Ronesa Aveela

Who Is Ronesa?

Ronesa is the pen name of two authors: Nelly Toncheva and Rebecca Carter.

The main force behind the work, Nelly, the creative genius, was born in Bulgaria and moved to the US in the 1990s. She was raised with stories of wild Samodivi, Kikimora, the dragons Zmey and Lamia, the witch Baba Yaga, and much more. She grew up under the Communist regime, which she mentions in passing in her memoir, The Wanderer, which covers more cultural aspects than political. When the opportunity arose for her and her family to leave the country after a new government formed, she did so. In her memoir, she talks about some of her experiences, the tears and the smiles, of being an immigrant.

Nelly

In Nelly’s free time, she enjoys painting. Her artistic interests include the female figure, Greek and Thracian mythology, folklore tales, and the natural world interpreted through her eyes. Her paintings and illustrations make their way into Ronesa’s books. She is married and has two children.

Her writing partner, Rebecca, has led a much quieter life. She was born and raised in the New England area (USA). She has a background in writing and editing, as well as having a love of all things from different cultures. Her interest in mythology and folklore began in high school, when studying Greco-Roman mythology, and her assigned deity was Athena. This goddess of wisdom opened a whole new world beyond the standard fare of Agatha Christie and Taylor Caldwell that Rebecca normally read. She was hooked.

And so, when Rebecca met Nelly at work, a whole new adventure awaited them. Nelly had written a fiction book about a village in Bulgaria she had visited with her husband, but was looking for someone, as she said, “to make it sound better in English.” And so, Ronesa was born, a personage we like to call “the creative power of two.”

Rebecca has now learned so much about Bulgarian culture, folklore, and rituals, and writes to share that knowledge with others.

Together, their writing goal is to make people aware of a culture rich with traditions that date back thousands of years to the ancient Thracians who inhabited parts of Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria, and other Slavic nations.