What’s Next?

The journey of editing my works from the original language, adapting them to English, and revising the translations of my older works is almost complete.

My collection of early stories, titled “Fragile Shards,” has been compiled in Russian, translated into English, illustrated with AI’s help, and published digitally and in print. This collection spans short stories written between 2008 and 2022, capturing my thoughts from ages 15–16 through 29–30. Many of these stories reflect a youthful naivety and idealism, especially the earlier ones. I’ve decided to arrange them chronologically, and in writing new stories, I’ve started to weave a continuous narrative throughout the collection. This unintentional meta-level, illustrating the author’s growth and changes in mindset, has emerged quite organically. In the later years of this period, my life was marked by traumatic events, depression, therapy, and significant self-work, all of which are evident in the tone of the later texts.

In addition to this collection, I’ve also shared several of my early poems here. Originally, these were part of the story collection, but adapting poetry into another language is particularly challenging, so I chose not to include them in the book.

Over the past six months of regularly publishing on Medium, I adapted my debut novel, “The Story of One World,” into English. I wrote this novel ten years ago, in 2014, and published it in Russian in 2016. While it didn’t garner much attention or popularity in its original form, the support and interest from the English-speaking audience on Medium have been incredibly surprising and uplifting.

Given the novel’s age, I must admit that I am not entirely satisfied with its plot, language, or some of its messages. Naturally, I would approach and write it very differently now, ten years later. However, it was important for me to preserve the original version and ideas, though I did undertake editorial work during the translation process to refine the language and formulations.

So, the archival work is nearly complete. Only 4–5 publications, one chapter, remain until the first part of the novel is finished. What’s next?

Next, I will focus solely on ongoing works. I envision the following development pattern: first, I will continue writing and publishing the second, entirely current, short story collection, a sequel to “Fragile Shards,” called “Dark Shards.” This collection continues the overarching narrative begun in the first book, but each story can be read independently. Inspired by the narrative style of the “Dark Souls” series by FromSoftware and game designer Hidetaka Miyazaki, I approach the storyline as lore, delivered through hints, mentions, and small touches. You may have already seen stories from this collection, such as “Dark Shard 7. The Shadow That Sows Chill,” “Dark Shard 8. The Fall of Ozod’s Black Shadow,” and “Dark Shard 9. Rusted Remnants.” I plan to publish not only text versions of the stories but also comic versions, which you can already find here. I have a list of upcoming story titles and a general idea of the storyline and concept development, but I try not to limit myself so that anything could happen — it’s a surprise for both you and me.

Additionally, I am already working on the second part of the novel, “The Story of One World II.” The complete script for the novel was written back in 2016, and this year, as I decided to return to my old creation, I carefully remastered the plan. So, I know exactly what will happen next, how the plot will develop, and how the entire story will end.

Finally, I have several new concepts for larger stories, existing in a rather fragmented and unstructured form. I occasionally revisit them, refine them, and write texts within these worlds. One example of such a story is “Abysspunk: Tale 1 — Into the Abyss,” the first text I published here on Medium. I approach these stories as inspiration strikes, but now, having completed my archival work, I hope to have more time and energy for new stories.

So, you will occasionally be able to read new parts of my texts — but, of course, with much larger intervals than in the past six months because, given that I don’t monetize my writing, I work extensively at my primary job and write new texts only in my free time. All the main archival texts from the past are published, which has closed a long-standing gestalt for me. Now, I step into the uncertain and unexplored territory of entirely new texts and stories. I sincerely hope you will continue this journey with me.

Thank you to everyone who has joined me on this journey and who takes the time and interest to read my texts — this is incredibly surprising and inspiring for me. You are an amazing audience! I sincerely hope that the continuation of this journey will be interesting for all of us. Thank you!