Beauty & the Alchemist follows a pragmatic alchemist who is drawn into a web of intrigue involving a jailbreak, a mysterious murder, and an ancient curse, alongside a witty dog familiar and a diverse cast of magical beings. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I think my answer to this question changes each time someone asks! At its core, Beauty and the Alchemist is an intersection of the things I love: puzzles, fantasy, adventures in old castles, big fluffy dogs, and of course, books. I wrote it at a time when I needed someone like pragmatic Red in my life to help me find a new path. So if I’m being truthful, my inspiration was quite simply my own desire for a story to get lost in–a story that would be both magical and comfortable, where seeing characters overcome their challenges could inspire me in my own life.

Red is an intriguing and well-developed character. What were some driving ideals behind her character development?

First of all, thank you! Red is near and dear to my heart. She is a perennial outsider, someone who bridges the gap between dualities–science and magic, skepticism and belief, honoring a past home and making a new one. One of the big ideals that Red will come to terms with (she gets a taste of it in Beauty and the Alchemist, but she still has some growing to do in future books!) is balance. Her work as an alchemist means that she knows a lot about balance in the natural world, but she’s going to have to learn to balance her need for facts with trust in her own intuition–not to mention balancing her identity as an outsider with trusting in her friends’ love and support. In a similar vein, one of Red’s personal ideals is a strong sense of justice, which certainly fuels her investigations!

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

So, Beauty and the Alchemist is a fractured retelling of Beauty and the Beast . . . and let’s be honest, fairy tales often deal with themes of abuse. Two of the characters in Beauty have faced chronic gaslighting and undermining of their personal worth, and they react in very different ways. However, with the help of their friends, both characters ultimately take steps forward. This, to me, is the promise of “cozy” literature: there will be some adversity, but together, we will make things right. Additionally, Beauty and the Beast–again, like many fairy tales–deals heavily with appearance, and how appearances can either be deceptive or reflective of an inner truth. That’s a theme that lends itself very well to mystery, where a murderer could be hiding in plain sight. I admit I had some fun with that one!

And naturally, because Beauty and the Beast is a romance, there is a theme of love in this book too–not only romantic love but the love between friends as well. But certain relationships will unfold over the course of the series, so we only take baby steps in book one!

What is the next book you are working on, and when will it be available?

By a happy coincidence, today (December 8th, as I write to you) is the release day for book six in the Alchemical Tales series! Beauty and the Alchemist is book one, of course, and from there each new book in the series sees Red and her friends tackle a new–and murderous–fairy tale. The newest book, out now, finds Pinocchio mixed up in politics–and even a suspicious cult. (A bit on the nose, perhaps, as Officer Thorn might say!) It is titled Death Pulls the Strings. But again, that’s book six in the series; if you want the immediate follow-up to Beauty and the Alchemist, book two is called Cold as Snow. I truly enjoyed and learned from writing each book in The Alchemical Tales, and we still have more stories to go!

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