Interviews

Bewitched Blooms, our fundraiser anthology for Zoe, is out on 21 March. I caught up with a handful of the awesome authors who are contributing stories and novellas to the book.

Leena Kazak

Tell me a little bit about yourself!

I’m Leena, and I’m a fantasy romance author! I am fairly new to this—my debut novel, The Moon’s Daughter, released in December 2024. I only joined Bookstagram a few months before that. Besides that, I love reading (romantasy, of course), eating chocolate, and spending time with my husband and two small children.

How did you get involved in the anthology?

One of my street team members tagged me in Briar Boleyn’s call-to-action post looking for authors to be part of the fundraiser anthology. I was incredibly touched by this amazingly kind gesture Briar was doing for her friend, and I knew right away that I wanted to be involved. I submitted the application to express my interest, and here I am!

What is your story or novella about?

My contribution, The Spare Heir, is about second-born princess Soraya and a foreign diplomat from a rivaling kingdom. I don’t want to reveal too much, but Soraya goes against the typical norms expected of princesses and spends most of her time caring for her plants. She shares a close relationship with her older sister, crown princess Layna. Layna struggles with depression throughout most of the short story, and we see how Soraya helps her through it while also navigating her own adventures in love.

Does it tie in to an existing story?

Yes! It ties in directly to my debut, The Moon’s Daughter, where Layna is the FMC. The Spare Heir can be read as a standalone, but I think it will leave new readers wanting to learn more about what happens next for these characters!

Rosalyn Stirling

How did you get involved in the anthology?

I saw Briar post about an anthology to support her friend who’d been diagnosed with cancer. Many of my loved have had cancer, and I immediately knew this was something I’d like to contribute to (if Briar needed more stories in the anthology, of course!). 

What is your story or novella about?

Here’s the blurb!

He’s stalked her ship through the waves for years. Now that she’s in his waters, nothing will keep him from claiming her. 

A merchant captain is searching the seas for her lost tribe when mutiny strikes and her crew tosses her overboard. 

Rather than plunging into a watery grave or facing the monsters of the deep, she awakens in an underwater cave—dangling by a rope and with eyes bluer than the ocean feasting upon her. 

A merman has been trailing her ship. And he will stop at nothing until she’s his bride. 

What else are you currently working on?

I’m currently finishing up Devoured by Shadows, which is the second book in The Wild Shadows series. (Auctioned to the Vampire is the prequel.) It comes out in April 2025!

Enna Hawthorn

Tell me a little bit about yourself!
My name is Enna Hawthorn and I’m born and raised in the beautiful PNW. I’ve been writing for decades but only became serious about it in the last five years or so alongside my current day job as a teacher when I published my debut and the start to my current series, The Golden Rose Of Valenul. In my spare time I train jiu jitsu (I’m a blue belt!) with my husband and two daughters which is highly incorporated into my writing.

How did you get involved in the anthology?
I heard about the anthology through a friend who sent me the post searching for authors. Zoe’s story hit close to home for me and I wanted to do anything I could to help her and her family, so I signed up! I was so excited to be accepted and can’t wait to share my little story with everyone.

What is your story or novella about?
My novella, The Cobalt Chains Of Armington, is about a high society of vampires in a Regency-inspired setting. The main character, Alek Nightingale, is recently transitioned into the fully matured version of this vampire race and discovered, much to his horror, that he is not who he believed himself to be. It follows Alek as he struggles to hold back a new side of himself that is very much not vampire like he thought all while exploring a relationship with a long-time family friend, Viana Threshir.

Does it tie into an existing story?

The Cobalt Chains Of Armington is a prequel novella, set about one hundred years prior to the events that occur at the start of my series, the Dhemon Wars. It’s only part one of this love story and will be completed at a later date well after the release of the anthology.

What else are you currently working on?
At this time, I’m working on a couple of different pieces. The third book of my series, The Garnet Tomb Of Anwenja, is in edits currently and I’m also drafting the fourth and final book of the series, TOBOK (full title to be released later). This is a world that is very close to my heart and is what inspired me to begin writing. When this series is completed, however, I have many projects I’ll be revisiting in a variety of different settings.

Shawn Romeo

Tell me a little bit about yourself!

Sure thing. I am the firstborn, so I have two younger sisters who I adore; at this point, they are my world. I am a Canadian author and published my first book, Touch of Gold, last year. I am a dog dad; her name is Cleo and she is my best friend in this entire world. I speak fluent French and hope to one day write an entire book in French, most likely for children. I am a Marvel fan, Billy Maximoff being my favorite character of all time for many reasons, like, have you seen the Agatha All Along show?

How did you get involved in the anthology?

I have been a fan of Briar Boelyn’s work for a while so when I saw she was putting together an anthology for a great cause, I knew I needed to join.

What is your story or novella about?

My story is about the time my main character, Aurea, from my current series, Blood and Gold, met Morpheus, who would later become her husband and how the course of her destiny changed after meeting an unlikely stranger.

Does it tie into an existing story?

Yes, it ties directly into my debut book, Touch of Gold, a Rumpelstiltskin meets King Midas retelling and can be read before or after the events of the book.

What else are you currently working on?

At the moment, I am currently working on the second edition of Touch of Gold, which will be available later this year.

Caty Rogan

Tell me a little bit about yourself!

