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The Many Layers of the Past
East to West Across Russia follows a man who chases a childhood dream to ride the Trans-Siberian Railway from Vladivostok all the way to Moscow, on a journey of self-discovery and introspection. What was the inspiration for the set-up of your story?
In the dedication at the beginning of the book I wrote
‘Dear N,
I dedicate the words written on these pages drenched in the cloak of my melancholy to you my great love. Has there ever been a light so illuminating, a smile so effervescent? We walked together hand in hand but now it is only I with my dreams of a love I once knew and the fate of that love never to burn in my heart again.
Always,
D
The entire narrative lives and dies and is fuelled by the character N. She is nameless and for many she is not even seen as a real life person. Some see her as a ghostly figure, a faint representation of an idealised love while others have seen her as a symbol of Old Rus, that grand and mythical era where all Soviet and Russian people long to return to. Perhaps she exists or perhaps she does not exist. In the end it really doesn’t matter but for the protagonist D, N is everything he ever wished for and dreamt of. He has no memory of life before she existed and the memory of her since she faded away from his heart continues to burn and ruptures the core of his being. D moves from east to west slowly across Russia but he also moves slowly from his past into his present and contemplating on a future without N who lingers long in his thoughts.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The theme of memory is crucial to the narrative of the story. It is a memoir of the protagonist as he traverses the longest train journey in the world but more importantly it is a memoir of the past and the many layers that exist not only within D but within the human mind. Every place the human being experiences becomes part of his collective memories. We can never go to any place and simply not exist and have an experience of that place. Wherever we go, there we are and a memory and timeline of such a place will always reside within us whether we can recall such a memory or not. I wanted to explore and show the theme of solitude through the nomadic wanderings of the protagonist D. We live in a world that is teeming with life but as a unique individual being in this world we can never understand what it feels like to be another human being. We can only ever feel and understand what it is to be oneself. I cannot be another human being and another human being cannot be me. We can only reside within oneself so in my narrative across the vast terrain that is both Siberia and Russia I tried to depict such solitude, such bleakness, such passion, such love, such philosophical thoughts within the individual traveller. D is an individual but when the reader gets to see and contemplate his inner thoughts we begin to understand that we too are like D. We have fears, we have anger, we have deep emotions, we have dreams and desires. We see our human frailties through D and especially so when he moves through the immeasurable raw beauty that is Siberia. The human becomes frail and finite when resting alongside such natural places of wonder. The theme of nationalism takes central stage in the long monologue scene set at Lake Baikal. The protagonist D calls out from his own brokenness across the sublime waters of Baikal and wonders is there anybody out there to listen to such a cry. In his monologue, D specifically points to the 20th century and the many examples of nationalism that aimed to divide and to destroy human beings. For D, nationalism is everything that is insular and divisive about our world. When we are nationalistic we only look inward and see a blind image of the world where we choose to fight for our own nations and in the process we challenge, deride and abuse other nations especially the much smaller ones. Nationalism becomes the great evil and occupier of human beings. We cannot become vessels for peace when the stain and blood of nationalism continues to be fuelled from within our own nations. At the core of all wars whether they be civil or world wars is a disturbed view of nationalism whose only aim it is to conquer, destroy and rule. What narrative anywhere can exist without the age old themes of life and death? They are the themes of our humanity. Life and death are inextricably linked for the protagonist D in his wanderings and tale across Russia. As D physically moves across the endless terrain of Russia the interior world becomes fused with the external and natural world of the environment. The melancholy of such thoughts within D become more pronounced as his mind wanders and lingers within his own brokenness. The 20th century of death and mayhem are used and depicted by D in his long monologue scene. Everything about that century brought human cruelty and barbarity into a new era of lust and a desire for death over life. For D, death became the great aggressor and nemesis against life and the human condition. Human illness becomes for D the natural consequence for the stain that was written into our soul from our birth. However, the philosophical and continuous choice that humans have allows us to choose whether we want our lives to be fuelled with a desire to destroy or by an energy to live and accept such a stain of corruption that is part of all of us but which we can decide not to act upon such dark impulses.
