There aren’t enough resources on Slavic mythology.
There, I said it.
One of the reasons why I wrote Heroes & Harbingers was because I fell in love with sirins and alkonosts. I wanted to write a story that might introduce them to non-slavic cultures. I understood I would soon find myself explaining that a sirin was a Russian mythological bird-woman harbinger of death. That’s something that takes a while to process. It took me a minute too.
What I didn’t expect to encounter were people who outright thought I was writing about sirens and misspelling it. So, I want to make it really clear right now that I didn’t spend a year research and then a year writing a book where I misspelled siren as sirin every time. Two different myths entirely.
Honestly, that doesn’t really bother me. The confusion is understandable. But I do feel sad that Russian mythology isn’t better known to western culture. What I’ve learned about it has been in bits and pieces strewn across the internet.
Yes, almost everyone with any interest in folklore knows about Baba Yaga, but I want to go beyond that. After years of digging around, what I’ve collected is just enough about sirins to write a book with my own twist and Pinterest updates that are entirely in Cyrillic. It’s a little pathetic.
So, I decided to get my wallet out and start paying for information.
I don’t know if you know this about writers, but we don’t make a lot of money. Most of us will never leave our day jobs or even make a profit from book sales.
I shouldn’t be spending money to make quality content, but here I am. Some people buy fancy shoes, clothes, and cars. I buy mugs, books, and anything I need to make the best books I can. So, yeah, when I saw a used hardback about Russian mythology on sale I bought it. I don’t feel a bit guilty about either. Hopefully, next time you hear from me, I’ll be talking about how much I learned. Let’s all send up a hopeful prayer, wish, vibe etc that this will come true.
In the meantime, I’m going to be imagining which of the many Russian models in traditional dress on Pinterest would be Pavlina and which would be Luda. Here are my best guesses.
Now that we’ve discussed that, let me share some really fun stuff!
In case you haven’t noticed, I am both a giant nerd and a huge geek. On occasion, I’m even big old dork. As someone with a lifelong membership into the geek community, I’ve been a fan of conventions for a long time.
This September, for the first time, I had my own booth at one. Ancient City Con was an absolute blast! If you’re reading this and I met you there, please know that you were a big part of why I had such a great experience.
I sold out of every physical copy I had of Heroes & Harbingers. I almost sold out of all my Telverin books too. Since I’m going to have a booth at Jacksonville’s Wizarding Market on November 5th, it’s time for me to stock up on more copies, and I’m just hoping that I have enough!
I’ve gotten a chance to read more super cool stuff.
In June, I was lucky enough to read Speechless in Achten Tan by Debbie Iancu-Haddad. To my delight, she’s started publishing shorter companion pieces to expand her universe. They don’t give away anything about the books she’s releasing in her Sands of Achten Tan series. They only make the reading experience richer.
She just released two prequels to her upcoming book, The Bone Master: Book 2 of the Sands of Achten Tan series.
Here’s the super exciting part. Right now, one of them is free! You can grab In the Heart of the Storm on BookFunnel! So, yes, you bet I’m going to spending some long nights with my eyes glued to my Kindle app.
Since it will be another month until you hear from me again, I hope you all have a wonderful October, and if you’re anything like me, the spookiest of Halloweens.
Did you like reading this? Then, you’ll love my books!
You can find all of my published works, even the anthologies I’ve contributed to by clicking the “Learn More” button below!