Chika’s Mysterious Phone follows an 11-year-old girl whose curiosity about her new cell phone turns into a dreamlike journey. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

We humans (but especially adolescents) are naturally involved in a perpetual search for self-understanding. But, these days, young people must search for themselves within a technological-centric world that compels them to question what is possible. Chika’s Mysterious Phone was written to help adolescent readers explore the boundaries of that world.

The illustrations in your book are wonderful. Can you share with us a little about your collaboration with illustrator Alexey Kudravtsev?

I found Alexy on an online freelancer website. He is an engineering graduate in Belarus, with an interest in digital art. Our collaboration was fairly straightforward. I provided Alexey with notes and graphic stimulus materials for each illustration. That was key to the successful collaboration. It enabled Alexy to readily craft the images – with only a few minor revisions required.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

Some readers of Chika‘s story might think that its theme is the same as the theme in Alice in Wonderland. The theme of Alice in Wonderland is ‘the inevitability of maturation‘. That is, it is about the inevitability of accepting who we grow to be as adults in the physical world. The possibility that both stories share the same theme is reinforced when Chika’s dad explicitly tells her that ‘… telling tall tales was merely an unworthy and a childish fad‘.

However, the theme of Chika‘s story is more profound and complex than ‘maturation from childhood to adulthood’. It also involves dimensions greater than our normal psychologies: It involves the notions of astral travel and miracles, and therefore its broader theme is ‘metaphysics’.

Such a metaphysical theme might be uncomfortable for some people with restrictive views about the upbringing of adolescents.

What is the next book you are working on, and when will it be available?

My next publication will be the fifth edition of a non-fiction book: Build your own Computer: An Illustrated Guide. It should be published early in 2026.

However, my seminal book, the one that I have been working on for a quarter century, is about the English language. I hope Modern International English: a comprehensive guide for home, school or office will be finished near the end of 2026.