An Interview with H.S.J. Williams
Tell us about yourself!
I’m a lake-obsessed Michigander, an aspiring hobbit, an amateur baker, a crazy cat lady who doesn’t own any cats (yet), an editor by day, and a writer also by day (I really like sleep, so I don’t do that “by night” thing). Being bad at intros, I asked my friends for help with the rest of this. Survey says I am epically cool (wait, since when?), obsessed with lynxes (SO FLUFFY), a Chex Mix queen (homemade Chex Mix is my kryptonite), a maker of super pretty journals (I do some bookbinding), and super smart because I know Latin (draco dormiens nunquam titillandus).
Wow, sorry, that was a lot of parentheses.
What does NobleBright fantasy mean to you? Why is it important?
When I started reading serious fantasy in high school, I would have said noblebright was fantasy. Those stories of hope, of good-hearted characters triumphing over evil despite overwhelming odds, of unqualified chosen ones persevering through hard tasks—that’s what defined fantasy for me.
For me, one thing that distinguishes noblebright is that it offers a more hopeful take on the currently popular “morally grey character”: noblebright protagonists are grey by virtue of being imperfect people, but they start the story with a set of values or moral code already in place and cling to it—however imperfectly—as the story progresses. Noblebright illustrates that not only is there hope and light and goodness in the world (and in people), but it’s possible for us to face the world and all its challenges without sacrificing those things.
How did you start writing?
I’ve been writing since I was young—I remember telling myself stories in my head while on family bike rides and also, uh, in the middle of playing AYSO soccer games. In elementary school I wrote a bunch of stories using the Storybook Weaver software, most influenced by Peter Pan (flying people!) and Ursula K. Le Guin’s Catwings (flying cats!).
I especially want to shout out my elementary school’s Publishing Center. Parent volunteers would transcribe and edit your story, then print out the pages so you could illustrate them. After you finished, they’d bind them into a book, complete with cardboard covers decorated with wallpaper; they even put an About the Author page at the beginning. I felt so cool getting my stories turned into books, and I still have my Publishing Center unicorn trilogy.
What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?
I put a random flying animal in every fantasy world. In Inkling, it’s foxes, and in Lightless, it’s stingrays. A recently shelved project has flying turtles, and my WIP has flying snakes. For Windward King, it’s the squirrel-dragons.
Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
I love Easter eggs, and TWK contains about a dozen. Many readers caught the Tangled reference, but I don’t know about any of the others. For those who want to know, I shared most of them on Instagram and Facebook.
Please tell us about your world and your characters.
TWK is mostly set in an island nation inspired by Lofoten, Norway—which I’d never heard of until I googled “archipelago” while looking for worldbuilding ideas. The recently deceased king has left his only son to deal with squabbling nobles, economic problems, fleets of pirates, and a potentially hostile neighboring nation—until the prince is kidnapped the week before his coronation. Awkward.
Enter Shara, a shapeshifter who finds himself in the human capital city, where his lifelong self-doubt is compounded by the fact that he has no idea how to be human—he eats wilting flowers, craves raw meat, cannot understand the point of doors, and tries to groom his new human friend and “cave-brother,” Korith. Shara’s self-doubt (strongly inspired by my own, which was not a conscious authorial decision!) is balanced by Korith’s near-boundless confidence and determination to support everyone, including Shara and his own half-sister, Tishel, with whom he has a deeply strained relationship.
Do you have any works in progress? Tell us about them!
My WIP is Book 2 of a planned trilogy full of more brotherly love. The heart of the series is the friendship between an impulsive, idealistic, too-much-coffee-drinking prince and his loyal, protective, coffee-hating best friend/bodyguard. When the prince acquires impossible magic in Book 1 and basically becomes a fantasy-world superhero, the pair’s friendship is fundamentally altered, which causes multiple books worth of Angst, Drama, and Hijinks™. I plan to write the whole series before I publish any of it, so I’m afraid I can’t even guess at a publication date.
What did you do with your first advance?
I’ve never received an advance, but the very first short story I sold was a token payment of $10. I took a $10 bill and stuck it in the book on the page where my story starts. It’s still there eightish years later, and I’d totally forgotten about it until right now! (I feel like this story illustrates my Shara-like struggle to celebrate my successes. Don’t be like me, kids. Celebrate your wins!)
Where can we find you online?
I’m @ktivanrest pretty much everywhere (as long as it doesn’t involve video; I’m allergic to being on camera!). I’m most active on Instagram and am trying to get better about posting regularly on Facebook, where I also have a reader group.
You can also visit my website (https://ktivanrest.com/) and sign up for my extremely infrequent newsletter.
An Interview with Alice Ivinya
Tell us about yourself!