All of us human beings understands what it means and what it feels to be loved. We were all loved by somebody at one time but familial love is very different to romantic love. When we love another person in a romantic way we slowly move away from the ego that drives our energy and we channel all of our energies and desires into this other person. It becomes heroic and unselfish as we begin to love another person more than we love oneself. When that love cracks, breaks and fades into nothingness a great chasm exists for the one who has been rejected. The grief is paramount, real and it often manifests into a deep-seated melancholy just like how a physical illness attacks the human body. This is the reality for D, the hero of this tale across Russia. Who or what is D without N in his life? He was once loved by her but now she has gone and he does not have a roadmap to navigate a route back to life and love. He wanders from one place to the next and tries to live but N continues to occupy his heart. He does not know how to live and to love without her. The vast and unending plains of Russia are symbolic for the vast and unending love that D has and holds for N. I was trying to depict and expose more of the internal struggles of man. We never truly understand the magnificence and mystery of such an internal world. The reader whilst travelling on this journey across Russia will stand and sit next to D and begin to feel all of his emotions as they are released from his mind and heart. When they read and experience D’s tale they will also go along their own journey as their own memories become heightened and alive with nostalgia and feeling.
I find sometimes authors ask themselves questions and let their characters answer them. Do you think this is true for your characters?
As an author I often ask questions of myself and wonder how it feels to think in a certain way, how it feels like to undergo an illness, a grief, a torment, how it feels like to be truly loved and to love another unconditionally, how it feels like to be truly happy. In this tale across Russia it is primarily D who slowly answers such questions. Before D set out on his journey across Russia he was curious what it would feel like to stand next to the largest freshwater lake in the world at Lake Baikal. He had no idea what feelings and emotions would stir up in him on witnessing the mighty Taiga Forest range and the immense happiness that he would experience on simply riding the trains without any agenda or goal in mind other than to live and experience the pleasure of living in such a finite moment. There is a scene in the book where D meets a family on the train to Moscow. D is all alone and has lost his family and so the depiction of Christina and her family reveals to D the meaning and purity that exists within a family setting. Christina and her family become the manifestation of the ideal for D, something to admire, something to long for and a reminder of the once severing of his family. Christina reminds D that he can love again but D longs only for his N, the cradle of his spirit. There are two characters in the book who remind D of his father. He meets a policeman in Ulan-Ude and a security guard named Yuri in Yekaterinburg. It is Yuri’s wish to one day go to Irkutsk and to see Lake Baikal with his own eyes as it reminds him of his father. In these two characters D is reminded about when we are more similar in this world than how we are divisive. On his final train journey to Moscow D contemplates on the journey that has passed and has a connection with his future self who echoes his thoughts and his soul to truly live and enjoy such finite moments as such moments will one day cease for all of us. The future D becomes the present and the past D as the readers get to listen to such words travelling from the future into the present in the silence of the moving train as sleep awaits. The thoughts of D are from the future but echoing along his heart in the present as he tries to move on from the continuous pain that he carried within him since N departed his life.
What is the next book that you’re working on and when can your fans expect it out?
My second book will be very different to my first book as this first book focussed on the author in a very personal way and was a memoir from a specific point in time. This second book is going to be a collection of twenty Short Stories set in various European locations. They are fictional tales and a snapshot of life as it was lived by its characters. I have ten of these stories written already with another ten stories to write. I have chosen locations such as Paris, Copenhagen, Venice, Lake Bled, Chernobyl, Bergen, Stockholm, Berlin, Barcelona, Weimar and diverse topics such as memory loss, first love, childhood trauma, illness, loss of love, dreams, the natural and artificial environment, the epistolary form of memory and longing, the sanctity of life. I hope to have this second book completed by the end of 2026.
Author Website
East to West Across Russia: The Long Journey Home
East to West Across Russia follows a man who chases a childhood dream across the entire span of Russia. He flies to Vladivostok and then rides the Trans Siberian Railway all the way to Moscow. Along the way, he wanders through fog-soaked hills, quiet cities, lonely platforms, and the deep interior of his own memory. The story blends real travel with imagined scenes that reveal his heartbreak, his longing, and his hunger for meaning. Russia’s forests, rivers, and rail stations move past his window like an old film reel, and he uses every mile to reach inward as much as he reaches westward.
The writing swings between poetic and raw, sometimes in the space of a single page. I liked that about it. The style is big on feeling and big on atmosphere. I caught myself smiling at the simple little moments, like the chaos of breakfast or the clinking of tea glasses on the train. Other times I felt a tug in my chest when he drifted into memories of lost love or those spiraling thoughts that come when the world is quiet and a person finally has to face himself. The prose has a kind of earnest honesty that feels almost old-fashioned, and it hit me harder than I expected.
