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Learn what inspired QWERTskY to write, how the pen name was “born” in the rainforest (literally), why the author is anonymous and apolitical, how QWERTskY decided to publish, and other interesting things in-between, including some genre jargon. Enjoy getting to know the nameless Human behind the pen name.

Note that this area is content-heavy, which is why we call it the Backstory. If you landed on this page through an internet search, try the “short version” first by visiting our Homepage.

Preamble

QWERTskY (pronounced as “kwúrt‑skee”) is the pen name of an anonymous, apolitical author who writes to share storylines, moods, and imagery that amuse yet softly encourage broadminded thought in culture-independent context. QWERTskY’s themes can be followed by Humans of all languages, ages, and philosophies. While the writer’s ideological stance and authorial intent are outlined concisely on our Homepage, the content below sheds light on QWERTskY’s background, motivation, and writing style.

Inspiration

Although QWERTskY’s first work was published in 2022, the author’s creative impulse came in 2015. Namely, after landing a career-first job in humanitarian medical research, the future author experienced a blissful transformation while doing philanthropic work for a group of unique and wonderful people afflicted with an aggressive and poorly understood neurodegenerative disease that was triggered by exposure to large amounts of unknown toxins. All these people were given less than a year to live. However, most of them fully recovered despite the poor prognosis, while the challenge and the privilege of helping them inspired the author to write a collection of essays about the victims, the survivors, and the scientists who worked selflessly to find the cure. The essays were completed in 2016 and became the writer’s informal maiden release.

The named essays and the writer’s other works produced between 2016 and 2021 were only shared privately, within two free-thinking international book clubs (their names are undisclosed in light of the author’s anonymity) whose somewhat secluded reading circuits had been attended globally by well-read, curious people seeking agnostic wisdom, justice, cultural enlightenment, and lasting world peace. This unusual but loyal “ecosystem” eventually cultivated a sizable base of devoted followers — mainly in North America, Europe, and Asia — who have been reading the author’s private essays with enthusiasm and appreciation.

In the Summer of 2020, a small group of these supportive fans had approached the writer with a recommendation to consider publishing in an effort to foster a broader, worldwide readership. The decision to publish was difficult. On one hand, writing for small, private audiences of bibliophiles had always resonated with the author. On the other hand, the perils of humanitarian work in remote destinations precluded the writer from having a recognizable public profile. However, the decision to publish was made after all, whereas the idea of using a pen name allowed the author to establish an identity while writing anonymously.

Although QWERTskY had planned to publish several works in 2020 and 2021, the author became consumed with humanitarian projects related to the global COVID pandemic. When the pandemic was nearly over by February 2022, something else turned our planet upside down — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This led to QWERTskY’s extensive travels to Ukraine’s war zones, which eventually sparked the idea of the book series that likely brought you to this website.

This page will be updated with relevant details as needed, while readers on The QWERTskY List will also receive occasional email updates about book releases, free ARCs (Advance Reader Copies), and other valuable, non-commercial information.

Genre and Approach

Needless to say, although QWERTskY doesn’t live in the confines of stylistic definitions or claim to be a patriot of any one genre, all of the author’s narratives — those with and without documentary or realistic elements — come with many allegories and other symbolisms. QWERTskY’s writing spans Documentary Fiction, Realistic Fiction, and other imaginative literary forms reaching into Urban Fantasy, Slipstream, Mythic Fiction, Low Fantasy (or Intrusion Fantasy), and Fairy Tale Fantasy. To bridge the void between imagination and what is real or plausible, the author enjoys blending genres. This is why some readers may broadly view QWERTskY’s works as Speculative Fiction or as its broader extension, Imaginative Fiction.

Here, it may be useful to recall that no two narratives are truly alike. This means that the already-grey lines between genres can be further blurred by each story’s particulars. In effect, whichever formal label may best suit this writer’s credo on any given day, QWERTskY’s passion is to write with two simple “ingredients” — engaging, culturally agnostic narratives and abundant opportunities for the reader’s inner growth.

Elephant in the Room:
The Pen Name Story

It is easy to notice that the word QWERTskY is a creative variation of QWERTY, the well-known international reference to the English keyboard layout, taken after the first five letters in the top row. But where did the other two letters come from? And how did the concept come about?

