Ok let’s do this people #TzarCheekbones

1: why yes, I did ask my agent for permission to write a book entirely inspired by this specific photo (do you see where the working title came from yet?)

2: I’ve wanted to write a book in homage to my roots as a Russian Jew for a while, and the opening scene takes place in the city of Wilnetzk—a play on Wilna, the city where my family lived for generations. It’s Vilnius, Lithuania today.

3: the book’s magic system is centered around Jewish mysticism. This is an aspect of Judaism that I didn’t know much about until I started research for this book, because modern day Judaism largely eschewed mysticism in response to persecution and accusations of witchcraft.

4: for example, the book features a villain, Alexey Balakin, who is resurrected according to beliefs from Jewish necromancy (it involves an airtight dome, sap from the tree of life, a friend or lover hacking up your body into pieces, and cooking it for 9 months).

5: the book features a talking severed head that predicts the future (a Russian Jewish folktale). Its personality will be based on my grandpa, who was beloved but also exasperating to no end. He always wanted to be a writer, and I know he would have been proud of me for this.

6: this is a dual-POV ensemble cast adult fantasy, where of course everyone is queer. Dimitri (Dima) Alexyev identifies as bisexual, which I wanted to make a prominent part of this story .

7: I want this story to explore what it means to be a monster, and what it would feel like to have to do horrific things to save the people you love, or those you have a duty to protect

8: haha, this is getting hard people, this is a baby idea nugget

Dima’s best friend and all around badass soldier Annika has a nasty dog inspired by Prancer the evil chihuahua: https://twitter.com/dog_rates/status/1386726849787535360

9: Dima (which, btw, is the Russian diminutive of Dimitri - kinda like a nickname used by friends/family) has a huge thing for macarons. No, I do not care one bit if this isn’t appropriate for my 19th c Russia inspired setting. His life is hard, let him eat macarons seductively

10: Zora, my female MC, was a soldier conscripted into the army by Dima in his effort to protect the throne from Alexey, his recently immortalized ex boyfriend. Her entire family was killed in one of Alexey’s massacres.

She’s out to murder an exiled Dima in retribution

11: Zora struggles with a physically limiting chronic illness, like my own. Like me, she’s a stubborn bitch and refuses to let it get her down.

12: Alexey has an army that is full of soldiers possessed by the ghosts of their dead friends and relatives. Voluntary possession is common in Jewish necromancy - but this has unexpected consequences.

13: Zora loves knives and really strong black tea and vengeance served very cold.
Dimitri loves macarons and high-quality velvets and burying his nose in an old-smelling book.

14: Dima’s crew =
Annika (she/her, general soldier badass)
Lada (she/her, general political badass)
Vasily (he/him, flirtatious spymaster)
Mischa (they/them, resident soft sweet healer (and expert torturer))

15: Vasily is a fan of well cut suits and showing off (his perfect butt). His favorite way of extracting information is turning himself into a well-placed honeypot.
Sometimes this gets in the way of timely info extraction and Dima gets a tiny bit exasperated.

16: Lada can outwit anyone in a game of chess - or in a game of politics. But she didn’t see Alexey’s betrayal coming, and ever since she doubts herself.
Dima still believes in her and will always take her advice on the next move to make.

17: this one’s for @hannahvanvels - I’m pitching this as Shadow and Bone meets the Russian revolution with a nice side dish of necromancy and Jewish myth.
Vibe: dark, sexy, dangerous, I’m going to make you cry but in a delicious and cathartic way.

18: Mischa always wanted to be a doctor. They saved Dima’s leg when he was young and fell of a horse on a hunt. Dima paid for them to train as a doctor - and they became lifelong friends.
Mischa can heal. But they also know how to hurt. And they’ll do it to save their friends.