Subconscious: The Hidden Reality
Being born out of the clandestine romance of her parents meant that Seraphina encapsulated in her an untold story of their love, and her and her twin brother’s birth, and background. These secrets hidden for decades within Seraphina’s subconscious were asking to be let out. They were eventually released, although, at first, by pure chance.
The Mystery of Orient Express (2015)
Загадка восточного экспресса/The Mystery of Orient Express (2015) was written by Seraphina in a sequence of the two books, Головоломка/Puzzled (2014) and Задача с неизвестными/The Unknowns (2014).
In the sequence, the third book, Загадка восточного экспресса/The Mystery of Orient Express, is a natural progression in shifting the focus from Luke and his mystery to the mystery of Lina's disappearance in Moscow, and then to the mystery of the venetian mask and its origin that leads to an enigmatic and captivating character, Segnor Frantsinatti, an Italian Ambassador in Paris. Segnor Frantsinatti embodies an old world charm but uses it as a master chess player. His every move is calculated yet feels completely natural. Segnor Frantsinatti is the one who drives the narrative throughout the entire book yet he reveals himself only at the very end of the story.
The character of Segnor Frantsinatti was an unconscious projection that reflected the persona of Seraphina's biological father, a diplomat working as a Soviet undercover agent in Paris.
Загадка восточного экспресса/The Mystery of Orient Express is more contemplative in its nature than the two previous books. It intertwines themes of intrigue, philosophy, and human relationships. It follows the journey of Lina and Luke, as they travel aboard the luxurious Orient Express from London to Venice. Along the way, they encounter a series of enigmatic characters, including Segnor Adamantti, Lord Golding, and Segnor Frantsinatti, each of whom adds layers of mystery to the story.
Ultimately, Загадка Восточного Экспресса/The Mystery of Orient Express is a tale of discovery—of hidden truths, personal growth, and the intricate connections between people. It combines elements of mystery, romance, and philosophy to create a captivating and thought-provoking narrative.
As with previous two books Seraphina tapped into her intuitive perception and subconscious to draw characters that reflected connections to her own background and life.
In continuation of tradition, Seraphina was releasing finished episodes of Загадка восточного экспресса on the platform Wattpad.
The book was finished in spring of 2015.
The Unknowns (2014)
The book Задача с неизвестными/The Unknowns (2014) is the second one in the trilogy. Seraphina started writing it right after she had finished the first one - Головоломка/Puzzled (2014). In Задача с неизвестными/The Unknowns, Seraphina recycled some themes of 'My Trickster' including settings, locations, and certain situations. These elements were adapted to the adventures of Lina Brig and Luke Edward Allen in Moscow, Russia.
Since Seraphina's book 'My Trickster' was about themes related to the behaviour of her biological mother and ambiguity of her life choices, placing the main characters of Задача с неизвестными/The Unknowns, Luke and Lina, into similar situations in Moscow allowed Seraphina to examine how they would handle certain life events.
Bringing Luke to Moscow to meet Lina in high stakes environment allowed Seraphina to play out a hypothetical situation of her twin brother experiencing life in Russia - the place of Seraphina's upbringing. At the time of writing the book Seraphina was not aware of the existence of her biological twin yet had a subconscious wish to bring him into her reality via the character of her book, Luke Edward Allen.
The book explores themes of love, trust, miscommunication, identity, and emotional vulnerability. It also delves into the complexities of relationships, the impact of external forces, and the challenges of navigating cultural and social dynamics.
In continuation of tradition, Seraphina was releasing finished episodes of the book on the platform Wattpad.
Similar to Головоломка/Puzzled, Задача с неизвестными/The Unknowns was finished in three months and was published in the digital and print on demand format at the end of 2014.
In December 2013, Seraphina moved to Geneva, Switzerland, hoping to make it her home. The place although failing to fulfil the original wish was destined to become a catalyst and an inspirational force for uncovering another secret held in Seraphina’s subconscious. The truth about her twin brother.
Right after her move, Seraphina was compelled to write a series of romantic mysteries, a trilogy, once again examining the theme of two narrators – a woman and a man.
The characters of the book appeared in front of Seraphina's eyes as if by magic, each having their own story to tell. The writing process was a spontaneous one, since she worked with her subconscious, not having a particular plan or goal. However, despite not having a plan, Seraphina clearly saw the beginning and the end of the book.
The trilogy, including Головоломка/'Puzzled' (2014), feature a young French aristocrat, Luke Edward Allen, and a female journalist of French-Russian descent – Lina Brig. Lina was drawn from Seraphina herself, whilst Luke was drawn from Seraphina’s subconscious images of her twin brother. At the moment of writing the book Seraphina was not aware of the fact, yet found it extraordinary that Luke's image, personal characteristics, way of behaving, talking, and thinking came so naturally to her, transmitting themselves with ease on to the pages of her book.