This true story is quite outlandish, pun intended, as the pen name QWERTskY was “born” deep in the South America’s rainforest. During the writer’s brief vacation there, two men claiming to be local shamans peeked inside “the future QWERTskY’s” guest cabin and saw an almost-full bottle of Mendoza Chardonnay. They craved the wine and asked for the bottle but offered an act of kindness in return: they asked if they could help in any way.

This sparked a conversation, and the shamans learned that the author was searching for a pen name to communicate the notion that great ideas can be hidden in plain sight and understood by people of all languages and cultures. The shamans suggested a short guided meditation and assured that it would work. They said they fully comprehended the objective, although that was uncertain due to the language barrier. Still, the “trade” was made, and the meditation session began.

The shamans insisted that the author write down anything remarkable that came to mind. As the wine energized the vibes, they chanted loudly, while the writer meditated skeptically (under the circumstances) and resorted to pen and paper four times in the process. Soon, the following list of artefacts decorated a soiled brown napkin: “six ice cubes, starry sky, typewriter, rock.”

Upon writing down the last item, the writer recalled feeling an unfamiliar object in a front jeans pocket but immediately forgot all about it. Later in the day, the retrieval of the object from the pocket revealed a sizable shiny rock. The next day, the cabin host identified the rock as quartz, which was confirmed by a mainland scientist the following week.

Now, take a look at how all these random objects converge in the elements of QWERTskY’s logo that the writer designed soon after: even the bulk of the word quartz found its way into the pen name. Sublime, isn’t it? Enjoy QWERTskY’s reads: they tend to be full of similar surprises.

A Peek into Secrecy

Any diligent reader may reasonably inquire why the Human behind QWERTskY’s creative persona wouldn’t want to be in the public spotlight of love and admiration, as most writers presumably do. There are two equally compelling reasons, as detailed below. But first, it is useful to note that QWERTskY’s statement about anonymity on this site’s Homepage is forthcoming, concise and all-encompassing:

QWERTskY […] is the pen name of an apolitical author also known as ‘an anonymous author for Freedom.’ QWERTskY’s permanent location, legal name, and even gender are presently unknown. A humanitarian with no thirst for fame, QWERTskY has a day job of an international envoy tasked with war and conflict remediation. Anonymity enables the writer to connect with diverse worldwide audiences while keeping a low profile and steering clear of big-money media, politically motivated gatekeepers, and ignorant private bullies. In turn, QWERTskY represents an unsponsored, politically unaffiliated, uncensored public voice.

For those ready to dive deeper, QWERTskY acknowledges that author anonymity is a complex subject for writers and readers alike. In fact, this is why this section of the Backstory grew to be quite long. To understand it all, please take the time to soak up the potentially unfamiliar sentiment portrayed in the two subsections below.

Challenge One: QWERTskY’s
Humanitarian Work

Let’s dive right in: the other day job of the Human behind the pen name is that of a humanitarian negotiator with primary focus on human rights, animal rights, healthcare, and environmental protection. The writer works in countries where recognizable faces and names attract attention (as they should) but imply the danger of private harassment, media mockery, kidnapping with ransom demands, legal prosecution, and even death.

“…humanitarian efforts — no matter how benevolent or rational — aren’t always welcome because they by definition tend to hurt the deep pockets of those thriving without them.”

It is often said that humanitarian work is unsafe if you don’t fly in a private jet and don’t have a large, armed security team. This is true. Further, any potential perils you may “attract” extend to everyone in your professional and personal life, including those living thousands of miles beyond the border. Even worse, humanitarian workers who carry around the stigma of these potential dangers also tend to scare away many local decision makers, which renders the humanitarian’s job surprisingly counterproductive even if his or her books support the job’s cause and purpose.

Now, let us not view this topic strictly in light of the likes of Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Oprah Winfrey, or other big voices of philanthropy and activism. Instead, one may recognize that for every big voice out there, many smaller experts (with and without their own funds) work around the clock as consultants, strategists, investigators, envoys, and other field specialists. These people identify countries or regions where assistance is needed, conduct research to understand cultural and economic constraints, carefully reach out to receptively inclined local leaders, and work to build infrastructures and systems that pave the way for Change — change beyond the brief moments of PR glory during those well-staged big voice media appearances snippets of which we may occasionally see on TV.

