Olesya Salnikova Gilmore

About Olesya Salnikova Gilmore

She’s the most happy penning historical fiction and fantasy inspired by Eastern European folklore. It was after reading Madeline Miller’s “Circe”, that she had the idea to even tackle a retelling of a witch with such a major presence in her own life. She realized that she could retell not just a classic story about a classic character, but also the story of a supposed villainess. Baba Yaga was a huge (and sometimes, very real) presence in Olesya’s childhood, which she spent in Moscow before moving to America. Her mom would often evoke her name every time Olesya misbehaved. Through the years, her fear of Yaga became a fascination that bordered on obsession. However she didn’t just want to write something about this fearsome old hag from the fairy tales, which was frequently shown as this fi