. During an extended holiday earlier this year, I talked myself into going back to Parallel World and that resulted in a few new English chapters. Now I only have 5 left. Would be great to get them all done by New Year’s Eve but the realist (or pessimist) in me thinks that’s not gonna happen. I’ll be lucky to translate two chapters max before it’s time to sing the Auld Lang Syne again.

    My plans to launch a YouTube account for book reviews with a twist remain just plans. The same goes for comedy sketches for Instagram of which many have been written but none have been recorded.

    I’ve tried to understand what led to this… I don’t even know what to call it. Tiredness? Procrastination? Laziness? Apathy? Or is it just an inability to focus for long enough? I’d like to blame life getting in the way but it’s not as simple. When I’m passionate enough about something, everything gets moved out of the way so I can pursue that passion. The trouble is, I can’t quite reach that state of mind these days.

  • My Storytelling Mistakes: Avoiding Foreshadowing

    My Storytelling Mistakes: Avoiding Foreshadowing

    I’ve made quite a few mistakes as an author. When I was working on Journals of the Undead, I liked the idea of surprise. Giving my reader a clue, foreshadowing things? Nah, it’s more fun to introduce something new without any warning!

    I wouldn’t do it again. It works for some authors but I’ve grown to appreciate the beauty of clues, suggestions, little touches that might seem insignificant at first but make sense in hindsight and make me admire the level of thought and effort put into that story. The first example, which is also one of the best examples, that comes to my mind is Breaking Bad, one of my favourite TV shows. Better Call Saul, except for some weird filler episodes and several characters acting out of character on occasion, was also very enjoyable to watch. The level of detail in both shows is insane, the way it all weaves together… There were a lot of things I didn’t even notice until I started watching YouTube shorts and reading comments!

    And you know what, that was one of the reasons why I decided to start telling my own stories differently. I don’t want them to be too predictable but I do want them to become smoother and use “and because of…” instead of “and so…”. A story needs to flow, even I, the author, cannot just take it in any direction I want it to go. A story needs to make sense not just to me but also to the reader.

  • “Well, I’m Not A Vampire…

    but I feel like one / Sometimes I sleep all day / Because I hate the sunlight.” I don’t think I had heard about Falling in Reverse before but they came up on Spotify, I’m Not A Vampire was the first song title I saw, I listened to it and was hooked.

    The song is about addiction actually but the lyrics really resonated with me. I’ve had occasions when I’ve slept all day and hated the sun but in my case it was because my depression had worsened. It was such a weird feeling, to hate the daylight, find the sun repulsive and crave darkness…

    I heard the revamped version first and watched the video as well. It’s so beautifully done it’s practically a short film. Then I checked out the original version and loved it even more. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve listened to the tune in the last few days.

  • One year since “Šķautnes”

    It’s been a year since “Šķautnes”, the Latvian edition of Journals of the Undead, came out. What is the main thing I have learnt since then? I always thought that writing a book is the hardest bit. I was wrong. It’s actually the marketing bit. Writing a book can take a few years and getting it published can take even longer. Ok, self-publishing comes in handy but there are still a few obstacles to jump – for instance, how to turn a Word document into something presentable and aesthetically pleasing? A bad mockup and/or a bad cover design can ruin an otherwise great novel. We live in a very visual culture, after all! If it won’t look good in a social media post… You can’t have that, you need to make sure it will.

    Ah, marketing… How many authors actually think about that when writing their novel? In the past, far fewer books were published and therefore any new book was the talk of the town. It’s easy to get spotted when there are, let’s say, no more than 20 other paperbacks in the bookstore. These days, books are everywhere. You’ll spot dozens of them whilst waiting in the supermarket check out line. Charity shops are full of books. I have several book swapping places in my area. Cafes often have books on their shelves. And when you walk into a bookstore… You get the idea. Any new book is like a needle in the hay, how would you spot it unless you know it’s there?

