When I read fairy tales as a child, I pictured myself as a prince-in-waiting or a mighty hero, and sometimes even as Koshchei the Immortal. But who could have thought that one day, to survive, I really would have to take the place of a fairy-tale hero? Only not as a great wizard or warrior, but as Baba Yaga. The job comes with a cranky little cottage, a cat and a raven that can’t stand each other, an hysterical princess who needs a groom, and a forest full of wonders. And how can you explain all of that to them—why Yaga isn’t “a woman”?