Why do we need stars?

-Tell me, mama, why do we need autumn? – a young hare asked making himself more comfortable on the soft feather - bed.
-Autumn? – his mum asked again. – We need autumn in order you can enjoy sweet carrots and juicy cabbaged times, else we need autumn in order you can change your light and grey coat into warm and white one before the cold weather has come.
-But why do we need winter? – the hare continued asking.
-We need winter so that your friends and you can play in the fluffy snow, else you can learn to draw tricky loops by your paws on the snow, and you can sleep more during long snowy nights…and beside that, winter comes in order to give a rest to the earth which bears carrots and cabbage, so that next autumn you can enjoy sweet vegetables.
-Why there is no summer after winter? – the hare was getting curious.
-Because after winter everything is waking up and warming up slowly; the trees and grass should drink fill melt water in order to turn towards the sun with renewed strength. Else all summer – birds must get back in time.
The hare was listening to his mum’s explanations carefully squeezing an edge of the fluffy blanket in his small fist.
-Why does the sun shine? – the hare asked again and gave a yawn. A quiet sleep was flowing into his eyes, and the hare started blinking more slowly and infrequently.
-Can you imagine there is no sun? – mum smiled and caressed the hare’s head. -The sun gives us the day, light and warmth…Do you remember how the birds rejoice its uprise? They meet the sun early in the morning and wake up us by their loud songs: “Wake up everyone! The sun has already risen!”
-Do we need the birds for that? – the hare asked sleepily.
-Yes, we need the birds for that, - mum approved kissing tenderly the hare’s pink warm nose.
The hare turned his head to the small window. He was looking quietly and musingly at the glossy glass behind which the night was spreading over like dark blue inks. The bright star – bead was flickering softly at the left edge of the curtain which was pulled not so tightly.
-Mama, - the hare called her again in a drowsy voice.
-Yes, sonny? – the doe hare caressed her little hare’s back.
-Mama, why do we need stars?
-Stars? – the doe hare repeated and looked at the window as well. The bright star, as if stuck to the glass, was playing in different colors fascinatingly spreading its slightly visible thin rays.
-Muuum, the hare called the thoughtful doe hare, - Yes, why stars? They don’t heat, don’t give water to the grass and don’t bear carrots. Why do we need them?
-Yes, the stars don’t bear carrots, - mum laughed in a low voice, - But you can converse in whispers: you can trust them your innermost secrets and tell them about your cherished dreams…
-Are the stars able to talk? – the hare wondered.
-Yes, they are - the doe hare nodded, - Only you should listen to them very carefully because they are able to talk very very quietly, almost in a whisper.
-Why in a whisper? – the hare asked.
-In order not to wake up those who sleep.
The hare was glaring at the star and was thinking intently, then no taking his eyes off it, said:
-Else we admire looking at them.
-Yes, -the doe hare agreed smiling, - Else you can kiss them, - she whispered in the hare’s ear.
-Kiss them? – the hare amazed and looked into his mum’s eyes, - But they are so far away from us, I cannot even touch them, then how can I kiss them?
-It is very simple, - the doe hare blinked mysteriously, - When you look at the stars – they are shining in your eyes, and I can kiss them. Have a look at the star, and I will kiss it now, - the doe hare asked. The hare looked at the star impatiently. Mama bent over the hare and first kissed one eye, then another one.
-Did you kiss the star? – the hare asked.
-Yes, - mum smiled.
-I want to kiss it, too. Please, mama, look at the star, - the hare exclaimed.
Having smiled, the doe hare looked at the star. The hare raised from the feather – bed, got a paw around mum’s neck, then kissed her eye, then another one.
-I have kissed the star, too – the hare said sleepily being proud, - It is warm and it tickles slightly.
-Really? – mum wondered. – I didn’t feel tickling.
-It tickles, it tickles, - the hare mumbled smiling and resting his cheek against the soft pillow.
-Do tell! – mum said smiling, - Look at the star once again, I will try to kiss it, maybe it will tickle me too?
The hare opened his sleepy eyes slightly and glanced at the star. The doe hare kissed his eyes gently.
-Indeed, it tickles just a little – she said softly and smiled, - These stars tickle slightly…
The hare was enjoying a balmy sleep. The big fluffy white snowflakes whirled up behind the window. The first snow began falling. It was flickering in the bright silvery light of the moon, it seemed that the distant stars are flying into the hare’s window, the stars which don’t bear carrots, but the stars which can be kissed…



Copyright©2012 by Kseniya Malakhova
All rights reserved. Unauthorized use is prohibited.