Головоломка/'Puzzled' (2014) delves into the complexities of human relationships, the impact of societal pressures, and the transformative power of love and honesty. The main themes of the book are love and romance, identity and self-discovery, truths and deception, coincidences and fate, family and relations, misunderstandings and mistaken identity. The very themes that have been present in Seraphina’s own life.
While writing Головоломка/Puzzled (2014), Seraphina was releasing finished episodes of the book on the platform Wattpad, quickly gaining appreciative audience, and tweaking the book based on the Wattpad readers' feedback.
Seraphina finished Головоломка/Puzzled (2014) in just three months - she started it in December 2013 and finished it in March 2014.
In 2015, Seraphina translated her book into English, and four years later, in 2019, she turned the story into a screenplay format.
'A Tricky Game' (2013) came to existence as Seraphina's literary response to the events and situations described in her first book 'My Trickster' (2011).
In spite of 'My Trickster' having raised some interest and positive reviews from the readers, Seraphina was not happy with it and, in 2012, took it out of circulation. The reason for the dissatisfaction and unhappiness was the main character of the book. Trying to process her complex feelings towards Angela Moreaux, she spent a whole year re-evaluating and re-writing it.
This was not an easy task, as Seraphina had to reconsider her narrating approach and switch to the third person perspective. By doing so, Seraphina created distance between herself and the main character, which allowed her to examine the character's complex world and navigate it by giving the main heroine, Angela Moreaux, her own moral compass. The 'primary 'players' in the second version of the book stayed the same as in 'My Trickster', yet the decisions they were making and, therefore, the outcomes of their actions had changed.
At the moment of writing 'A Tricky Game' Seraphina was not yet aware of the professional background of her biological father and her biological mother's decision of 'sacrificing' Seraphina to the Soviet operatives, due to her love affair with Seraphina’s father – a Soviet undercover agent, working in diplomatic services in Paris. That is why Seraphina’s subconscious choice of the main themes of the book such as power and manipulation, romance and desire, freedom and identity, and gamesmanship are even more striking.
'A Tricky Game' was published in digital and print on demand format in 2013. In 2018, Seraphina turned her book into a screenplay and participated with it in different screenplay competitions.
In 2010, while in New York, Seraphina met a man of Scottish ancestral background who befriended her at one of the networking events dedicated to digitalization of book publishing. Some months later, on the Christmas Eve of 2010, her New York acquaintance dreamt about a man and a woman writing a book together. This prompted Seraphina to team up with him to start writing a book from the first persons' perspective - female and male. Seraphina took the role of the main character, - Angela Moreaux, whilst her collaborator chose a supporting male character, - Juan MacBride. The collaboration proved to be a short lived one as Seraphina's Scottish acquaintance could not sustain his character. Regardless, in 2011, Seraphina finished and published the book in English - ‘My Trickster’.
'My Trickster' book contained several fractured narratives which were presented in the form of the first person narrating episodes. In the book, without consciously realising, Seraphina created male archetypes of power which reflected her biological father’s professional and personal ambiguous world. She perfectly and realistically depicted the powerful men she did not have in her immediate environment, yet being present in her subconscious. But the most extraordinary thing was that she while writing from the female first person perspective as one of the main characters, – Angela Moreaux, – was actually channelling the behaviour and way of thinking of her biological mother. A sort of amalgamated fictional persona that reflected Seraphina's hidden reality which at the moment of writing the book she was not consciously aware of.
In spite of her first book having raised some interest and positive reviews from the readers, Seraphina was not happy with it and, in 2012, took it out of circulation. The reason for the dissatisfaction and unhappiness was the main character of the book. Trying to process her complex feelings towards Angela Moreaux, she spent a whole year re-evaluating and re-writing it.
The main character Angela Moreaux embodies some characteristics of Seraphina's father who chose ambition over family. The character's emotional complexity, her moments of vulnerability, her being "haunted by the past," and especially her conflicted nature all reflect Seraphina's attempt to understand a person who could be both charismatic and capable of profound abandonment.
Years later, Seraphina arrived at another realisation The dream of her New York Scottish acquaintance was not about two people writing a book together, but about a woman with a mindset of a Soviet undercover agent, – Seraphina herself.
In 2024, while still perplexed, puzzled, and fascinated by Angela Moreaux character she changed her gender. Angela Moreaux became Al Moreaux. This change helped Seraphina to process her own extraordinary combination - being a woman thinking like a man.
The free PDFs offered below are the first and the second version of the book. The READ 1 is the original version written in 2011, and the READ 2 is the altered in 2024 version in which Angela (La) becomes Al.