This city is very hard to resist. It really gets to you. And at times it is a bit of a challenge to switch from Belgrade street life to working mood, writing stories that take place in the Swedish country side. People ask me if I find Belgrade inspiring. I go through my notes on my ongoing projects that I always carry with me since I quite often work out in cafés, bars and restaurants – and I can’t help smiling. Belgrade is everywhere – without me being really aware of it. To be honest, this place sneaks in into everything I do right now. I realize that this far I have made a piece of art, an important clue in a story – after watching the really talented grafitti artist TKV create a beautiful wall painting. One of my characters is now very supersticious since I learned that in Serbia it brings bad luck to put your bag on the floor – and that if you sweep your broom over a child while cleaning, it will not grow up (I really want to learn more about Serbian superstition!). In a cemetery in Zemun my friend Ana showed me a stone that explained that the woman that was buried in the grave was murdered – and it also cursed the murderer. That gave me the idea to write a ghost story about a murder victim getting back on her killer. I’m also sketching a short story about a complete stranger helping someone find their way – and giving you the wrong directions, for a special reason. But I think my favorite input is that I have changed the name of a character. Now she is named Lily, after a lovely salad that they served at the restaurant Alo Alo. It comes with cellery and walnuts. I have already developed a craving for it.

None of the construction workers wanted to admit it. But the scene behind the brick wall made them all very uncomfortable. It was creepy. The wall had been torn down to make place for a new craftsroom in the basement of the old school building. No one had expected to find anything behind it. But there it was – a small concealed room. Only a few meters wide, with no doors and no windows. In neat rows stood six old pulpits from the beginning of the last century. On one of the walls hung a blackboard – and on another a crucifix. Everything in the tiny room was covered in a deep layer of fine dust. It started to whirl up as soon as the first bricks came down. It was obviously a small classroom. A couple of old books lay open on the pulpits. It looked like the pupils just had stood up and left the room – right in the middle of a class. Then someone had built the wall to cover it up without even touching anything in the room. What had happened here? No one knew. And no one asked any questions. The construction workers where on a tight time schedule. In silence they carried out the old wooden furniture and got rid of everything that they found dust covered in the room. They never mentioned to anyone about what they had seen – not even to each other.

This is the beginning of the book (at least I think so) that I plan to work on while I’m here in Belgrade (thanks to Krokodil – hurray!). It’s a ghost story about a small school on the Swedish country side – with an evil and forgotten past. That’s where I grew up 😉 My only problem right now is to actually get any work done – since Belgrade is such an interesting place. There are so many things to see and do – so many great things to eat and drink – and so many charming and interesting people to hang out with. Fingers crossed – please wish me luck and that something wicked this way comes.