I was nearly five the first time I learned that words could make people disappear. It was a beautiful spring evening in 1974, an ordinary weekday in our apartment in Yerevan. My grandmother and I sat at the small table on our fourth-floor balcony watching our neighbors on the street below go about their evening…
Category: worldbuilding
Author Interview on Jolene’s Books and Writers Talk
A few months ago I was fortunate to have been interviewed by Jolene MacFadden of Jolene’s Books and Writers Talk. She asked some really great questions. Here’s the link to the Spotify Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/2Ul8x5YgXXRPjifTqMwpVq?utm_source=generator
Lost (and found) in Translation
There are moments when I sit at my computer, fingers hovering over the keyboard, searching for an English word that simply doesn’t exist. How do you translate the Armenian word, “մարդկայինություն” (mardkayinutyun), into a fantasy novel? The closest English equivalent might be “humanity” or “humaneness,” but it carries deeper layers, a profound sense of what…
A Search for Belonging
Growing up, the question “Where are you from?” used to leave me speechless. Not because I didn’t know the answer, but because I had too many answers and none of them felt complete. One particular memory replays in my mind like a movie stuck on repeat. It’s Saturday evening, and my family and I are…
Between Worlds: Why I Write the Stories I Needed
I still remember the first time I found a book with an Armenian character in my local library. I was maybe twelve, scanning the shelves like I always did, not really expecting anything as I flipped through pages of books that looked interesting. Then it happened. I saw that name—unmistakably Armenian—and my heart actually jumped….
More Than Just a Meal: Food as Storytelling Magic
When I’m building a fantasy world, I love discovering all the various cultural details that can bring a story to life. One of my absolute favorites is food. There’s something magical about how a simple meal can reveal so much about characters, cultures, and the world they inhabit. In Light Weaver, I wove Armenian culinary…
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