From Scraping By to Soaring High

What's inside

• Raw, unfiltered storytelling - no sugarcoating.
• Stories that blend humor, irony, and tragedy (because life is never just one thing).
• A voice shaped by Bukowski, Orwell, and Hemingway - but unapologetically mine.

Why this book?

Because someone had to tell the stories of a small Romanian town. 

The raw, funny, stubborn ones, the way they truly are.

People should know what life looks like outside their own backyard.

And now, why not, even beyond borders. Sarcasm included. It runs in the family.

From Scraping By to Soaring High is not a book that plays nice or hides behind velvet gloves.

It's a raw, unfiltered mirror that reflects life as it is: messy, harsh, sometimes hilarious, sometimes merciless.

Inevitably, every story begins with the passion for writing.

Whether it's born in childhood or strikes later, it doesn't matter.

This writing, calm at first, turned into a personal brawl before finally settling down into this book.

Because writing - above all - reveals what is most genuine, most alive within us.

This book is a gift from the child Sarina to the grown-up she became, packed with raw, authentic stories that throw you headfirst into everyday reality, no warning given.

What is the style?

Simple, blunt, like sitting across from a good friend who tells you everything - no filters, just an ironic smile tugging at the corner of the mouth.

The tough stories are balanced with moments of humor and self-irony.

This isn't a book about perfection or cookie-cutter recipes for happiness.

It's about dust, sweat, mud, and lessons carved into the skin. Between the lines, you might hear echoes of your own experiences - if you dare to look beyond appearances.

There's no strict chronology; chapters flow into each other, building a story that doesn't need a red thread - because life isn't linear.

It's a beautiful chaos - dirt, asphalt, golden sand - all woven into words about people, places, and moments worth seeing.

From Scraping By to Soaring High doesn't pretend to hand you answers.

It's more of a conversation, an open invitation to see life as it is: rough but beautiful, heavy but meaningful.

Writing has no rules, just as life doesn't hand you a manual. And that's exactly where its beauty lies.

If you want to live a little more honestly, a little more vulnerable, and see beyond the masks, this book is for you.

Prefer the smell of ink and paper?

From Scraping By to Soaring High is also available as a paperback edition.

You can find it under its Romanian title, De la sărăcie la extaz, perfect for those who love the weight of a real book in their hands.