A number of things from Tom’s life bring him to search for love in the former Soviet Union. First is that from the time of his youth he has had a keen interest in International ice hockey. A hockey player himself he grew up in an era of the Cold War and an era of domination of the great Soviet Union hockey teams. As a youth he has a great interest in learning more about this vast country that produced these hockey players and teams. But in this time there was very little information available about the Soviet Union and his curiosity remained unfulfilled through the years. Years later he finds himself working at a fire station in a neighborhood with many Russian speaking immigrants. He decides to take the personal challenge to learn the Russian Language to not only help with his work but to also begin to satisfy his childhood curiosity about the now former Soviet Union. It is during his learning the language and about the former Soviet Union that he will encounter a life changing event.

While reading about Russia on the Internet he encounters a link to a Marriage Agency in Russia. He finds something that resonates with him after looking at several such websites. Yes the photos of these women are beautiful but something even deeper occurs to him. Tom is divorced and has not really given getting remarried again much thought. But as he reads their profiles they speak to him of something different, of something from a time past in America, of something he always felt was right for him and yet until now thought lost. He spent some length of time educating himself about the world of International dating and of the women of the former Soviet Union. Finally came the question, With all he knows does he in his heart believe this is for him? Does he believe this is where he will find that lasting love and happiness?

How is it that Tom and Lyubov are able to connect so quickly and naturally with each other?

First of all Tom and Lyubov communicated for a long time before they actually met. It is rather unusual for a man and woman to communicate for so long before meeting. Tom wanted to be sure before taking the step of traveling to Ukraine that he had found the right girl. At least be as sure as it is possible without actually meeting in person. It gave them an opportunity to learn much about each other, to move past the I am this old, and I like these things, and I am this tall etc. to learn more about each other in a deeper personal way. To share each others dreams of the future and past experiences. Later through videos they became alive to each other and they could see each other move while they talked. Tom took much from the very fact that Lyubov agreed to communicate so long before meeting. By the time Tom stepped on the plane in Portland to begin his journey to Kiev he felt he knew Lyubov quite well and when he landed in Kiev he already held her in his heart. It was apparent early on in their meeting that Lyubov had similar feelings about Tom. Neither of them felt as strangers when they met.

Given how deeply he's in love with Lyubov, what compels Tom to begin an affair with Marina?

There were several factors that lead to this situation. Tom had returned to try to meet with Lyubov and find out why she seemingly wanted to end their relationship. Tom had finally been successful in meeting with Lyubov once but had gained no insight into the situation during that meeting. On top of that he was meeting nothing but frustration in setting up a second meeting with her. He had been in Dnepropetrovsk for some time now and had managed only one meeting with Lyubov, the rest of the time he is alone. Being alone in a foreign country and playing the role of solitary tourist was wearing on him. He battled back and forth within himself between his uncertain relationship with Lyubov and his intense loneliness. He had a possible solution. The agency had offered for him to meet some other ladies. What at first offer was unthinkable to him became thinkable under the weight of loneliness and frustration. Finally he thinks, perhaps naively, what can it hurt to meet a lady, go out to dinner and most of all have some conversation with someone other than himself?

Of course as things go he winds up being confronted with many problems to deal with including foremost his own feelings about Lyubov and the realities of their present relationship and his feelings for her.

What convinces Lyubov to finally reveal to Tom the truth about her condition?

I think we can surmise two possible reasons for her revealing the truth of her condition. First is her stated reason in that she finally herself has become fully aware of the seriousness of her situation. Secondly, I like the readers, can only guess that maybe, by the fact that Tom has come back to meet her with no assurances they would meet, he has continually tried while in Dnepropetrovsk to meet her, maybe his sincerity and the strength of his love has come through to her. Maybe any inhibitions she had about revealing the truth to him have subsided enough to take the chance. Maybe the Ukrainian trait of not wanting to burden others with their problems have given way somewhat to the desire to have a man who truly seems to loves her to go through the upcoming ordeal with.