Hello, I am Alice Ivinya and I live in Bristol in England. I live very close to where the King Arthur legends are set and where the mythical island of Avalon is supposed to be. However, as many lakes as I wade in, nobody has yet given me a sword.
I live with my husband, young son, and the best dog in the world. Until recently I worked as a small animal vet for a charity. However, I am now living my dream of writing and being a mum full time. I feel very blessed to be working out daring rescues, talking to dragons, and strategizing battles every day as my job!
I love tea, dogs, woods, Brandon Sanderson, and Studio Ghibli. I hate coffee, wine, sand, and cleaning.
I write young adult fantasy and fairy tale retellings with lots of action, swoony low spice romance, and unique characters. My most popular books are The Kingdom of Birds and Beasts trilogy which start with Feathers of Snow.
What does NobleBright fantasy mean to you? Why is it important?
The longer I spend writing and researching what makes a good story, the more I am a believer in the profound way stories change us. They shape our perspectives, our desires, our morality, and, to an extent, our future.
When I was a young teenager, I would often read fantasy to remind myself to hold on to what was important. If you keep on going, good will always defeat evil. And that is still what I believe. But so many books, films and T.V series now see that belief as unrealistic or childish. They show a world where much in life is pointless, and violence, cruelty, and misery are commonplace. Darkness is invading everything until people no longer believe in happily ever afters.
I will always fight that. I believe that even in the darkest of places, there is always hope and every person should be encouraged to fight for their own happy ending. I want people to be reminded of the joy and happiness that surround them, while never hiding away from the fact that life can be really tough.
That is why my characters go through some dark times, but never give in to the darkness. They cling onto hope and find their happiness. Good always wins, even if it doesn’t look like it at the time.
I hope my books help people to cling onto hope whatever their own trials might be.
Never give in. Fight. Win. Live. Flourish.
Please tell us about your books and your characters.
The book included in June’s Phoenix Crate is The Widow and the Beast. This novella is the prequel to my four book series, Kingdoms of the Faery Path. The first one, Crown of Glass, came out in April and is a Cinderella retelling.
The books feel a bit like an older version of Narnia crossed with the Cruel Prince. I have tricksy fae, alluring balls full of forbidden food and wine, backstabbing (literally) politics, and monsters from the scariest of folktales that wish to eat you. However this fallen fae world is one that can be redeemed, however scary and dark it can be. There is still hope.
Each story is filled with creatures from gaelic, norse and greek folklore. Some you may know already like mermaids, sirens, kelpies and selkies. Others you may be less familiar with such as valravne, grindylows, and the terrifying Nuckelavee.
The Widow and the Beast is based on a beautiful folktale you have probably never heard of called the Water Horse of Barra which I heard while I was on holiday in Scotland. In most tales about kelpies (malevolent shape-shifting water horses), the monsters eat the protagonist and the moral is to stay away from evil and the lochs. However in this one, the male kelpie is outwitted by a woman and becomes her prisoner. When he sees her hope, kindness and compassion he is transformed into a good man. This story really resonated with me, so I couldn’t wait to write my own version of it. The story is similar in some ways to Beauty and the Beast, so I added elements and references to both fairy tales in The Widow and the Beast.
Crown of Glass is based on Cinderella, Crown of Slumber is based on Sleeping Beauty, Crown of Snow is based on The Snow Queen, and Crown of Shells is based on The Little Mermaid.
Each book is the curse of darkness being lifted on another part of Faery and evil no longer being allowed to reign.
Do you have any works in progress? Tell us about them!
I am working on three books (!!!) at the moment.
Crown of Slumber, I have already mentioned above is the next in Kingdoms of the Faery Path. It will be very dramatic enemies to lovers, forced proximity, touch her and die vibes. Goodness will invade even the darkest of places. I am currently working on the first draft.
The Golden Prince is a Rapunzel retelling that is currently being edited. This is part of a multi author series I am very excited to be a part of, Once Upon a Prince. The twelve stand alone clean fairy tale retellings will be released September to December. Thomas is the perfect Prince living the perfect life. Everything Maisie does goes wrong and anyone who gets close to her gets hurt. When circumstances dictate they get married, can they find love? Or is their engagement nothing but a contract?
The third is a secret project! I have been writing this book here and there between projects to relax and I am SO excited to reveal it! It is Grumpy x Sunshine. Touch her and die. All the drama and all the feels. I think of it a bit as Mistborn with A LOT more romance.
I can’t wait for all three of these books to be out in the world!
Where can we find you online?
All my books are available on amazon and the novels are included in Kindle Unlimited.
