What is the best thing that I love about my work? The fact that there are always new challenges for me, and the variety, too. Also, because my work allows me to create stories and worlds, fill them with characters and their stories, which is like a large playground, and you can’t ever get bored when you spend your time playing there.
What is my idea of perfect happiness? I view happiness as the state when you feel empowered by your work, by the passion it stirs in you and also by people who love and support you, and to whom you give your love and support. And traveling, because it can provide you with so many unique experiences, most of which you can never even imagine until after you’ve had them.
What is my greatest fear? I fear losing passion for what I create. It has happened to me before with one of my novels, when I lost all passion for the idea, and since then I fear this feeling of meaninglessness in something I have created.
What is the trait that I most deplore in myself? Being oversensitive about public opinion, I guess. I wish I couldn’t care less about what’s being said about me, but occasionally I do, and it drains my batteries.
What is my greatest extravagance? The habit of speaking my mind openly, as if I don’t care what others think. I do care, but that’s probably the reason why I don’t ever try to censor myself for the sake of other people’s feelings, because it’s important for me to stay true to myself, which sometimes can reach its extremes.
On what occasion would I lie? For the sake of a great story, I confess, I would add some fantastic details to some anecdotes.
What is the influence of role models, in my work and in my life? I’ve always had people who I admired, both from my family and world culture. And their examples help me carry on and do my work as best as I possibly can.
What is the thing that I dislike the most in my work? Sometimes I give myself a challenge I can’t complete at the time, and my expectations are very often higher than the result. When this happens, it can be quite depressing, but the feeling passes, and the work stays, and loving your work is what’s important.
When and where was I the happiest, in my work? Whenever a reader reaches out to me and says that my text has evoked some emotions and thoughts in them, and that they find value in it. This has happened many times, and I hope it’ll keep happening in future, too.
If I could, what would I change about myself? I’d like to tweak my anxiety levels just a little.
What is my greatest achievement in work? At the moment, I think it’s my very first indie sci-fi LGBTQA-themed comic which I started releasing at the beginning of this year. I have never committed to such a challenging long-term project before, but I love what I’m doing.
What is my most inspirational location, in my city? Depends, actually. Moscow is a huge city, and different parts of it can bring a different mood. My most inspirational location just outside Moscow, though, is my parents’ summerhouse in village Maryonkino, where I come to recharge my batteries and work on drafts.
What is my favourite place to eat and drink, in my city? The chain of Japanese restaurants called “Tanuki”. There’s one just near my block, and the food is absolutely fantastic.
Who is your greatest fan, sponsor in crime? My parents and my husband. They always support me, no matter the circumstances.
Whom would I like to work with in the future? The Wachowski sisters. Because why not dream big?
What project, in the nearby future, am I looking forward to work on? I want to be able to start learning to animate soon, and I want to create a short animated trailer for my comic and the novel it’s based on. Not sure how near that future is yet, because I have many other commitments.
How can you contact me? This is my personal tumblr page:
http://shinmaya-aka-fred.tumblr.com/
And if you’re interested in my current project, here you can view it:
The Heroine's Journey 