Sundress and Flaming Giblet Introduce New Editorial Intern, Marika von Zellen

Despite what you may think, the narrator of this introductory blog post is not the cat in the picture, but, in fact, the human behind the cat.

Now that we have that cleared up, let me introduce myself. My name Marika von Zellen, I’m twenty-four, and I have a degree in English and Creative Writing from Cornell College. I write books which, for some odd reason, always seem to end up as historical fiction. History is an obsession of mine that I can’t seem to shake, especially when it comes to women’s history and the barriers they faced. I like to push the boundaries of my female characters’ roles by trying to address the societal problems of their time; in other words, I attempt to break stereotypes and expectations about female characters in historical fiction.

It’s a pleasant perk that I live in Prague, where there’s some Gothic, gargoyle-laden tower or some Rococo, robin-egg-blue opera house around every corner. It makes writing historical fiction easier because inspiration is everywhere. Not to mention the human specimens you come across (yes, old man humming the Czech national anthem on the metro while wearing patchwork neon pants—you will end up in my novel). Prague is also a good place to live if you like to drink beer for breakfast.

Besides writing, I also love to edit, polish, and generally help make someone’s particular style shine the best that it can. That’s why I’m more than excited to be a part of SAFTA’s team as an Editorial Intern. Learning from like-minded people and engaging in a community of creative, intelligent, art junkies is my idea of paradise. Knowing the kind of support Sundress gives to women artists, the LGBTQ community, and just talented artists longing to find a voice, I had to jump at the opportunity to work with them. Though I haven’t actually “met” the team face-to-face, the warmth and energy they emit transfers strongly through the written word, straight across the Atlantic Ocean. Nope—I don’t need any more proof that I’m in the right place.