There were moments, though, when the intensity of the reflection felt a bit heavy. Every small detail seems to carry emotional weight, and every encounter becomes a doorway into deeper meaning. Part of me admired that dedication. Still, the narrator’s sincerity kept me grounded. I found myself rooting for him even when he veered into melancholy. His curiosity about Russia, about its people and history and vastness, felt real. His tenderness toward strangers, even brief ones like Alexei on the plane, made the journey feel warm and human.
By the time I reached the final pages, I felt the quiet satisfaction that comes after finishing a long trip and finally setting your bags down. I walked away thinking this book fits readers who love travel stories that linger in the soul rather than just list places on a map. It will speak to anyone who enjoys reflective writing, who has ever chased a dream across a border, or who has ever tried to heal by moving forward one small step at a time. If you want a journey that is both physical and emotional and are willing to sit with someone else’s heart for a while, this book is a good companion.
Pages: 200 | ASIN : B0DDMVJ55B
The Athlete Whisperer: An Improbable Voice in Sports
Andrea Kirby’s The Athlete Whisperer is a vivid and unfiltered memoir that pulls back the curtain on what it means to be a woman breaking barriers in sports broadcasting. From her early days as one of the first female sportscasters in the 1970s to her later years coaching athletes and media talent, Kirby tells her story with grit, humor, and honesty. The book weaves through decades of change in television and sports, balancing personal struggle with professional triumph. It’s not just about a career, it’s about identity, perseverance, and the raw nerve it takes to keep moving when no one wants you there.
What I liked most about Kirby’s writing is how straightforward it feels. She doesn’t write like someone trying to impress you. She writes like someone who’s lived through hell, laughed about it, and decided to share the punchlines. Her voice is confident, yet not polished to perfection, which makes it genuine. The stories are fast-moving, full of sharp details, and often tinged with pain that sneaks up on you between the victories. I felt her frustration when men dismissed her, her thrill when she nailed a broadcast, and her heartache when life hit harder than any newsroom drama.
At times, I found myself pausing not because the writing was heavy, but because it was relatable. Kirby doesn’t whitewash the sexism, the exhaustion, or the loneliness. She’s not asking for pity, though. She’s showing how resilience can look messy and stubborn and still be beautiful. The people she met, famous names from ESPN, ABC Sports, and the field, come alive through her lens, but it’s her own story that lingers. There’s a rough-edged warmth in the way she talks about the athletes she coached and the young broadcasters she helped find their footing. I could almost hear her voice, no-nonsense, but kind.
By the end, I felt like I’d sat across from someone who’d lived several lives in one. The Athlete Whisperer isn’t just for sports fans. It’s for anyone who’s ever felt underestimated or out of place but went ahead and did the thing anyway. If you like memoirs that feel like conversation, that mix heart with humor and truth with tenderness, this one’s worth your time.
Pages: 256 | ASIN : B0F3BK5ZX9
Where Did My Brain Go?
Where Did My Brain Go? is the true story of a man whose life split sharply into a before and after. The memoir follows Mitchell Miller from the bustle of Manhattan to a quiet Southern town and then through a devastating car crash that shattered his body, altered his mind, and derailed his future. Across the pages, he recounts the long march through surgeries, confusion, misdiagnoses, and nine lost years before doctors finally discovered his frontal-lobe traumatic brain injury. The book moves from the shock of survival to the slow, stubborn rebuilding of a life that no longer matched the one he remembered.
Reading this book put me through a mix of emotions. At times, I felt pulled into the raw terror of the crash and the surreal moments afterward. His memories of waking in the ICU, piecing together how badly he was hurt, and struggling through early recovery felt painfully intimate. I admired how directly he wrote about the confusion that followed him for years. He doesn’t dress it up. He lets the reader sit with that fog and frustration. I found myself angry on his behalf as he revealed how the brain injury went undiagnosed for nearly a decade and how the people closest to him sometimes failed him when he needed help most. The writing is plainspoken and almost blunt at times, and that made the emotional hits land harder for me.
What really stayed with me was the honesty about the small humiliations and the long stretch of not knowing who he had become. When he finally learns what happened to his brain, the relief is mixed with grief, and that contradiction hit me in the gut. I appreciated how he examined the way the injury reshaped his personality, his impulses, even his taste in food and habits. I could feel the years slipping by as he tried to anchor himself. His eventual escape from the “disability trap” and the chemical fog of prescribed stimulants made the later chapters feel lighter, almost like watching someone slowly open the blinds after a long night. Knowing how much he fought to regain a sense of self gave those moments real emotional weight.