I’m a journalist by training and got my start in the (professional) writing world working on investigative news and international stories. I’ve lived all over the globe, including England, Indonesia, and Equatorial Guinea and am an award-winning journalist. Now, I write the spicy romance novels I used to devour on all those ridiculously long plane rides (the spicier, the better). I live for a badass heroine, and I swoon for a he falls first kind of hero. I survive on coffee, cheesy popcorn, and chocolate. When I’m not in a fantasy world of my own creation, I’m wrangling my two spunky, boss-girl daughters with my husband (my very own he falls first hero) in the deserts of Arizona. 

How did you get involved in the anthology?

I saw the post calling for submissions on Instagram, and I really wanted to participate because my mother died of cancer when she was just 47. It was a really hard time for my family, and seeing Zoe’s story brought back those memories. I am so honored that my work is going to help a family, even in this small way, as they fight their own battle with cancer.

What is your story or novella about?

My novella is set in a world ruled by gods and on the brink of rebellion. A serf-turned-rebel must face the man she once loved—and the betrayal that broke them. It is for fans of forbidden romance, second chances, and high-stakes rebellion. Unwritten by the Gods, a prequel novella in the Eternal Wars Series, is a heart-wrenching tale of love, survival, and redemption.

What else are you currently working on?

I’m finishing revisions for Kissed by the Gods, Book One in the Eternal Wars Series, and I have started working on Book Two. 

Tempest Reign

Tell me a little bit about yourself!

Hi, I’m Tempest Reign, I live and write on Kamilaroi Country, in north eastern New South Wales, Australia. I’m a mid-30s bi woman who’s happily married to a man, a stay at home mother to two young children, and an INFJA neurospicy book dragon. 

I love nothing more than reading and writing about morally grey heroes, feisty heroines with all the feminine rage, and epic romance set in fantasy worlds!

How did you get involved in the anthology?

As soon as I saw Briar Boleyn’s first post about Zoë, and that she was thinking of doing an anthology, I messaged asking what she was looking for in a contribution — this was more so that I could ask other authors if they wanted to help, but Briar immediately invited me to write something, and I couldn’t say no!

Cancer is a truly terrible thing. It’s something that affects everyone, and personally, I’ve lost family to it, and have had friends battle it, so being able to do something for this family means so much to me.

What is your story or novella about?

A Curse Forged in Fate is the story of how Brielle, a human trapped at the edge of the kingdom, is gifted with a potion, or cursed, but who’s counting?! There’s also enemy fae, fierce female friendship, devastating loss, unrequited love, and a mysterious stranger who helps quell her panic attack. This is ultimately the story of how Brielle finds her feminine rage, and becomes just slightly obsessed with revenge.

Does it tie into an existing story?

It’s the prequel novella to A Beast Caged in Briars, which I’m expecting to release early 2026.

What else are you currently working on?

I’m currently writing A Beast Caged in Briars, and outlining the next two books in the trilogy.

These books occur ten years after A Curse Forged in Fate, and are an ode to feminine rage, obsession, revenge, trauma healing, and true love in the form of a delicious enemies to lovers romance.

It’s always a pleasure to meet another indie author in Scotland. Kerry Law is frequently inspired by how beautiful our country is and uses Edinburgh for inspiration in one of her fantasy series. Kerry kindly agreed to be interviewed for my blog and will share top tips for indie authors, where her inspiration comes from and what she’s currently working on.

Can you share more about your background and what inspired you to become
a writer?
I was born and brought up in Scotland which is a magical country full of stories.
When I was younger my Dad shared his fantasy books with me and I devoured
them. I’d spend my weekends exploring other worlds and I was never without a
book.

I read so many books growing up that I think wanting to become a writer was my way
of ‘paying back’. I absolutely love starting a new book and being whisked away into
another world, and I want to give other people that joy too. For me books are the
perfect form of escapism and I love the idea that I could write something someone
else will read and through my words they’ll be taken off on an adventure.

How has your MA in Medieval History from the University of St Andrews
influenced the historical elements in your fantasy novels?
I think having a degree in history has given me a good basis upon which I’ve built my
fantasy worlds. I studied some Scottish history but mostly I enjoyed European and
Asian history. Learning about how different cultures grew and developed has been
useful for when I’ve come to creating my own fantasy world and imagining how it
would grow and change over time, especially how different technologies would
develop.

My Sparks series is pure fantasy based in a world I invented, but my newest book,
Swirls of Magic, is set in an alternate 18th century Edinburgh. I hadn’t done any
proper historical research since university so I really enjoyed getting back into it as I
learned about the real 18th century Edinburgh.

Living in the Scottish Borders, does the local landscape inspire the settings in
your books?
Definitely! I’ve always been drawn to wild landscapes – open mountains, deep
forests, hidden lochs – because even on a dull or rainy day they still look magical. I
spend a lot of my free time running and cycling in the hills near my house and I
always find myself imagining watchtowers on top of craggy outcrops or picturing
dragons swooping across the hillside, their scales shimmering against the heather. I
think being in nature is good for creativity and certainly if I’m struggling with an
awkward plot point or a character who’s not quite working right, I find that heading
out into the hills helps me think.

For readers unfamiliar with the Sparks Series, how would you describe it?
It’s a fast-paced, coming of age series with awesome female characters. In fact, 90%
of the characters are female. The themes of the series are of young women learning
to believe in themselves, discovering how strong they can be, and about the power
women have when they work together.

I think the Sparks Series shows you can be shy, different or an outsider and still be a
hero. The main character is a young woman learning to accept herself, to accept her
uniqueness. To realise that it’s a strength, not a weakness.
And there are lots of dragons!

Your series features strong female protagonists. What motivates you to write
such characters, and how do you develop them?
I grew up reading fantasy books in the 90s and often there weren’t any inspiring
female characters. It always seemed to be the boys who got to go off on adventures!

