Elena May asked Katherine Arden:

This book sounds amazing. Just got it and can't wait to start it! I was wondering about Vasya's name. Is she in any way based on the fairy-tale character Vasilisa the Beautiful, or is the name random? Thanks and congrats on your debut!

Katherine Arden My main character's full name is Vasilisa Petrovna. Her name comes partially from the fairy tale Vasilisa and partially because there was a little girl I knew named Vasilisa, who was the inspiration for my young heroine. I agonized over her nickname, Vasya, a bit, because Vasya is much more common today as a masculine nickname--a shortening of Vasilii. Calling a girl Vasya is...unexpected, to say the least. But all the other possibilities I considered: Vasa, Syuta, Vasenya, were either to preciously feminine for my tomboyish heroine or too weird looking once they were transliterated. Vasyura? What? So I just said what the hell and went with Vasya. I still like it.

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