Marisila Ermul
September Character Interview
Patricia Parrington ~ September 22, 2026
Hello my lovely readers and fellow booklovers! For those of you new here, I, your literary host Patricia Parrington, have the pleasure of interviewing characters from books all over the world.
Today villainess Marisila Ermul is here with us from the adult literary folkloric fantasy novel Pepelina, The Slavic Cinderella by Mary-Anne Frost. Mary-Anne Frost writes literary folkloric fantasy focusing on fairytale retellings.
Meet Marisila
Welcome to Fable Features!
[Patricia notices her guest eyeing the scorched hole in one of the couch cushions. She grimaces and places a checkered pillow overtop it.]
Oh yes, that. Sorry—there was a magic accident. I promise our studio seating is normally more pleasant looking with fewer scorch marks.
[She smiles sheepishly and clasps her hands in her lap.]
What are your thoughts on magic?
Well, well. It seems to me that you know a bit about magic as you just recently hosted a firebird in your studio. Please do not hide evidence. Not from me. I believe magic is real. It is found in objects but not magical mirrors. Once I seized a magical vegetable slipper from my stepdaughter. My wicked desire to own it ended up burning me like a fire magic, and my whole life became somewhat tragic. I don’t regret it, though. I would do it all over again.
[She moves her leg, showing off her white rose slipper while her eyes sweep the floor looking for firebird feathers.]
[Patricia looks at the slipper admiringly.]
That is a pretty slipper. It must be worth it if you’re willing to let tragedy enter your life because of it.
Moving on from magic, what gets you excited?
Three things: perfume, cabbage roses, and hand fans.
[Marisila opens her mouth and starts to sing.]
Perfume, perfume on my smooth, clear skin,
One spray of yours will stop my stepdaughter’s sin.
Cabbage rose, cabbage rose in the ceramic vase,
It is your sharp, black thorns my foes will face.
Hand fan, hand fan, please rest in my lap
But when anger hits, you and me will snap!
Wow, what a fascinating song. Did you compose it yourself?
Of course I did! It is a lyrical ode to my most prized possessions and an elegant message to those who would dare to cross me. It is amusing to use your literary talent to stir a bit of mischief (no intentional harm, of course).
Of course not. You’re very talented!
Without saying the category, what are your top five?
[Marisila picks up a pumpkin-shaped white cushion with rose patterns. Her hand glides slowly over the silk cushion, a big grin on her face.]
My number 1 is silk. Oh, the product of caterpillar’s magic. I captured one, but he got away.
[Marisila puts down the pumpkin-shaped cushion and points her finger at a green square cushion, her almond-shaped nails lit up under the studio’s light.]
Nothing comes even close to the luxury of the velvet. That is why I forbade my stepdaughter to wear it.
[Marisila lowers her hand and twirls a strand of her hair. Then, she nods towards the other three cushions on the couch. One is glossy black. One wooly and plush. One embroidered with Slavic folk geometric patterns.]
Then satin. Wool. And linen.
[Patricia nods slowly, listening.]
Very interesting. I like those!
[She shifts on the couch and smooths out her dress.]
So I’m noticing some tension when you mention your stepdaughter. What’s your relationship like? Has she been your stepdaughter for very long?
Oh, I am glad you mention the tension. Our relationship? Turbulent to say the least. She has been my stepdaughter for a while, and long enough I would say. After the Kolyada ball, she broke away from the literary cage I built for her, and our relationship after that has not been the same. My failure to keep her stories untold still haunts me. BUT as a literary peer, I must say I envy her. She took on the censors all alone and outwitted them with a story better than I ever could!
[Marisila claps, pride in her eyes.]
How bold of her to take on the censors all alone! She sounds like a skilled girl.
Changing topics a bit here, what’s something you really miss?
I don’t like saying this, but I miss the days I spent in a lavish mansion with my first husband (who is also the father of my two beautiful daughters). We were both passionate about writing but not accepted in the literary circles. Together, we turned into literary rebels. We used to write complaints late into the night and then we sent them off to the publishing houses. Sometimes, we walked at night wearing masks and littered the streets with scrolls demanding closure of publishing houses that acted like censors. Back then, I never thought I would become the worst of censors. Ironic. How a literary rebel fell for her own trick.
