This is a space for the stories that linger. You’ll find Slavic myths retold, original poetry, book reviews, and honest writing about the creative life — the work behind the work, and the life behind the work. Old stories have always carried something we haven’t quite named yet. That’s why we keep returning to them.


I approached Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead with the particular wariness reserved for books that arrive already garlanded with praise. The Pulitzer. Oprah’s Book Club. Raving reviews online. The kind of unanimous applause that makes a reader suspicious before they’ve even cracked the spine. I was wrong to hesitate. The Boy Behind the…

Gods, spirits, and old tales

Poems for the moments that don’t fit

On writing, making things, and building a creative career

A worm Lives in my throat Gnaws at the core The rotten apple Force-fed every day Eggs pregnant with doubt Wants me to shout Whenever…

I enjoy carnivals, circuses, harlequins, masks, mystery, and the complete overturning and subversion of social norms, rules, and conventions that goes with them. One of…

The word feminist has been ladened with a load of negative baggage: you hate men, you burn bras, you hate your own tradition, you think…

You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfume and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads. –…

I’m Erna — writer, poet, devoted cat lady, and a marketer who came to it the strange way, through stories. Slavic mythology sits at the heart of this space, alongside original poetry, book reviews, and honest writing about the creative life.
Pull up a chair. There’s always something worth reading.
Beneath the Surface is a poetry collection about the things we don’t say out loud — the secrets, the weaknesses, the quiet monsters of everyday life. Read more.
New myths, new poems, new stories — whenever they’re ready.