EPISODE 32 - A Discussion with LAURIE FOREST, Author of THE BLACK WITCH CHRONICLES
Show notes
Evonne and I are both huge book lovers, and we have a special place in our hearts for YA novels. That’s why we are sooooo extremely blessed to have bestselling author Laurie Forest on our podcast today to discuss her book series The Black Witch Chronicles. In this episode we discuss Laurie’s inspiration for this book series (listed below), her writing process, and what we can expect in her next two books in the series. I hope you enjoy! Please scroll down for the full transcript.
Website: https://laurieannforest.com/
Instagram: @laurieannforest
Facebook: @laurieforest
FULL TRANSCRIPT
This text was transcribed using Descript. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors. Hope you enjoy this transcript! If you wish to share it in media articles or on social for personal or professional use, please include attribution to “Lost & Refound Podcast” and link back to this blog/podcast URL.
(intro) Hi, I'm Yan. Hi, I'm Evonne. Welcome to Lost & Refound Podcast. We're a podcast, discussing our personal journeys as modern Asian women and sharing, inspiring stories from within our community. We hope you enjoy this episode - now let's get started.
Evonne Lau: Hi listeners, just a couple notes about this episode: Yan and I are interviewing Laurie Forest, the author of The Black Witch Chronicles. While we try to avoid spoilers, we do talk about the characters in her books, and plot teasers for her next book launch. If you haven't read the series yet, we highly recommend and we'll share links to the books on our website. We had some spotty audio moments so we created a transcript of this episode to help you follow along easier. We don't want you to miss a moment of our enchanting time with Laurie - now onto the episode!
Yan Wang: Hello everyone. And welcome to another episode of Lost & Refound. Podcast. I'm your host, Yan, and we have Evonne. Hi Evonne!
Evonne Lau: Hi, Yan!
Yan Wang: How excited are you for this episode today?
Evonne Lau: I have been waiting for this guest for quite some time. She wrote an amazing series that you introduced me to, which I have stayed up so late at night finishing because I cannot stop reading it. So I'm so excited for our guest today!
Yan Wang: Yeah, we have been waiting for this guest for, I feel like almost a month now, and this entire week we've been texting back and forth at just how excited we are. But to just give everyone a little background, Evonne and I are both huge book lovers and we both hold a special place in your heart for young adult novels specifically. For me personally, when I was growing up, I wasn't allowed to watch TV. So, books were my entertainment. And this has carried to this day. So whenever I feel really stressed or I want to escape, I turned to books in particular, when I want to want to escape, I turned to young adult novels. And the reason for that is, is because number one, they are pretty easy to read. So you can get through them pretty quickly. Number two, they're always filled with their rich characters and rich storyline. And number three, they do always have a pretty happy ending. And when I'm trying to escape from the world, I want something happy in the end. So, you know, 2020, this particular book series called The Black Witch Chronicles...I went through it, I think 2021 through it three times alone because I needed a lot of escape last year. Um, you know, but the problem is, you know, we read a lot of books, but we never really get to chat with the author. That's why today is such a treat because Laurie Forest is here with us today. She is the author of The Black Witch Chronicles, and we are so excited to chat with her about her own story, what inspires her and what we have to look forward to in our future books. So please help me welcome Laurie, to the podcast. Hi, Laurie!
Laurie Forest (guest): Thank you for having me. It's an honor to be here. Thank you.
Yan Wang: Thank you for coming out. I know you're really busy because not only are you an author. you also work in healthcare.
Laurie Forest (guest): I do.
Yan Wang: Before we get to our discussion. Can you do a little introduction of who you are, to our audience?
Laurie Forest (guest): Yep. Well, so can everybody hear me? Okay. Cause I'm here in the backwoods of Vermont and so it can be a little dicey with the internet. Um, so you're, you're both hearing me okay?
Yan Wang: Yes. We're hearing you fine.
Laurie Forest (guest): Wonderful. Yeah. So, I live in basically in the wilderness of Vermont. And I post a lot of pictures of that on social. And I drink a lot of strong tea and I really enjoy getting up at the crack of ...well, actually before dawn and writing books with a lot of dryads and dragons, as you both know. During the day I worked in healthcare, I'm a dentist, actually, people find it surprising! I don't know why, but ... (laughs) Which has got its challenges right now. So it's very exciting to get, to get to take a break from that and talk about books for a bit.
