Gakko Academy #2

Evgeny Alexeev used to think he had a knack for mathematics (or rather, his school mentors must have had a knack for teaching it). As a result, he ended up with four college degrees-each of which he even pursued professionally for a while, as his karma would have it. He worked in a bank as head of the corporate lending department, followed by the position of deputy CEO for a certain multibillion company. Then one day he put it all behind him and left for the island of Borneo-which was his childhood dream inspired by Thomas Mayne Reid's book. There, surrounded by the abundance of sea, fruit, and sun, he wrote his first two novels. Then there was the shock of coming back from the 105-degree heat into a minus-forty reality. He was obliged to urgently purchase three cardigans as there was no winter clothing available on Borneo. He moved on to work for several energy sector companies, which he left to help set up a popular public-private partnership, and even dabbled in some legislative activities, only to get disillusioned and plunge back into production. One thing he never ceased doing was writing new fantasy books.

David Lee Huynh is an actor based in New York City. He has appeared onstage Off-Broadway and across the country as well as on film and television.