Where Did My Brain Go? shows a man who survived more than he understood at the time and who rebuilt a life that finally felt steady again. The author writes with gratitude, even toward the hardest memories, and that grounded the book for me. I’d recommend this memoir to readers who appreciate personal stories told without pretense, especially those interested in traumatic brain injury, medical missteps, or the resilience of ordinary people pushed into extraordinary circumstances.
Pages: 96 | ASIN : B0FLYKYXTJ
Fiercely ME
Fiercely ME, by Stephanie Rowe, is a poignant, nonfiction narrative that delves deeply into the life of a woman who has faced unimaginable hardships. Neglected by parents battling addiction and haunted by suppressed memories of sexual abuse and domestic violence, Rowe’s journey is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Her path to self-actualization, marked by intense therapy and a burgeoning sense of control over her destiny, underscores a powerful message: one’s past does not dictate the future.
The book draws parallels with Sapphire’s Push, offering an unvarnished look at a life riddled with pain, yet it surprises readers with moments of dark humor. Rowe’s playful prose, amidst the recounting of her harrowing experiences, adds a layer of complexity to her story, showcasing her indomitable spirit. As readers navigate through the emotionally charged narrative, they encounter a profound exploration of healing and empowerment. Rowe’s discussions on therapy and personal growth illuminate the transformative power of facing one’s demons with courage and finding the right support.
While Fiercely ME is a challenging read, laden with raw and often unsettling truths, it is also an inspiring account of overcoming adversity. Rowe’s willingness to share her story demands respect and attention, inviting readers to bear witness to her truth. This book is not just a memoir; it’s a resonant declaration of resilience, offering hope and guidance to those who may tread similar paths. Through her unwavering determination and vulnerability, Stephanie Rowe presents a powerful narrative of triumph over trauma.
Pages: 252 | ASIN : B0FHY75LK4
Straight Outta Skokie
Straight Outta Skokie is a memoir that follows Al Krockey through a pivotal year in his life, starting in 1968 and echoing backward to the Chicago and Skokie of his youth. The book moves from his pandemic-era reflections to vivid scenes of adolescence and early adulthood filled with deli counters, bowling alleys, pool halls, protests, street hustles, and the ever-present soundtrack of soul and rock. It captures a moment in American history when neighborhoods felt small and the world around them shook from events far bigger than anyone could see coming. The pages drift through family struggles, the thrill of hustling souvenirs at Wrigley Field, the chaos after Dr. King’s assassination, and the budding counterculture that tugged him into adulthood.
The writing has a loose, conversational rhythm that made me feel like he was talking right to me. Sometimes the stories rushed forward, squeezing decades into a few pages, and sometimes they slowed into tiny moments that were emotionally resonant. I enjoyed how grounded it all felt. The details about Skokie diners, late-night runs to Jack’s, Maxwell Street blues drifting in the air near the hot dog stands, and the characters he knew from the ballpark made the world feel lived in and real. The way he told stories about scraping together money, wandering from job to job, and learning from the people around him made me root for him without even noticing I was doing it.
I also felt a weight in the way the book handled the darker turns. The shock of Dr. King’s assassination, the violence on the West and South Sides, and the way Krockey realized how insulated his own community was hit me right in the gut. There was a raw honesty there that surprised me. He didn’t try to wrap those moments in pretty language. He just let them sit. And that directness made me trust him as a narrator. There were times when the book meandered, or when the slang and side stories spun around a bit, but I didn’t mind. It felt like hanging out with someone who has lived a lot and is eager to tell you everything because each story still means something to him.
If you like memoirs that feel like a long, winding conversation full of humor, grit, music, and heart, then this book will hit the spot. It is especially fitting for readers who enjoy stories about Chicago history, coming-of-age in the late sixties, or simply digging into a life shaped by both ordinary moments and historic upheavals. It would also resonate with anyone who finds comfort in nostalgia or who grew up in a neighborhood that felt like its own little planet.
