About Author Oleg Veretskiy
I was born on May 26, 1975, in Odesa, Ukraine, the son of a high-rise builder and a mother who worked to help support the family. It was my father who instilled in me a love of books, bringing home many volumes every day. I wanted to read them, so as a four-year-old I decided to take matters into my own hands. One day I asked my father to teach me to read. My father drew the alphabet for me, sounded out the letters, and my learning process began.
The end of society as we knew it
After graduating from high school in 1993, I entered the Maritime University to become a naval engineer, but I quickly realized that I did not want to follow this path for the rest of my life.
During this decade, dramatic political and economic changes rocked Ukraine. We experienced the collapse of the Soviet Union and the beginning of independent Ukraine. The country seemed a complete mess (that period remains in my memory as the "crazy 90s").
About that time, I wrote a series of short stories about my childhood in Soviet times called "Odesa of My Childhood." I plan to re-publish these stories after the trilogy is finished.
After my children were born, I explored a real estate career and of course wrote a story about it: "The Profession That Doesn't Exist." Before the war began in 2014 was a time when I lost so much - including my father and mother from illnesses. Fortunately, my children inspired me and gave me strength to cope with it all. I turned to writing, which also helped in the healing process.
The healing power of writing
About then, the story for "Tales of the Wandering Mists" (Fairy Tale) came to life. It's a story about a little girl who enters a magical world on a quest to save her ailing mother. I chose a little girl as the main character because children are interested in everything they see; they are sincere & fearless, they are real, they absorb knowledge like sponges. We adults determine whether they will absorb anger and hate, or the positive values of courage, friendship and human dignity. Children make quick decisions when they see someone in trouble. They do not hesitate. I have learned so much from these little heroes.
The greater good
But throughout the country also emerged brave souls who, like the Sentinel characters in my Fairy Tale, defended the world from the enemy invasion, day after day. It really seemed as if the Tale were some kind of prophecy.
Urged on by readers, I kept writing, as much as possible, even while joining the volunteer movement to provide support to civilians, animals, and our brave defenders on the front lines. My friends and I delivering water to Mykolaiv when the Russians cut off the city's water supply. We created the “NAFO Odesa Squad” team, started helping people in the de-occupied territories of the Kherson region, and supporting the frontline defenders in any way we could.
I am grateful to all the good people in the world who support us every day, we feel it. And I'm grateful to my publisher, Pierce Press, and my translator, Marina Palenyy, who believed that my book should be published in English so that it could be shared with readers around the world.
More magic to come!
I hope you enjoy this first book, and I thank you from the depths of my heart for your support. The second and third parts of the Tales are ahead. And, believe me, everything will be fine. Because real miracles happen at every step. You just have to notice them in every drop of rain, in every ray of sunshine, in every child's smile.