I often found the female characters to be one-dimensional – they were usually a
beautiful, delicate princess.

I wanted to write books where the female characters were not only front and centre,
but they were real people. And by that I mean they get stuff wrong, they make
mistakes and learn from them, they have grumpy moods, like eating food (often with
their fingers and not dainty cutlery!), sometimes they’re selfish and sometimes
they’re kind, and always after a fight, battle or hard day of dragon-riding, they’re dirty,
sweaty, have messy hair and are tired. Because that’s real! Being beautiful all the
time isn’t.

And I develop these awesome female characters by looking at the women and girls
in my life and taking inspiration from them. I “steal” traits from people on their good
days and bad ones and I think that makes for more realistic characters.

Can you discuss your process for world-building?
I always start with a character and then I build a world around them. I had an image
in my head of a girl and her dragon before I’d even thought what sort of world the
Sky Riders would live in!

I find the best way to build worlds is to brainstorm with a notebook and pencil.
There’s something about physically writing on paper that seems to make my ideas
flow more easily. I sit with a cup of tea, often in my favourite café, and scribble ideas.
Sometimes I draw wee diagrams of buildings or structures, and I always have a
badly drawn map with scribbles all over it.

I then transfer these notes to my Scrivner file (the writing software I use) so I can
easily reference my world while I’m writing.

Dragons play a significant role in your series. How did you develop their
characteristics and integrate them into your world?
In my Sparks series every Sky Rider is bonded for life to a dragon. This means that
the dragons often take on some of their Rider’s personality. This was my play on the
notion that ‘people are like their pets’!

My dragons are also very sensitive to emotions, so if their bonded Rider is angry,
happy, upset etc. then their dragon will be too. I enjoyed the extra dimension this
gave to interactions between characters. For example, if a Rider is feeling anxious
but trying to hide it, their dragon will be feeling anxious too but not hiding it, and thus
will give their Rider away.

The dragons do have traits of their own—typically the males can be more
aggressive—but I liked making them a mirror for their Rider’s emotions. It deepens
the bond between a girl and her dragon.

Can you walk us through your typical writing routine?
I’m an early bird and I’m always most creative in the morning. So most days I’ll be at
my laptop around 7am with a mug of tea. I like the quiet of first thing and find I can
get loads of words written by mid-morning.

I save my afternoons for the less glamorous side of writing, ie. marketing, finance,
and catching up on emails.

What challenges have you faced as an indie author, and how have you
overcome them?
I think there is still a stigma around being an indie author and I’ve come across
people who don’t believe I’m a “proper” author because I’m an indie. That can be tough to deal with because I know that I’ve worked really hard to get to where I’m at
and I’m passionate about what I do.

I’ve had to learn to take a mental step back and remember that I can’t please
everyone. There will always be people who don’t understand why I’m proud to be an
indie and that’s fine. And for other people I’ve found that when I talk to them about
my writing journey, or the ins and outs of the world of publishing, they can learn
something from me and are often more supportive afterwards.

How has reader feedback influenced your work, if at all?
My books wouldn’t be nearly so good without reader feedback! I have a lovely team
of beta readers who always read my first drafts, give me honest feedback, and I
couldn’t do without them. Sometimes I’ll know in my heart that a scene isn’t working
right, or that a character isn’t behaving the way they should, and my readers always
spot these things, call me out on them, and usually offer advice for how I can fix it.
Writing can be a very solitary profession so I find it really useful to bounce ideas off
readers or work out plot tangles together. I’ve even got a few ideas for new books
currently bubbling away at the back of my brain that came from a throwaway
comment from one of my readers.

Can you share any details about upcoming books or projects you’re working
on?
Yes, I’d love to! The first book in my latest trilogy just came out in Nov 2024. It’s
called Swirls of Magic and is book 1 in the Old Town Trilogy. It’s set in an alternate
18th century Edinburgh, full of magic, monsters and thieves. The main character, Isla,
is one of my favourite characters that I’ve ever created. She’s bold, brash and gets
herself into all sorts of trouble! She often says the wrong thing, but her heart’s in the
right place and she’d do anything for her family.

Currently I’m 75,000 words into the first draft of book 2 in the trilogy and I’m aiming
to have that one will be available in late spring 2025.

How do you approach marketing your books as an indie author?
Marketing has been a steep learning curve for me. It took me a while, with lots of trial
and error, to get a marketing plan that works for me.

My main focus for marketing my books is through Facebook ads. I find that they can
be really effective and drive lots of people to my Amazon page, which is great. But
what I’ve also discovered is that Facebook ads are a great way to interact with my
readers. Loads of people comment on my ads telling me that they’ve read and
enjoyed my books and that’s always lovely to hear. People also tag their friends in
the comments on my ads, recommending my books to them, and I always appreciate
that.

What advice would you give to aspiring indie authors, especially those writing
fantasy?
I would encourage any aspiring indie author to take the time to really hone their craft.

Go to writing workshops, do online courses, join a local writing group, read books
about writing craft and practice every day.

My first published book was actually the 4th book I wrote. I thought the first 3 were
great as I was writing them (they weren’t!) but I realise now that they were my way of
learning how to be a good writer.

I also think that to be a great writer you have to read loads. And not just in the genre
you write in. If you want to learn how to plot really well – read crime. If you want to
get good at world building – read fantasy and sci-fi. If you want to learn how to write
beautiful descriptions – read literary fiction. The more you read the more you
understand plots and what makes a great character, then the better you’ll become as
a writer the more successful you’ll be. And also you’ll enjoy writing more too.

