Today, we have an opportunity to talk to Ruslan
Alabaev. Ruslan has written the book, “The Cave”.
First, let me thank you for joining me. I appreciate you giving me your links and I
want to share those with our readers.
My book is The Cave
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B855DK7G
That is great. Can you tell us a little about yourself and what led you to start writing?
I’ve had a passion for writing since I was a kid, and
as I got older, I wanted to write something significant. I wrote my first book
when I was 18 and my second at 23, but both were in Russian and meant to be
more of an exercise that allowed me to share my ideas. But 4 years ago, I
decided to write a book in English to reach and influence many more readers.
Back then, I was ready to publish it, but this year, I finally found the
courage to self-publish it and take that next step in my writer’s career.
Where do you get your inspiration, information, and ideas
for books?
I consider myself to be an “idea generator.” Imagine a
melting pot, where you throw bits and pieces of information from reading,
movies, series, computer games, general knowledge, scientific papers, and
anecdotal knowledge. I use all these sources as inspiration to come up with
ideas for my books. Believe it or not, I often get the initial ideas in my
dreams. Sometimes I dream vividly about something exciting, and when I wake up,
I write down the dream’s plot to the best of my ability and later use it as the
core inspiration for one of my books.
What are your hobbies and do they ever play into your
writing?
Yes, all the sources of information I mentioned earlier
are my hobbies. Reading scientific articles and news, watching movies, reading,
and even playing computer games – all contribute to my writing. I also enjoy
sports, but that hobby usually doesn’t make it into my books.
What advice would you give someone who wants to be a
writer?
My advice is to just start writing. Many writers spend
too much time planning the plot and every little detail in the book, which
often gets them in a loop of perfecting everything without actually writing
anything. I think a person should prepare a baseline plot and just start
writing. As you write, many ideas and plot details come to you, making the
process more fluent and productive. Besides, you can always edit anything you
don't like. The first draft doesn't have to be perfect.
Currently,
fictional writing is more of a hobby for me. But coincidentally, my job
involves writing too! It’s a different kind of writing (Direct Response
Copywriting), with different rules, formats, and goals.
As for
the schedule – I don’t have one. If I feel inspired and have a day off, I can
write all day.
How
many hours a day do you write?
If we’re counting fictional and non-fictional
writing, I would say an average of 5-10 hours a week. It’s not something I do
every day.
What is your favorite part about writing?
My
favorite part is when I get a fantastic idea or plot twist and think, “Wow,
that’s going to be really good, I love it!” Sure, the readers might disagree
with me when they read it, but having that satisfaction of coming up with
something unique or funny makes me love what I do.
What
does literary success look like to you?
Personally, I would like more people to read my books and
enjoy them. That’s success in my book (no pun intended). So, I don’t care about
fame or money – all I want is to reach more people, and hopefully, they’ll
appreciate my writing style and my ideas.
“The Cave” is my first published book, and it’s a mix of
genres. I have difficulty pinpointing it to a specific category because it has
elements of horror, thriller, suspense, mystery, adventure, and even sci-fi.
One of the contributing factors is that my protagonists tell stories of their
own – each has a unique subject and genre. So, all in all – I would say that no
matter what books you like to read, you’ll probably find something in it that
you’ll enjoy.
Who are your favorite authors?
Hands down, my biggest influence is Stephen King since
I love all the “scary” genres myself, although not all my books are necessarily
from those categories. But still, I feel like he’s my role model. He came up
with many “groundbreaking” ideas that are considered revolutionary to this day.
And I also would like to come up with ideas that give readers something
refreshing and new rather than reiterate the same concepts that have been written
about hundreds of times.
What part of writing and publishing was most difficult for
you?
So far, it has been easy! The challenging part is
reaching out to potential readers as an indie writer. Since nobody knows me, I
must try extra hard to get my book out there and into the readers’ hands or
e-book readers.
One more time,
where can someone go to purchase your book?
At the moment, my book is only available on Amazon, so if
you’d like to purchase it (either in digital format or paperback), here’s the
link:
