Interviewed by the USA Today Bestselling & award-winning fantasy author Helen Garraway

It was a huge delight and an honour to chat about my books with the USA Today and Amazon bestselling author Helen Garraway.

As always, I talked too much since nothing can stop me when I start talking about books and writing. I am grateful to Helen for giving me the floor to share more about my latest release “The Accidental Cop”, as well as about such exciting topics as writing-real life balance, my favourite character in my books, and indie authors whose books I love and recommend to every reader.

Helen: Today, I am pleased to welcome multi-genre author Eve Koguce to talk to us about her books and how she brings her home country of Latvia into her writing.

Welcome Eve. I’m intrigued about how you came to write in so many genres, but before we get into that, tell us a little about your books.

Eve: All my books have a certain share of controversy, but “The Accidental Cop” is probably the most controversial of them.

The Neglected Merge trilogy doesn’t fit neatly into any fantasy category. Besides, the protagonist is thirty-two in book one and fifty-one in book three. While a coming-of-age novel “Finding Your Way” is set in Latvia and has a slight touch of magical realism.

“The Accidental Cop” is also a cross-genre book. It isn’t a purely crime fiction novel since it doesn’t start with finding a dead body and end with unmasking the murderer. It also doesn’t tick all the boxes of a noir crime genre. It is a blend of noir crime and police procedural with psychological suspense elements.

Set in Latvia at the end of the first post-Soviet decade, “The Accidental Cop” tells the story of Roberts Bergs. At twenty-one, he struggles to find his place within the corrupted police system without betraying his principles. To succeed you must play by the rules. Roberts learns the rules quickly. The system run by the Soviet-era ex-militia officers is a good teacher. Who you know counts for more than your abilities, qualifications, and knowledge. The system also doesn’t tolerate disobedience. Still, Roberts keeps climbing up the career ladder. The contrast between those who play by the rules and those who believe in honesty and justice becomes starker. Luxury and self-indulgence for the first, and dragging out a miserable existence for the latter. Roberts has to make more difficult choices. Is it worth it to remain true to his principles? Or is succumbing to the corrupted and merciless system the only way to survive?

Writing “The Accidental Cop” was a unique experience. It was inspired by countless stories I’ve heard from different people over two decades. Readers say that it was interesting for them to find out about the period of time in Latvia they didn’t know anything about. “Savage 90s” were a time of great turbulence for Latvia. It was challenging to try to portray this grim page of my country’s history without slipping either into the rose-tinted glasses outlook or utter disillusionment.

You can read the full interview, where I talk about why I do not stick to only one genre in my writing, and share about the book I am currently writing (I’ve recently finished the first draft), on Helen’s website.

Author Interview – Eve Koguce

Helen Garraway is the USA Today and Amazon Bestselling author of the Epic Fantasy Sentinal series and the Fantasy Romance SoulMist series.

She has been writing about the world of Remargaren, a fantasy world of her creation, since 2016.

Helen has a Bachelor of Social Science in Politics and International Relations from the University of Southampton, and as a member of their alumni continues to offer support as part of their student mentoring programme.

She has worked in Technology companies (for far too many years!) from High Performance Computing to the latest Video conferencing solutions, and is now a Product Manager creating services for the solutions they manufacture.

Helen lives in Berkshire in the UK with her cat; a rambunctious seven year old ginger and white called Alfie. Sadly she recently had to say a very tearful farewell to her long time companion, a black and white moggy, called Lily.

She enjoys the odd glass or two of red wine and raises a glass to all who stop by, welcome.