The Most Valuable Thing for a Writer

Posted on 10/18/2014 by Shurik the Creator under Updates

Dear Amazing People,

What do you think is the most important and valuable thing for a writer?

Yes, that is right! It is, dear readers, your appreciation and opinion about the writer’s work. It is your feedback that gives the writer the stimulus and motivation to write more, as well as the ideas and suggestions for improvement to be considered in his/her writing.

This is also true for me. I love readers’ feedback about my poems, short stories, and novels. It is like a fuel for my writing engine: the more feedback I receive, the faster and better it works.

My novel “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” has already been read by a good number of amazing people worldwide. That is why I started contacting them and asking for their opinion on the novel. All feedback that came from them was quite interesting, positive, and useful for me in terms of planning the style and plot of the other novels of “The Monster” trilogy. And in order to show the feedback received, I set up the section Testimonials on this website. There you are able to see the readers, who have already finished reading the book “The Monster: Blade of Darkness”, and their opinion regarding it.

Furthermore, I invite YOU to share your feedback about the book. For that please use the Contact section of the website. I will be much grateful for your opinion and suggestions, dear reader.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon!

With great respect and gratitude,

Alexander

The Story of How Let’s Do It World! Heroes Contributed to the Dream

Posted on 10/04/2014 by Shurik the Creator under Updates

Dear Amazing People,

I continue to reveal the story of writing my largest novel so far, “The Monster: Blade of Darkness”, bits by bits. And this time I would like to describe you how the global movement for a clean planet Let’s Do It World! (LDIW), where I had been a volunteer and researcher behind the Waste Explorer project, contributed to the publishing of this book.

You already know that the book “The Monster: Blade of Darkness”” has been created through crowdsourcing and crowdfunding support, and now it is available in Russian and English and in hardcover and e-book formats in more than 20 countries of the world. What you probably do not know yet is that the book was indirectly and directly created by a number of awesome people, who I like to call the LDIW Heroes.

The indirect contribution of LDIW to making this literary dream come true is represented by the “community action experiment” applied to the publishing of the book. During its preparation I joined efforts with other people to make it happen, just like the community of this movement helps to organize national cleanups in different countries.

The direct contribution is represented by the fact that the actual LDIW members together with me took part in transforming the dream about the novel “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” into reality. The talented artist Kärt Viljalo made a number of wonderful illustrations that you can now see in the book and in the on-line gallery. The generous Toomas Trapido supported the publishing of the book through its Indiegogo crowdfunding page. And supportive Kristiina Kerge and Kadi Kenk helped in sharing the page and spreading the word about this literary dream. Their names can now be found in the Gratitude Letter in all “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” books, as well as on the official website of the novel.

All in all, due to the LDIW global network and my participation in it I have found all these talented, amazing, and extraordinary people. And together with other contributors we have succeeded in bringing the science fiction adventure novel about the interrelations between Human and Nature entitled “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” to the readers worldwide. And for that I am enormously grateful to LDIW and its heroes!

This piece of the novel writing story has been featured in the LDIW Newsletter #44 under the title “A book inspired by Let’s Do It! World heroes published”. Thank you, Kadi Kenk, for writing and sharing it!

With great respect and gratitude,

Alexander

Finishing Touches under the Californian Sun

Posted on 09/21/2014 by Shurik the Creator under Updates

Dear Amazing People,

Recently an article entitled “The Monster: Blade of Darkness”: The Novel with an ELP Footprint in It has appeared on the blog of the Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) managed by the University of California in Berkeley, California, the US. It tells the story of how I finished the draft of my novel “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” while being in California and studying at Beahrs ELP in June – July 2013. The article was written by me and then shared by the blog administrators from the University of California, Anita and Megan.

The reasons for writing about this footprint of California and Beahrs ELP in the book “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” are firstly to acknowledge the contribution of such events and experience in shaping up its final chapters, and secondly to start revealing bits of the whole story of making my literary dream come true in the hope to inspire at least some of you to do a similar thing. This is because the aims of writing and publishing this novel include not only expressing and sharing my ideas on how Human-to-Nature interrelations might develop, but also showing on the real example that it is possible to realize the dream of publishing your own book. I would really like to see and read poems, stories, and novels written by my friends and other amazing people I know. And I am ready to support them.

So, I suggest you to take a look at the article “The Monster: Blade of Darkness”: The Novel with an ELP Footprint in It about how I made the finishing touches to my novel “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” in a small room of a student campus lit by the warm Californian sun. Perhaps it will motivate you to find a similar inspirational environment and write your own literary work. And one day I will be able to hold your own book in my hands and read about how it had been written. I am very much looking forward to that day!

