Artist Spotlight
Icarus- We would like to welcome to Black Noise, Serbian author Tomislav Takač! How are you doing today?
Tomislav Takač: First and foremost, thank you very much! I am reasonably good, not in the best shape. I am 36 years old, but feel older. There is joke here that one year living in Serbia is equal to seven human years.
I: You are a fiction author and have begun to dabble in comics, what sparked this passion in you? When did you first start writing?
TT: My passion for comics and fiction goes way back to my childhood. I read a lot of comics, especially fantasy and sci-fi. As for the writing I started around 2016 or 2017, not sure exactly when.
I: What made you lean into writing fictional stories as opposed to non-fiction?
TT: The previous answer kind of said itself, but one of the reasons is my health. I was diagnosed with bronchitis [which eventually become asthma] so unfortunately I visited the clinics very often. This is a big problem in my country, the air is very polluted and many people suffer from lung and respiratory system diseases. I always was fascinated with things that are different, weird, gigantic...just plain different that everyday things.
I: What would you say is your major muse that inspires the stories you write?
TT: Muse? Hard to say, but my imagination played a big part. Song of Ice and Fire was partial inspiration for my novel, other inspiration was lots of fantasy manga and anime [I am a huge fan of it].
I: You grew up in an area that is rich in folklore, but also has had some major social conflicts happen, how did these things affect your writing?
TT: Well yeah it has, especially the comic which is set in alternative timeline in which in 1999 a mysterious plague wipes out 90 percent of the world population and then it gets invaded by elves from another world with their army of giants, dragons, trolls, griffins, etc.
I: When it comes to creating characters, how much of each character is reality based versus pure fiction? Do you take inspiration from real people when forming them?
TT: Some of them are real people. In the novel I mention some real politicians or scientists, but usually stick to one sentence only. Most characters are pure fiction. They have some similarities to real life people, but I tend to come up with my own. Even some fictional brands, like there is cigarette called ''Third Base'' in the novel.
I: You have taken different methods of storytelling in the past, do you prefer writing in a novel form or shorter flash fictions?
TT: Short fiction is sometimes easier than a novel, it depends on the story. Is it for some competition, etc.
I: What would you say are the different challenges between formats as an author?
TT: What works in comic is not gonna work in a short story or novel primarily because a comic is a visual medium. Entire pages can be drawn without a single world spoken by the character. In a story that is pretty much impossible. You have to know that, especially if you adapt something to a comic or vice versa.
I: You state in your bio that you work a factory job for your everyday job, which usually means long hours and coming home exhausted, how do you find a balance in your everyday life between work and leisure to find the time to write?
TT: I don’t write much, but I do find time to promote my work and send emails. But I will write, there are several new stories in my head, they just need to be put to paper.
I: You also have begun to dabble in comics, how did that come about?
TT: I always wanted to make a comic, this whole writing thing started from a comic my friend and I didn’t even start working. I just decided one day to start writing a novel. I am not good at drawing, but I was like, how hard could it be to write a novel? Pretty complicated actually. As for the comic, I ran into a guy who draws them in a comic shop in my hometown, asked him if he is interested and he said yes.
I: Growing up were you a fan of comics? If so, what were some of your favorites?
TT: My favorite comics? Where to start? I was a huge fan as a kid – Lucky Luke, Dylan Dog, Masters of the Universe. Asteriks and Obeliks, Unpah Pah, Tarzan, Aland Ford to name a few. Nowadays I read manga like One Piece, but style like this one.
I: Can you tell our readers a little about the one you have in the works?
TT: A web magazine offered to help me with finding a new illustrator so I can finish my comic and possibly continue it, maybe we adapt my novel to a comic [which would a long graphic novel over 700 or even 1000 pages long].
I: You’ve been published in Schlock! and are probably the fifth or sixth author we have featured who we originally saw the work of in this publication, how much of an impact on your writing career did that feature have?
TT: Well I reach a broader audience, recently one my short stories was published in the USA. My short story ''Secret of the Silver Door'' was the first one published outside of Ex Yu countries. So it is a big deal to me.
I: You took part in the 2024 International Fiction Festival in San Francisco, how did that come about? What was that experience like for you?
TT: I just found it on the internet, sent my short stories and I won an award, the first one [and the only one] in my life!
I: Besides writing, are there any other artistic pursuits you have?
TT: Video games...huge fan of the post apocalyptic ones like Fallout, Metro and then reading comics, manga, watching anime. I love to travel especially to places I have never been before. Sadly so far I was only in Romania [Temisvara] and Hungary [Szeged, Safari park Richter] but not giving up planning my trip to Macedonia [yeah I know it’s called North...], Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia. My comic will be published in a Slovenian magazine, Supernova, in May and it will be presented in Zagreb Croatia, so another reason to go there.
I: As we finish up this interview, do you have any projects in the works that you would like to tell our readers about?
TT: I am currently talking with a filmmaker about adapting one of my short stories to a short live action movie.