I grew up behind the Iron Curtain in Southern Bohemia during communism. It was a time of immense limitations, and for adults, it was incredibly difficult. But as a child in a family that wasn't rich, I discovered a different truth: not having everything was a hidden opportunity. My parents, my brother, my sister, and I were deeply creative. What we couldn’t buy, we had to invent. Our summers were filled with a simple, quiet magic—riding our bicycles, spending long days by the river or the lake, and exploring the ancient castles that dotted our landscape.

We filled our home with books, baked Christmas cookies, and crafted our own decorations. During the winter holidays, we watched our traditional Czech fairy tales, which were true fountains of wisdom—deeply similar to ancient scriptures and Eastern philosophies, carrying a distinct sense of humor similar to the British one, and guiding us to be humble, honest, and grateful for the most important things in life. Living with less trained my imagination, gave me the freedom to dream, and taught me a deep gratitude for the smallest things. The person I am today, and my deep attraction to a simplified version of life, was born right there in that resourceful childhood. As a teenager, those quiet days grew into wilder dreams, pointing my gaze toward new, distant horizons where my journey would soon lead. When the borders finally opened, I was thirteen years old, and a universe of endless possibilities began to shift into view. Guided by early summer jobs in Vienna where my older brother had relocated, my nomadic blood officially woke up. At twenty-two, I packed my bags and stepped permanently onto the path of my widest dreams.

My first wild leap took me to the Balearic Islands, where I walked away from an economics university degree to follow my heart—much to my family’s despair. For more than ten years, those sun-soaked islands became my adopted home. That chapter unfolded into an extraordinary adventure: from unexpectedly crossing paths with a girl from my Czech hometown and forming a DJ duo that played clubs across Ibiza and Europe, to teaching myself the fashion industry step-by-step to build and run my own boutique clothing brand. This beautiful, grit-filled fashion chapter eventually became the raw inspiration for my uplifting novel, Ten Wishes, which was picked up by a prestigious traditional Czech publisher in 2015 and became a major success with readers.

My journey then twisted through the creative energies of Berlin and Prague—and even a brief season in Bali born from a curiosity to expand my horizons, which ultimately only proved that I am a true European soul at heart. Over a decade ago, I chased my ultimate dream of living on a small, authentic island, arriving on Ischia for a single January week to see what would happen—and staying so far, with a few beautiful changes of scenery along the way. During one of those chapters, a transformative stay in my beloved Rome inspired my romantic memoir, Random Roman Holiday.

Through all these global horizons, my heart always remained deeply tethered to my Southern Bohemian roots, a peaceful haven of fairy-tale landscapes to which I return time and again to find my grounding. It was during these quiet moments of reflection at home that I gathered the fragments of my adventures to write You Can Do Anything Your Heart Wants. Published in 2016, this inspirational guide quickly became a national bestseller, holding the absolute top sales position across the country for two consecutive years. This opened a new chapter where I eventually published ten books in total, alongside several limited special editions—all of them inspired by my nomadic life, guided always by my heart.

Eventually, the need for a fresh perspective led me and my partner—a native of this volcanic island—to step away once again from Ischia for a while, testing whether we could build a life on a different shore. Opportunity directed us to Istria, Croatia, where we spent a year, only for Ischia to loudly call us both back home. Returning together, we settled into a beautifully simple house close to the rhythm of the waves. It was in this rustic haven that my writing found its next natural destination. I had loved English since my teenage years, viewing it as my ultimate bridge to the world, but using it to craft literature was a completely new sea to swim in. Over the past four years, I simply jumped in. Of course, even though these were my biggest dreams (including all those mentioned above), the path was often infused with steep challenges and moments when I wanted to give up entirely—but fortunately, I always carried on. That leap has now blossomed into my upcoming poetry collection, Joy Is in the Simple Moments, and a fresh Ischia memoir currently in progress.

I may be a relative newcomer to the English-publishing world, but I have always believed that our human explorations of life speak a universal language—which was one of the main reasons I started writing books in the first place, alongside my natural passion for the craft. Today, it is my big pleasure to write my weekly Letters on Substack to share a warm, witty, and honest look at why simplicity helps us live for what matters most. I truly look forward to meeting you at my Substack table, or on the pages of my books, and I believe you will find your own shared portion of lightness and even encouragement inside them.

From the heart,
Katy