How do you balance your writing career with other aspects of your life?
I’m extremely lucky because I get to write full time. It took me about 10 years to get
to that point, so I have loads of practice of squeezing writing in around a day job and
other commitments.

Now that I can dedicate myself solely to writing I’ve found that having a routine is
almost even more important than it was before. When you have all day to write the
temptation to procrastinate can be strong. And then because I’ve not met my word
count during the day, writing bleeds into evenings and weekends, just like it used to
when I had a day job!

What I’ve found very useful is to work the same hours as my husband. That way my
writing career is kept roughly between 8am and 5pm, leaving me plenty of free time
to recharge. And I’m a firm believer in making sure I have a little time every day to do
something for me—a run, or walk, or yoga—because when I give my brain a rest it
works better when I open up my laptop the next morning.

In what ways do you engage with your readers, both online and offline?
I’ve met almost all of my readers online and they’re a lovely bunch of people. I use
both Facebook and Instagram to share snippets of my writing life and that’s been a
lovely way to get to know my readers. It always makes my day when someone
leaves me a lovely comment or sends me a nice message.

I also have a monthly newsletter which readers can sign up for on my website. In this
I share more detailed writing updates, giving people a real behind-the-scenes look at
my books and my inspiration, along with giving readers exclusive first look at things
like new covers, or maps for my books. Everyone on my mailing list also has access
to 2 free novellas.

I really enjoy when readers reply to my emails and I’ve had some great
conversations with them about my work and other fantasy books we love.

What themes do you explore in your books, and why are they important to
you?
I write YA so the themes in my books are around friendship, first love, family, identity
and self-discovery.

For me these themes are important because they seem to resonate with so many
readers, and not just young adults. People of all ages read and enjoy coming of age
stories.

I think this is because being a teenager is not only a stage we all go through in life,
it’s one that we remember vividly. Our teenage years are when we begin to work out
who we are as people. Often the things we enjoy then will help shape what we like
as adults.

Your teenage years are when you have to start making scary adult decisions but
they’re also a time of first loves and of trying desperately to either fit in or reject the
‘norms’ and stand out. Often it’s when you’re finding your tribe—the people who like
what you like and that you feel comfortable around. I think the trials and tribulations from our own years spent coming of age are baked into us and that’s why we enjoy
coming of age stories. And for me as a writer, that’s also why I love exploring these
themes in my books.

Where do you see your writing career in the next five years?
Hopefully I’ll still be writing and loving what I’m doing. I’d love for more people to
have read and enjoyed my books—having a wider readership is definitely a goal for
me.

Writing-wise, I have the second two books in my Old Town Trilogy to finish. Then I
think I’d like to write a duology and then maybe another series.
That’ll probably keep me going for the next five years!

I first came across Joy E. Held because we were both published by the very lovely Fire and Ice YA. Joy very kindly agreed to be interviewed for my blog. Read on as we chat about her novel, The Mermaid Riot, and Joy’s brand-new venture, My WriteDay.

Your novel intertwines a historical setting with the fantastical element of mermaids. How did you balance these two genres to create a cohesive world?

One of the things that I like about reading and writing historical fiction is the ready-made setting and timeline that comes with real life history and events. That is true where The Mermaid Riot is concerned because the inspiration for the story comes from an actual situation that happened in Charleston, South Carolina after the U.S. Civil War. It involved a rumor about a mermaid at a time in history when a select culture believed in mermaids as important water spirits. They took the rumor to heart and created a situation that required law enforcements help in clearing up. This is all reported in newspaper reports of the event in local papers in Charleston and elsewhere, which I have researched and seen in digital records of The Library of Congress. I took actual events and fabricated a story of fantasy around the truth of the situation.

Serena and Tobi’s friendship is central to the story. How did you approach writing their dynamic, and were they inspired by real-life relationships?

I wanted a team of young people to be captivated by the premise of the rumor but also
have a sense of rationality about the situation. Serena and Tobi’s friendship is integral to the plot because they each represent a different perspective on whether or not mermaids are real, and they each try to convince the other to see things through their eyes. That is until they see some things with their own eyes that don’t align with their beliefs about mermaids. They have conflicting beliefs but the same goal and have to deal with the interpersonal challenges as well as the social ones that they encounter.

The Ainsley River and the Robinson Phosphate Mine Company play significant roles in the story. Why did you choose South Carolina, and what role does the historical context play in shaping the narrative?

Charleston and South Carolina were chosen for me (even though I renamed the city) as I used the actual events reported in the local newspapers about the mermaid incident. I
challenged the historical timeline of the Reconstruction era in the south as the states
worked for many years to overcome the economic devastation caused by The U. S. Civil
War. In my research, I discovered that phosphate rocks used to produce fertilizer, which
farmers needed to regrow crops, were discovered in Charleston area and helped revitalize the economy. It came with hazards and problems which I will treat more broadly in the next book in the duology.

The mermaid in your story symbolizes mystery and survival. What inspired you to use
mermaids as a focal point for this tale?

Besides the true story behind the rumor about a mermaid being captured, I wrote the
mermaid Mari-Morgan to be young and conflicted much the same way Serena and Tobi
are in their world. Things are changing fast at the time, and their way of life is threatened in some respects on land and underwater. I definitely played on their youthful energies and ideals in the survival sense.

The title, The Mermaid Riot, is intriguing. What’s the significance behind the word ‘riot’ in the context of the book?

