About

What Inspired Max to Write

Many years ago, I went through what I can only describe as being the darkest period of my life.

Feelings of isolation, alienation and insecurity that had long been bottled up were finally brought to the surface, suddenly and unexpectedly, in a way that I never could have imagined or anticipated. Weeks, months and seasons passed, with each day marked by the remembrance of things I'd rather forget. To communicate these feelings with those closest to me was futile, for I couldn't find the words to best convey what I wished to describe.

During this period, I found profound solace and escape in one thing, the only thing that could, for a chapter and more, take my mind away from all that was ailing me – literature.

Writers like Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Hemingway, and Joyce intoxicated me with their wisdom, moved me with their vulnerability, and showed me that sometimes the best advice can come from the words of an old dead friend. But most importantly, their work showed me that the personal pain, anxiety, and trauma a person goes through is not something that has to go to waste. That its memory can be harnessed and used constructively. Creatively. To communicate their inner demons in a way conventional speech can't; to help, move, inspire and save those who also may be struggling, who may be searching for answers where answers can't be found.

That's what writers like Dostoyevsky did for me. And I wanted to do the same.

I now look back on that period and am grateful for all it gave me. For without it, the result you see today would not have existed.