An Interview with Rebekah Shafer
Tell us about yourself!
I’m a thirty-something year old who dedicates massive amounts of time to finding beautiful moments wherever they might be lurking. The past couple years I have mostly been learning comfy, stay-at-home moments by spending time snuggling with two grey cats, trying out new recipes like Bolognese sauce or full-puff pastry, and watching way more tv then is good for me.
What does NobleBright fantasy mean to you? Why is it important?
For me, NobleBright means keeping a spiritual luminescence in the dark. A lot of stories that are popular right now are dramatically dark, and while that can be super impactful and artistic (I have a few favorites myself) I find that there is always a need for the higher calling. The idealistic journey. The cheering on of a main character who is intensely likable without the cringe factor.
How did you start writing?
My earliest attempt was a crayon drawn and carefully stapled together knock-off version of The Rainbow Fish when I was roughly 6-10 years old. From there I started writing plays to be performed with siblings or neighbors and typing out a fairytale style novel and a sort of addition to the Dear America Dairies series on our home computer. From there (as a young teen) I switched to hand writing novels onto legal pads with scribbled excitement and a few precious pages of black construction paper and my glow in the dark Milky Way Gel Pens. I had a lot of free time and a lot of ideas, and while none of the stories were what I would call publishable, they were excellent practice. Now I mostly use a laptop – sometimes with a mechanical keyboard addition for added aesthetics. I have an old typewriter that I would love to use more, but it is sooooo loud. Makes it hard to concentrate on what the characters are saying.
What are some of your favorite books/authors? Why?
Brandon Sanderson’s Warbreaker. Dianna Wynne Jones’ Enchanted Glass. Catherynne M Valente’s Radance. Anything that takes me to a new and unusual world and makes me care about people.
Please tell us about your world and your characters.
The first piece of The Luck Child I ever pictured was an image of a wrecked ship rising out of the sea and being cobbled back into place with glittering gleaming ice. Lots of fog. Very atmospheric. And I started right in to figure out what sort of world that ship could reside in. The overall world flavor is very fairy-tale with a hint of European influence and a Regency inspired time period.
With the characters, Cabernet came first. I’d asked myself what would be the worst thing that could happen to a friendly, outgoing character and came up with the idea that everyone forgets him. I then started writing him as a child and how he reacted to it, and then when I reached him as an adult I discovered that as determined as he had been to roll with the punches, the heartache was getting to him. There was something vaguely cathartic about writing a depressed character in a fantasy setting without making a big deal out of it. It felt to me like the best kind of representation. A matter of fact presence coupled with a genuine desire to grow and adapt.
Maugrim, the talking cat, appeared pretty early on in the draft. He seemed so classically fairytale I had to try, and then of course he proceeded to steal the entire show through numerous scenes. I wrote him before I was able to have any cats of my own and since getting my own I am pleased to see that I pretty much nailed cat behavior.
Rosemary actually got more page-time during the editing process. In the original draft she was barely there and I realized that that needed to change. She deserved her own goals and ideas and I loved the concept of putting a more STEM interested girl into a fairytale setting and throwing magic at her. She’s the most level headed character in the entire novel – let’s just say Cabernet is one lucky fellow.
Do you have any works in progress? Tell us about them.
At the moment, I do not. I’ve been focusing on personal growth the last few years and while I’ve poked at a few ideas, none of them have stuck. I have high hopes for this next year.
Where can we find you online?
Instagram is the place you can most often find me – @rebekahnovella – with life updates and author updates and cute cat content. I have a Facebook page under Author Shafer, but I will be the first to admit I tend to forget about it. My website is RebekahShafer.com
Did you hide any secrets in your book that only a few people will find?
Of course I did! There’s some pretty sneaky symbolism in there. But that would be telling.
What was your hardest scene to write?
The hardest scene to draft and edit was probably a specific scene with Maugrim in the last half of the book. You will know it when you find it. I cry my eyes out every time I get near it.
The hardest surprise scene to edit was actually anything having to do with Cabernet and Rosemary. I discovered that writing a romance does not come naturally to me, and having to create more content under editing deadlines was quite a challenge.
Have any of your books been made into audiobooks? If so, what are the challenges in producing an audiobook?
They have! Specifically The Luck Child has been released on Audible within the last year or so. It was very nice to have a publisher deal with the ins and outs of the process, but I still occasionally got handed an email with ten different narrator auditions and asked to narrow it down – or the time I was about to drive to Florida to visit friends for the weekend and suddenly found the entire audiobook in my inbox to be listened to and proofed. It was an adventure, and I am very pleased with the final result.
Where can readers purchase your book?
Signed copies are available at Uncommon Universes Press, and regular versions and audio versions can be obtained on the classic Amazon.
