Dr. Nyri A. Bakkalian
Dr. Nyri A. Bakkalian is an Armenian American queer woman by birth and a military historian by training. She received her doctorate in history from the University of Pittsburgh in 2017. She is proud to have called both the American and Japanese northeasts her home. She has produced nonfiction, fiction, and photography content for more than a dozen publications, including two newspapers and five anthologies, as well as for Eisner Award-nominated author Magdalene Visaggio's Kim & Kim. Her debut novel was Grey Dawn: A Tale of Abolition and Union, published in 2020 by Balance of Seven Press. She hosts the podcast Friday Night History. What's her secret, you ask? Garlic and Turkish coffee (but really, mostly Turkish coffee). Come say hi to her on Twitter, Facebook, Twitch, and Patreon.
Excerpt from Grey Dawn: A Tale of Abolition and Union (Balance of Seven Press, 2020)
"In all seriousness, Leigh. I'm glad to have the chance to stay with you. You are . . . erm . . . you understand."
I buried my face in my hands. "Nah, I'm just some lost broad who doesn't even know where the fuck she wants to take her life next. And besides, what do I know? You fought at Gettysburg and Brandy Station—"
"And you were at places I couldn't even have imagined, in wars bloodier than I could've conceived: Tal Afar and Al-Najaf, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor and in the Korengal," she interjected gently but firmly. "We have both seen the elephant. Not just that, but you've helped me finally name—and in doing so, better understand—who I am. 'Lesbian'—the name evokes the ancients, but to know that it is an identity, an experience, something that other people don't just think about, that they write of it, read of it, and live it under the sun—why, that has meant far more than I might express."
Her hand was at my shoulder, and she'd turned, knee brushing against mine.
I looked up. My eyes swam with tears.
Her auburn hair, the freckles on her ruddy cheeks, the warmth of her strong hand on my shoulder.
She was magnificent.
Kiss me, dammit.
"Leigh," she murmured. The swagger, the bravado—it was all gone, and she was just one woman, guileless and open.
"Yeah?"
"May I kiss you?"
"In all seriousness, Leigh. I'm glad to have the chance to stay with you. You are . . . erm . . . you understand."
I buried my face in my hands. "Nah, I'm just some lost broad who doesn't even know where the fuck she wants to take her life next. And besides, what do I know? You fought at Gettysburg and Brandy Station—"
"And you were at places I couldn't even have imagined, in wars bloodier than I could've conceived: Tal Afar and Al-Najaf, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor and in the Korengal," she interjected gently but firmly. "We have both seen the elephant. Not just that, but you've helped me finally name—and in doing so, better understand—who I am. 'Lesbian'—the name evokes the ancients, but to know that it is an identity, an experience, something that other people don't just think about, that they write of it, read of it, and live it under the sun—why, that has meant far more than I might express."
Her hand was at my shoulder, and she'd turned, knee brushing against mine.
I looked up. My eyes swam with tears.
Her auburn hair, the freckles on her ruddy cheeks, the warmth of her strong hand on my shoulder.
She was magnificent.
Kiss me, dammit.
"Leigh," she murmured. The swagger, the bravado—it was all gone, and she was just one woman, guileless and open.
"Yeah?"
"May I kiss you?"
Recommended books for new writers:
- The Passing of the Armies (Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain)
- The Things They Carried (Tim O'Brien)
- I'm Looking Through You (Jennifer Finney Boylan)
- Every Heart a Doorway (Seanan McGuire)
- Fiction Tinker's Guide to Whimsical Worlds (Theodore Niretac Tinker)
Workshop Leadership Philosophy: One size does not fit all; everyone has different needs and different learning styles. I'm here to offer a guiding hand to help you sharpen your writing and some of its associated skillsets for what you're needing to accomplish, and hopefully to do so in a memorable, unorthodox, and humorous way.