Well now you have me intrigued. Do you mind sharing a little bit more about becoming the worst of censors?
Perhaps I would need to write a biography to answer this fully. Anyway, I became the worst of censors not when I tried to silence my stepdaughter’s stories but by forcing her into hands of censors who would allow her to write only what suited their dark agendas. To become the worst of censors, you must be a literary puppet first, especially performing well for the masters. The pain caused by strings can make you a grand literary puppet master. Eventually. It did work for me.
Ahh okay, that makes sense. It’s certainly one way to manipulate people to act and write as you’d like them to!
[Patricia glances at a paper and chuckles.]
Oh I love this question. If you had to choose between being gifted a baby cow, baby goat, or baby duck, which would you choose?
I would choose a baby cow. After all, when a baby cow grows up, she produces a lot of milk. You do know milk is a must-have ingredient for a beautiful smooth skin, right? That is especially true for Slavic folk beauty recipes. My bathing house always has some milk ready, and not just for beauty rituals. Before the altar of goddess Morana, I keep a bowl of milk along with a handful of black stones and animal bones.
[Marisila clasps her hands as if in prayer or about to cast a spell of some kind.]
I did not know that about milk! I’ll have to make a note of that.
What are you reluctant to tell people?
I am reluctant to tell people about my first Kolyada midnight ball. I went there to gain permission to open a publishing house for underrepresented writers. And I secured it with my wit, not with charm or beauty. It did not take long for my publishing house to become very popular with writers, and other houses saw it as a threat. They sabotaged it and ended up buying it only to close it down. After losing my publishing house, I stopped writing and reading. Broke and desperate, I had no choice but to side with the Wormed to survive.
[Marisila tilts her head down to hide the emotion in her eyes.]
I’m so sorry to hear that. That must have been awful to go through.
[Patricia cocks her head, thinking.]
If you had to pinpoint one person or event who contributed to a major part of forming who you are today, who or what would that be?
My mother-in-law! She was as beautiful as goddess Lada, but she had the hardest of hearts. I still remember her garden of white rose bushes and how she held pruning scissors like a weapon. She carried herself proudly and never cared that her silk gown was full of rose thorns. Before she died, Mother-in-law told me something that became my life mantra.
Never grieve. Never cry. Never mourn.
Be sharp and prickly like a rose thorn.
Never let anyone see you worn out or torn,
For you are powerful, rich, and noble-born.
It sounds like she was a very powerful influence on your life. I can see why you looked up to her!
Well, we are almost out of time. I do have one more question I’d like to ask you, though, so we’ll end with this: How do you want others to perceive you?
People perceive? I wish. No, my sweet darling. Most people only judge. But, if we lived in a perfect fairytale world, I would like them to say: “Once upon a time there was a woman who bloomed like a cabbage rose. She planted her literary garden for other writers, but life snapped her stem in half. She not only lost her literary garden of stories but also her petals of kindness and grace. The woman became cruel, bitter, and manipulative (like many fairytale villains) until her stepdaughter redeemed her like a literary savior does—with a story.”
[Marisila’s eyes fill with tears. She frowns, but one tear slides down her cheek before she can brush it off.]
[Patricia smiles softly.]
I think that’s a wonderful hope—to be redeemed.
[She stands and offers a hand to Marisila.]
Thank you for coming out here today. I wish you the best of luck with all your future endeavors!
End of interview.
Want to Read More?
Visit Marisila’s author, Mary-Anne Frost, at her website, www.maryannefrostauthor.com and subscribe to her newsletter for folklore news and updates on her Australian Cinderella work-in-progress. You can purchase Pepelina, The Slavic Cinderella on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
cover: Pepelina 
author: Mary-Anne Frost
See Ya Next Time
Aaand that's all the time we have today. Thank you, readers, for coming. And thank you, Marisila, for letting us get to know you! See y'all next time.
If you would like to submit a character to be interviewed for a future issue of Fable Features, please send an email to linnae.writer@gmail.com with the subject line: Fable Features.
Please note that erotica and content with excessive vulgar language will not be accepted.
If you have questions you'd like Patricia Parrington to ask in a future interview, please submit them to linnae.writer@gmail.com with the subject line: Interview Questions.
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