All about the novel Foul Days, Book One in the Witch’s Compendium of Monsters

Who is Genoveva Dimova?

Genoveva Dimova is a fantasy author and archaeologist. Originally from Bulgaria, she now lives in Scotland with her partner and a small army of houseplants. She believes in writing what you know, so her work often features Balkan folklore, the immigrant experience, and protagonists who get into incredible messes out of pure stubbornness. When she’s not writing, she likes to explore old ruins, climb even older hills, and listen to practically ancient rock music.

What is Foul Days about?

Interview

What was your inspiration for Foul Days?

Foul Days is inspired by Bulgarian folklore, with all its creepy monsters, obscure rituals, and uncanny magic. At the centre of the story is the folkloric belief in the Foul Days— the twelve days between Christmas and St John the Baptist’s Day, after the new year has been born but before it has been baptised, when the barriers between our world and the supernatural realm are thinnest, and therefore, evil spirits are free to roam the land. To this, I added a pinch of Cold War inspiration in the form of a magical Berlin-Wall-like barrier, trapping people and monsters alike in a haunted, grim, and grimy city—and Foul Days was born.

What drew you to writing?

Is it fair to say I don’t remember? I was one of those children who were always telling fantastical stories, and once I learned to write them down, there was nothing that could stop me.

How did you choose which character to centre the story around? 

I don’t think I had a choice! Kosara came up fully formed in my head. She’s one of those characters that is endlessly straining against whatever plot development I try to lead her towards, always creating problems, but she’s a lot of fun to write, too, as she’s full of contradictions: loyal but selfish, self-sacrificing but craving power, insecure and self-assured in equal measure.

What was your process for writing Foul Days?

Extremely chaotic! Foul Days was the first story I wrote after taking a very long break from writing, so I was still figuring out my process. It went like this: I wrote the first draft in Bulgarian, and it was completely pantsed, with no forward planning at all. Then, I translated the story into English, editing as I went along. After that, I entered a mentorship program called Author Mentor Match, which matched published authors with newer writers, helping them prepare their manuscript for querying. At this point, my mentor had a lot of great feedback, which essentially showed me that the story needed a big re-write: the entire beginning and ending were changed completely, except for the first chapter, which I think has remained the same in all of the book’s iterations. This draft is what got me my agent, and after a revision, my editor, and after another revision, will be the Foul Days you’ll find on the shelves.

What is your approach to world and character building?

Rather controversially, I start with the world. I like to come up with a really otherworldly concept, which nevertheless functions as an allegory for real-world issues—as I believe this is speculative fiction’s best quality, its ability to turn a distorted mirror onto our world, to quote Sir Terry Pratchett. Then, once I have the setting, I come up with the characters that would inhabit it—and try to imagine what problems and conflicts would arise for them trying to exist in it. The main belief that guides me when creating characters is that everyone sees themselves as the protagonist in their own story, so I like to give every character different, often opposing motivations, and watch them clash against each other.

How would you describe Foul Days?

Foul Days is a story about human-like monsters and monstrous people, about defeating the ghosts from your past and learning to trust your gut.

Did you have a favourite moment in the book to write?

My favourite part to write was the scene with the samodivas—I’ve always been fascinated by these forest spirits from Bulgarian folklore, who take the shape of beautiful women and force lost travellers to dance with them until they fall dead, so I enjoyed getting to depict them in my book. Plus, I love plants, so getting to describe an eerie forest that sprung in the city overnight was pure fun.

What was your favourite book growing up?

It’s difficult to choose just one, but I think the first book I ever read that made me fall in love with fantasy was Astrid Lindgren’s Brothers Lionheart.

Do you have a favourite genre to read?

I love anything speculative! Fantasy, science fiction, horror, magical realism, fabulism, folk tales—literally, as long as something occurs in the story that we’d consider impossible in real life, I’m on board.