When Emperor Trajan marched north to face the Dacians, it wasn’t just another Roman campaign. It was personal. The Dacians, led by their fierce king Decebalus, had grown too rich, too proud, and way too independent. For Rome, as a winning empire, Dacia was both an embarrassment and an obsession.
Continue reading “The River Treasure and One Map that Shouldn’t Exist”Chasing Dracula at Tihuța Pass, Between Fiction and the Carpathians
Chasing Dracula at Tihuța Pass, one Saint Andrew’s Eve when the wolves are said to speak and the living seal their doors with garlic, I strode that winding road. Between Fiction and the Carpathians was born there, where the veil thins and the line between myth and memory fades.
Continue reading “Chasing Dracula at Tihuța Pass, Between Fiction and the Carpathians”The Night of Returning Souls, It’s All Saints’ Night
On All Saints’ Night, when the veil between the living and the dead grows thin, I return through story to my Transylvanian roots. The Night of Returning Souls, written for Romania Insider is my take on the folklore and ghostly legends that haunt October.
Continue reading “The Night of Returning Souls, It’s All Saints’ Night”Sound Transylvanian Superstitions and Why We Still Believe in Old Magic
When it comes to superstitions, especially Transylvanian superstitions, even the most rational among us have whispered “touch wood” or avoided walking under a ladder. I know I have. Such old magic and weird beliefs have long offered humans a sense of control over a world that often feels cruelly unpredictable.
Superstitions are more than quirky cultural relics; they are the soul’s attempt to impose meaning on chaos. This is evident in Romania, particularly Transylvania, where the supernatural and the sacred have long shared the same threshold. While the Western world flinches at black cats and the number 13, in Transylvania we count our MANY fears differently.
Continue reading “Sound Transylvanian Superstitions and Why We Still Believe in Old Magic”One More Day Only – Special Price on My Novel Set in Medieval Transylvania, When Secrets Bloom
I wanted to share a little surprise with you — Amazon has extended the special Kindle deal on When Secrets Bloom for just one more day!
Continue reading “One More Day Only – Special Price on My Novel Set in Medieval Transylvania, When Secrets Bloom”