Before The Gates of Redemption open their pages and go their own way — and they’re coming out already in June 2026 — I want to tell you how and why the name, my pseudonym, Eva Lucas, even came to be.
Let me take you briefly to a rather curious beginning. Into my dark room, where a red lightbulb glowed all night long. A guitar leaning against the bed, the imprint of a large hand taped to the wall, and an old typewriter on the desk. Silence humming in my ears, and me — barely eleven — writing “Memoirs of a Failed Man.”
Every night the same: my mother protesting from her room and knocking on my door, my sister orchestrating noise from hers, and me building a fateful book and a novel that would change my life… even though I was neither failed nor anywhere close to being a man.
But writing — that I already knew I had to do.
And of course, even then, I wrote at night.
Sometimes (almost never) things don’t change, do they?
Years later, during a time when I desperately needed a quick way to earn some cash, I made a list: what do I actually know how to do? And how could I turn that into something useful?
I had always written. I already had a novel in progress — Pan American Highway — and a children’s story. I was living in Rijeka then, I called the first publisher whose number I found, and arranged a meeting in the following days.
Everything happened very fast — and as always, with “Eva Lucas”, very successfully.
That’s how I met Emil and Zdravko from the Dušević & Kršovnik publishing house. We sat down, looked at each other and — clicked. Wonderful people, both of them. They asked me if I could finish the novel I had sent them, and prepare two more of similar style… in three months.
Three months. Three titles.
I said: “Of course. Where’s the contract?”
And so my first novels were born:
- Pan American Highway
- Placida Curatto
- Henry Toole’s Film
Each deeply inspired by my life, but in a different way:
Placida, a rising singing star — growing under the spotlight of showbiz… and the shadow of the mafia.
Henry Toole’s — directing his own kidnapping to pay off tax debt.
And Pan American Highway, the road that connects America and Mexico, also connected characters who were very important to me at the time.
These novels are still in public libraries — borrow them if you’re curious.
Once, I gave one of the books (I don’t even remember which) to my friend Boris. His sister took it on holiday “just to have something to read” — and then went searching for me in libraries.
“Who is this author? Where can I find more of her books?”
“No, it can’t be Katja… no way.”
Because the cover didn’t say my name.
It said — Eva Lucas.
I had to call her to convince her it was me, and I sent her two more of my novels as a gift.
Only a small number of people knew it was me. And I loved that secrecy, that mystery… the possibility to work without expectations or prejudice. I enjoyed those moments — being invisibly visible. “Recognized as readable,” but not known. Quiet, mysterious, content.
It felt really good.
Yes, I needed that background. A place just mine — without people. The freedom to be invisible. To not be pushed into a drawer:
“She shoots music videos… directs… writes for theatre… and also writes novels?”
All of that was too much for me back then.
And then a film happened in my life — a film that was never shot.
A screenplay that became a novel.
A novel that became a trilogy.
And then my publisher, my sister, and some dear friends said:
“It’s time your real name stands on your novels.”
And I listened. Because today — I no longer hide. Finally — I have nothing left to hide.
It’s all part of me.
On the international market I will still be Eva Lucas — negotiations are ongoing and that name has its own path.
Maybe one day I’ll even add a third pseudonym. Why not?
For example Bismarc — that’s the name I used in my younger days when writing for a magazine.
Because — life is a game.
And I’m becoming a better player.
What I want to say is this: writing is a journey. Sometimes steep, full of curves, but always unbelievably rewarding. Being a writer is a demanding path — only now do I see how many challenges exist.
In our next Coffee2Go chat, I’ll tell you about how to send manuscripts to foreign publishers and what to pay attention to. I’ll also share the answers I received — the rejections, but also the encouraging ones, the gentle ones with concrete advice.
And — yes — I’ll tell you how the trailer for The Gates of Redemption was made more than ten years ago. How much love, passion, and energy were in play.
Because that is one of those stories you never forget.
Actually — I have so much to tell you, I don’t even know where to start…
But for today — our coffee time is over.
Open the window, breathe deeply, and remember:
A writer is not born — a writer is revealed.
See you soon, in the next grain of coffee that smells so beautifully and starts the day.