Yan Wang: So with a full-time job, like a dentist, I mean, when you're working, you don't have any time to write because you know, you're with clients all day. So when do you find a time to write? Because your books are not short books.
(laughs)
Laurie Forest (guest): Um, I get up around four or five every morning, and I write in the morning. It's, it's very kind of quiet, spooky here. That time in the mornings, we're surrounded by woods, and kind of the most amazing time here. And then, yeah, you're right. When I'm at work, I definitely have to focus on my patients. But on the weekends too, I, I pretty much work all morning and some of the afternoon on, on the story, I'm obsessed with the stories. (laughs)
Yan Wang: We are obsessed with this story too. It's a really good story. You post a lot of images of where you live in the backwoods of Vermont right now. It's covered in snow. Every time you post a image, you know, I can see how it will inspire you to live in an area like this. Where else do you draw inspiration from when it comes to, you know, this book series in particularly, The Black Witch series? It's so rich, with so many different characters, so many different cultures. Different way of people speaking, the way they look, the way they dress, their mannerisms... where are where are you finding the inspiration?
Laurie Forest (guest): Oh, gosh. The original inspiration, before I started writing, because I, at the time I was only reading non fiction, for years. And my kids are, they were preteens at the time. I have four daughters. And they were begging me to read Harry Potter. And for about three years, I told them, well, that's, you know, that's kids' books. That's very nice. I'm glad you liked them, but they just kept begging me. And so I finally, after having lively birthday parties with people running around just like Harry Potter characters, I finally gave in and read them. And I absolutely loved them. I'd never been into fantasy before. And then I started letting them hand me everything. And I just started reading their older fantasy. And then I started reading adult fantasy and I, I just never knew that I would love this genre so much. And I did. I loved like the magical end of it, the dragons and the elves, and then just, I don't know, just how you can have so many imaginative things, but I also liked how you can see how authors were tackling, kind of real-world issues in the fantasy stories. And at the time there was a big battle going on in Vermont. We were the, kind of the beginning of the fight for marriage equality. Which at the time we called gay marriage and my kids were adopted. Through adoption groups. I got to know a lot of couples that have, gay-lesbian couples, that have adopted kids. And my husband and I really wanted them to be able to marry. So we got involved in that and...the backlash because we were the first state to start to tackle. This was really super intense. And I saw a lot of horrible prejudice directed at friends. We had our lawn sign, like, run over multiple times, in middle of the night. And our lawn like destroyed because of, we had a little rainbow thing up saying, "love makes a family". But our friends went through horrible things and I was so troubled by that. Like, I don't know that all this fantasy I was reading, I started to get this idea for a story in my mind and the story it kind of sparked with, you know, what, if there was this world and almost all of the different religions, just for no good reason, hated people with wings? Like it was just baked into the mythology. I mean, these are completely different religions, but they all kind of like, just hated people's wings for no good reason. And then what if I started the story there? And then what if I had like the people that were really hateful, kind of one in this world, then they had like most of the power? And what if we had a protagonist who grew up in that society and only heard about how all these other people were horrible and people with wings were horrible? And what if we had another character that had wings and then we'd bring them together somehow? That made for a very interesting story in my mind. So, I don't want to give away too many spoilers, but for people that haven't read the series... but that was the starting point. And that's a long answer, but ... (laughs)
Yan Wang: There's so much to unpack there, because number one, you have four daughters on top of being a dentist and an author. I have two daughters and one job, and I feel like I want to pull my hair out. So I'm going to bow down right now and say you're a hero.
Laurie Forest (guest): Well, a lot of the writing of this book was, uh... I will admit, they did a lot of like, extracurriculars music and sports and drama and all sorts of stuff. And I did a lot of times sitting in parking lots. And as every parent understands and I would write during that time too, so...
Yan Wang: Number two, it's not like you've always wanted to be an author. This is something, just kind of came out of nowhere...you just got inspired to write?
