Every third pack of ice cream in Ukraine is produced in Zhytomyr. Where else, how not to arrange the first presentation of the children’s book “Ai-Kim. Ice cream for Lesya »? Wrote this light, delicious and joyful book by Tais Zolotkovska, a writer from Kharkiv, author of the “adult” novel “Line of Effort” – a mystical, lyrical, enthusiastic, whose action takes place in the Jewish Quarter of Uman, terribly similar to some of the corners of the old Zhytomyr. About the world of childhood, family unity, loved ones and determination of success, we spoke with Thais during her visit to Zhytomyr, during which she, during the book forum “Dieslovo”, conducted the first presentation of her children’s book “Ai-Kim” and a master class from Writing skills

Children are also people
“For the second year in a row, I write my second” serious “novel, and during this period, I wrote two children’s books and one from a creative writing. This is how the authors are stolen: when we work on something complex, we pause and “distract” with other projects. I really wanted to write a children’s book, but I did not know how to do it because I do not have children yet, and it seemed to me that this is the main problem, which is why I do not know how to write for a kid. But once in New York I came to visit the master class “How to write a children’s book”. And there they explained that children are the same people, they do not need a “special language”: they should be written in the same way as adults, only in simple words ”
Scene
“At courses for the writers I’m leading, I always say that the place of action is a very important thing. But in this children’s book, it is not defined, it’s a little bit Americanized, because my little American relatives inspired me to write this story when I was at their own room. However, I wanted to make this place a universal one, therefore, the little names of Ukrainian heroes ”
Space, fitted for a comfortable life
“Previously, I have not been to Zhytomyr, but now I took advantage of this opportunity and went through the city. You have something in Kharkiv, for example, there is: a pedestrian zone, we are very short of it. I walked in your streets alone, because I love to travel by myself, get acquainted with the cities and places myself, about which nobody, even a person whose opinion is important to me, tells me. I love small towns, it is a very interesting and very rich self-sufficient world, there is a very close relationship with people, there the space is arranged for a comfortable life. This is the district of Uman, where Hannah lives, the heroine of my novel, the line of effort, and the novel also shows the contrast between the cozy, family, mystical little city and the big, chaotic Kharkiv ”
If you write – read
“The requirements for the texts that sell and SMM are changing rapidly, so I am for blogs and telegrams that I like very well. As for the creative writing, there are books that we now have. For example, Rostislav Semkiv “How the Classics wrote”. In the notebook “Write Strongly” there are good tips and creative tools, this is really to sit down and write. Recently I also finished writing a book “Write. An easy way from idea to book “for those who want to overcome their own fears, try to polish literary abilities and get real pleasure from the movement of a pencil notebook or keyboard shortcuts. Of course, in order to write beautifully, it is necessary to read. Personally, I read Virginia Woolf for inspiration, now I like Natalie Goldberg’s soothing inspirational books, I advise you to read also “Walking for the woods” of Bill Bryce. In the case of creative stagnation I recommend “Great magic” Elizabeth Gilbert ”
Success in the understanding of the creative person
“If we talk about the success of the writer, then for me it’s a game. We played with Dad “Manager” for hours – I was very curious, I played with great excitement. In order to do something good and for a long time, one must be interested in this. Now I thought about Hamlet, my friend, an artist who has very strong work, he has a recognition, but he does in the creative terms only what he is interested in. And not in the creative, too, for example, comes to the “South Post”, through which the fighters go to the ATO. It is important to him, it is interesting. And he is successful because he does what he likes, that he succeeds and does not compromise with conscience. To be faithful to yourself – this is, in my opinion, to be successful ”
The tools of this author
“The Club of Anonymous Authors” is a community that I created three years ago, and we exist in the Internet space from 2017. Facebook is a page where you can get information on how to write texts, where to publish them, and we also work with publishers, which allows us to give books to our members. In the real world, “Anonymous Authors” are weekly meetings in Kharkiv for like-minded writers, a writers’ group whose members support each other. This year I went further and held a series of intensities in various cities of Ukraine. Kharkiv, Lviv, Kiev, Odessa, Dnipro and Zhytomyr. It was a very interesting experience that allowed me to see that the club’s business goes far beyond the limits of the Internet resource, and we need to work further so that more people can feel the ability to write. Purpose, daily writing and faith in yourself – these are the tools of a true author ”
Translated by Aliona Matushevich