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Hi! I am Gabriella Szaszkó from Hungary, but currently I live in the UK. I work as a freelance author, editor, blogger and literary translator. On this blog page, I would like to show a slice from my work as a writer. However before you start your journey here I would like to introduce myself.
My journey as a writer started in my childhood. I always played pretend games and made up stories in my mind. As an only child, I sometimes felt lonely, but my creativity could definitely flourish. I think we shouldn’t grow out our fantasy worlds and dreams, we need to take care of them, that’s how we can grew in life.
I grew up in a small town in Hungary on the Great Hungarian Plain. I started to write short stories in high school, but I never thought I would want to be a professional writer. However, when I reached my early twenties I started to write my first novel as I realized that literature is my true profession. I started my first writing course and I submitted short stories to various magazines in Hungary. Now I finished my eighth novel, published two and won several short story competitions.
In 2016, I realized I would like to be an editor, so I spent one year in the Könyvmolyképző Publishing house. In the course I took, I could select novels for publication, edited short stories and at the end of the year, I edited a whole novel for a first time author. In 2017, I became a freelance editor, now I mainly edit novels after translation for Maxim Publishing House. I mostly edit young and new adult books and thrillers. In 2016, I reached my ultimate dream, because the Maxim Publishing House accepted my first contemporary realistic fiction novel, called Stay with Me. In 2017, they published the second book from the trilogy, Talk to Me and the third one is coming at the end of this year. My dream is to publish these novels in English language.
Besides writing and editing, I work toward to become a literary translator. I translated H.P. Lovecraft and other horror stories for a Hungarian magazine, called Azilum. I translated several articles from English to Hungarian since 2012 when I started my carrier as an online journalist. I am owner of a magazine called Bizzarium, where I publish articles about paranormal and strange happenings.
I published three short stories in English as well and I was shortlisted by the Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) and the Anna Lindh Foundation in the 6th Sea of Words competition in 2013. Before I published my novels I won short story contests in Hungarian and I had several publications.
When it comes to writing I am mostly interested in realistic fiction, new adult fiction and thrillers. My favorite topics are mental disorders, abuse, addiction and other psychological topics. I have a master’s degree in clinical and health psychology; my studies definitely fueled my writing.
I have live abroad since 2012. I lived four years in Cracow, Poland with my husband, before that we spent two months in Canada. Now I live in Birmingham, England. I love the multicultural environment; I really enjoy exploring new places. These experiences have been an inspiration for my work.
Contact me via email: gabriella.szaszko@gmail.com