What becomes of Sasha, Lyubov's young son?

Let me just answer this question by saying this little tidbit, this story may not be over yet.

Even though they're grown, there's little mention in the story of Tom's two children. Does he not have regular contact with them because of his divorce?

I think we can assume he did. This question however brings up the possibility of looking into some of my thinking process about this book that readers may find interesting. I thought about adding more about Tom’s personal life but eventually I felt that I did not want to take away from the main story line by including a lot of dialogue about interactions with Tom’s family, friends, coworkers etc. unless it added to or supported the main story. I also had some other decisions to make along the way. First how technical do I want to get about Lyubov’s condition. I did not want this to become a medical journal so again I erred on the side of not including things that did not directly deal with the story. The next decision was how do I handle the state of present day medical care in Ukraine. This was a very difficult decision because I could have easily made it part of the story line. But ultimately I felt that too much emphasis on this might take away from focus on the relationship between Tom and Lyubov. I still think that was the right decision but that was a tough call. I did however in places in the book give the reader some idea of the medical system there today. Lastly I had to make a decision on how much do I tell about Ukraine that is not central to the story. In the end I decided that this was an important aspect of the book. I felt that providing information about Ukraine, a country my experience tells me most Americans do not know much about, would enhance the story and be interesting to the reader. So without turning the book into a travel brochure I decided to include as much as I could without distracting from the main story. In the end my living in Dnepropetrovsk and my growing affection for the city and its people played a major role in the final story. Anyway I hope maybe the readers find this information interesting.

Please share more with our readers about the wonder and splendor of the Ukraine.

I could write a whole book here to answer this question but I won’t. I will just mention some of the highlights. If I had to pick one word to describe Ukraine it would be “contrasts”. Not only visually but also in life there. I was often amazed as I took pictures there of how often I would be looking at something very old right next to something very modern. Life, at least by most American’s standards, is very difficult yet the people I think are far less stressed than most Americans are. They have this uncanny ability to accept life as it is and make the best of it and find a way to be happy. It is a country of contrasts between urban and rural areas. Most of the larger cities are not all that different from American cities. I mean architecture and language are different but they have many stores, shopping centers, and restaurants like here. There are even Nike, Adidas, Tommy Hilfiger to name a few stores in Ukraine. But rural areas are like a trip back in time. Farmers cut and stack hay largely by hand. Horse and wagon is a common way of transporting goods. Most homes do not have indoor bathrooms. The only noticeable sign of modern life is cell phones and TV dishes. It is a country of great beauty and yet there is much pollution and in many places great amounts of garbage especially near larger population centers. If readers are interested in learning more I would invite them to visit my website and my blog on the website. I have posted and will continue in the future to post some of my experiences and thoughts about my time in Ukraine.

Precisely how much of the story is based on your own real-life experiences?

This is an interesting question and kind of goes to the heart of the book. As I wrote in my “to the readers” section at the beginning of the book this is a fictional story which has its origin in a true experience for me. There is a lot of gray area in the real story so it is difficult for me to know where the truth ends and fiction begins. This was one of the most enjoyable parts of writing this book. Having the fiction writers freedom to stay close to a true incident, at other times just toy with the truth and in other occasions just leave all to my imagination. My wife Olga is an avid knitter. She takes different colors of yarn and weaves out of it a beautiful sweater. When I wrote my book I weaved in and out of truth and fiction and made a beautiful story. Best of all I think I left this wonderful gift for the reader. That gift is to use their own minds their own imagination as to what is maybe true and what is maybe not. And it does not matter if they are right or wrong. It only matters that they take the journey and enjoy it.

How has your publishing experience been with Publish America?

What can I say? I researched different publishers and decided to submit it to them and they agreed to publish it. I will be for ever grateful to them for giving me the chance to share my story with others.

What are your future writing/publishing plans?

I very much want to write again and am working on a couple of projects. Of course how well Goodbye Kiev does will go a long way toward determining my future as a writer. I enjoy it and I think I am good at it. Time will tell if others feel the same way.