With great respect and gratitude,

Alexander

“The Monster” Comes to Germany and Denmark

Posted on 09/06/2014 by Shurik the Creator under Updates

Dear Amazing People,

Slowly but steadily my novel “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” becomes available to everyone everywhere. If you check its page on the global platform for readers and book recommendations Goodreads, you will see a long list of on-line bookstores, where my book can be found. The e-book version of the novel has even reached iTunes! So, now you can read it on your Mac or iOS device.

The books “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” are also travelling around in the real world. During the last weeks I have received updates that they arrived to Germany and Denmark, where awesome and excited readers had been waiting for them. And now these people fully enjoy the action-packed adventures of Jessie and Jack on a remote island and together with them try to solve the mystery of the local dinosaur-like creature named Blade of Darkness. After the readers finish reading the novel “The Monster: Blade of Darkness”, I will ask them to provide their opinion and feedback on the book, which I will then post on this website.

Until then you are encouraged to contact me for receiving several pages of the book in Russian or English for a preview. And then you can get your own copy of the novel in this or any other on-line bookstore here throughout the Web. I will be very happy if my novel “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” reaches your place as well!

With great respect and gratitude,

Alexander

Your Translation, Your Book, Your Success

Posted on 08/24/2014 by Shurik the Creator under Updates

Dear Amazing People,

My novel “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” continues to penetrate into different corners of the world. It is now being sold in Australia, China, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Norway, Romania, South Africa, Sweden, the UK, the US, and other countries. With such a large international distribution I have started receiving requests on having the book available in other languages besides Russian (original) and English. Most of the people, who request that, ask for the novel in Romanian, but there are also questions about German, French, Polish, etc. coming in. So, I suppose, it is time to start making such thing happen… in a traditional for my novel way.

In designing and publishing the book “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” I had been using crowdsourced support practically right from the start. The Russian text of the novel was reviewed by my former teacher in Russian language and literature Violina Mihalevskaia; it was then translated into English by my friend from Sweden Erika Rydergard and reviewed by my US friend from Peace Corps Barbara Jue; illustrations for both versions of the book were provided by my Ukrainian and Estonian friends Catherine Starostenko and Kärt Viljalo; and the English book was published and is now distributed by the founder of serendii publishing Wolfgang Stricker. Names of all these wonderful people can now be seen in the book and its official website.

Thus, I have decided once again to call upon the support of amazing people to contribute to making the novel “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” even more accessible to the world.

So, if you know any other language besides Russian and/or English, and would like to contribute to the translation of the book into this language, I will be more than happy to collaborate with you. As a result of your efforts you will see how the book “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” translated by you and with your name in it goes global, how your friends and people around you read it with enthusiasm, and how they appreciate your work. Certainly we can agree upon your share in the revenue generated by the books sold. Just write me by using the Contact section of this website for us to start the discussion.

Like the American writer Helen Keller once put it:

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”.

With great respect and gratitude,

Alexander

“The Monster” in the World of Books

Posted on 08/06/2014 by Shurik the Creator under Updates

Dear Amazing People,

If you have been following updates on this website, you already know that my novel “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” is now all over Amazon: you can find it on the international website, its British version, the German one and so on. But besides Amazon, the book became also available on many other book selling platforms: Barnes&Noble, Foyles, SAXO, HotBookSale and many other. And now I have also listed the Russian version of the novel “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” on Lulu.

Lulu is an interesting initiative. It represents a self-publishing platform for authors to easily publish their books and bring them to the global market. The platform works based on the “print-on-demand” principle, where a book is published only when a reader orders it at www.lulu.com. This is quite a nice way to use natural resources for book-printing efficiently.

So, I have put up the paperback and e-book versions of “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” on Lulu, where you can now preview and purchase them. I have also decided to share my previous book, “The Thoughts: the World of My Heart and Soul. The Favorites”, on this platform as well. It is also available there in paperback and e-book formats. And overall you can find all my books available at Lulu on my author’s page there.

However, I do not just sell my books. They are also accessible to read for free at certain places, such as public libraries. For instance, you can now find both the Russian version of the novel “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” and the book “The Thoughts: the World of My Heart and Soul. The Favorites” at the ARTICO street library in Chisinau, Moldova. So, you can go there and get the taste of my writing for free.

All in all, my novel “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” slowly but steadily enters the global world of books. Soon it is going to be available for reading on many more book selling and sharing platforms all over the globe. And I am sure that one day I will reach your hands and mind.

With great respect and gratitude,

Alexander

The English Novel has Arrived!

