Sometimes entertaining stories come in gruesomely twisted forms. It’s why true crime is so popular and why we watch horror films in the dark. Author Kirill Khrestinin plays on this tendency to disturb while entertaining with his book, Psychopath’s Diary Vol. I. Below is my interview with Khrestinin where he talks about the message behind the dark and taboo content of his story.
About Kirill Khrestinin
Genres: Crime/Psychological thriller/Horror
Author links (links will open in a new tab)
Psychopath’s Diary book summary
Psychopath’s Diary Vol. I is the essence of taboo. It can only be described as a poetry of violence. A symphony of torture. A tale of sexual deviance with a drop of incest and necrophilia.
Book excerpt
“Every one of us has a story to tell. Every one of us has a dark corner deep inside of their own closet packed with skeletons which no one else is welcome to see. No one has a chance to get a full glimpse of our true identity with no masks of normality over our faces that society forces us to put on. Everyone has a deranged secret behind many layers of civility. Everyone can share a wish of inflicting pain through the unhealthy desires of an unstable human mind. Everyone… “
Review excerpt
From Amazon by Kam:
“I am one of those people that will watch or read just about anything. I am a fan of Friday the 13th movies, The Conjuring, It, The Mist, Psycho, Silence of the Lambs, you name it. Basically anything that takes me out of my own comfort zone. Things that make me look beyond my own reality. This book challenges readers to step over the line between good and evil and open their mind to the possibility that we all have different realities and beliefs of what it “normal” and right. I often forgot that I was reading about the thoughts and actions of a 17 year old boy.”
Talking Shop
What do you want readers to take away from your books?
I’d like to make readers uncomfortable in the deepness they might discover on the pages of my book. Life is not always pretty, to be honest life is not a pretty thing; our illusion makes it pretty, our unwillingness to face reality and consequences this reality that is very often bestows upon us. My readers would take a psychotic world, full of naked truth clothed in words. My book as a forbidden fruit of paradise and I as a snake try to lure you to open its pages and find out how much psychopath is in you.
What famous books can you compare to your own?
Maybe Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Our books are two different worlds, and his English goes far beyond mine or any other writer known to this world. The man knew five languages while I’m in a poor possession of the two. He pushed in his book boundaries of “no-no” writing about an uncomfortable subject of pedophilia which was forbidden by the world. I tried to do the same, though not as sophisticated as he did, writing my own anti-character, a psychopath with no golden dust of Hollywood.
How long did it take to write your book from the day you got the idea to write it to the day you published it?
About eight years. When I got the idea and started writing the book it was more as an experiment. I needed to write something to practice my English. I wrote a page or two a day making horrible mistakes but didn’t give up and finished the entire manuscript in six months. When I moved to the US, I revisited my work many times, putting more meat on the bones, breathing life into it. About six months ago, I knew it was time. The book was ready, and I was pretty much satisfied with the final draft.
How long have you considered yourself a writer? Did you have any formal training, or is it something you learned as you went?
My entire life. I used to write in Russian but eventually English language permanently stole my heart. I learned the craft of writing as I followed this way but to be honest you cannot learn this craft; you keep learning as the years go by. Your books change, your poetry suddenly has different colors. As the years put marks on your face the same happened with your writing. I used to be a hopeless romantic, now I’m a perverse monster filled with dark thoughts that I’m eager to express.
If you don’t make a living exclusively writing, what is your day job? How, in any way, does it relate to your life as a writer?
I did Uber and Lyft for a while in Los Angeles. I’ve met countless of characters I marked in my head for future stories. Sometimes I like to talk to people. When you drive people, you meet them for a second and then they’re gone forever out of your life. You can easily achieve momentum of pure intimacy with them since you know you’d never see them again. Some of them were incredibly smart, some vicious gang members. I drove at night in the most dangerous neighborhoods of LA. I’ve met all kinds of entities, and one day I’d meet them again but this time on my terms and inside of my future books.
Who is on your Mt. Rushmore of great writers?
Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Truman Capote, Vladimir Nabokov, Fyodor Dostoevsky…
“What If” Scenarios
If you could have one person that you admire, living or dead, read your book, who would it be?
Charlie Chaplin.
Your favorite character that you’ve written comes to life for one day. What do you do together for 24 hours?
I probably wouldn’t live that long as you know my favorite character I’ve written is a vicious psychopath Chester LaRue, and I would never want to meet this guy.
Your book becomes a best seller. What do you do next?
Writing a sequel.
You have the means to hire a full time assistant to help you with your writing. What tasks do you give them to do?
Edit my newly written chapters and to give me feedback.
What famous artist or photographer would you want to create or capture your book cover image?
Stanley Kubrick.
Your story gets picked up by a streaming service to make into a series. What service would you want it to be, and would you want them to follow your story closely, or would you rather see what directions they take it in?
HBO and I’d like them to follow my story closely though I’m open for discussion.
Just for Fun
Favorite time of/part of your day.
Early morning.
Favorite place you’ve visited/place you want to visit.
The Grand Canyon.
Your favorite podcast.
The Joe Rogan Experience.
A book that you recommend everyone reads.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.
Celebrity you’d want to be friends with.
Jordan Peterson.
Your most unrealistic dream job.
Porn star.
Buy it!
Buy a copy of Psychopath’s Diary Vol. 1 here, and help support local bookstores! This is an affiliate link, and I will receive a commission on any sales.
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