Laurie Forest (guest): Yeah, I never took a writing class. I was a math, science person. I was a math major in college and computers. And then I got into, um...I just decided to go into plastic surgery and dentistry, and then I went to dentistry and I love it. I love reading. I've always loved reading. I've read all... like tons of classics. I was obsessed with reading classicals, like , Tale of Two Cities, Pride and Prejudice. Um, I know just a lot of classics, and tons of nonfiction. I think nonfiction fed into it too.. I mean, I had just, just finished reading a huge number of books about Afghanistan...before my kids started giving me fantasy fiction. So, on my mind was definitely how women are treated, I think, in a lot of places in the world, not just Afghanistan, obviously. So, you know, I think a lot of things that bothered me in the world. Like I think the books were a way of, kind of, me discussing those things and ,kind of, having a conversation about how I felt without them. And obviously now it's, it's a conversation with a lot of readers too, which has been amazing.
Yan Wang: Yes. Your books definitely cover a lot of society issues that we are currently experiencing, right? As soon as I started reading, the first thing was racism. It's carried from the beginning all the way through, you know, the last book you have released, which was The Shadow Wand. And then, there's sexism, homophobia... there's arranged or forced marriage, child marriage, there's slavery, there's religious freedom, nationalism, class systems, genocide... Like, you cover a lot of issues in just this one series. Usually when I read young adult books they're.. they do cover some of these issues, but usually not this many in one series. But what I find really amazing is that they work. I don't feel like, "Oh, there's too much." I feel like this is a world I can, I can relate to. I feel like it's a complete different world, but it feels very familiar to me. And that's one of the things I feel so much connection with the books as well.
Laurie Forest (guest): Yeah, I think it's just amazing, the feedback I get from all over the world. And it's actually really hopeful because I've literally talked and written to people from all over the world. And so many people are thinking the same thing about just being tired of some traces of ...being tired about the oppression of women, about being tired about all these things...and it's just all over the world! People are thinking about this and they just don't want it anymore.
Yan Wang: Okay. So, I don't, I don't want to give too much away to people who have not read the books... but I do kind of want to talk about a few of the characters, right? Um, it's... (laughs) It's hard for me not to! (laughs) Um, so, you know, the main character is Elloren...you know, we really see the journey of her when she, actually, when we first see her, she's very much part of the Gardnerian world, right? She's their citizen, she believes what she's being taught. She believes the religion. And then as she goes into university, meets other people. She's starting to open her mind. And again, I think this applies so well to our current society right now, because, you know, I feel like our country is so divided right now and racism is sort of a huge issue we're experiencing. And the biggest thing for me is education, right? People who have not experienced other cultures,or haven't spoken to, someone else about the problems from a different culture, what they experienced is fear, instead of being open. And it's because they were taught and that they were raised... and I love seeing her character now, going from that to somebody who is so compassionate and who wants to help people who are, who are in need, who wants to help the refugees. But I also see, you know, the struggle within her, especially with in Shadow Wand. You know, where she wants to be brave, but she, you know, she's like, "I'm going to do this. I'm going to, you know, I'm going to protect everyone..." And next, she's like, "I'm scared! I don't know what to do!" It feels very real! When you write these characters, are you, do you put yourself in their shoes? Or like now you imagining, you know, your daughter being this person or you being this person, while you are reading these characters?
Laurie Forest (guest): I think I'm just trying to get in the mind of the character themselves... especially as the series goes on and I'm going into these different points of view, which has been very challenging, but very interesting. And I'm very into Tierney's character right now, actually. Um, but yeah, I try and really put myself in the shoes of the character. Obviously. It's not all, um, some of it is just pure fun to like, you know, the love triangle certainly is very fun to write. (laughs)
Yan Wang: We all love a love triangle! (laughs) Um, Evonne and I, actually yesterday we were discussing, um, who would we choose between Yvan and Lukas? She is Team Yvan and I'm Team Lukas. (laughs)
Evonne Lau: It makes for interesting conversation! (laughs)
Laurie Forest (guest): There are some heated debates with that... (laughs) It's funny, there's a Black Witch Chronicles Facebook page. Yeah, it's pretty funny, you know, good-natured, but heated arguments.