Posted on 07/21/2014 by Shurik the Creator under Updates

Dear Amazing People,

The great news continues to come. On the 18^th of July I finally received the first copies of the English version of my novel “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” made possible due to the efforts of my good friend Wolfgang at serendii. I have already spread the news on the Facebook page of “The Monster”.

The interesting thing is that the English books have been sent to me from the UK. It brings the number of countries that contribute to their writing and publishing to 7: the novel was written in Moldova, translated by a Swede, proof-read and edited by an American, featured the illustrations made by Estonian and Ukrainian, its publishing is managed in Austria, and the actual printing is done in the UK. Now that is a truly global collaboration! And it has resulted in a unique book that you will soon get your hands on.

So, yes, with both Russian and English versions of the novel “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” available, I am ready to present them to the public and officially launch their sales.

Concrete details about the presentation event will be disclosed in the next post.

With great respect and gratitude,

Alexander

First Interview

Posted on 07/16/2014 by Shurik the Creator under Updates

Dear Amazing People,

I know that you are looking forward to get your hands on the English version of the novel “The Monster: Blade of Darkness”. And I am happy to inform you that the publishing process comes to an end and that the English novel is going to be ready by the end of July 2014.

Recently I have paid a visit to Austria and the so-called Dreamicon Valley there, where the office of the publisher, serendii, is located. There I met with its founder Wolfgang Stricker and together we discussed the novel publishing process and signed the contract of cooperation.

Besides the official discussion and unofficial sightseeing and spending a wonderful time at Dreamicon Valley we also did an interview for the serendii website. This became my first interview as the author of the novel “The Monster: Blade of Darkness”.

It is well known that it is not enough just to write and publish a book to make it successful. You need to inform people about it. And this is what Wolfgang at serendii and I are currently doing.

Please subscribe below to receive news and updates about the publishing of the English version of the novel and the date of its official presentation.

With great respect and gratitude,

Alexander

The Russian Version is Here!

Posted on 07/01/2014 by Shurik the Creator under Updates

Dear Amazing People,

What would you feel when you see you dream coming true… and you are actually able to hold it in your hands?

For me it is difficult to describe the emotions and feelings that rose inside me when I took the Russian version of my novel “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” in my hands. It was some sort of mixture of happiness, gratitude and the feeling of having realized something important.

Yes, that’s right, I have received the first 300 copies of the book “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” written in Russian. They are now stocked in my apartment until the 19th of July 2014 – the official Book Launch Event, when the novel is going to be presented and made available for purchase. So, do mark that day in your calendar, if you want to get an exclusive copy of “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” with the author’s autograph in it and for a discounted price.

Until then I am working on releasing the e-book version of “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” in Russian, as well as publishing the English version of the novel (both hardcover and e-book) with the help of my awesome friend Wolfgang at serendii publishing.

So, stay with me for more great news and updates!

And, like my amazing mentors from Dream Academia in Austria, Hermann and Katzi, like to say:

“Y(our) dream works!”

With great respect and gratitude,

Alexander

First Testimonials

Posted on 06/03/2014 by Shurik the Creator under Updates

Dear Amazing People,

I know that some of you are already waiting impatiently for the novel “The Monster: Blade of Darkness” to be published, so that you could start reading it and experiencing the mysterious adventures on a remote island. Do not worry, the publishing is already in progress, and I will announce when and where the book presentation event takes place.

Until then, I have shared the text of the novel with a number of people, who contributed to it in one way or another, in order to receive the first feedback. And here is what they wrote me:

“The novel is quite readable; there are many scientific facts and moments.
The whole picture is interesting; the problem described is of current interest indeed…”
Mihalevskaia Violina Nikolaevna, expert in Russian language and literature and editor of the novel

“I read it and enjoyed it…”
Erika Rydergard, the translator of the novel from Russian to English

“So I got around reading the book, and I really like it!”
Kärt Viljalo, one of the illustrators of the novel

“I would like to tell you that I really enjoy your book.
At first I was a bit afraid that it would “just” be another adventure or science fiction story, but the more I read the more I realised how much wisdom there is in this story, how much the reader can learn about the different functions of nature, the indigo people (great) and gets inspired by so many possibilities and paralleles to our current living-world.
It also feels like a bit of Jules Vernes 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and sometimes the style has a bit of Paulo Coelho too.
Especially I am so happy that there will be true and important wisdom at the reader when he finished reading the story.”
Wolfgang Stricker, founder of serendii publishing

These are only the first testimonials. When the book is published and you read it, I would be happy to hear your opinion about the novel.

Stay tuned for more updates!

With great respect and gratitude,

Alexander