Bobbin and the Magic Thief follows a shunned faerie who sets out on an adventure to rescue her best friend, who has been kidnapped by a human. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I’ve always loved fairytales, and often wondered about the many variations the Brothers Grimm collected before writing the versions that most people know today.

If there had been many variations around a particular tale, was there some grain of truth to it? What would it have been?

I started thinking about Rumpelstiltskin. What if he wasn’t the one spinning the gold? What if he was just an opportunist?

Somewhere in the mix, I started wondering why there weren’t many tales about faeries and spinning or cloth production. Fae are often either mischievous or helpful in stories, and I’m sure I would have appreciated some help spinning all the thread needed for making cloth for everything from clothing to sails for ships.

So I created Spindle Faeries and decided to play with different tales involving spinning or clothing, starting with Rumpelstiltskin.

What character did you enjoy writing for? Was there one that was more challenging to write for?

I tended to fall in love with each new character as I wrote them, but I truly adore the pixie clan. I’ve started writing some short stories about some of them.

Bobbin was probably the most challenging. Being the main character, she carries the story and I wanted to pace her growth, but my creative mind kept wanting to play with the other characters. Staying focused on her was sometimes difficult.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

Bobbin has often felt like a misfit or outsider, even when she’s trying very hard to fit in. It’s something I can personally relate to. When she finds and accepts the friendship of others who accept her as she is, her unique qualities come through. It makes her personality shine and allows her to be the brave person she is.

I also tried to really ground the story in a historical period. Yes, it’s the world of fae and magic, but most faerie and folk tales take place in a primarily medieval time. So I did research on the 14th-16th centuries in Europe to get a good sense of place. How flax would have been spun, what kind of food and plant life might be around. I took some literary license, but I feel the research helped to make the story much more textural and real.

Can you tell us a little about where the story goes in book two and when the novel will be available?

The next book, Bobbin and the Stolen Thread, will be a twist on The Emperor’s New Clothes and takes place following the main events of this book, but before the epilogue. Bobbin and her friends continue their adventures, traveling further north in Rose Valley. The Magic Thief doesn’t make a direct appearance in this one, but the mischief he causes is still the root of the problem. I’m hoping to release it at the end of 2024 or early 2025.

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