An Interview with Rabia Gale
Tell us about yourself!
I’m a homeschooling mom who prefers to go on adventures in the comfort of my living room. Reading and writing are a perfect fit for me; one activity feeds the other. I write about strange worlds in peril and flawed characters called to be heroes. I’m passionate about faith and duty, redemption and belonging. The alchemical spark of putting together ideas excites me: magic and mecha, dragons in space, giant squid and aircraft.
I live in Virginia with my husband, three children, and the obligatory writer’s cat.
What does NobleBright fantasy mean to you? Why is it important?
For me, noblebright fantasy faces darkness without wallowing in it or being overcome by it. Noblebright stories acknowledge the reality of evil and its ravages, but ultimately affirm the triumph of what is good and true and beautiful. The world we live in can often seem impersonal, scary, or meaningless. I want readers to come away from my stories with a sense of hope, a hope they can carry into their ordinary lives.
Please tell us about your world and your characters.
I love writing stories set in the aftermath of some disaster, and Rain Through Her Fingers is no exception. It takes place in an alternative Brighton, in the year 1824, after the city has been flooded and ruined by an unnatural tsunami. Dangerous faery creatures—hobgoblins, grindylows, and more—lurk in houses and roam the streets.
My protagonist Elaine has been in hiding all her life. Her mother warned her never to reveal her small magic, for fear of the government and the mob. She fled to Brighton after a confrontation with a stronger foe. And even now, as a survivor of the tsunami, she remains hidden in an attic, concealing her presence with charms.
Elaine’s situation is unsustainable. Her supplies are running low, her enchantments can’t protect her forever, and her hiding place is slowly becoming a trap. Still, she is unable to act until change comes in the form of a roguish treasure hunter breaking into her attic, bringing trouble in his wake.
Poor Elaine has to abandon her hiding place without a plan or preparation (ouch). But more than that, she has to make use of the magic she always considered weak, find her courage, and face her past. It is always satisfying to write about fearful characters rising to the challenge!
What was the most challenging part of writing this book?
The research! Rain Through Her Fingers was my first—and only—attempt at writing a story in a real-world setting. I was driven to be as accurate as I possibly could, which meant that I was elbow-deep in Regency-era house plans, Sussex folklore, old maps, and images of the Pavilion in Brighton. Imagine my horror at one point when I discovered that a hotel I’d written into the story did not exist in 1824! I had to edit it out, all the while thankful that I discovered the fatal error in time. I still live in (slight) dread of a reader pointing out another historical inaccuracy that slipped past my notice.
And that, dear reader, is why I largely write secondworld fantasy. Making up everything is a lot easier on my nerves.
Do you have any works in progress? Tell us about them!
I am currently at work on the final book of The Reflected City series, set in a Regency-inspired world. Debutante Arabella Trent came to the city of Lumen to enjoy her Season and live a life of fun and froth. But when she is unwittingly embroiled in a sinister plot that originates in the Shadow Lands, an in-between place inhabited by demons, phantasms, and wandering souls, she joins forces with formidable magician Trey Shield to protect the city she now calls home.
I also always have side projects in the works. The biggest one of these is The Heartwood Chronicles, an anime-inspired YA fantasy that started life as a web serial. Amber is a young mage, down on her luck and trapped in a dead-end town. She’s this close to working at a sweatshop that churns out generic spells when she encounters a group of teenaged mages. Accidentally caught up in their mission, Amber is given the chance to attend Heartwood Academy and finally find a place to belong.
Where can we find you online?
You can find out more about me and my books on my website. Sample my writing by checking out the first four completed arcs of The Heartwood Chronicles, available for free on my site, or by signing up to my newsletter to receive the collected episodes in e-book form (plus bonus story). Newsletter subscribers receive a monthly email with updates, a free story, and book recommendations.
An Interview with Abigail Falanga
Tell us about yourself!
I’m an author of fantasy and science fiction, living in New Mexico (the Land of Enchantment—very fitting!). I have always loved fairy tales deeply and started creating my own at an early age.
A Time of Mourning and Dancing is my first book. I’ve also published lots of flash fiction (it’s addictive) and short stories in various anthologies. My sister Sarah and I produce the Whitstead anthologies, set in a small Victorian English town where anything might happen.
When I’m not writing, I like to sew, bake and cook, and craft with paper and beads.
What does NobleBright fantasy mean to you? Why is it important?
I’ve only recently learned of the term NobleBright, and I love it. While the world has much darkness and there’s reason to explore darkness in stories, it is well worthwhile to hold fast to the light. Heroism and goodness ought to be celebrated and explored. Nobility and Light are both consistent themes in my writing for this reason.
