Getting To Know Me: Living In Two Places

What happens when your creativity is pulled between wild coastlines and city grids? I open the door to a life split between Alaska and Texas and show how place, health, and history conspire to shape a writer’s voice. From moose tracks near Kachemak Bay to late-night revisions in a university town, the throughline is simple: geography isn’t scenery, it’s a collaborator.

I trace the arc from research mathematics in Paris and England to publishing fiction under a pen name. That switch wasn’t about hiding; it was about clarity. Precision from proofs now anchors my prose, while lived experience drives story. We talk frankly about schizophrenia and epilepsy, how the right medical team in Texas keeps the creative engine running, and why a dark winter morning in Alaska can spark a chapter faster than any productivity hack.

Along the way, I unpack the practical side of a two-home writing life: duplicating tools across rooms, leaning on Amazon when small-town shelves fall short, and using playlists, courses, and community to lower friction. You’ll hear why Alaska’s artistic scene and wildlife expand my sense of wonder, how Texas’s diversity stretches my cast of characters, and where both places meet in the work: tension, rhythm, and voice. I also share the stories behind my novels. My novels:
“The Overlife, A Tale Of Schizophrenia” (visit https://amzn.to/4qzBnuH)
“Three Kidnapped, Three Siblings, Three Furies” (visit https://amzn.to/4ntcldP). The links are my Amazon Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases..

If you’ve ever wondered whether one environment can give you everything you need, you’ll find a different answer here. The split life isn’t tidy, but it’s fertile. Subscribe, share this with a friend who writes or reads with heart, and leave a review to tell me which place—wild or urban—pulls your best words to the surface.

Chapters

• 0:00 Why The Gap And New Focus
• 0:56 A Life In Math Across Continents
• 2:38 Pen Name And Creative Shift
• 3:30 Platforms, Playlists, And Affiliates
• 4:56 Novels On Schizophrenia And Abuse
• 5:43 Why Alaska And Texas
• 6:33 Alaska’s Community And Wildlife
• 8:22 Texas Convenience And Care
• 9:23 Tools, Courses, And Finding Inspiration
• 10:56 Fractures, Refraction, And Farewell

