More than 100 individuals braved frigid temperatures and drove from as far away as the Twin Cities to see and hear author Robert Alexander last Friday. They were not disappointed. “There are many people who may write better than me, but I am good at finishing things,” Alexander humbly explained. He believes this is an essential element of his success as an author. Alexander had studied Russian and briefly considered hotel management before settling on a writing career. Robert Alexander is a pseudonym for R.D. Zimmerman. The Minneapolis-based author is well known for his mystery novels and mystery puzzles. But he has had a lifetime fascination with the Russian royal family, particularly Nicholas and Alexandra and their tragic end. The Romanovs were executed in Siberia in the summer of 1918, but their bodies were not found until 1991. This recent discovery – and the testing that verified they were indeed the tsar and his family – rekindled world interest. This nearly-modern, lovingly close family is the most photographed and documented royal family ever. A single comment in the published diary of tsarina Alexandra on her last day alive was the inspirational spark for Alexander’s historical fiction The Kitchen Boy. In their exile after the Russian Revolution, the royal family’s household had dwindled from 15,000 servants to a mere four. The kitchen boy was removed from the house just hours before the execution. The Bolsheviks felt the 14-year-old boy was too young to be held accountable (and executed) for staying with the Romanovs. Nothing more was ever written historically about this boy – until Alexander’s fictional book. The Kitchen Boy was a digression from Alexander’s usual genre of mysteries. This historical fiction about the last days of the Russian royal family in 1918 was well researched and based on historical facts – with a few “what ifs” thrown in. What if someone in the royal household had survived and witnessed that brutal night of executions? What if that lone survivor, the kitchen boy, was living in cognito in the United States? What if there was an explanation to two of the biggest questions about the Romanov family: why are two of their bodies missing from their mass gravesite, and whatever happened to nearly 40 pounds of world-class gems? Alexander told his Kimball audience that The Kitchen Boy was originally twice as long. His original manuscript included two stories woven together in alternating chapters, one set in 1918 and the other in present-day Chicago. The manuscript was summarily rejected by 15 publishers. As this was a new genre for Alexander, he sent the manuscript to his former agent for suggestions. “Lose the broad in the middle,” was her advice, referring to the contemporary story of the granddaughter of the tsar’s kitchen boy. So Alexander cut 225 pages – fully half of his novel – and resubmitted it. The rest, as they say, is history. He was genuinely impressed at the turnout Friday night – 112 people had come to the “Dinner with an author” Nov. 7 (coincidentally the long-celebrated anniversary of the Russian Revolution). He mentioned that his writers’ group in the Twin Cities is happy when 25 people show up. “I can’t believe so many came to support the library; this is great!” he was heard to say several times during the evening in Kimball. Alexander was the invited guest of the fourth annual “Dinner with an author” sponsored by the Kimball Area Friends of the Library. He is the author of more than 20 books, most of them mysteries. His current project is another novel of historical fiction, Rasputin’s Daughter. The book was purchased by his publisher based on only 25 pages, so it’s sure to be another exciting read.