When I first caught the tweet online about this story, it was referenced as “the mermaid
riot.” The image of rioting mermaids captivated my imagination, but that isn’t what the
actual event is about at all. I discovered this through my research. Some refer to it as “the mermaid incident” to reflect a gentler approach to the story. However, local legends latched onto the term riot over incident and ran with it. Here are a couple of interesting links (here and here).

You’re not just a writer but also a yoga teacher and book coach. Do these practices
influence your writing process or the themes you explore?
The practices of yoga and book coaching definitely play into everything I do. I’m on a journey like everyone else, and I sometimes stumble and fall like a normal person. My 40+ years of yoga has taught me to be kind to myself and others when I stumble while working to be better at whatever I’m doing. My work as a book coach influences my writing process by reminding me that we all start a story with an idea followed by a dream which is either followed by hard work or not. I’m talking about the consequences of choices. As a book coach, I am constantly asking my clients a lot of questions because I believe that questions are a great source of understanding
and learning. When a client is tasked with answering questions, they feel more empowered as creators, and I believe that is the kind of learning that sticks and that can be repeated. They aren’t challenges but more like nailing down true inner and outer desires for their writing much the same way their characters must do the same things.

How do you decide which age group or genre is the right fit for the stories you want to
tell?

I’m more like dust in the wind when it comes to this sort of thing. I get ideas, tons of
ideas, and follow the ones that won’t let me go. However, many times I can identify a
particular need within a genre or age group coupled with an idea I have and put the two together. For example, the political environment of people listening to and believing only one side of a story concerns me. Without being particularly overt about it, this singular belief concept without the willingness to listen to another perspective plays a big part in the relationship of the characters throughout The Mermaid Riot. As another example, I created My WriteDay subscription and gift boxes for children, teens, and adults because I saw a need to make reading and writing a pleasurable experience for others like it is for me.

What motivated you to start My WriteDay, and how has it helped you or other writers grow?

I am a college creative writing instructor for an online MFA program and have been a
higher education professor for 21 years. I have taught hundreds of freshmen who come to me with negative histories around reading and writing. My WriteDay is part of my work to change that at an early age. I take stories and bring them to life with the contents of a gift box that I hope is inspirational and enjoyable. It’s my favorite passion right now as it is a brand-new venture for me.

What does a typical writing day look like for you, and how do you balance writing with your other commitments?

I’m always writing a story in my head and can’t sleep for working out plot lines. It’s
always been that way. I’m a one-woman business with several outlets for my energy. I
like it that way. Balancing it all is a matter of making a lot of checklists and enlisting help from family and friends. My mentor from graduate school is my primary editor and is available when I have a question or need another pair of eyes on a manuscript. I have a great husband who believes in all of my works and does his best to support me. My grown children are very loving and accommodating to my sometimes erratic schedule, and they are also very helpful when I can’t get something done from picking up groceries to listening to my plot problems and brainstorming ideas with me. Honestly, my actual writing time is sporadic, but once the story falls into the right slots in my brain, I type until it’s out. I am a serious plotter though. Gave up pantsing except for when a surprising plot twist presents itself during the writing.

Your career includes roles in education, coaching, and publishing. How has your
experience in these fields shaped the way you approach storytelling?

All of my training and experiences remind me never to stop learning and moving. When I am not curious any longer, that will signal that the last story has been written.

Renée Shantel is an indie author in Australia. She kindly gave me an ARC of her upcoming book, In The Days Before (and you can find my review of the book here.) She also agreed to let me interview her so we can learn more about her process and work.

Tell us a little about you (and your cats!)
Well, I’m Renée 😉 and I live in Sydney, Australia. I’m in my mid-thirties and I’m still trying to find my place, both in the real world and in the world of indie publishing. By day I work in a major hospital as a billing administrator and occasional laboratory assistant, and I’m about to start a course in Library and Information Services as I consider switching careers. I’m a casual cozy and indie horror gamer, an ex-volunteer concert photographer and music journalist, and the most introverted introvert any of my friends have ever met.

I’m a life-long cat mum! Until recently I had two, but my boy, Jem, passed away in November. He was diabetic and required insulin shots twice a day at twelve hour intervals, and even now I still find myself waking daily at 5am. Now I have Jade, my six-year-old black beauty, who I found on the side of the road one afternoon when she was literally a newborn. I worked in petcare at the time so I knew to wait around (not too close!) and see if the mother cat came back, but there was no sign of her and it was unsafe to leave Jade where she was, literally on the side of a busy road. My mother suspected she’d been abandoned due to being pure black. I spent the first six weeks of her life carting her around with me to work, feeding her every three hours through the night, making sure she kept warm. I had to learn to raise a newborn kitten on the fly, and it was both the most challenging and rewarding thing I have ever done.

These days she’s my editor, and has no problem deleting entire manuscripts if she decides they’re not good enough – or if she’s not getting enough attention!

What’s your first memory of writing? I know you began when you were eleven – but what piqued your interest at that age and what did you start writing?
I would have been ten in this memory. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire had just recently been released, and I’d begged my mother to buy it for me from those Scholastic Book Club pamphlets we’d get in school. I wasn’t a reader at the time, so she was hesitant to spend the money on such a thick book that I probably wouldn’t get half way through, so she made me a deal. She’d buy me the first book. If I finished that, she’d get me the second. And so on. I don’t think she expected me to even get through the first one. But I devoured those books, every one of them, to the point that she and my aunt actually had to bribe me to read different books after I’d reread the series for literally the thirtieth time.

One night I was watching the Lindsay Lohan version of The Parent Trap, and I was struck by a thought: what if Harry Potter had a secret twin sister?

