I recently became aware of Bella Chaha, probably a pseudonym, who committed fraud against multiple publications by submitting buckets of AI-generated work under a myriad of other pseudonyms and, in some cases, achieved publication. This person violat...
Adriana KantchevaDispatches from a writer of what-ifs.Hello, ,This is a special edition of my newsletter. It is a bit more serious in tone than usual, but I have things to say. So here it goes...Since sending out my last newsletter, I became aware of...
Adriana KantchevaDispatches from a writer of what-ifs.Hello, ,I've just returned from this year's EuroCon (MetropolCon in Berlin) and am still buzzing. Why? The question is rather, why not? I met friends and made new ones. I chatted with Becky Chambe...
Adriana KantchevaAuthor of speculative fiction.Hello, ,It's been a quiet month since my last newsletter, mostly keeping my head down and focusing on writing. The weather is warming up, and that's a delight.What I’ve been up toI polished a short story...
Adriana KantchevaCatching WordsHello, ,It's only mid April, but I feel like I'm two months into it already. I've been busy, which makes time run weirdly in my head. It's been good busy, but I'm reaching the point where I'd like a holiday, please. I'l...
Since I live in Germany, Eastercon in the UK is not my usual haunt. But this year, I have a short story coming out in Milford’s second anthology Hidden Shadows, so I’ll finally make the trip for the first time to be at the launch. The story in questi...
Adriana KantchevaCatching WordsDispatches from a writer of speculative fiction.Hello, ,On Sunday, it was International Women's Day, so I've been having a lot of thoughts swirling in my head about the erasure of older women from society, about how wom...
It’s time for my yearly overview and reckoning. 2025 has been anything but uneventful — a mandala of experiences, choices, and revelations. In May, I gave up my beloved flight attendant job. I’m still sad about it, but I don’t regret the decision. It...
A statement in Do Nothing by Celeste Headlee stayed with me. Headlee maintains we choose to use our voices less and less when we want to reach out to others, falling back instead on written communication through texts, emails, and blogs (heh!). This,...
On 2nd of July, I read two stories on Story Hour (click here for the recording). It was fun. It was wonderful. It was nerve-racking. Why? Because I have a tiny issue with public speaking. Though I don’t always thrive when immersed in a crowd for a lo...
Last September, I did something I’d been wanting to do for a very long time: go to Milford Conference. It was an absolute eye-opener and resulted in me regaining my confidence as a writer and a story being published (“Vedritsa of the River”). I signe...
Last month, I recapped the best and worst of 2024. Now I’m moving on to what I hope 2025 will bring. Dare I hope for a completed first draft of a novel? Dare I hope for a submission-ready manuscript of my long-worked-on epic fantasy novel? These are...
Each year, as December comes around, I look back at the year that is about to finish and take stock of how I feel about it. Am I left bewildered by how time has slipped between my fingers so? Or does it feel like I’ve taken my time to live through ea...
It’s Halloween today. Though traditions involving dressing up and knocking on doors for treats have existed all over Europe for centuries, Halloween—as is today—was just an overseas echo when I was growing up in Bulgaria in the ‘90s. In Germany, wher...
In May, I mentioned that I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I was coming close to finishing a long-standing novel project. By long standing, I mean 12 years. Now that I’ve admitted it, I’m cringing. Dear future agent, it’s not how long I...