    This is something that I’ve tried to explain to people over the years. Those who don’t write stories themselves think it’s so easy – just publish a novel on Amazon, bypass the middlemen and see the royalties rolling in! That’s the theory. In practice, there are millions of books on Amazon. How will potential readers find it? In order to generate organic traffic you need to be good at SEO. Or pay someone to do it for you (it won’t be cheap). Ads can generate traffic but, again, for them to be effective you will need a monthly budget that contains at least two zeros. What about social media? The sheer amount of posts and ads there means that people are bombarded with information and most of them will only be seen by a few people.

    In short, connecting with your potential reader and promoting a book is a long, time consuming and often expensive process with no guarantee of it ever paying off. I was watching an interview with Ville Valo some time ago and he said that you never get back what you put into an artistic project. If one of Finland’s most successful musicians says that, what hope is there for the rest of us?

    I don’t want to end this post on a negative note, though. Going through difficulties and overcoming obstacles is great for building up resilience and growing as an artist. We live in an era when there is more competition than ever in music, literature, film and TV. We have more tools than ever at our disposal but, precisely because they are so accessible, it is so difficult to get noticed. When I was in my early 20s I had lots of ideas but there were few tools to bring them to life. Smartphone cameras were in their infancy, video editing software (not counting Windows Movie Maker) was pricey, a good photo or video camera cost between 3-6 months earnings. I simply didn’t have the money for all the equipment I wanted. Plus, I lived in Latvia which wasn’t exactly known for its bustling art scene back then. Now I can make videos on my phone and edit them for free using InShot! It doesn’t matter where in the world I am as long as I have a reliable Internet connection.

    So, my advance for all the creative people out there is… Create! Just keep in mind that finding and building your audience can take a very long time and you’ll probably need to keep your day job. That, I think, is actually a good thing: when you’re not relying on your art as your sole source of income it gives you more artistic freedom.

  • The Crow: Stairway to Heaven

    The Crow: Stairway to Heaven

    I can’t remember now how I found out about these series but I’m glad I did. Normally, the DVD is freely available on eBay but, Sod’s law, just as I wanted to buy it they became a rarity for some reason and the price had gone up. Anyway, I got my copy and got hooked straight away. I’ve only got one episode left to watch and I’m saving it for a special occasion.

    The 1998-1999 series is based on the 1994 film and expands from there. Yes, it’s not as Gothic, dark and atmospheric as the film, lots of action takes place in daylight and some story-lines are rather questionable. However, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven has lots to offer. Eric Draven played by Mark Dacascos is a likeable and complex character and there’s plenty of comedy and heart-warming moments in this TV show. I loved the scene where Eric was arguing about the copyrights of his last song. The record label reps said the song is theirs because Eric is dead whereas Eric tried to convince them that falling out of a 16th floor window didn’t kill him. His friendship with Sarah is both sweet and funny. As for Eric and Albrecht… It’s fun to watch as these two clash constantly but, at the same time, need each other: Eric needs to earn his way back to Shelley by helping others and Albrecht could do with some help investigating crimes. Also featuring in the show is Skull Cowboy who is so good he would have deserved his own show.

    The only thing I dislike about this TV show? That it was cancelled after one season and the creators weren’t even allowed to wrap up the loose ends.

  • What Do Vampires Look Like?

    I read Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla recently and there was a quote that I particularly liked: “I may mention, in passing, that the deadly pallor attributed to that sort of revenants, is a mere melodramatic fiction. They present, in the grave, and when they show themselves in human society, the appearance of healthy life.”

    Now, I understand why there are certain characteristics and aesthetics associated with vampires. In film and TV, it helps to highlight who’s who. On social media, it helps vampire fans to recognise and find each other.

    Yet it makes a lot of sense that vampires would look pretty much like humans. They’re predators and hunters and need to get close to their victims. In order to do that, they either need to be really fast or gain their trust. Also, having very distinctive looks is not very practical for a quick getaway and living in the shadows.