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:27

Hello. It's been a while since I posted a video episode, and uh this episode is entitled Getting to Know Me Living in Two Places. Well, the reason for the gap in uh episodes, uh there's a few reasons, uh, such as a car accident. Uh no one, nothing was hurt except our car, but my spouse and I did suffer mild concussions for a few days. Then I took a break from writing fiction while organizing our annual migration from Alaska to Texas and took a short holiday to do so. At the end of February, we will return to Alaska from Texas. We have a small house in Alaska and a medium-sized one in Texas. Today I want to talk about dividing my life geographically and how it has impacted my creativity as a writer. As many of you know, I spent many years studying mathematics in Paris, France, and working on a problem often required traveling to meet colleagues in other cities. I was born and raised in Australia, and while in France and later in the USA, I would spend several months at a time each year visiting elderly relatives, all of whom since passed away, unfortunately. I often combined these trips with working on mathematics with colleagues in Australia. To pursue my doctorate in mathematics, I moved from Australia to England, then went to Paris for work. I was always excited about Europe's excellent public transportation system and used them to travel widely. My real name is Paula Tretkov, which I use for my mathematical work. For my fiction novels, I use my pen name Diana Durkby. The decision to write under a pen name was to prevent confusion between my mathematics and my fiction writing. The divided existence between Alaska and Texas, I now lead as an independent fiction writer, is much simpler and more organized than the one I had as a professional research mathematician. It has proven to be an excellent situation for creative writing. I want to focus more on that recent fractured life as a fiction writer. I hope to share some good ideas. I am posting the video episode across two playlists on my YouTube channel. One is the podcast, Fractured Inc, Writing in Life's Chaos, also available as an audio podcast of the same name. And the other is my Amazon affiliate links, Products for Writing from Home. I shared a lot about myself in my first audio podcast, Schizophrenia as I live it, but I haven't revealed as much in these two newer playlists. For both playlists, it's helpful to know some facts about my background to clarify things. For example, if I share a link to one of my affiliate products, it might help you to realize I use Amazon products extensively, not just in one home, but in two. Understanding more about me definitely enhances the reading experience of my fiction novels. I also post the audio version of Fractured Inc to my Buzz Sprout account, so it is available on platforms like Apple Podcasts. When I share links to Amazon, I use my affiliate links. I will give the affiliate links to my two fiction novels, The Overlife, A Tale of Schizophrenia. This novel is closely inspired by my and my mother's experiences with schizophrenia. The second fiction book, Three Kidnaps, Three Siblings, Three Furies, is a thriller horror novel about sibling abuse. I have experienced such abuse myself. While I didn't base the novel directly on my experiences, I was knowledgeable enough to write it. I am beginning a third fiction book based on my grandfather's experiences as a foster child in Australia around 1900 and the impact that had on his life. The split between Alaska and Texas came from my spouse's love for Alaska and my job as a university professor in Texas. We are both now retired from professional life in mathematics, yet we still haven't decided when or if we will downsize to one home. For me, Alaska's natural beauty constantly inspires and motivates me to get up and start writing immediately. In winter, the days are short, so I often begin working in the dark, eagerly awaiting sunrise and the view from our home. In summer, the days are long, and even an early riser like me can enjoy the view upon waking and begin working. We experience both winter and summer as our setup now allows. We love both seasons. We don't live in the coldest part of Alaska, in fact, we are on the Kenai Peninsula near Kachemak Bay, which moderates the temperature, although we often see heavy snow. Our small town of around 5,000 offers many conveniences such as good doctors, a hospital, an airport, and a local college. Many residents pursue artistic interests like writing, and the town hosts an annual writers' conference featuring notable faculty. So when I see my friends in Alaska and run errands around town, I feel connected to an artistic community that even has a high-quality independent bookstore. I have always loved animals, and many people in our town have dogs, which we enjoy. We decided against pets because of our divided existence, and also because they can scare the wildlife that naturally visits us. The wildlife makes me feel love, and that can be a great source of inner energy. We see moose, bears, wolves, lynx, porcupine, and an impressive array of wild birds and their seasonal migrations. With so much animal life and human artistic talent, I feel part of a community I want to ride for. There are also many accessible walks which go down well when my spouse and I want to relax. One downside of our Alaska town is that it lacks many stores. It was in Alaska that a friend introduced me to Amazon Prime right after we bought our home, but before we furnished it. By the way, we purchased our Texas home a year after buying the Alaska home, so I already had good knowledge of Amazon products for my writing. For my earlier work in mathematics to writing fiction novels now, the two homes differ wildly in size, furniture unrelated to writing, shelf space, and more. That means I often end up choosing one Amazon product for my Alaska home and another with the same function, but not exactly the same for my Texas home. How do I feel about Texas? We live in a town with a university and a diverse community of people from around the world. Texas is much more convenient than Alaska, offering all the city amenities rather than just small town ones. We reside in a housing development that lacks Alaska's natural beauty but has been thoughtfully designed by humans. There are more shops, but when it comes to writing products, nothing beats Amazon. The ambiance reminds me of Sydney, Australia, where I spent much of my childhood. The people too. The Texas house requires much more maintenance than the Alaska home, so I am more domesticated by that. The whole setup gives me a that fits with you too feeling. And my creativity is more adventurous in its choice of characters because of living in two very different environments. On a personal note, in Texas, I have one of the world's best psychiatrists who treats my schizophrenia and a world-renowned neurologist who treats my epilepsy. I have also found a wonderful psychologist there. These health supports are crucial for me. If my health is bad, I don't write well. Modern technology allows people to enjoy many travel benefits while living in one place. Social media clearly connects people from vastly different backgrounds. We now have beautiful DVDs or streaming shows that bring the world's beauty right into our homes. There are many courses on a wide range of topics, including fiction writing, such as the Masterclass app and the Great Courses app and DVDs. So I have spoken of my fractured life, split between two places, but you can find similar inspiration from just one home these days. I hope you have enjoyed this short episode about part of what goes into the fracture of the podcast title, fractured ink. It's not just my schizophrenia that can fracture my mind and make working difficult. My mind can be refractured to good effect by a walk in amongst the trees, even if humans have planted them. Goodbye.