What are some of your favorite books/authors? Why?
Some of my favourite authors are George MacDonald, Ellis Peters, C.S. Lewis, Dorothy L. Sayers, G.K. Chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkien, Margery Allingham, and Jane Austen.
And (ahem) the books are almost always better!
What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?
I think that Agatha Christie is underappreciated. She didn’t write only the mysteries she’s best known for; she also has some wonderful thrillers, and several books that are a little spooky.
Please tell us about your world and your characters.
The Floramancy Archives is set in an early medieval land. It is technically in “our” world: the history is the same and you could (probably) find all the locations on maps. But fae are real, existing just out of sight in otherworlds paralleling and overlapping the human realm; their magic is tied to plants and other natural things. When faeries lend their names to human children upon becoming their faerie godparents, they also lend a little of their magic.
Throughout TFA, we will see how that connection plays out.
In A Time of Mourning and Dancing, faeries have been mostly banished from the land, but their magic remains in their godchildren—the princesses.
Toph is a former soldier who was technically on the winning side of the recently concluded war, but doesn’t feel the benefit of it since he was injured in the final decisive battle and left for dead. When he comes upon a dangerous challenge, he jumps at it—because that’s the kind of mood he’s in. Toph was fun to write, snarky and bitter and more cunning than anyone gives him credit for (including himself).
His initial opponents in the challenge are the princesses themselves—who aren’t nearly as airheaded as they might at first seem. Yes, there are twelve of them (since this is a Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling), and no, I can’t always keep them straight! (Author confessions) They’re often in conflict, though they present a formidable united front.
Vicia is the eldest princess, and often quiet. She despises Toph at first, but they come to an uneasy understanding over time. Intelligent and complicated, Vicia was an interesting challenge to write.
Ned is Toph’s only real ally in the palace. They were comrades-in-arms, and Ned likes and respects Toph, providing earthy humour while he also provides needed information.
How do you select the names of your characters?
Toph is short for Christopher, which I thought sounded cool and original.
The princesses are all named after flower-faeries: Vicia (or Sweetpea), Violet, Iris, Primrose and Primrose (they’re twins), Rosemary, Foxglove, Peony, etc.
Do you have any works in progress? Tell us about them!
I have so many works in progress! Of course, I’m working on The Floramancy Archives, which I hope will be a twelve-book series of original and fairytale retellings releasing over the next few years. Up next in TFA is what I’m calling The Bird Trilogy, retellings of The Goose Girl, Snow White and Rose Red, and The Seven Swans.
Right now, though, I’m working on a portal fantasy novel (a retelling of The Snow Queen) in The Floramancy Archives universe. It’s called Belongside, and involves a modern young woman who doesn’t believe in magic, even when her brothers drag her into another world where they must find and destroy a magic mirror. Encountering dragons, fae, wizards and sorcery, and probably vampires might just shake her scepticism.
Where can we find you online?
Currently, the best places to follow me are:
Facebook – Abigail Falanga – Author | Facebook and my reader group where we talk about all things books and fandoms and tea (1) Heroes, Fairies, Scholars – Readers of Abigail Falanga | Facebook
Instagram – Abigail Falanga (@abigailfalangaauthor) • Instagram photos and videos
Twitter – Abigail Falanga (@AbigailFalanga) / Twitter
And I do have a website, but it’s horrible so we won’t even talk about it (wink)
What is your writing Kryptonite?
Libraries are my weakness. Not visiting them (though that’s dangerous too). But writing them!
It’s the weirdest thing: Almost every time I have a character visit a library to read or research something or even just return a book, I will stall on the story. It’s happened like that several times: There the character is, enjoying the wonderful ambiance of a collection of books and the warm fire—and suddenly I can’t go on.
Actually, A Time of Mourning and Dancing broke that pattern. There’s a scene where Toph and several of the princesses meet in the palace library to discuss plans and what they’ve learned so far, and I was able to write through that scene without getting snagged. So, maybe I’ve broken the cycle! Here’s hoping, anyway.
An Interview with Suzannah Rowntree
Tell us about yourself!
Hi! I’m Suzannah Rowntree, and I’m from a beautiful corner of rural Australia. (I think the most Australian experience of my life so far is stumbling upon a boxing match between a cockatoo and a koala during a bushwalk). I have a passion for history that translates into historical fantasy—that is, magical stories set in the real or imagined past, which I use to draw back the curtain on deeper spiritual or metaphorical realities.
What does NobleBright fantasy mean to you? Why is it important?
I often hear noblebright fantasy defined as noble, well-intentioned characters trying to do good things in a world that rewards their efforts. I’m not entirely certain that my fantasy always lives up to this definition, because my characters often struggle with deeply selfish motivations (like John in The Bells of Paradise), or sometimes unexpectedly horrible things happen even to the nicest of them (though not in The Bells of Paradise).
CJ Brightley keeps telling me I write noblebright fantasy, however, and perhaps I do. After all, my characters have a sharp-edged conscience and even when they are tempted to do bad things, they’re often driven by a thirst for justice; right and wrong are always clearly defined in my stories, even when the characters are torn between them. And then, while my story worlds are often dark and painful places—as is the real world—I always try to leave the reader with hope, both for this world and the next. Because hope and healing are every bit as real as darkness and pain.
Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
I prefer to think of it as a balance between writing for my audience, versus telling the unique stories that are on my heart. Art is communication, and communication is a two-way street: one would not berate a listener in a language they don’t understand. I must say what’s on my heart, but I must also say it in a way my readers enjoy. For some stories, I prioritise the former. For some stories, I prioritise the latter. But even my most commercial fiction (Miss Sharp’s Monsters and its spinoffs) is deeply personal; and even my most personal fiction (like The Bells of Paradise) is ultimately written in the hope that it will find someone to entrance and delight.
What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
Being an author, especially an indie author, often means becoming a part of a larger community scattered across the world. During the pandemic, I’ve been welcomed into several writers’ groups that have led to firm friendships and a lot of authorly inspiration. My dear chum and mad genius W.R. Gingell has taught me a huge amount about writing endearing characters and convincing romances. Stella Dorthwany and Intisar Khanani have provided challenging feedback on my drafts. Eli Hinze and Schuyler McConkey send me fangirly messages about my stories. Rosamund Hodge and RJ Anderson never fail to enlighten with their lively discussions of books and movies. Olivia Atwater and Jacqueline Benson have provided wonderful coaching in the art of writing commercially appealing gaslamp fantasy. And there are dozens of others, both published and unpublished, who’ve provided feedback, discussed other people’s stories, cheered for my progress, and coached me in running my author business. They are the best.
What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?
Dorothy Sayers’ Gaudy Night is a novel that ought to be far better appreciated than it is! It’s a detective novel that also doubles as a profound, thought-provoking discussion of calling and family, as the novel’s central character – the novelist Harriet Vane – contemplates marriage. In my opinion, Sayers is the greatest mystery author of all time, and this is her greatest book, which makes Gaudy Night the single greatest detective novel ever written.
What are you reading now?
At the moment I’m reading Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and, somewhat related, Lauren Blackwood’s Within These Wicked Walls, an Ethiopian-set gothic novel which consciously echoes Jane Eyre in some pretty fun ways. I wanted to revisit the Brontes after reading (and loving) Lena Coakey’s marvellous historical fantasy Worlds of Ink and Shadow, which is about the Bronte siblings as teenagers. So far I’ve fallen in love with Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte, I have wronged you: your book is fabulous, and brutally honest) and a little bit out of love with Jane Eyre’s Mr Rochester (I am sorry, Charlotte, but he deserves a biff up the hooter just for that nonsense with Blanche Ingram). Next stop: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, because everyone I know tells me that Anne Bronte was a legend.
Please tell us about your world and your characters.
The Bells of Paradise is set in Tudor England and is inspired by English folklore and songs. There’s a bit of Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market, a bit of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust, a bit of the medieval Coventry Carol and Down in Yon Forest, a bit of Tam Lin, and simply buckets of Edmund Spenser, GK Chesterton, and CS Lewis in this story. Oh, and it’s a retelling, of course, of the Grimms’ fairytale Jorinda and Joringel.
In the original fairytale, a young man loses his beloved to a wicked witch, who turns her into a bird. The young man follows the witch to her castle, only to be frozen stiff until the witch frees him and sends him away. The story always resounded me because as a child, I used to have nightmares about confronting a witch and being unable to move or speak. Just as in the famous GK Chesterton quote, the fairytale was comforting, because it taught me how the witch could be defeated.
My protagonist, John the blacksmith, is a prosaic character who never wants to leave his comfortable village, to have adventures, to get involved with fairies or magic. His beloved, Janet, wants all those things, and goes into Faerie to find them – with disastrous consequences. This is the story of how they both learn to see the magic lurking in commonplace things.
Where can we find you online?
You can find my books on Amazon, Bookshop (if you want to support indie booksellers!), Kobo, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and heaven knows where else. Visit my website at https://suzannahrowntree.site, or follow me on Twitter @suzannahsnaps for a lot of misguided hot takes! I’m also active on Facebook (Suzannah Rowntree Author), Instagram (@suzannahsnaps), and Goodreads. Don’t hesitate to say hello, and I hope to see you around!