I immediately picked up the only notebook I had handy (a week-to-a-spread day planner) and started scribbling little notes and stories about Haylie Potter (because I had misheard Hallie the entire movie). Haylie ended up becoming a core character in the first fanfictions I ever posted online, from the time I was thirteen until maybe sixteen, and then she became an original character in my first original story. I also adopted her as my penname/alter ego before taking on my real name for publishing. Before I was Renée Shantel, you could find me as Haylie Jaed!

So I suppose you could say my interest was piqued by that one thought, that one idea of Harry having a twin and wanting to know what their adventures together would be like. The first “novel” I wrote however was a Marauders era fanfiction I started at eleven that was tragically lost when my old Windows 95 PC crashed. It wasn’t until after this that I learned fanfiction was actually a thing, found my first online community, and started posting my work online. I was thirteen when I posted my first chapter to the Internet!

Tell us about your publishing journey.
When I first began writing original stories and decided I wanted to be published someday, self-publishing was a very new thing.

And it was taboo. It was dirty. It was something “real” authors didn’t do, because “Only people who can’t get traditionally published decide to self-publish.” So for a long time, I didn’t even consider it. There was such a stigma around it, a knowledge that if you self-published you were a failure and no traditional publisher would ever touch you. For a time I wondered if this was my own skewed view developed from seeing comments from people I should have been ignoring, but I recently had a conversation with Cynathia Brubaker (author of the Gomada Academy series) and she had the same experience. If you weren’t aiming for the Big Five, did you even really want to be published?

I’m lucky in the sense that I’ve been writing online for so long that I’ve gained a number of writer friends along the way, and in my late twenties two of them started publishing and were willing to tell me their experiences behind it (Corissa Blakely and Nicole Northwood, for those who are interested!). It was ultimately Nicole who pointed me in the direction of an independent publisher she knew of and encouraged me to submit a short story to one of their anthologies. At the time, I was solely writing on Wattpad and had all but given up on my dreams of ever being a traditionally published author. I believed (and still do, if I’m being honest) that I wasn’t good enough to “make it.”

But my short story was accepted! And so in 2017, I became a published author of one short story.

After that, I spent years debating. Do I go back to dreaming? Or do I give up on my writing and focus on trying to make a career out of something “real”? It didn’t seem doable anymore. I was struggling a lot to stick to any of my manuscripts, and nothing I ever wrote was good enough to be published. I took a chance and submitted the last novel I’d written to a big name publisher who didn’t require an agent, and never heard back. I moved on.

But I kept watching my friends, kept seeing them putting themselves out there, and I kept debating.

In early 2023, I was struggling. I was working as a laboratory assistant at the time, and wearing gloves all day, every day had done a number on my hands. I had what I suspect was a minor eczema flare-up that started as a tiny patch near my pinky knuckle in maybe mid-2022 that by Christmas of that year had turned into a weeping wound on the back of my right hand. I was in agony daily, but I’d become so good at hiding it that nobody suspected a thing until the day I asked my manager to be excused from work because my hand was burning and I was going to step out and go to the emergency room. A trip to my doctor later, I ended up on worker’s comp with a strict NO GLOVES policy. Something that’s almost impossible when you work in pathology and handle blood, urine, and other body-related things on the daily. This ultimately ended up with me switching into administration.

It was in the middle of all this that I saw Nicole share a post on her Instagram about her then-publisher, Silver Shell Publishing, being open to submissions. I missed my lab work and didn’t know what was going to become of my job at that point, but it was this that made me take a serious look at my passion for writing and decide that I wanted to give it a real shot. We chatted for a bit, she gave me the courage I needed to shoot my shot, and I sent the email off. I was immediately terrified, but also doubtful that things would go anywhere.

But then my debut Lost was accepted by Silver Shell Publishing, and it felt like a sign.

I haven’t looked back. I’m so thankful to Corissa and Nicole for opening my eyes about indie publishing, because it has 100% been the right choice for me. I love having full control of everything, I’m enjoying learning the ins and outs of social media and marketing, and I love not having a schedule and deadlines, because I suck at those!

Your latest novel is out in October – tell me more about that. What sparked off the idea? What was your favourite part of the writing process? Without spoilers, what’s your favourite part of the book? Who is your favourite character and why?
In the Days Before is a novel about an aspiring YouTuber, Audrey Herringbone, who prides herself on making content about missing persons. Her own father went missing when she was a child, and she’s working on building up her viewership so she can share his story and hopefully find out what happened to him all those years ago. But the novel begins when Audrey’s best friend goes missing, the same day that she and Audrey argue about the content of her channel, and focuses on Audrey as she attempts to figure out what happened and bring her friend home safe.

I’m a true crime junkie, and I got the idea for this story watching Kendall Rae on YouTube. I ended up writing it for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in 2022, the whole time watching Kendall and Bella Fiori and Danielle Kirsty. They definitely inspired Audrey’s character and her drive. As an introvert, I could never put myself in front of a camera, but like Audrey I absolutely love researching, and one of my favourite parts of writing any novel is getting to do the research behind it. I spent a long time researching how missing persons investigations are conducted in Australia and tried to keep things as accurate as possible. Also, if watching Criminal Minds counts as research, I watched a lot of that to understand both the minds of criminals and the sorts of things aspiring criminologists and police officers might know.

My favourite part of the novel is definitely the reveal! I think everyone who writes a thriller must spend the entire novel looking forward to writing that part, because I sure did!