Yan Wang: There's five books, three main books and two books about side characters. The second main book, Iron Flower, I have to say, usually young adult novels. There's certain formula to it...you know, there's not, not a huge surprise usually to me. But in Iron Flower, you put a George R. Martin move, and something that I did not see coming at all... and it completely broke my heart. And I have to tell you, Diana is my favorite character. I love her! I want to know what was your mind frame, when you wrote that?
Laurie Forest (guest): Diana ....I think she's everybody's favorite character, or most people's... and it's funny... I had, I knew somebody at college that really was a lot like her. And I really enjoy writing her because she's, I'm very much not like Diana and... I loved the idea of having Elloren and Diana are so different... and throwing these two characters together that are...from cultures that are just so completely at odds with each other. Uh, and it just, it was a lot of fun to write it. It's kind of hilarious too, to write their scenes together. It was, anyway. Obviously it took a bit of a dark turn, but...yeah, I love Diana's character.
Evonne Lau: And one of my favorite characters is Wynter...because I feel really connected to her. And she is just such an amazing character and such an amazing soul. And that's how I feel when I read all of your characters. I feel like I want to know more and I want to read more points of views. So I'm very excited to hear more of that...if you're going to include that in your next books, and just understanding more of these worlds. You have a map in the beginning and I'm starting to live and feel all that the characters are doing, especially when they're traveling through these worlds. So I can't wait to draw a bit. So then I can start drawing the characters out in my mind. I'm waiting for a comic book to come out. If it doesn't come out first, I'm going to be drawing one. (laughs)
Laurie Forest (guest): Awesome! Yeah. Wynter's character. Um, And I feel like it really dovetailed well, that the fact that she's an Empath. Cause you know, artists in real life are a bit empathic, sometimes I think too. So there's some truth to that. She's a different character and they're all...um, I actually begin, uh, quite a few, well she's right in the beginning of The Demon Tide, the book I'm writing now. There's a number of little chapters. Um, I don't want to give anything away, but I'm pretty happy with how her section's coming together.
Evonne Lau: Excellent. I cannot wait when I found out that I need 235 more days until your book launch, I kind of cried a little bit... (laughs)
Laurie Forest (guest): The cover is coming out February 8th, and I'm excited about. 'Cause it's absolutely gorgeous.
Yan Wang: Amazing. Yeah, Evonne... I've been waiting a lot longer than you have. So feel bad for me first! (laughs)
Evonne Lau: It's true! (laughs) Yan's been waiting a lot longer, so I have sympathy. At least I'm waiting for like just half a year, so it's not too bad. Um, and yeah. Speaking about your cover art, how do you, do you draw the cover art? Or how do you get inspired to relate the cover art to your story without giving too much away?
Laurie Forest (guest): The cover art is done by the amazing artists at my, you know, my publishing house, who work with Inkyard Press. They're absolutely amazing. I have a Pinterest page, with all sorts of elements from the book, and they draw inspiration from my Pinterest pages.
Yan Wang: Yeah. Cause I've been following on daily posts about your Pinterest inspirations and I am very excited for all the dragon images you're sharing.
Laurie Forest (guest): I love Pinterest for author inspiration. But yeah, I'm glad you're enjoying that.
Yan Wang: So with all these dragon images, how many more dragons are we expecting the next couple books?
Laurie Forest (guest): Oh, there'll be quite a few dragons. Um, well, you know, there's and there's going to be quite a bit about Tristan. I actually devoted quite a bit of the next book to Tristan...and you know, his love life and so forth. Cause I really love his character and, um, I love the way that's come together. So I'm excited to share that for readers.
Yan Wang: Yes. I'm excited to hear about what happened with, uh, you know, both brothers, right? Rafe and Tristan...and I love both of them. And with Aislinn and Jarod, I am just holding my breath for that chapter.
Laurie Forest (guest): Yeah. There's some Aislinn chapters, Aislinn and Jarod chapters. And you're definitely need to see more of them in Demon Tide. It's a big book right now. I'm not quite sure what they're going to do. It's like seven hundred pages right now so... (laughs)
Yan Wang: That's great! (laughs)
Evonne Lau: I'm ready for it! (laughs)
Laurie Forest (guest): Yeah. I... maybe we'll do tiny font or something. I don't know what we'll do, but I don't want to cut...we'll see...
