Category: Q&A

A look at a local effort to help Ukraine

Following “An Evening for Ukraine: Art Exhibition & Conversation,” an event she organized that was held on April 11 in Bedford, Ukrainian-American artist Katya Roberts of Bedford talked about her ongoing efforts to raise awareness and funds to help people affected by the war in Ukraine.

What’s your personal connection to Ukraine?

I was born and raised in Kyiv, which is the capital of Ukraine. My family immigrated to San Francisco, California, when I was 12.

What was going through your mind during the invasion of Ukraine in February?

When I went to bed the night of Feb. 23, knowing armed forces from Russia were … beginning to cross over [into Ukraine] and bombings were starting to happen, I was just devastated. I cried myself to sleep. I fully expected I’d check the news in the morning and it’d say Ukraine is back to what it used to be, when it was part of the U.S.S.R. and under Russia’s control. I thought, ‘This is it. I’ll never be able to go back to my home country. I’ll never be able to take my kids there.’ I grieved. It’s hard to explain the feeling your homeland is as good as gone … but it’s been amazing and miraculous to see how Ukrainians have defended their homeland and are fighting for the future of their children. … I’ve gone from feeling absolute despair to feeling really proud of the Ukrainian people.

What are your main efforts?

The realization there could be no Ukraine one day terrified me, and I thought, ‘No. That’s not an option. I can’t stand still. We have to do something.’ First, I wanted to get information out there so people know what’s actually happening. … I can speak and understand Ukrainian and Russian. … There’s an online message board internal to Ukraine … and I’m translating and sharing that information … and stories from the ground on social media. … Secondly, I wanted that information to empower people here in the U.S. who want to help … so I’ve been sharing specific things people can do … like reaching out to our government representatives, voicing what the Ukrainians are dealing with, what they’re asking for and what we want to be done. The third thing I’m doing is helping raise funds for refugees. … I’ve been in contact with Inna Sovsun … who’s a Ukrainian parliament member in Kyiv … [to find out] how we can donate so [funds go] directly to people who are actually on the ground.

What’s next for you?

Combining art with a call to action is going to continue being my formula going forward. I have something in the works [to take place] probably in June. Another thing I’m working on is the idea of an ‘adopt-a-family.’ My family members in Ukraine have identified families whose stories they know intimately who are struggling. Their homes are gone, and even if they returned to the areas they came from, there’s nothing there; they have to start over. Some have family members who passed away due to war or illness because they were no longer able to receive [medical] treatment. Financial hardship is a story we’re hearing over and over; someone’s line of work is no longer viable, or they’re living in another country now that has a much higher cost of living, and they can’t find a job. … I want to take [donated funds] and send them over for [struggling families] to access directly so they can pay for food and lodging. … I’m testing this on a small scale with trusted individuals in my life … and I’ve found someone in my neighborhood … who’s also interested in doing this, so I’m going to partner with them … and pull our efforts together with other people who are thinking along the same lines so we can do this on a larger scale.

How can people join your efforts?

I’ve created a website … which I’ll be constantly updating with my current efforts and ways people can contribute. In the coming days, for example, there’ll be information on there about how to contact members of Congress, along with some sample letters. … It’ll be a great resource for people. … I’m going to limit it, though, and keep it really simple. I want to make things as easy as possible for busy people who mean well and want to help. … There’s so much being thrown at us all the time, and it’s overwhelming. Part of my work is sorting through everything and taking out a few things to bring to people’s attention. I think that’s more effective than trying to include everything.

To follow Katya Roberts and her local efforts to help Ukraine, visit katyaroberts.com/ukraine.

Featured photo: Katya Roberts

NH author edits posthumous memoir of addiction

Seacoast-based author, editor and writing coach Jeff Deck discussed his latest project, We Got This, Kids: A real-time and raw glimpse of alcoholism, depression, and loss during a search for more sunrises.

What is your literary background?

I collaborate with writers to help them get their books done. Though my new service is focused on fantasy novels, I’ve worked with authors of both fiction and nonfiction. My own works include several novels, a nonfiction book called The Great Typo Hunt that I co-wrote with Benjamin D. Herson and holiday romances under a pen name.

What is We Got This, Kids about?

We Got This, Kids is the story of one ordinary person, Andy Marsjanik, and his lifelong struggle with addiction, recovery and depression. It’s based on the half-finished memoir that Andy left behind when he died by suicide and filled in with the voices of those closest to him, his family and friends. Andy wanted to live —he makes that very clear in his writing — but he lived and worked alone and undertook his struggles alone, and, during a temporary low point, he made a decision he couldn’t take back.

How did you first hear of Andy’s story?

A friend connected me with Andy’s sister, Amy Marsjanik Law, just a couple of months after Andy died. Amy was living in Newmarket at the time, and we were able to meet in person; this was shortly before the pandemic. She was intensely grieving, but had a powerful determination to carry on her brother’s story, as well as his mission to help people going through similar struggles.

What compelled you to take on this project?

Normally, fiction projects call to me the strongest, both in terms of collaboration with clients and for my own work, but when I started reading the document that Andy had left behind, I could immediately see two things that drew me in: first, his sharp, acidly humorous voice reminded me of George Carlin or Dennis Miller in his prime and absolutely needed to be shared with the world, and, second, this was someone describing his mental health and addiction battles in real time, which I thought could be of immense help to others.

What was the process like?

Collaborating with Amy to honor Andy’s words was the heart of the process for this book. Amy saw her brother’s original vision and knew how to bring it to fruition, as well as whose other voices would be necessary to bring into the story. I did my best to preserve what Andy had written, tweaking only for clarity and organization, moving fragments around to best convey the picture that Andy had originally intended. To minimize my intrusion into this family and their story, I saw my primary role as an editor rather than a co-author or ghostwriter. That also literally became my ‘character’ in the book — ‘The Editor,’ who steps into the footnotes to explain and elucidate the many obscure references that Andy included. The Editor also comments on any significant additions, deletions or rearrangements of the text in the footnotes to make the process we went through as transparent as possible. I interviewed Amy and other family members and friends not just to fill in the pieces that Andy never got to write, but to show the resonance of his life on the people around him. Everyone speaks in the first person, as close to their original words when I talked with them as possible, and mirroring Andy’s intimate narrative.

How does Andy’s writing connect with you personally?

I could feel his heart directly communicating with mine through his words. He’s blunt and funny and painfully self-aware. That’s the power of his writing and why it’s an incredible loss that we won’t get to see any more books from him. Andy is speaking in minute detail about his own experience as one individual working as a real-estate appraiser in upstate New York, but his struggles are universal. I’ve felt the darkness of depression, too, though, thankfully, to a much lesser degree, and my own life has been affected by a close relative in the grip of alcoholism.

In what way do you believe this book could help people?

It’s hard to find someone who hasn’t had to deal with mental health issues or addiction, either themselves or in the case of a loved one. Unfortunately, these struggles are nearly universal now, but most of the memoirs about these issues that are published today are from a celebrity’s point of view. I think people need the opportunity to see themselves reflected in a story of addiction, recovery and profound mental trials. Andy wasn’t famous or wealthy; he was an extraordinary person, but he was living an ordinary life much like so many other Americans, so when an average person picks up We Got This, Kids and recognizes themselves in Andy, my hope and Amy’s hope is that they immediately seek out the help they need. Remember that Andy’s action during that terrible night came from temporary desperation, but its consequences were irreversible. We Got This, Kids urges its readers to hold on for the next sunrise, and the one after that too.

— Angie Sykeny

We Got This, Kids is currently available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.

Featured photo: We Got This, Kids. Courtesy photo.