Introducing Alonka and Puck

When I first conjured the Bane War series, I knew I wanted eccentric superheroines. Rapunzel has always been one of my favorite fairy tale characters because of her ridiculously long hair and spunk, so I set to work making a character inspired by her. Since I’m a twin, I figured why not make this character have a twin, too?

I searched for real-life rapunzels and found none other than Ukrainian rapunzel Alena Kravchenko. She was gracious enough to grant me use of her image for my books. My Ukrainian cover artist, Anistasiia, is almost done with the other cover for Games of Blood and Shadow, using Alena’s image on Alonka and Puck, who stand triumphantly after having chopped the feet off a frost giant with their braid. These twins are inspired by sensual Alena and her fabulous hair.

The twins race is mavka, a Ukrainian legend. I’ve altered it, merging elements of succubi to create these complex anti-heroes: masters of fashion, fencing, flinging spells, and above all, trickery. One minute they might be attending a grand ball, holding everyone spellbound, the next they could be playing a hilarious trick on an unwitting emperor, ending the day on a tumultuous battlefield.

By the end of this second book, Dragan, their love interest, won’t know what hit him.

These twin demons, along with Saffa, Ishethra, and Zelene, are the true angels in my series, leading the fight against the Seven Hells and the brutal archdevils who seek to subjugate all.

Midjourney pictures are worth one thousand words: