GREETINGS, BOOKWORMS! I’m Aisha Kandisha, Head Librarian at Kandisha Press. Join me in the dusty stacks of the library I will never leave again as I chat with some of my favorite Women in Horror. Today we feature author Helen Mihajlovic!
Helen Mihajlovic is a published author in books and magazines. Her stories can be found at Matt Molgaard’s Horror Novel Reviews: including ‘A Sinister Nature’, ‘A Dark Love story’ and ‘The Temptation of Eve’. Helen’s other stories are included in Dark Dossier Publishers, Fantasia Divinity magazine and many more. Helen has had a short-term writer’s tenancy at Montsalvat.
What do you believe are your strengths in writing? And when you feel you need to improve on a particular writing skill, how do you go about it?
My strength in my writing is creating a gothic atmosphere and an evil female character. I grew up watching a lot of Hammer Horror films with Christopher Lee and they have a certain gothic atmosphere that I love. I’m also very influenced by classic literature with a gothic atmosphere: Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ and Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ have been a big influence on me.
I’d also like to think that I can create a heartfelt character.
The writing skill that I try to improve is finding good vocabulary. I am always looking up Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley and Percy Shelley’s vocabulary. They used the most beautiful words. I admire their writing.
What are your thoughts on the book industry today, or more importantly, about the book community?
I think the book industry is too influenced by a capitalist society, so unfortunately there’s too much emphasis in this society to sell a product. I wish creating art was more relaxed and it wasn’t so much about money and celebrity.
I’ve always loved the book community: book clubs and the avid readers of books. I can sit with them for hours and analyze Victor Frankenstein or Dorian Gray. I love the obsessed literature nerds, because I am one of them. I have even bought books that the character Dorian was reading in the book ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’.
Do you feel it is getting harder or easier to make it as an independent author these days?
I write from the heart, so I’m not influenced by trends. But I have noticed some years it’s easier to get published, it depends on what the market wants that year. But I just want to remain true to myself and write what I enjoy writing. Then hopefully someone will want to publish it.
Tell us about your work. What story are you most proud of?
The short story I am most proud of that I have written is ‘The Untamed Spirit’. It’s about freedom from a society that tells us what to think and tortures us with ideas of who we should be.
I’m also proud of my novella ‘The Darkness of Judith’, its themes include the illusions people have about love and life. I think most of us spend a lot of our lives with ideas that we’ve been told will make us happy, but they rarely do.
A lot of my work is gothic horror, but I have also written fantasy, science fiction, surrealist and feminist. I began writing after reading ‘Carmilla’ by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. I think it’s one of the best vampire tales, with exquisite writing.
What are your upcoming works and plans for the future?
My novella ‘The Darkness of Judith’ was recently released by ‘Unveiling Nightmares Press’ who are currently undergoing a name change and merging with a few of their other publishing branches.
I’m a frustrated person, I don’t have everything I want from life and so I have a lot to write about. I also think there’s a low standard in society of the way people treat one another, so it’s easy to create underdogs and villains that have become a certain way because they were mistreated.
I have just finished writing another short horror story. I’m working on a longer piece about a mythological figure and hope to start planning another novella.
My plans for the future are to keep following my heart with any art I create.
KANDISHA PRESS 
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