Introducing #Awethor Anita Kovacevic

Please welcome our first #Awethor Anita Kovacevic who is here to tell us a bit about her short story “Passage” in the Awethology Light, which is free on Smashwords and Kindle.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

This bit is difficult but will try to keep it short – Anita Kovacevic, teacher of English, multi-genre author, wife and mother, creative dreamer from Croatia.

What bought you to the world of writing?

Storytelling during my lessons was a natural continuation of my endless creative writing during childhood, and my teaching colleagues urged me to start publishing. It was never planned, it all just happened.

Characters keep me awake till they are on paper. Writing makes me happy and is a part of me.

What story have you entered into the Awethology and Why?

My story is light urban fantasy – Passage, inspired by a stone passage featured on a photo in the anthology. I love writing stories and novellas, which are on the verge between reality and paranormal. Passage is the same – a story about love, passion, violence, faith and miracles. As soon as I saw that actual passage in the city and had the story flash in my head,  I simply felt that was the one!

What type of books do you write and do they fulfill your reader’s needs?

I write children’s stories, role plays and rhymes which have been evolving for my English lessons. I also write fantasy, drama, mystery, paranormal; YA and adult fiction. But I am quite new to self-publishing, so haven’t published many books yet. Still learning. As for the readers’ needs, it is always tricky. I hope they like it, but you never know till you try. I’d say teaching has taught me one thing very well – you can never please everyone all the time. So I write what I feel I must. It is not really a ‘premeditated crime’.

Tell us a bit about your short story?

I was with my family, taking a summer walk through the old part of the wonderful capital city of Croatia – Zagreb, and as we were walking through those ancient cobbled streets and walls, I kept wandering just how many stories those walls could say. They’ve seen wars, technological changes, medieval witch hunts, hippies, politicians, murderers, lovers, junkies, and they are still here. Maidens with water buckets walked there, knights in armour, revolutionaries, scientists… They stood there, silent witnesses to all, with no ability to act. Or maybe…?

I came home and the story about one such old-city passage was finished that night; about an unusual love story it witnessed and helped resolve. My passage is a sort of a living energy, which affects people’s lives, even though they may not be aware of it. My editor’s help was immense – Rebecca McCray really felt the story and urged me to extend it, guiding me through the process. (Thank you, Rebecca!). She really encouraged me to evolve my characters; the ill-fated young couple, the vicious rich brute, the stonemason family, even the wall. I loved them all from the start, but Rebecca helped me show it.

When you stop and breathe in the air around those ancient buildings, hundreds of years old, even older, their energy is simply astounding. Every city has these tales and we should cherish them. After reading Passage, I hope you remember it the next time you walk next to an old building. Just place your palm on the stone. Amazing!

What was your experience with #Awethors group and the Awethology?

It went from feeling excited to overwhelmed, from feeling unworthy to grateful, from feeling like a trespasser to a team member, all within days. (I am a teacher/mother/writer – drama is my life;)!) I was terrified to apply, afraid I wouldn’t live up to the challenge. But the team work, help, organisation, mutual respect for other people’s talents… everything has been amazing. The network is simply wonderful! All creative, hard-working, helpful people! Once we started seeing all our efforts, the writing, editing, proofreading, formatting, promoting, all of it come together, I was in awe of the volume of work, time and amount put into it. I have worked on a similar project before, a charity anti-bullying book by teachers and artists from all over the world, so I sort of knew what to expect, but this was a different setting altogether. Hopefully, not the last.

How do you promote your writing?

For now, it has been mostly self-promotion – blogging, author groups, social networks. Still learning the ropes, and it’s a pretty tangled mess of threads, especially when you’re on a tight budget. Writing is easy. Promoting is hell.

Where can we buy your books? 

On Amazon, Lulu, Barnes&Noble, Nook, Kobo, iBookstore… (amazon link below).

Who are your favourite authors?

Of so many of them – Paulo Coelho, J.K.Rowling, Jane Austen, Stephen King, Marija Juric Zagorka, Ante Tomic, Dean Koontz, Edgar Allan Poe, Patricia Cornwell, Michael Crichton, David Melling, Emily Bronte…

Social Media Links

AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/author/anitakovacevic

?FB BLOG – Anita’s Haven https://www.facebook.com/anitashaven

TWITTER https://twitter.com/Anitas_haven

LULU SPOTLIGHT http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Anita_K

?WORDPRESS https://anitashaven.wordpress.com/

?GOODREADS  https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/38410617-anita-kovacevic

PINTEREST https://www.pinterest.com/anitarobi/

Do you have any more information you’d like to share with us?

If I may draw your attention to the charity anti-bullying book Inner Giant (available on Amazon) – it consists of 400 pages of stories, poems, songs, illustrations, photos and teaching projects, all aimed at helping people speak up about abuse, bullying, mobbing, and to find their own inner giants to help them stay strong and stand up for themselves. Please, check it out.

Thank you for reading, and a special thanks to those who take the time to review books and recommend them to other readers. You help authors keep writing and improve their writing, and you help readers choose. Stories are one of the most innate parts of humanity – they help us communicate and evolve.