About Alexander Zelenyj:
Alexander Zelenyj is the author of the books Songs For The Lost, Experiments At 3 Billion A.M., Black Sunshine, and Ballads To The Burning Twins: The Complete Song Lyrics Of The Deathray Bradburys. His fiction has been published in many magazines and anthologies throughout the world. He lives in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, with his other half and their two cats.
What inspires you to write?
I suppose I get inspiration to write from lots of different sources, from the authors and books I enjoy reading, to the music I listen to and movies I watch to the people I meet. Just living life, day to day, affords countless inspiration.
Tell us about your writing process.
It’s different for every project, although for the past many years I’ve tended to begin most projects, whether a short story or longer fiction work, with a very specific mood I want to convey, and go from there. The structure and plot just work themselves in as the story develops, although I’m always aware of the thematic leanings of my stuff. The themes I return to most are sort of the groundwork on which everything is built; they’re there even before I begin writing or actively thinking about the project at hand.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I don’t talk to my characters, but more often than not they eventually seem to write themselves, once I’ve introduced them into any given story.
What advice would you give other writers?
Read every day and write every day. Always.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
Personally, I see traditional publishing as the only way to go. I say this because I don’t think a writer who’s spent countless amounts of their time and creative energy on an undertaking as epic as writing a book, should also have to pay for that book’s publication. That doesn’t make any kind of sense to me. People are out there who read and take something from your book, so I think writers should be compensated for that. I’ve heard some talk by self-published authors bashing traditional publishers, claiming that authors don’t retain creative license and so forth, and in my experience that’s all nonsense. All my experiences with my publishers have been extremely positive ones. I think it’s different for authors who self-publish as part of a small press that they themselves own, because the amount of hard work and time they have to devote to running their press doesn’t allow much time for seeking a home for their manuscripts. In this way publishing their own work as part of their press makes sense, as it’s still a part of a greater catalogue of works by a variety of authors.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
Books – actual physical books – will never go away. They’ll always be with us, because people who love reading appreciate the beauty of books, which is something you can’t replicate in an e-format. Reading something on an e-reader is an entirely different experience – not necessarily a bad one, just a different one, one that is less tangible and intimate. Books feel amazing, they look amazing, and they smell amazing. An e-reader not so much. Books are one of the most important and amazing things we have in this world. They should be treasured.
What genres do you write?: I actively embrace all genres, and often merge genres within the same story or book. Some readers call it “slipstream”, others call it “unclassifiable”. If I had to pick a label I’d go with the latter. I don’t think about it at all when I write, I just do what I do and look at the results afterward. I love reading across all genres, and love writing across all genres as well. I’ve never restricted myself within genre boundaries.
What formats are your books in?: eBook, Print, Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Alexander Zelenyj Home Page Link
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit, to allow you, the reader, to hear the author in their own voice.
