Author Spotlight: Renee Edwards
I had the wonderful opportunity recently to connect with Renee Edwards (author of To the Stars, A Puzzle of Poppies, and more!) over social media. I had heard about her latest anthology Slightly Sweet, Slightly Creepy and was immediately intrigued to check out her previous books as well. She was kind enough to send me a digital copy of To the Stars which is the first book in the Powerful Prohibition series!
The Power Prohibition series is a historical fantasy that where magic is outlawed resulting in drastic measures, secrecy, and more. To the Stars focuses on our protagonists Cecily Deerborne, a socialite who is forced to navigate her magic in secret, and Daniel Sullivan, a street rat carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. The book is chalk full of interesting characters, mystery and a sprinkle of romance.
Not only was Renee so kind to send me the digital copy but she also agreed to do an interview with me afterwards so that we could discuss To the Stars as well as her writing process, plans for future books and more!
Q: Cecily has magic that allows her to channel electricity which I thought was such an interesting choice for powers especially considering the historical fantasy setting that the story takes place in. Did that setting influence your ideas for Cecily or was it always going to be electricity?
Answer: Her power was pretty much always going to be electricity, largely because it needed to be something difficult to hide. Some of the other adepts in To the Stars, like Oliver and the twins, have abilities that are essentially invisible to the casual observer, but Cecily’s is very obvious and dangerous if it isn’t controlled. At the beginning of the novel, she wants to learn that control in order to suppress her power, but a big part of her arc is learning that she doesn’t have to fear her power and that her can even embrace and feel proud of it That said, I did like the notion that while she is stigmatized as a magic user in that world, her power is something the very people who look down on her would be happy to use to their own ends. There is a brief exchange in the conversation between Cecily and her parents at the very beginning of the book where I tried to touch on this. Cecily’s father is a wealthy industrialist, and he seems intrigued by the possibilities posed by Cecily’s power before Cecily’s mother reclaims control of the conversation to keep shaming Cecily. I didn’t want to get heavy-handed about it, but I thought it was a way to hint at the idea that the society in New Avalon is essentially acting against its own interests with its wholesale rejection of magic.
Q: You have such a wide cast of supporting characters alongside Cecily and Daniel; were there any POVs that you enjoyed writing more than the other? Or any side characters that you particularly enjoyed writing and would want to spend more time with if you were given the chance?
Answer: I love all my characters, but writing Oliver is a special joy. A lot of his character depends on his charisma and ability to disarm people, so I try to use language in a very intentional, playful way in his dialogue, which is really fun. At the same time, when his defenses are down, he frequently has no filter, and as someone who is normally a conflict-averse peacemaker, I enjoy that a lot, too! And I am going to be spending a lot more time with him coming up, because he is going to be one of the leads in the third Powerful Prohibition book.
Q: It’s a bit of a cliché question but I’d love to hear about your inspiration for To the Stars! Was it a small idea that bloomed as you went or was it pulled together before you started writing?
Answer: The setting came first, as I was first spitballing ideas for the project. Historical fantasy is one of my very favorite genres to read, so I knew I wanted something in that vein, but I needed a time period to work with and an interesting way to incorporate a fantastic element. Once I hit on “Prohibition, but with magic instead of alcohol”, the rest just sort of fell into place.
Q: Where there any big revisions or changes that you made between the start and end of your writing process?
Answer: Not really, and I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I write out of order; instead of starting at the beginning of the novel and going straight through to the end, I hop around based on what pops into my head. So, if I come up with a big idea for something at the end of the story, I don’t have to go back and fix stuff at the beginning, because it probably hasn’t been written yet! Typically, this means my first drafts take a while, but revisions are a little bit of an easier lift, because I’ve front-loaded a lot of the work.
Q: I feel like you can tell so much about an author from the books that inspired/motivated them to write or helped them to fall in love with reading! Are there any authors and books that impacted, inspired or made you fall in love with them?
Answer: So many! But one that stands out to me in particular is Anne Rice. That might seem surprising, because my work is pretty different from hers in terms of tone, but I absolutely devoured her books when I was younger. Then, after years away, I picked up Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis (because vampires and Atlantis). It was the middle of the pandemic, when I really needed some comfort, and slipping back into that world honestly felt like a warm hug. But in addition to the welcome familiarity, I realized that certain aspects of her work had clearly made their way into my own writing process, namely a desire to establish a vivid, lived-in aesthetic and an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to storytelling. She saw no problem incorporating 19th-century New Orleans, crypts under Paris, Renaissance painting, ancient Egypt, rock stars, body switching, and meeting Jesus into one basic storyline, so it seems natural and maybe even a little tame for me to be like, “Magic! Speakeasies! Eugenics! Murder!”
Q: You’re a librarian! I would be remiss to not ask you if that helps shape your ideas and love for writing? And if you could say anything to other librarians and patrons, what would it be?
Answer: My parents started taking me to the public library at a very young age, so libraries have been some of my favorite places for basically my entire life, and while I am not currently working in a library setting, I will always be a librarian at heart! For other librarians and readers, I would say that with everything happening in the world right now, our stories are more important than ever. We all need to keep loving stories, writing stories, sharing stories, and using stories to speak truth to power. If we stand together, we can beat back the advance of ignorance and cruelty.
If you’d like to keep up with Renee, check out the following links to her socials and websites!
Instagram: @reneeedwardsauthor
Website: www.reneeedwardsauthor.com
Universal Book Link for To the Stars: https://books2read.com/u/boqGGR
Universal Book Link for the follow-up, Charm School: https://books2read.com/u/4ArQ2e