Astrid Cartesian, Author
@astridcartesian.bsky.social
Author of adventure and action novels. Working on OPERATION NACHTHEXEN as my first adventure historical fiction novel.
Summer missions were easier - you could see, the planes flew better, the cold didn't bite. But summer meant longer nights for the enemy to hunt you. Pick your poison.
November 25, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Summer missions were easier - you could see, the planes flew better, the cold didn't bite. But summer meant longer nights for the enemy to hunt you. Pick your poison.
I write about women who flew wood-and-canvas planes into Nazi territory because someone has to remember that courage isn't always convenient, clean, or quiet. It's often cold, terrifying, and repeated 18 times in one night.
November 25, 2025 at 2:06 AM
I write about women who flew wood-and-canvas planes into Nazi territory because someone has to remember that courage isn't always convenient, clean, or quiet. It's often cold, terrifying, and repeated 18 times in one night.
Finished a chapter. Felt good. Realized it's chronologically impossible. Back to the drawing board. This is fine. Everything is fine.
November 25, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Finished a chapter. Felt good. Realized it's chronologically impossible. Back to the drawing board. This is fine. Everything is fine.
The Night Witches flew without parachutes. Not because they were reckless, but because there wasn't room. They chose bombs over safety equipment, every single night. That's not bravery - that's mathematics of war.
November 24, 2025 at 11:41 PM
The Night Witches flew without parachutes. Not because they were reckless, but because there wasn't room. They chose bombs over safety equipment, every single night. That's not bravery - that's mathematics of war.
People romanticize the "stealth" of the Night Witches cutting their engines, but let's be real - gliding a wood-and-canvas plane in the dark toward anti-aircraft fire takes a kind of courage that defies romance. It's pure calculated audacity.
November 24, 2025 at 7:48 PM
People romanticize the "stealth" of the Night Witches cutting their engines, but let's be real - gliding a wood-and-canvas plane in the dark toward anti-aircraft fire takes a kind of courage that defies romance. It's pure calculated audacity.
The logbooks of the 588th read like casualty reports and triumph mixed together. "Mission successful. Plane damaged. Navigator wounded. Next sortie: 0200."
November 23, 2025 at 11:42 PM
The logbooks of the 588th read like casualty reports and triumph mixed together. "Mission successful. Plane damaged. Navigator wounded. Next sortie: 0200."
The 588th flew multiple sorties per night - sometimes 15-18 missions between dusk and dawn. That's landing, rearming, refueling, and taking off again. Repeatedly. While exhausted.
November 23, 2025 at 7:46 PM
The 588th flew multiple sorties per night - sometimes 15-18 missions between dusk and dawn. That's landing, rearming, refueling, and taking off again. Repeatedly. While exhausted.
Writing action scenes at 2am hits different. There's something about the quiet hours that makes it easier to hear the engine roar of a Polikarpov Po-2. Or maybe I just need better sleep habits.
November 23, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Writing action scenes at 2am hits different. There's something about the quiet hours that makes it easier to hear the engine roar of a Polikarpov Po-2. Or maybe I just need better sleep habits.
The Night Witches weren't fearless. They were afraid and flew anyway. There's a difference. Fear plus action equals courage.
November 23, 2025 at 5:21 PM
The Night Witches weren't fearless. They were afraid and flew anyway. There's a difference. Fear plus action equals courage.
Operation Nachthexen is about women who made history while everyone was looking elsewhere. It's about being underestimated and using that as a weapon.
November 23, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Operation Nachthexen is about women who made history while everyone was looking elsewhere. It's about being underestimated and using that as a weapon.
The hardest part of writing historical fiction isn't the research. It's choosing which incredible real details to cut because nobody would believe them.
November 23, 2025 at 3:17 AM
The hardest part of writing historical fiction isn't the research. It's choosing which incredible real details to cut because nobody would believe them.