Book Records

Recently, while editing my new book which will be on sale in the nearest future, suddenly I wonder: how many books were issued during all history of book printing? Billion ? Ten billions ? Hundred billions ? I haven’t found the answer to this question but read lots of interesting information about books, writers, antiquaries. The most interesting fact you can read right now:

Shocking edition
Russian writer Maksim Aleshin ( Nizhny Novgorod, Russia ) is preparing a book’s release which cover is made of his own skin. In such a way 40 – year-old author decided to become world – famous. The problem is that none of publishing companies didn’t agree to such an unordinary book release. But Maksim Aleshin believes that he will get a positive result in solving this issue. Then, in order not to do harm neither to editors nor to readers, Aleshin agreed to the book’s release after his death. Else, he was very disappointed to know that his skin is not enough for all collected works. But this didn’t stop the eccentric author. The title of his exclusive edition called “Living book” is tattooed on his back. At present he is busy not only with the book writing but also he takes care of his skin in beauty salons.

Literary minimalism
In 2009 in the city of Ekaterinburg Vladimir Blinov received the “Nobel Prize Buka”* for his book “ The novel with no title” which contains one phrase – “Nope! I will do it myself!”. His book was admitted as “original work of 2009 which develops the principles of minimalism in the Russian literature”. The author got a medal for this work.

*The “Nobel Prize Buka” was established in Ekaterinburg by the “Old Man Bukashkin” association, and was dedicated to the writer and artist Evgeny Malakhin. It is planning the prize will be awarded in other directions of art.

The most popular author
A British writer, queen of crime, Agatha Christie is on the first place with millions sales of her novels, 78 works were translated into 44 languages. The total amount of sold copies - 2 billions.

The most prolific author
Few writers can compete in speed of writing with the Brazilian whose name is Jose Carlos Ryoki de Alpoim Jnoue. Within ten years, from June 1986 till August 1996, he published 1046 scientific – fiction novels, vesterns and thrillers. In other words, he spent three and a half of a day for one novel writing.

The longest biography
The longest of the existed biographies is the history of life of Prime Minister Winston Churchill. It consists of eight basic volumes, sixteen additional volumes and counts approximately 10 million words. The authors of the biography is the son of famous Prime Minister Randolph and the official biographer of Churchill sir Martin Gilbert.

The book completist No.1 in the world
A U.S. citizen John Bentham who lives in Evoke, the state of Indiana, created the largest home library in the world. It consists of 1.5 million books. It is hard to imagine how much time, money and strengths he spent for setting such a record.

The most expensive book
One fine day Bill Gates was scrolling along the streets of New York and went at auction where he bought the Codex Leicester written by Leonardo Da Vinci for 30.8 million dollars. This book became not only the most expensive in the world, it is the only work authorized by Da Vinci which is in possession of the private person. Leonardo Da Vinci predicted the creation of steam engine and submarine.

The most expensive book page
Donald Sheer (Atlanta, the U.S.), one more connoisseur, bought a book page at the cost of more than 2.4 million dollars. The explanation for such a big price – it is one of the pages of Declaration of Independence issued in 1776 in Philadelphia.

The most unrealizable book
The New Testament translated by David Wilkins in 1716 and printed in an edition of 500 copies impresses by the speed of the sales. In average, one book was being sold within 20 weeks. The author made the translation from Coptic into Latin. Due to the lack of knowledge in Coptic, the translation was not precise. Probably, it became the reason why 500 copies were being sold within 191 years.

The biggest book
Until recently the biggest book has been considered “Super Book” issued in Denver ( the state of Colorado, USA) in 1976. Its measurements were 2.74 m x 3.07 m, the weight was 252.6 kg, and it consisted of 300 pages. However, in 2004 in Russia was issued a book named “The biggest book in the world for children”. Although this book has only four pages and contains 12 poems for kids, it has enormous measurements. The height is 6 m, the width is 3 m, but the weight is 492 kg. The authors of the book are the famous children’s writers Sergey Mikhalkov, Sergey Eremeev, Vladimir Stepanov and Andrey Tyunyaev. The book was being made in the open air by means of unique tools. It was stuck according to the special technology. For the XVII Moscow International Book Fair which was held on September 2004 the book was brought by a panel trailer. 15 persons took part in loading works.

