At a meeting with Samara readers, Daria Dontsova spoke about cooperation with the Eksmo publishing house, close relationships with fans and how to live with a rare name.
Photo: Diana Disonova
On Tuesday, April 23, the Metida bookstore in the Iceberg shopping center was crowded: the hall was filled with fans of the writer of different ages.
2024 is a special year for Daria Dontsova – it marks the 25th anniversary of her creative activity.
“I came to the publishing house”Eksmo“- it was not yet a holding company – in 1999. It was a very small organization. And today it is one of the leaders of the European book market with a huge multi-storey building in the center of Moscow. For 25 years we have been walking hand in hand, and I am very grateful”Eksmo“, says Daria.
The writer noted that her detective stories are timeless: “My task is to make you forget about your troubles while reading books. My work is not tied to any events; I write, one might say, about the “eternal” – my husband beat me wife, wife strangled her husband – this can happen at any time. When you watch TV, heavy news falls on your head, you get tired of it, and there is nothing in my books that could knock you out of the mood.”
Grateful fans of Dontsova carried flowers and gifts on this day, and the most active ones asked questions. We present them in mini-interview format.
– You endowed your heroines with rare names – Stepanida, Evlampia. Tell me, is this due to the fact that you yourself have an unusual name – Agrippina?
– I think yes. I don’t personally know any Agrippina; this is a very rare name. And they called me whatever they called me: Antarctida Arkadyevna, Argentina Arkadyevna… In the Soviet years, I was walking down the street, a man shouted on the street: “Grunya, Grunya, Grunya!“I went up to find out why the unknown young man was calling me that? It turned out that he was looking for his dog.
– How do you cope with stress when writing books?
– I don’t have stress. I am a real blue-eyed blonde, which means a complete lack of reflection: I don’t worry about anything. In fact, there is no need to be afraid of stress. You need to be afraid of being angry, greedy, gossiping, and hurting other people. And stress can be handled calmly.
– Recently, interest in reading among young people and children has increased. What do you think is the reason for this?
– It’s simple: children picked up gadgets. It is no longer so important how the text is presented – in paper or electronic form. The main thing is that they read it. The older generation with poor eyesight has begun to master reading books. And they don’t even need glasses anymore – they can simply zoom in on a piece of text with one movement. Moreover, an e-book is cheaper than a paper one.
Finally, the popular Russian writer addressed her parents: “Dear parents! If a book seems stupid to you, but there is nothing criminal in it, buy it for your child, since he himself wants it. It’s very easy to push children away from reading. Let them read interesting books, for example “ Harry Potter,” and then he will grow up and realize that he wants to read.”
The meeting ended with a photo and autograph session.
Diana Disonova