All this represents the delicate, risky, hands‑on part of humanitarian work that requires humble and crafty men and women with determination and steady nerves — people who stay focused, don’t cause friction or make noise, and work rigorously with decision makers of all political and economic levels to make Change feasible and sustainable. Such is QWERTskY’s role and mission.

Granted, the challenges and dangers that such experts face are not an everyday theme in the Western media. However, they are real and serious. Truth be told, humanitarian efforts — no matter how benevolent or rational — aren’t always welcome because they by definition tend to hurt the deep pockets of those thriving without them. And if you had imagined a different picture, a two-week trip to Bangladesh or Sierra Leone or Ukraine, for example, has a good potential to savagely dissolve any underlying illusions, especially if you have a well-recognized face and a name with political overtones in it and no private plane or security team.

While traveling to such destinations on business, the moment of truth can dawn on you quite suddenly even if you are not a humanitarian — possibly starting at the customs gates on arrival, when you are asked to step away for a moment and required to pay a 100% import duty for your two-year-old smartphone with a screen crack (and while you are shelling out the cash, a random customs agent without a name badge casually approaches you and suggests that you should be thankful that your phone wasn’t confiscated); or when a uniformed, muscular gentleman confronts you inside a cafe and embarrasses you in front of a local associate you are meeting for lunch by demanding to see “written proof” that you are not a spy (and takes both of you to jail if you attempt to educate the fellow about the presumption of innocence and/or fail to offer a sizable cash bribe); or when a private security specialist unceremoniously stops you inside a grocery store and quotes you a hefty fee to keep you safe from certain “local bad guys” but also politely threatens to cause you harm if you don’t hire him; or when a random good citizen sharing a local bus ride with you — and acting on genuinely patriotic instincts — recognizes you from a picture recently seen in a local paper and announces loudly that you were “sponsored and sent here by imperialists to enslave, kill, and steal.” All these are real-life examples. You get the picture.

To avoid the perils of these situations when working in countries that didn’t make it into Google’s Top Ten Vacation Destinations list, most international humanitarian experts must learn to be discreet and to approach the public spotlight with many precautions. Indeed, all this implies that humanitarian work can be quite mundane and stressful despite its implied splendor, but such is the reality of QWERTskY’s other day job.

Challenge Two:
Media Polarization

If you’ve read thus far, you already suspect QWERTskY of being an idealist with principles and convictions. In fact, it is in this light that the writer’s second (and equally important) reason for anonymity exists. Namely, let’s talk about the glorious, civilized West — the home of the average, hard-working John and Jane Doe living a peaceful life in Somewhere‑town, USA or in Something‑shire, UK.

In the world of Jane and John, the validity of anything heard or seen or read in the media is measured through a highly polarized, thick, biased lens of the reporting media channel, as well as its sponsors, with all their underlying political and financial interests. This is why nowadays, anything reported by the left-wing media is often ignored and disliked in principle by everyone on the right, and vice versa. C’est la vie.

Therefore, QWERTskY believes that low exposure to conventional media means that the author is less likely to be linked to any polarizing conspiracy theories (whether left-wing or right-wing) behind monetary or political interests. In turn, the author argues that if John and Jane Doe rarely get to hear about QWERTskY in the media, they will be more likely to appreciate the author’s apolitical tone and less likely to suspect QWERTskY’s books of being part of someone else’s foxy agenda; this is ultimately in the best interest of the reader, including Jane, John and you. It is what it is… and welcome to the life of a writer who tends to say things (whether fictionally or not) that people aren’t always prepared to hear.

Yearning For
Human Contact

Despite all the secrecy behind the pen name, QWERTskY loves to connect with worldwide audiences and wants to hear from readers. We respond to all inquiries placed through this site (short of media probes and name or contact requests) and now maintain a Reader/ARC List — or “The QWERTskY List” — to communicate with our international readership. The QWERTskY List initially began with only about 1250 fans from the author’s private circulation audience and has now reached well over nine thousand and is growing daily, which is quite wonderful. The QWERTskY Team looks forward to hearing from you.