Pages: 281 | ASIN : B0FTTLJ6L3
Between Worlds: Between Worlds, A Life of Abduction, Addiction, and Awakening
Brian Martin’s Between Worlds is an unflinching memoir wrapped in the surreal. It’s part trauma confession, part spiritual reckoning, and part cosmic fever dream. Martin tells of a life marked by abuse, addiction, strange visitations, and an aching search for meaning. The book opens in darkness, both literal and emotional, moving through scenes of childhood pain, hallucination, and haunting encounters that blend the psychological and the supernatural. As the story unfolds, it shifts from terror to transcendence, revealing a man grappling with his own mind and his memories, questioning what’s real and what’s revelation.
Reading this felt like wading through someone’s nightmares while clutching a flickering flashlight. Martin’s writing hits hard, raw and poetic in turns, and sometimes so vivid that it left me uneasy. His prose can feel chaotic, but that chaos feels intentional, like the inside of a fractured mind trying to make sense of itself. I found myself fascinated. The honesty is brutal. There are no neat answers, no tidy lessons, just waves of memory and madness that force you to sit with discomfort. I respected that. It made the book feel alive, even when it hurt to read.
At the same time, there’s a strange beauty threaded through all that pain. Martin writes about horror with the eye of a poet, and about faith with the heart of a skeptic. I could feel the ache of someone who wants to believe in something, God, magic, UFOs, salvation, but can’t ever quite grasp it. That struggle hit close. The spiritual parts don’t feel preachy. They feel desperate and human. There were moments when I had to pause just to take in how he could write about trauma with such raw tenderness.
Between Worlds is for readers who can handle truth that’s ugly and luminous at once, who don’t mind getting lost in someone else’s storm if it means finding a little light of their own. If you like memoirs that bleed honesty, or stories that blur the line between real and unreal, you’ll remember this one.
Pages: 307 | ASIN : B0FWN2PGHM
Eagle Scout to Killer: A Novel Based on True Events
Eagle Scout to Killer by K.S. Alan and Lorna Dare is a harrowing and unflinching account of one man’s transformation from idealistic youth to haunted veteran. Told through the voice of Kurt S. Alan, a soldier whose service in Vietnam blurs the line between heroism and survival, the book chronicles the moral and psychological toll of war. From its opening pages, where Alan recounts his covert involvement in the events surrounding the Gulf of Tonkin, the narrative establishes itself as both historical confession and personal reckoning. This is not a traditional war story; it is an exploration of how combat reshapes identity, erodes morality, and leaves wounds that no medal can redeem.
The authors write with a restrained intensity that makes the book deeply affecting. Alan’s first-person account of meeting CIA operative Coleman and orchestrating a staged naval attack feels chilling in its calm precision. When he admits, “I grew up being taught to never lie, but here I was perpetrating a lie on the U.S. Congress,” the line reverberates beyond his personal guilt; it becomes an indictment of the political machinery that demanded such deception. The prose is unsentimental yet charged with quiet anguish, capturing the conflict between duty and conscience with unsettling clarity.
What gives the book its emotional weight is not only its exposure of covert operations but its portrait of trauma. In the preface and the reflections from Alan’s VA therapist, the story is framed as part of a long process of healing. The therapist describes it as “Kurt’s effort to reclaim his soul,” and the book indeed feels like an act of reclamation. When Alan later visits the Vietnam Memorial and leaves his Special Operations coin at the wall, the gesture becomes a moment of fragile grace amid decades of inner torment. That scene encapsulates the cost of survival and the longing for absolution that haunts so many who return from war.
The combat scenes themselves are vivid, brutal, and often difficult to read. Chapters such as “The Punji Pit” and “Operation Cherry” depict the chaos of Vietnam with visceral precision. Yet the violence never feels gratuitous; it underscores the moral corrosion that the preface warns against. The narrative’s strength lies in its refusal to glorify combat or simplify the psychology of those who endured it. Alan’s voice remains grounded, disciplined, and painfully self-aware. The result is a story that feels at once deeply personal and universally human, a meditation on guilt, loyalty, and the enduring search for meaning after unimaginable loss.
Eagle Scout to Killer is not an easy book to read, but it is an essential one. It speaks to veterans who have carried their battles home with them, and to civilians who have never confronted what war truly demands of those who fight it. For readers interested in military history, moral philosophy, or psychological resilience, this book offers a rare and unsettling clarity. It is both a confession and a cautionary tale, a powerful reminder that while war may end, its echoes never do.
Pages: 264 | ISBN : 9781965390139
LITERARY TITAN 