I think my favourite character is probably Detective Flanagan. He takes his job seriously and doesn’t want Audrey meddling in things and putting herself in the path of danger, but I like to think that he’s secretly rooting her on from the sidelines. He’d love to be helping her out if it wasn’t for the fact that she was an untrained teenager!

How do you balance a day job with writing, editing and running socials?
Ah…I don’t. 😂 Lately life has me down and I’m mentally exhausted, so I’m struggling with everything.

I mentioned that I get up at 5am. I work Monday to Friday and usually arrive at work around 6:30am, but my shift doesn’t start until 8am. So I have an hour and a half there that I will usually use for reading, writing, or brainstorming, whatever I feel like doing on that particular day. Lately I’ve been using it to respond to messages on social media, because I’ve been getting a lot! I suspect this will die down as my book releases and I slow down with my marketing, so I’ll start using that time for my writing again.

I try to get most of my writing done on the weekends, or in the evenings if I’m not too tired. I find editing a lot easier, and can do that pretty much whenever I have a spare moment. I spent a lot of 6:30-8am’s editing In the Days Before, then continuing in the evenings and on the weekends. Running my socials is something I’ve only recently begun getting serious about, and I’ll do that mostly on the train ride to work and in the evenings when I get home. I find those are the best times for me, because it’s a good crossover between when Australia is waking up and when North America is waking up, and most of my followers are from these locations.

If you can tell us, what are you currently working on?
Everything and nothing. I’m very much a mood writer, and at the moment I’m struggling to get into anything. So I can’t say for sure what will be coming next from me, but I’m trying to work on a YA paranormal trilogy, a NA paranormal that I hope to turn into a series, a YA paranormal crime, and three other YA crimes. And now that people have been asking, I’m also actively trying to plot and write a sequel for In the Days Before.

What are you currently reading?
My current paperback is The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson. Current ebook is Her Soul to Take by Harley Laroux. Current audiobook is Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.

What is your all time favourite book?
At the moment, I’d have to say If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio. It was recommended to me by a coworker, and I have never been so captivated by an author’s writing style! It’s a whodunnit perfect for Shakespeare nerds.

Put your Spotify on shuffle and tell us the first three songs that come up.
Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off by Panic! At The Disco
Show Yourself from the Frozen 2 Soundtrack
Blood On My Hands by The Used

Overall, a pretty accurate representation of me!

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Thank you so much, Renée, for taking the time to answer my questions and share an insight into your creative journey.

In The Days Before is out on 23 October. You can (and should!) pre-order it now.

Dana Gricken is a prolific author from Canada, whose titles include The Soulless War Trilogy and the upcoming Jessica Prince Mysteries. Dana kindly agreed to be interviewed for my blog and give us an insight into how she creates so many magical worlds.

What’s your first memory of writing?

In first grade, I wrote a short story and illustrated it called “I Lost My Cat”. It was about—you guessed it—losing my cat. There may have also been some aliens written in. Don’t worry, the cat was saved! I was a little girl who adored her cat, and I usually wrote about what I knew back then.

You are incredibly prolific. What are your secrets to remaining disciplined and finishing projects before starting exciting new ones? (Something I think all of us writers might struggle with!!)

It can be difficult sometimes to focus on one task, but I learned a long time ago that you have to in order to get things done. Jumping from one project to the next is fun, but not very productive! I write down clear goals for myself to follow and hold myself to them. If I follow through, I’ll reward myself with chocolate or free time. That way, there’s more of an incentive to stay focused on one project at a time! Always, always, always finish what you start.

You’ve said your dreams can inspire stories – I’d love to hear an example?

I once had a dream where my husband had been murdered in bed next to me. Graphic, I know—and I didn’t even have a husband! That would eventually inspire my thriller novel, In the Middle of the Night, where a journalist’s husband is murdered and she must solve it while learning some terrible things about her beloved. I’m still hoping that will find a publisher one day.

You started your writing career self-publishing. Tell me about that. How did you go about it? What did you do that you’d perhaps change in hindsight?

I self-published my first fantasy novel, The Girl Who Walked Through Fire, in 2018. I had tried for years to find a publisher and agent and it just wasn’t happening for that novel. I was still determined to get my work out there, so I self-published through Amazon and Draft2Digital. I designed the cover myself and had my mom give me feedback on the story. It was fun! In hindsight, I think I would’ve done some more marketing for it and spread the word a little more. I’m grateful that it’s finally getting readers seven years later! That’s the great thing about writing—it doesn’t need to be a success right out of the gate. You can find your audience, even a large one, decades later.

How do you balance writing with marketing and building an online presence?

It can be tough! I have timers set for myself. A few hours of writing in the morning, then an hour or so on Twitter/X and Instagram in the afternoon. It can be a struggle but marketing and building an online presence are so important! No one will buy your books if they haven’t even heard about them.

What does your average day look like?

It’s pretty much the same every day! I wake up very early, then write a chapter of my current novel. I’ll break for breakfast, answer some emails and social media messages, then a little reading and video game time. For the rest of the afternoon, I write another chapter of my current book and do some light editing on a previous project. Then I usually take the evenings for myself to cook dinner, watch TV, and just relax. I am very blessed to be a full-time author with my family’s support—both emotionally and financially! All my productivity wouldn’t be possible without them, and I love my parents and grandma dearly. Also my two cats, Whitey and Timmy, who sleep next to me while I write. I usually don’t work on weekends either unless I’m on a deadline and need to get something done. I try very hard to balance work and play. If not, I can get a little stressed out!

How do you unwind and chill out?