    One of my favourite TV shows that features these mythical creatures is BBC’s Being Human, in which vampire characters were virtually indistinguishable from humans. By the time they revealed their true nature, it was too late. I also liked that no-one seemed to be stuck in the past fashion wise. Mitchell, one of the protagonists, was over a hundred years old but always wore whatever styles were available in each decade he lived. You couldn’t tell by looking at him that he was born on July 29, 1893 (no, I didn’t plan this post especially to mark the occasion, it was a pure coincidence!).

  • Mina Harker

    Out of all Mina Harker’s I’ve seen, there’s only one I like: Peta Wilson’s Mina in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The worst one, in my opinion, was Helen Chandler’s Mina in Dracula (1931). Bela Lugosi was superb in his role and that’s why his Count Dracula is iconic. As for Mina… She was reduced to a mere background character – shame on you, script writers.

    If you’ve read Bram Stoker’s novel then you know what Mina was like: she was written as a strong character and played an important role in tracking down Dracula. Without her contribution, the others wouldn’t have found him when Dracula fled London. Stoker wrote her as a woman of the future.

    What about Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), you might ask? Well, Winona Rider’s Mina was too easily led for my liking. Her getting charmed by Dracula I could understand, Gary Oldman’s Dracula was quite likeable, but there was one scene that ruined the film for me. SPOILER ALERT: when Mina tried to seduce Van Helsing and declared her love for Dracula I had to cover my eyes because it was so bad and out of character. And it made me question her feelings towards Jonathan.

    Ok, ok, I know that film adaptations can be different from the original source. My peeve is that some of those adaptations take a strong character and make her weak. Which is very different from having a weak character that becomes strong as the story progresses – that is called character growth. When the opposite happens it’s called regress.

  • Blogging & AI

    Personally, I love the new feature of AI generated images for the blog. I think posts look better with images. However, they look even better if all images are of similar style – something that cannot always be achieved with photos even if I use the same filter/special effect. I’ve now added images to most blog posts. A notable exception is the entries about my novel’s main characters as I don’t want their images to differ from the book illustrations.

    Why use AI in the first place? I can draw but… I can draw either living creatures or scenery. I can’t put the two together as the proportions never look right and I can never replicate the image I have in my head anyway. I’m a storyteller. I can describe what I see but I cannot draw it. Santagora, my book illustrator, can and I admire her for that. Me, I use a pen for writing.

    I found the AI image generator feature to be fun, exciting and great for producing something quickly. Most of the time I’m impressed but there is room for improvement – when it comes to faces, AI often makes the eyes look dead. And, if the eyes don’t look right, then the whole picture doesn’t look right.

  • What’s Next?

    What’s Next?

    This has been one of the most frequently asked questions recently. Yes, I am working on my next novel. I don’t like to talk much about ongoing projects but there are a few things I can share…

    The new novel will be a spin-off of Journals of the Undead and will focus on Beatrice. As I’ve mentioned before, she was supposed to be the female lead in my debut novel, however, life (and Lucretia) had other plans. I always felt bad about that so now I shall use the opportunity to rectify things.

    Unlike JotU, the spin-off will be set entirely in the 19th century, apart from the occasional flashback. Readers of my debut novel said that they loved the stories but thought that covering four centuries in 12 short stories was too much and I agree with them.

    The novel will show Beatrice’s life as a vampire at a particular point of her life, reveal how she became a vampire and tell what her human life was like. It will feature a few vampires from JotU, as well as introduce some new characters.

    I love mixing real life with fiction, so expect historical facts woven into the story. Some of the plot is inspired by real events.

    When will the novel be available to buy? Best case scenario, Autumn 2025 for the Latvian version and Autumn/Winter 2026 for the English edition. This time I want to write in both languages simultaneously as opposed to translating the Latvian manuscript like I did with Journals of the Undead.