Layne Mosler

Fire Weather: Notes from the Field

A research diary for my novel-in-progress,
in which a Bulgarian goatherder + an American cook
form an unlikely friendship
and test the limits of their courage
in a country on the verge of collapse

The Bookseller

March 20, 2023

Photo by Rumen Milkow

"Los búlgaros son unos esclavos..." the Bulgarian bookseller says, with disgust in his voice and lament in his posture, speaking to me in the practically perfect Spanish he learned over two seasons harvesting olives in Andalucía.

Translation: The Bulgarian people are slaves.

"What do you mean they're slaves?" I ask him.

"People here don't protest unless they're paid," he says. "The only time Bulgarians have taken to the streets of their own free will was when we made the semifinals of the '94 World Cup."

3 Comments

An Introduction

February 9, 2023

Tags: Bulgaria, Creative writing, novel research, novel writing, writing, field notes, fieldwork

"Why do you want to write about us?" my newish Bulgarian friend asks me, smiling a bemused smile as she takes a sip of coffee.

Though it's a legitimate question, and though I'm prepared for it, I'm immediately uncomfortable, on my back foot, searching for the words to explain my motives – to her and to myself.

Why do I—a privileged, [arguably] well-educated woman from the west, a foreigner who can only just wish someone a happy birthday and order a salad in this country—want to write about Bulgaria?

3 Comments

Layne Mosler

Fire Weather: Notes from the Field

A research diary for my novel-in-progress,
in which a Bulgarian goatherder + an American cook
form an unlikely friendship
and test the limits of their courage
in a country on the verge of collapse

The Bookseller

Comments

An Introduction

Comments

Selected Works

Memoir

Nonfiction

Quick Links

Fire Weather: Notes from the Field A research diary for my novel-in-progress, in which a Bulgarian goatherder + an American cook form an unlikely friendshipand test the limits of their courage in a country on the verge of collapse

The Bookseller

Comments

An Introduction

Comments

Selected Works

Memoir

Nonfiction

Quick Links

Fire Weather: Notes from the Field

A research diary for my novel-in-progress,
in which a Bulgarian goatherder + an American cook
form an unlikely friendship
and test the limits of their courage
in a country on the verge of collapse