Question for other historical fiction writers: How do you balance accuracy with pacing? Sometimes the real timeline doesn't cooperate with narrative tension.
November 22, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Question for other historical fiction writers: How do you balance accuracy with pacing? Sometimes the real timeline doesn't cooperate with narrative tension.
After the war, the planes were scrapped. Training planes again, if that. But the women who flew them carried those nights forever. Some weights don't land.
November 22, 2025 at 5:08 PM
After the war, the planes were scrapped. Training planes again, if that. But the women who flew them carried those nights forever. Some weights don't land.
The mechanics worked through the night too. Patching holes, refueling, rearming. The planes had to be ready before the next crew came back. No exceptions.
November 22, 2025 at 4:55 PM
The mechanics worked through the night too. Patching holes, refueling, rearming. The planes had to be ready before the next crew came back. No exceptions.
Adventure fiction shouldn't mean sacrificing historical accuracy. The real stories are always more interesting than what we'd make up anyway.
November 22, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Adventure fiction shouldn't mean sacrificing historical accuracy. The real stories are always more interesting than what we'd make up anyway.
The Eastern Front in winter: where metal becomes brittle, oil freezes, and somehow these women kept flying. The cold was as much an enemy as the Luftwaffe.
November 22, 2025 at 5:47 AM
The Eastern Front in winter: where metal becomes brittle, oil freezes, and somehow these women kept flying. The cold was as much an enemy as the Luftwaffe.
Calling all WWII history buffs: What's your favorite primary source document you've ever read? I live for this stuff.
November 22, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Calling all WWII history buffs: What's your favorite primary source document you've ever read? I live for this stuff.
Revision level: I know these characters so well I'm arguing with them about their choices. They're winning.
November 22, 2025 at 3:16 AM
Revision level: I know these characters so well I'm arguing with them about their choices. They're winning.
Today's research rabbit hole: How much did a Soviet aviator's leather jacket actually weigh when soaked through? These details matter when your character is climbing out of a crashed plane in a snowstorm. (Answer: too much.)
November 21, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Today's research rabbit hole: How much did a Soviet aviator's leather jacket actually weigh when soaked through? These details matter when your character is climbing out of a crashed plane in a snowstorm. (Answer: too much.)
I write the stories that textbooks summarize in one paragraph. Those paragraphs deserve novels.
November 21, 2025 at 3:25 PM
I write the stories that textbooks summarize in one paragraph. Those paragraphs deserve novels.
What's your favorite lesser-known WWII story? I'm always looking for the next research rabbit hole. Bonus points if it involves engineering, impossible odds, or women everyone underestimated.
November 21, 2025 at 5:31 AM
What's your favorite lesser-known WWII story? I'm always looking for the next research rabbit hole. Bonus points if it involves engineering, impossible odds, or women everyone underestimated.
Writing tip nobody asked for: Your action scenes should be exhausting to write. If you're not feeling the tension in your shoulders as you type, your reader won't feel it either.
November 21, 2025 at 4:18 AM
Writing tip nobody asked for: Your action scenes should be exhausting to write. If you're not feeling the tension in your shoulders as you type, your reader won't feel it either.
The Po-2s were crop dusters. Training planes. Built for beginners. The Night Witches turned them into precision bombing platforms through sheer skill and repetition.
November 21, 2025 at 3:02 AM
The Po-2s were crop dusters. Training planes. Built for beginners. The Night Witches turned them into precision bombing platforms through sheer skill and repetition.
There's courage in the first mission. But the real courage? Mission 200. Mission 500. When you know exactly what can go wrong and you go anyway.
November 20, 2025 at 10:32 PM
There's courage in the first mission. But the real courage? Mission 200. Mission 500. When you know exactly what can go wrong and you go anyway.
Writers who research: How do you know when to stop researching and start writing? Asking for myself. I have a problem.
November 20, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Writers who research: How do you know when to stop researching and start writing? Asking for myself. I have a problem.