The biggest manuscript
The Devil’s Bible or the Codex Gigas is the largest manuscript in the world written within one night. According to the legend, the author is a monk who committed a serious crime. As a punishment for his sin he swore to the fallen angel to write in all human knowledge and decorated the manuscript with miniatures in one single night. In such a way he glorified the Benedictine monastery of Podlažice, Czech Republic for many ages. Finally, the monk sold his soul to the Devil who helped him in writing the manuscript on time. From 1648 the manuscript is kept at the National Library of Sweden in Stockholm.

The smallest book
According to the official record the smallest book “New Testament” was issued in 2001 by the Massachusetts institute of technology, its measurements are 5 x 5 mm. But in 2002 the Russian microminiaturist Anatoly Konenko created a book by Anton Chekhov, Chameleon, which measurements are 0.9 x 0.9mm. In this year this copy was defined in the Guinness Book of Records.

Best – selling book
There is no doubt the bestseller for ages is the Bible. From 1815 its number of printed copies exceeds 2.5 billion. According to the other data 3.9 billion of copies were sold from 1815 up to 1999. The contemporary best – selling book is the Guinness Book of World Recor

Night readings

I like reading at nights: no phone calls, no knocking at the door, nothing can divert from this amusement. Silence...but once a fly violated the silence, she flew into my room through the window. I was forced to talk to her seriously...



…- Swine, - I thought.
-Rascal, - she thought.
A blue-black fatten fly was flying around my absurdly small room.
- Stop running about! It is midnight already! Sit on a dried spot and sleep! – I was telepathing to her getting nervous.
- Aha! Not likely! Don’t tell me what I should do! – the fly rebelled striking the walls and curtains loudly, -Why did you switch on the light at the night? All normal people switch it off at this time, but your mind is busy with readings, thoughts and other things … how can I fall asleep? – suddenly the fly ran into a clay vase and fell into a box of sweets.
-Rascal! – I was horn-mad shouting inly looking at the box of sweets.
-Swiiiiiineeee….. – the fly moaned pulling by three paws and moving by a wing.- why did you put so many things here? I can’t hardly go and move! Why do you need these odds and ends in the flat? You can’t get neither water nor drink here! No use absolutely! No possibility to give birth to kids…People! You are so primitive!
I was shocked having heard such impudence. The fly moved and started twisting like in break dance, then she rushed towards the ceiling.
-Mad cow! – I exclaimed.
-You are the same, the same, the same! – the fly was yelling wildly and circling around.
-Go sleep! Right now! – the fly exclaimed like an orator from a rostrum.
Somewhere in the book binding a tiny spider or bug woke up, rushed into the light and madly started running around the page.
-Revolution! Help! My gosh! – he jabbered being frightened. – What’s happening here? Mamma Mia! – he continued bewailing in different international languages.
-Such a cheeky fellow … - I said scornfully. – Your impudence has no limits, so…
-So, - the fly interrupted me approaching to land. – I am fed up here, today and now. It is you! Lazy and impudent! From politeness, you could take a duster or roll a newspaper and run after me. I am flying out of my skin in a sweat while she is sitting on her sofa without any movements! Then ok! Sit and get moldy! I am sick of this boredom and your air bumps! – the blue-black fly waved by her two front paws somewhere in the end of the head and in the beginning of belly expressing her disgust.
- Arrivederci! Hasta la vista! Kindest greetings to you from African tsetse flies! – being rude and mad, she flew through a window like a heavy bombardment aircraft.
-I hurt her! – I thought sadly. – I shouldn’t have been so hard on her…but from the other side, I am reading, trying to consider carefully, but she is buzzing in my ear! Not even buzzing but trumpeting! Cow elephant…
-What did you say? Did you call me a cow elephant!?! – was roaring from the window, and the fly stormed into the room and started striking the walls, - Switch off the light! Immediately!


Copyright ©2012 by Kseniya Malakhova
All rights are reserved.

