Author:
a href=”http://successstoriesmag.com/authors/julia-jarvis/” target=”_self”>Julia Jarvis
Images:
Graham Jarvis
How to be a writer and dreamer
Interview with Makedonka Shutova
Makedonka is able to see and enjoy the little things in life.
Teacher, writer or artist … she’s a little of everything, though perhaps an artist is the unifying word about everything she does. Trying to apply her creativity in every single thing, investing all her love.
Julia Jarvis for Success Stories Mag:
Tell us about your style and genres, and how many books you have published!
Makedonka Shutova:
I’ve always loved to write down things ever since my childhood. When I was a schoolgirl, “May poetic days” were held annually and I participated in them, being awarded. During my school years I wrote a lot of things, some of which I still keep in notebooks. In the recent years I have been writing mainly prose and poems for children. I am an incorrigible romanticist and love to write about beautiful things and relationships. In 2012 I had my first two novels (“Scars” and “With a flavor of daisies”) published and I hope that soon I will have the short story collection “Summer pieces in a herbarium of memories” and my third novel “The season of dreams” come off the press.
You live in England. Which are the things that you can possibly achieve in England, but are difficult to achieve in your homeland?
What England gives me, is calmness, smile and happiness. Opportunity to fulfill all your desires if you believe in yourself and work for the things you want to achieve – something that one will not get in Bulgaria if relying only on one’s qualities. What I miss about my homeland, are the high mountains, the sea and the warm sun under which the most delicious fruits and vegetables grow.
You are not only good at writing but also at art. You make beautiful ornaments, decorations and cards. Is this just a hobby or you have found a field of realization in it?
There is nothing better than turning your hobby into a job. In the beginning I started with making funny little dolls and things for home as a hobby, but now I am mainly occupied with handmade cards, gifts, home decor and that makes me very happy.
© Graham Jarvis
You have your own blog and you are the founder of some Facebook sites. They all radiate positivism and positive energy. Perhaps it is pointless to ask whether you are a positive and ambitious person…
I am an ambitious person and pursue the goals that I have set. I am glad that I can convey my positive thoughts and energy to people. The world we live in, is not only a black chronicle and the bad news which we are continuously exposed to. Sometimes we forget about all those tiny things that make us smile. Maybe smile is what I miss when I go to my homeland. So I try to give people a dose of morning smiles with the coffee, by my posts and the things I write.
Knowing that someone is smiling while reading something is priceless.
Please, share some part of your books with our readers.
From “Under the old chest lid”
“There’s always some dusty story, hidden in the deep. Pieces of painful memories scattered in the dark corners of the soul. Shuffled on purpose, so that they can not be set in the proper order again. Tiny secrets, a bunch of unshared fears lurking so as not to worry other people. Things that we consider well locked up. But moments come at night, when they suddenly crawl out of the shadows, taking you by the throat. They take a good grip and hold thight … until tears start falling down your cheeks like suddenly flushed creeks in spring. If only they could erase the pain from what we have experienced, lost, not fulfilled, saving us from the memories! But they can not… What we can only do, is learn how to live with them. The giggling shadows patiently stay in the dark, waiting for the silence to come. Silence so quiet that the lack of sounds stars ringing in your ears. The best time for meetings. A meeting with your memories and fears. Can you cope with the demons in your soul on your own? With all those little secrets that you hide to protect the others? You will cry again, quietly, under the blankets to take the weight off your mind, and tomorrow you will lock them up again in the dark. Until next time … when something awakes them again … ”
Extract from the “The season of dreams”
“– Look around. See all these plants, trees, insects, clouds, stars, everything around us. Everything has a color, a smell, produces a sound. Maybe our eyes are not designed to see everything, but even so we can feel the invisible things, catch the slightest noise, distinguish thousands of nuances. If you could imagine that the song of crickets had a scent, what would it be?
– What… I don’t know, Adi … I … – Teodor started speaking.
– For me the song of crickets always smells of summer – Adriana laughed.
– Of summer? – he asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise. – And what does summer smell like?
– This is the scent of dried grass and fields of lavender, wild blackberries and the wind dancing among sunflowers; these are the traces of the bare feet of children, ripe peaches and cracked watermelons …
Adriana laughed:
– This is what the song of crickets smells like. If you want to also see the color of the song, you should continue listening – you will see the pale pink sky and the transparent dew of the morning, the bright yellow of the sunflower flames coloring the day, the orange glow of the sunset and the light shadows of the night. And all these things have their own sounds that crickets weave into their song making it unforgettable. The song of crickets is actually the magic of summer in sound, color and scent.
Teodor continued to listen with his eyes closed and then he realized what Adriana was talking about. He had felt it with his heart. He would never forget that night. Then he was more than sure that Adriana was his treasure. For his entire life.”