Video games! They are my true love. Reading books, watching Star Trek with my cats, hanging out with my boyfriend, and going shopping with my grandma helps too. I love buying (and posting selfies in) dresses! That’s very clear across my social media, ha ha.

You’ve said you like to write with a clear plot. How do you go about plotting it? Do you map out every detail? What’s your process?

I keep a notebook on my desk as I write that lists characters, the setting, and major plot points. Sometimes even a world map if I’m writing fantasy or sci-fi, and I hand draw it. I try to make sure I have a clear beginning, middle, and end before I start writing, and I usually write a blurb before too. Who is the protagonist/hero? Who is the antagonist/villain? What is the hero trying to do, and why does the villain want to stop them? How far will they go? What are their best and worst traits to make them seem as realistic and human as possible, even if they aren’t human themselves? (No one is completely evil or completely good, so I try to write complex and flawed characters.) Those are some questions to ask yourself before sitting down to write. I try to outline as much as I can, though I do leave some legroom to improvise. Surprisingly, some of my best ideas have come on the spot! Ultimately, everyone’s process is different, but mine has worked for me for years. The best part about writing is personalizing it and finding what works for you and your schedule.

Do you like to listen to music while you write?

I listen to instrumental music, yes! Mostly soundtracks that fit with the theme of the book I’m writing. For example, if I’m writing fantasy, I might listen to the soundtrack for Game of Thrones. I can’t have any words or singing since it’ll distract me. My favorite soundtracks to listen to are Skyrim, Baldur’s Gate 3, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and James Bond! When not writing, my favorite artists are Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, and Dua Lipa.

What are you currently reading?

I just finished The Unknown Witch by my friend, Grace Herbst. Right now, I’m currently reading an early copy of The Serpent’s Bridge by SZ Estavillo, a gritty crime thriller with fascinating characters. It releases in August of this year. She’s a talented writer and a lovely friend—plus we now share a publisher—so do check out her work and support her debut novel!

What’s your all-time favourite book?

Oh boy, this is a tough one! Percy Jackson definitely comes to mind. Also the Vampire Academy series. My good friend, AG Rodriguez, has a great fantasy novel called Stone Feather Fang which incorporates Puerto Rican mythology. I love to see diverse authors sharing their cultures and history while weaving them into fantasy and sci-fi worlds. So many good books to choose from!

Is there anything you would like to talk about and mention? Feel free!

You can find out more about me at danagricken.com. Currently, I have eleven novels out and seven book deals coming soon! I write, read, and love all genres and age groups, and I never back down from a project, even when it gets difficult. I’m still in talks for a few other projects, including film and TV rights for my existing novels, so hopefully those will work out. Fingers crossed! All my books can be found on Amazon and other book retailers, both in e-book and paperback forms.

Tell me about your upcoming projects, if they’re not top secret.

Absolutely, I can share a bit! I have a romantic fantasy trilogy coming out with Oliver-Heber Books this year. The first one is called Modern Fairytale. I also have books releasing with Fire and Ice Young Adult, an imprint of Melange Books, called Kingdom of V (a young adult vampire novel and the first in a series), and Coming of Age, a young adult sci-fi and the start of another series, both next year. They’re also publishing my standalone paranormal novel called Chatter this year. Jessica Prince and the Crimson Caper, a young adult mystery and the start of a series in the vein of Nancy Drew, releases this fall from Roan and Weatherford Associates (their young adult imprint called Mad Cat.) Additionally, Evernight Teen is publishing my YA horror novel called Desire and a young adult thriller novel called A Billion Reasons. Whew, that’s a lot—and there’s more going on behind the scenes! My latest release, Whispers in the Woods: A Short Story Collection, inspired by Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, and The Twilight Zone will be released on June 17th, 2024, self-published. More details are found on my website, danagricken.com, or my social media.

And one last question: how do you determine which publisher is a good fit for your book? I guess this isn’t so much of an issue as you’re agented. But how did you avoid publishing scams and cons?

My agent, Jessica Reino of Metamorphosis Literary Agency, is a wonderful resource, yes! She has a lot of knowledge about the publishing industry which is helpful to avoid scams. But anyone can do some investigating. Just typing in “publishers open to submissions” will reveal a treasure trove on the internet. I try to submit to publishers widely, then cross my fingers and hope they like my work. It can be a shot in the dark, but sometimes, it does work out. Make sure to read the submission guidelines on their website to see if they publish the genre you’ve written. When looking at a publisher, investigate their social media first. Do they seem professional? Do their book covers look good? Do they try very hard to promote their authors across social media and maintain a website? Then check websites called Writer’s Beware, Absolute Write, and QueryTracker to see if there are any complaints when it comes to the publisher you’ve chosen. Publisher’s Marketplace also has lists of reputable publishers. Whoever you choose to submit to, they should be respectful, pay their royalties on time, design your cover art, edit and compile your book, market it all, and NEVER ask for money. If they do, that’s a red flag—so run! Make sure to carefully read any contracts you receive for hidden clauses. Remember, if something feels wrong, it usually is. You can always reach out to me or other authors on social media for clarification on contracts and terms if you’re confused. I’ve chatted with many authors and given them free advice and encouragement, something I love to do. Best of luck publishing your books! Please don’t get scammed or get discouraged. Lots of rejection is normal. Keep writing, keep trying, and keep believing! For reference, I have been published by Fire and Ice Books, Roan and Weatherford Associates, Evernight Teen, and Oliver-Heber Books, four publishers who are very reputable and lovely to work with. Feel free to query them or my agent if you think your work is a good fit and they’re open to submissions!