What the wind has said

I often see my friends. We make barbecue or parties together. My friends always are all ears to listen to my new short stories, fairytales and parables. Sometimes my stories are merry, sometimes sad. One of my parables I would like to tell to my new friends, who are coming up in greater numbers lately

    What the wind has said

Once the squirrel and hedgehog met each other in the wood under the big birch.
-Hi, squirrel! – the hedgehog said.
-Hi there, hedgehog! – the squirrel answered.
-How are you doing, squirrel? – the hedgehog asked.
-I am ok, thank you. – the squirrel replied. – Soon I will be preparing for winter: I must gather mushrooms and nuts. So, how are you doing, hedgehog?
-I am ok, too. – the hedgehog answered. – I am preparing for winter, too: I eat much food and get weight. I feel so good!
-We have a wonderful wood, it is so fertile! – the squirrel said being proud of it.
-Your truth – the hedgehog agreed.
The breeze flew over the tops of the trees and began to rustle by the birch leaves.
-Only the birch does no good in our wood – the hedgehog noted and pointed to the birch trunk which had the white curly bark.
-You are right, - the squirrel agreed. – There are no mushrooms and nuts on it… Useless tree.
-Yeeeeaah – the hedgehog grumbled thoughtfully. – And there are no apples and berries on it as well … Absolutely useless tree. The only advantage - it has a good shadow in the hot sunny day: it is not too thick as under the oak, and not too small as under the wild ash.
The wind still has been playing by the birch leaves as if by hair locks, and pulling back the flexible branches as if was calling to dance.
Saying goodbye to each other, the squirrel and hedgehog went to do their own things. Once at the end of summer the hedgehog was going along the wood searching for the wild apples and suddenly he saw the squirrel. It was running fussy around the low fresh stump.
Hi, squirrel! What have you lost there? – the hedgehog greeted the squirrel joyfully.
-Ah, hedgehog! Where is our birch? – the squirrel was crying. – I came here in order to dry gathered mushrooms on the branches, but there is no birch anymore! Look! Only the stump left! – the squirrel having tears in the eyes pointed at the stump which still has been giving the fresh scent of the birch. The hedgehog dropped the wild apple out of the paws and sat down.
-It is a disaster! – the hedgehog terrified. – The birch is cut!
-What will we do without it ?! – the squirrel was screaming. – Where will I dry my mushrooms?! Only this birch had the most flexible branches!
- Woe's me! woe's me! – the hedgehog bewailed running around the birch stump. – Where will I find such soft and delicate leaves?
The hedgehog and squirrel were crying for long sitting on the birch stump, they could do nothing, they couldn’t recover the tree.
-I will famishing in winter, - the squirrel was shedding tears. – There is a bad crop of nuts in the wood this year, and no place to dry mushrooms!
-I will famishing in winter, too, - the hedgehog was wailing. – I will not find such soft, warm and sweet leaves for my winter blanket!
Suddenly the wind arose making voices over their heads and said:
-There was the birch, but you didn't appreciate its value. Maybe now you will understand that a little but true good is always more valuable than a big but incidental favour.



Copyright ©2012 by Kseniya Malakhova
All rights are reserved.

INTERVIEW

You are welcomed to read a fragment of Interview given to the magazine "Новые горизонты":

1.When did you start writing? What makes for a good hook in your books?

I have been writing books during about 15 years. At first I wrote for my nearest friends and read them my works. Once they told me – “why don’t you try to publish?! Your manner and style of writing is very unordinary and exciting”. So they encouraged me to start publishing. In order to make my books easily available for the readers, I made Kindle version of my book which title is “Call It Yourself”. If to talk about f good hook – I think it is a question for my readers. I can guess the reader is “hooked” by mixing of reality and mysticism described in the plot. In spite of writing in the fantasy style, the plots of my books reflect our today’s life.


2. How do your books differ from each other?

Of course they differ by the plot. They are written in the fantasy style as I have said before, but my books are not “ single – type”, they are full of various events and actions.


3. Do you write for adults only?

No, I have some fairytales for kids! Some of them I would call “parables”, which are written in an approachable language so that such parables will be understandable and interesting not for adults only but for kids as well.


4. It must be considered you write in the fantasy style only?

No, I have the collection of the short stories about life of real people. The collection is being enlarged by the new stories, that’s why it is not on sale now. Else, I try to write in different styles. For instance, my new book is about to be published. It will be an amazing fairytale for kids and their parents.


5. How do you characterize yourself as a writer? Whether you make a schedule for writing or you are a “spontaneous” writer?

I don’t make any schedules for writing. So the heroes can appear in the plot very spontaneously, from this point of view – yes, I am spontaneous writer. Moreover, I pay a careful attention to the subject itself. For example, if I write about a planet I try to find the maximum of the information about it in order the plot sounds trustworthy so that the scientists and experts won’t blame me for being incompetent.


6. Where does your inspiration come from?

I write when I have a strong desire to write, let’s call it inspiration. In such moments I can write down the descriptions of what I see, feel and what I think about. In the case if for some reasons I cannot fix the thoughts on the paper, I feel myself very badly.


