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
‘Unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years’ says the renowned Neil Gaiman about Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and…

‘OK, we’ll go there someday,’ she said and I said ‘Fine, great’ and walked away since then I’ve been waiting, every day hoping I would…

It smells like snow tonight The air splits open your lungs Every breath, a pale sprite Whispers in unknown tongues

What is it about these lights That makes us feel joy and cheer Is it their sparkling warmth Or the memory of someone dear

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.