Far, far in the lead here is a play by an Irish writer, first performed in 1894 and published in 1898. A lot of people who are familiar with it forget that it is set during and after the brief Serbia-Bulgaria war of 1885, the central characters being a Bulgarian officer’s daughter and a Swiss mercenary fighting for the Serbs. It doesn’t bear a huge resemblance to the real Bulgaria: the author’s intention was to satirise British attitudes to war and class, and he pretty much succeeded. It is:
After that we are into difficult territory, and I’m afraid that the next books on both GR on LT are a light-hearted Cold War thriller (not the last in that series that we shall encounter) and a short fantasy novella for young adults:
The Balkan Escape, by Steve Berry (second-ranked on Goodreads)
Those who are familiar with Bulgarian literature will not be at all surprised (and perhaps relieved) to know that the top Bulgarian book by an actual Bulgarian writer, though some way behind all of the above, is the 1893 national classic:
Speaking from experience (as a recently 100% freelance editor), it is indeed difficult to make one massive jump from salaried employment to freelancing (unless you have a considerable amount of money saved up to support yourself in the early years), but it is very possible to start a freelance career on the side and build it up while still having access to a guaranteed salary. It takes planning and determination, and sometimes it’ll be scary (okay, terrifying) and precarious, but it’s really worthwhile and a million times better than staying in a soul-sucking job when you know you could do something so much more satisfying!
Good luck to you, I hope you find your way to where you want to be (and get to eat along the way 🙂 ).