interview with writer alexei raymond
by David Estringel
Photo of Alexei Raymond
Originally from the Middle East and currently based in Belgrade, Alexei Raymond is a writer, who is fairly new to the writing scene, whose work explores post-Soviet diasporic lives, moments of threshold, and fractured identities. Blood+Honey has been lucky enough to host a healthy sampling of his work, including “The Guests are Here” (July ‘25), “Of Lips and War” (published this month), and “Alley Money” (coming September ‘25). His stories have appeared in The Bloomin’ Onion, Citywide Lunch, Eunoia Review, and most recently Eulogy Press, as well as Blood+Honey’s sister lit mag The Argyle Literary Magazine (i.e., his short story “Alpha”).
Apart from Raymond’s exquisite ability to explore the complexities of being human in his work, his knack for weaving narrative—often in a very Carveresque way—reveals a significant depth and breadth in the simplicity of his literary voice. There is an innate familiarity within his prose and a relatability in its emotional underpinnings that any reader can appreciate.
Upon deciding to feature interviews with contributing artists for Blood+Honey (and its readers), Raymond’s name, intuitively, was one of the first that came to mind. We are thankful for Raymond’s eagerness and willingness to chat with us for a while about his development as a writer, his writing process, and his experiences in the writing/publishing world.
Here is what he had to say…
B+H: So, Alexei, thanks for taking the time to answer a few interview questions for our Blood+Honey readers. You have had work published already in Blood+Honey, and The Argyle, so I have had a lot of opportunities to dive into your writing, which I find amazing by the way. You have sent some really amazing narratives our way. If I recall correctly, you are still pretty new to writing and publishing. When did you first realize that writing was something you wanted to do?
AR: The opportunity to answer some questions is my pleasure! And yes, I started in the beginning of 2025, with my first crack at a short story, 193 Lines of Sight, getting published in April. Since then, writing’s taken over my life. And while I started writing in 2025, I believe the first nudge toward the endeavor was planted by an ex of mine, during a particularly heartbreaking moment between us. That was around February 2023, and I believe her words, shortly before our dissolution, were, “So try writing! Write something!”. Before that, I never entertained the idea in all my 27 years. So, her words got stuck in my mind, like seeds, and eventually grew into sad little trees. If she ever finds my writing, she’ll find herself in there quite a lot!
B+H: In terms of inspiration, what authors would you say have influenced you the most in terms of style and technique? How so?
AR: In recent feedback on my writing, I was told that I made myself a contemporary of the dead. Which is mostly true, because I think all the authors who guide my hand, aside from one, do so from the grave. They are John Updike, Cormac McCarthy, James Salter, Philip Roth, and the last one’s Salman Rushdie, who’s in no rush to die. What binds these authors for me, and what chiefly inspires me, is their extraordinary prose, their playfulness with language. It’s their ability to defamiliarize the most mundane image, some moment, or a universal feeling, until it’s breathtakingly new and stunning. I’m a huge sucker for unabashed stylistic flourishes and maximalist, emotional voices in writing. That’s what I try to go for with my words, and how I want to convey my feeling of the world.
B+H: In terms of your fiction, where do the ideas for your stories come from? How do you decide what to write about?
AR: As a novice writer, it’s been quite tempting and easy to trace over people I know, or have known, and myself, and then fill in the shadows, the depth. I speak in drawing terms because that used to be my creative outlet. For my ideas, I try to remember the most unforgettable emotions or experiences life offered me and those around me. I then try to transmute those into literary artefacts. My goal, at least for now, is to offer up my consciousness and the way it’s been cobbled together by my experiences in Israel/Palestine, to the best of my ability.
B+H: Tell us a bit about your writing process. Take us through a day when you are feeling particularly creative.
AR: When everything aligns, or, to use Updike’s words, when a short story does “pour smooth from the start”, I clearly see the first image of the piece I’m writing. There’s a guiding opening visual, a rather clear final visual, and a little sketch of the core beats I want to hit. I take that skeleton and keep it at the top of a Google doc as I start painting in the body of the story. Then the sentences flow, the writing takes over, and hell, I might even cry at the end of the session.
