Martin Sládek
Fantasy & Science Fiction Author
About Martin
Just read the books, will you? :-) There’s more of the author in any story than you could possibly glean from this stub. And remember — the messenger isn’t nearly as important as the message.
But if you insist...
Something higher urges me to write stories. I have fun writing them. People have fun reading them. And they come back for more, so it’s hard to stop. It’s a vicious cycle.
Back in my youth, when I was reading nonstop, it became increasingly difficult to find another quality book. It was one of the motivators for writing them. So I write stories that I would like to read myself.
And you can read them with me.
Stories
Who doesn't like them? Humankind always used stories to transfer wisdom, long before any written texts.
The best ones carry powerful messages which can either hit or miss any reader. It depends on many factors - age, beliefs, mental state, level of consciousness and so on. In those, the message is never written in text, it sits in empty spaces between lines, waiting for sudden understanding.
And if we miss the point, no amount of explanation will help.
Awards
In 2009, I submitted several short stories to three of the biggest Czech fantasy literary awards. I placed in the top ten in one of them, and won another — the Best Fantasy Award (Poutník, 2009). That led to the publication of first texts in short story collections, for which I owe a great deal of thanks to late Egon Cierny.
Further anthologies and novels took quite a bit more time — but I can only write as fast as the inspiration comes. There is no rushing the process without regretting it later.
Inspirations
They keep coming regularly, the well hasnt dried up yet. A careful reader will spot some of them for sure, I won’t spoil the surprises.
Suffice to say that some of the finest British authors are among the ranks. The moral code woven into the works of the King of British Fantasy had a profound impact on me. One old Hugo Award winner proved that even something immensely complex can be written in an enjoyable way, while another showed it’s possible to craft a whole series almost entirely through dialogue. There's the best Polish author of course, and well known now. A few Czech ones, too — their work practically screams to be turned into film.
Other media left their mark as well; great stories hide in films, series, or games and they are worth the search.