7. Is there anything that you don’t like in writing?

As I write the books using a sheet of paper and pencil, I don’t like to type ready texts. I spend much time for typing.


8. Who are your favorite writers? Did they influence on your manner of writing?

My favorite writers are Bulgakov, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Omar Khayyam, Shakespeare, Feihtvanger, Fitzgerald, this list can be continued endlessly, but my teachers are Arkadiy and Boris Strugatzky. I accept their philosophy and I like the way they express themselves.


9. Do you have time to read and if you have what are you reading now?

I always try to find time for reading. At present I read scientific – popular periodicals, else the short stories written by the contemporary little – known authors. I am interested in the works of other writers.


10. Let’s talk about your book “Call It Yourself”. There is a very unexpected plot , I like it very much. What do you think – who would be your choice to play Miracle from your book “Call It Yourself”?

Thanks for the question :) In fact I have never ever think about it, but if to choose among the popular actors, I would choose Gerard Depardieu to play Miracle from my book “Call It Yourself”. I think he could create and express the real image of Miracle.


11. If there was an opportunity to meet anyone from any time who would it be and what would be your question?

If I met anyone from any time I would love to meet Gerard Depardieu and my question would be – would you like to play Miracle from my book “Call It Yourself”? :)


12. Your book has been published on Amazon marketplaces, does this mean that the publishing industry headed this way?

Surely it has a rapid progress and becomes more and more popular. And it makes me very happy.


13. Do you have any new works for publishing? If yes, what are your new books about?

I have many ideas for my next works, just 24 hours are not enough for me to write them faster. Now I am working on the fairytale for kids which I plan to publish in the nearest future.


14. Who creates the covers for your books?

Well, I prefer drawing the book covers by myself, it allows me to express my individuality. It is a great pleasure for me as making the design of the covers as writing the books. It is a very interesting and amazing process. Else, when I make the sketches for the book covers ( there can be more than 20 ideas ), I ask my friends’ advice and I highly appreciate their opinion. I have the best friends in the world.

Happy Valentine's Day!

My lovely and sincere greetings for Valentine's Day! At this special day I would like to share with you one love story which you can enjoy reading by following. Only today my book is FREE on Amazon marketplaces! Wishing everyone a very happy Valentine's Day!

Making of the cover for my book "Call It Yourself..."

I am often asked: how much time does Kseniya Malakhova spend for making the covers to her books? I can say, that it takes much time. For example, the final variant of the cover to the book “Call It Yourself...” became the ninth and the last version out of many other different variants which were made and discussed. I cannot say that the rest versions of the covers were bad or not interesting, but anyway I have chosen the cover which you see today. Up to my mind, it doesn`t reflect the plot of the book only, but also it is being memorized by its uncommonness. The picture is made by a pencil. It is suggested that a person, who was painting the cover, was in a deep reverie and expressed the essence of the thoughts but didn`t focus on the precise and straight location of the lines. I think many of you, who have read the book "Call It Yourself...", will agree to this opinion  :)

Breaking news :)

Only today my book Call It Yourself... is for FREE on all Amazon marketplaces. Hurry up!
I will be glad to get your reviews! :)

Winter Swimming

Today, 01/20/2012 Winter Swimming World Championship OPEN 2012 is taking place in Jurmala, Latvia. 1128 participants from 27 countries have signed up to this completion. They will fight for the world champion title in this sport. The championship is taking place on the Lielupe river, water temperature is +0.5 C° . Swimming in the cold water is quite “young” sport. At first it became very popular in Finland and now it is popular worldwide.
Wishing to all participants an interesting sport fight and worthy victory!

P.S. It is awesome to swim in the icy water! I tried it two times in my life. The first time I swam in a spring (water welling up from the earth) in September, and the second time - I swam in the river in November, “cool” !!!

Good news!

I would like to share good news with you. Recently I have finished editing my book “Call It Yourself”. For the first time this book was released in a paper version, 2000 numbers of printed copies. At present all of them are sold out. Now I offer you its Kindle version. You can read it following the link.

The book is about a fortuitous meeting of two people on the exclusive island called the"Outland" caused the chain of unexpected events which changed their destinies. The captivated life in the Outland entered into the ordinary life of each person in a mystical way.
I would appreciate to get your reviews and comments.

Hello!

My name is Kseniya Malakhova. Welcome to my new Blog! I am well acquainted with some bloggers, but I will be sincerely glad to the new acquaintances and interesting communication.
Please log on, write, comment, criticize.