Laika is the pen name of 26-year old Jarurat Theslamyai who, together with her friend Sputnik, recently completed their debut collection of short stories. The finished book, Moon, won second prize at the Indie Book Awards and has now been published by the Thai Writers Network.

BK: Why did you pick the title Moon?

Jarurat Theslamyai: Because we are both dedicated moon watchers!

BK: What was the original concept behind the book?

JT: Sputnik and I read Pry Pansang’s Love Letter and discovered that Indian people have different names for the full moon in each month of the year. So, a full moon in February is called “Snow Moon” while a full moon in May is “Flower Moon.” We decided to develop this idea and encouraged each other to write short stories about different aspects of the moon.

BK: How did you first get into writing?

JT: I started out with my own blog. Then, when I started to get a good response from my readers, I decided to try my hand at writing short fiction—something that I have kept on developing until now.

BK: What’s the hardest part about writing?

JT: Editing my own work.

BK: How did you feel when the prize was announced?

JT: “Let’s get some drinks!”

BK: There are so many books focusing on inner emotions these days. What do you think makes Moon stand out from the rest?

JT: For me, I feel there is still a lack of good books written by women for women. If you look in the book and magazine stores, more than 80% of the titles are telling women how to dress, how to diet, how to cope with their bosses and boyfriends, but there really isn’t anything talking about the inner woman. It’s really time to reconsider where and how women can speak truly or think freely about themselves. In this book, the idea is to describe how a woman feels, looks, and thinks about herself and fi gure out how this fi ts into the role of women in our society today. I believe that silence, ignorance, lack of love and fear of love
can all cause many unexpected problems.

BK: What’s your next project?

JT: I am currently doing a film class so I’m really busy making short films. It’s kind of fun and I can’t wait to start making some feminine-focused short films.