US: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Alice-Ivinya/author/B07W3HQ9KP
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alice-Ivinya/e/B07W3HQ9KP
Ca: https://www.amazon.ca/Alice-Ivinya/e/B07W3HQ9KP
Oz: https://www.amazon.com.au/Alice-Ivinya/e/B07W3HQ9KP
Please stay in touch!
I am most active in my facebook group, but you can find me in all these places, and I am always up for a chat!
I appreciate every follow!
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/361279361239499
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/sarahsfootsteps
Website: aliceivinya.com
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@aliceivinya
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aliceivinya.author/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19442133.Alice_Ivinya
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/alice-ivinya
An Interview with Kate Stradling
Tell us a little about how this story first came to be. Did it start with an image, a voice, a concept, a dilemma or something else?
Deathmark has its origin in the L.M. Montgomery novel The Blue Castle, about a heroine with a terminal diagnosis living her last days as she pleases. I loved this plot device and I wondered how it might play out in a fantasy setting. Thus Valancy Stirling’s heart condition became Nell’s magical plague, and disreputable Barney Snaith inspired my intentionally reclusive Rowe. The genre shift introduced much broader conflicts than Montgomery’s characters face, but I aimed to mirror the delightful domesticity of her story all the same.
What were the key challenges you faced when writing this book?
The ending was my biggest challenge. In the first draft, I left it wide open with my characters fleeing into exile instead of confronting the story’s villain. I’d planned to write a sequel, but when I attempted that, I hated the whole thing so much that I threw it all away (after I reached the 50K word mark, because it was a NaNoWriMo project, haha). This experience taught me that some books should be self-contained, but it also left me fumbling for how to correctly end my plot.
The draft languished for years. I could see where I’d gone off the rails and I knew where the story needed to go, but for whatever reason, I could not connect those two points. I ended up digging deeper into my worldbuilding, shoring up the history and politics of my fictitious country so that an end confrontation with the Powers That Be wouldn’t feel so out of place after a story that was mostly two people learning to enjoy one another’s companionship.
Basically, the last quarter of the book required a complete rewrite, and several earlier scenes needed adjustments to give that rewrite its proper foundation. I’m still sort of shocked that it all worked out and that this book is finally off my project list.
What attracted you to the fantasy genre?
I love fantasy because its readers come with their suspension of disbelief firmly engaged. They’re not looking to question the existence of magic or magical creatures, the geography of strange lands or the logistics of time travel. As long as the worldbuilding stays consistent to its own rules, they’re happily along for the ride. (Fantasy readers are the best!)
This genre also allows a safe space to explore painful truths and difficult life experiences while leaving room for hope and happiness to prevail. It becomes allegorical, a means of examining patterns we encounter in real life, but in a controlled environment instead. It can both entertain and instruct, can be shallow or deep according to the reader’s desire.
In short, it’s escapism, but not mindlessly so.
Have you always wanted to be a writer?
Ha. No. As a child, I wanted to be first an artist, then a musician. I dabbled in drawing and painting, took music lessons, participated in orchestra and choir, but eventually realized I had no future in either of these disciplines. I actually picked up writing as an escape mechanism in my teens and always expected to give it up.
At one point I was on track for a career in academia, but I spent the summer I was supposed to work on my thesis writing a novel instead. After my defense the next semester, when I admitted this to my committee chair, she advised me to abandon ship rather than continuing on for a PhD.
Which was fine. I’ve been largely apathetic about career decisions my whole life. At that point, I was luckily in a position to give writing a fair trial. I figured I’d play with it for 3 – 5 years, then transition to a more viable course. The transition just never happened.
So, I sort of tumbled into becoming a writer, and now I’m not really fit for any other occupation.
What other projects are in the works?
I’m part of a multi-author series of fairytale retellings, Once Upon A Prince, that releases later this year. I’m also working on a pair of sequels to my portal fantasy Namesake, titled Goddess and Eidolon. Those two drafts have been the bane of my existence since 2018, but once they’re done, I’m going to focus on a longer magic academy-style series that has been rattling its cage.
If you could only have one season, what would it be?
If I could only have one, it would be the Arizona monsoon season. It runs from June to September each year, providing a good mix of sunshine and rain, along with the occasional haboob for some nice variation. Afternoon thunderstorms cut the heat but dry up about twenty minutes later. In my area, the wind that rolls them in from the desert carries a strong petrichor scent from the creosote bushes, so the smell of rain is headiest just before the storm. It’s my favorite time of year.
Are you on social media and can your readers interact with you?
I’m on Instagram @katestradling and Facebook @KateStradlingBooks, where I love to interact with my readers. I also have a Twitter @katestradling, but I’m on indefinite hiatus there because of my inclination for doomscrolling.