B+H: As far as your work goes, how do you know a piece is finished and ready to be submitted to prospective lit mags for publication?
AR: It’s been a wild learning process; one I’m still very much in the middle of. I’ve had several situations where I was convinced that a story is ready, only for pesky inspiration to come out of nowhere a month later and make me think of the perfect ending. Or, in other situations, my more practiced eyes realize that a piece I thought was finished, is actually riddled with embarrassing mistakes. So it can be tricky when I submit stories so often while learning on the fly. But I believe I’ve been sending out more polished work lately.
B+H: What have been the biggest challenges you have faced with your writing and how did you overcome them?
AR: There are a few, some of which I haven’t overcome yet. For example, my reliance on the real experiences and events of life around me - the urge to do autofiction. I want to get to a point where I can comfortably write about people who are very far removed from anyone I know. Another challenge is whether I believe my work has merit, or something worthwhile about it. That’s where I fluctuate between nihilism and genuine hope, even satisfaction. And it’s completely up to the whims of mood. I wish I could lock in that positive confidence.
B+H: What have been some of your proudest moments?
AR: Getting my first story acceptance in March, telling my family in April once I had a few stories published, realizing I made my stoic father cry over a story I wrote in May, and generally feeling like I’ve been managing to do my own form of justice to the world, to life, to love, and to pay tribute to those I care most about. Even if they’ll never know it.
B+H: What have you learned so far from your experiences navigating this dog-eat-dog world of lit mag publication? Any tips for emerging writers out there?
AR: With a few rare exceptions, it’s been a pleasant and exciting experience. I’m excited about having discovered this avenue – it’s like a second breath of life, especially as I enter my thirties. And as for tips, I have a few deceptively obvious words of advice:
A. Hold off on submitting for as long as you can. The cooldown period from the initial writing high will reveal things you’ll want to polish or change, and it gives inspiration more time to reach you. It’s tempting to send off a story at the first inkling that it’s finished, but you have to fight that urge.
B. It’s important to check where you’re submitting to, whether they have a proper masthead, contact info, active publications, social media presence, etc. There are some scammy/predatory magazine operations out there who will exploit naïve, inexperienced writers.
C. Pay attention to proper submission etiquette – if you simultaneously submit to different places, you have to make sure you keep track and withdraw if you get accepted somewhere else. Failing to do this is super awkward, puts everyone in an uncomfortable situation, and yeah, you want to avoid that.
D. And finally, rejections. You have to get used to a lot of them and remember that it’s not the end of the world if your story doesn’t get accepted. It can happen for many different reasons, and it doesn’t mean you should get discouraged, or stop trying. It’s another opportunity to make your story better, help it evolve. And keep going.
B+H: I am a firm believer that reading is an important element of writing well. What are three books that have made their indelible marks on you and your craft?
AR: Absolutely! If I have to choose three, then I’d like to count Updike’s Rabbit tetralogy as one, then Salter’s sultry A Sport and a Pastime, and finally Roth’s orgasmic Sabbath’s Theater. These are the works that gave me the final push toward writing after a lifetime of reading.
B+H: So, what do you have in the works now? Anything we should be on the lookout for? New stories? A book, maybe? Feel free to brag.
AR: When I started writing, the first thing I wrote before my first short story, was a 60k~ word novel, tentatively titled Adam, Partitioned. Upon finishing it, I realized that I need way more practice. So I need to go back and do a rewrite! In the meantime, a lot of the stories I’ve been writing and publishing act as a kind of buildup toward that very novel, which will be a culmination and hopefully my debut. That aside, I’m also excited for twelve new short stories of mine to drop over the summer and fall, three of which will appear in Blood+Honey and The Argyle Literary Magazine. I feel very lucky to be a part of this community!
*Stay tuned for Blood+Honey’s author interview with JD Clapp in September!
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