Yan Wang: And then the book after Demon Tide, is the final book...which is Battle for Erthia, correct?
Laurie Forest (guest): Yeah. And, um, I think part of the reason why my books aren't formulaic is, I often, I know the end of the Battle for Erthia and I know the beginning, but I... that's my least written book. So it'll be, um, it'll be interesting to see that when we get there... (laughs)
Yan Wang: Yeah. So what is your process? Do you come up with the end in the beginning first and you fill in as you write? Or what is your process to put a story together?
Laurie Forest (guest): Well, I've got just a very loose idea about the story arc in this book. But I'll just sit down every day and just write. Even when I'm not inspired, I'll just write. And I wind up throwing away a lot of stuff, but, um...I don't know. It's funny, you know, I never would have believed that it could be like this, but I... I read other authors like Stephen King, talking about this kind of magic part of this process. You write every day. The characters do start to take over and they kind of show you which direction they want to go in. And if you are going in the wrong direction, you can kind of feel it. And know, kind of, not like what you're doing. I know that sounds really weird and spacey, but...I dunno, just writing every day. People ask me all the time, like "what should I do if I want to be an author?" And I go by the advice of almost every author that I admire is basically, try and write every day and read a lot. That's it. (laughs)
Yan Wang: I mean, I can understand why...you're creating these characters. So they're almost like your babies and you know them inside out. So I can see how, you know, we...you know, we know our children inside out. We know when something's not right. You have that gut feeling, right. So I feel like you're the mother of all of these characters. So you will know if they're going the wrong direction that's not meant for them.
Laurie Forest (guest): It is strange. It's almost like, like Lukas is a real person. You know, I was talking to one of my beta readers, who's been on this journey with me for years. And she's like, "what are we going to do with this when this is done?" Like, you know, Aislinn's a real person. And Lukas is real... it's like we've been hanging out with these people for years. Um, you know, I've got these new characters coming in... I don't know, maybe it's these Death Fae right now... they really interest me.
Yan Wang: Yes, that is really interesting. I'm really excited to hear more about how they're going to contribute into this, um, the final battle and everything.
Laurie Forest (guest): I like, I like this idea of these characters, that they seem so scary, but. You know, cause there is an aspect of nature that is truly frightening. But yet it's really important for the whole ecosystem and the whole of nature falls apart without it...and then I really liked the idea of these characters that they're good guys, but they seem like bad guys... because they're kind of dark, you know?
Yan Wang: Yes. I really liked that line where you talked about, you said... I think something along the lines of, of, death is part of nature, right? When you're introducing the Death Fae...and that made a lot of sense and yes, it is part of nature. We do shun death, we shun anything...we don't like spiders. We don't like snakes. We don't want anything that make us have that "ew" feeling. But it is part of nature, and inherently spiders, snakes, scorpions, they are not bad. Death is not bad. It's all part of the cycle. So I like how you're bringing all that in and putting a different lens on something that people usually would shy away from.
Laurie Forest (guest): I'm very interested in writing that right now.
Yan Wang: It is interesting! And also because in most books, those are usually the evil characters.
Laurie Forest (guest): Yeah. Well, I love that Fae aspect of just all the elements coming together and just kind of this. I don't know... Just it's needed to support all the different aspects of nature so... and it's kind of fun to write about people with affinities, for water, affinities for fire... and it's funny, that most readers, you know, I think most people, if you really think about it and have, do have actually an affinity for one element or another.
Yan Wang: Yep. Yes.
Laurie Forest (guest): And I think that's kind of cool, actually... (laughs) Tierney is interesting to write because I try to use a lot of water language or water imagery...you know, like, um, so it's an interesting challenge to try and even form the language around the elements...if you're dealing with an elemental character.
Yan Wang: I think that's probably why I'm Team Lukas. Cause I definitely have an affinity for, like earth and trees. That's why, Evonne! (laughs)
Laurie Forest (guest): There's a lot of Team Lukas! I know. I dug myself into a hole with Shadow Wand, because my editor and I were like, you know, we made those scenes too good. People are really going to be Team Lukas now! (laughs)
Yan Wang: You're going to break my heart! Like I was so scared! (laughs)
Laurie Forest (guest): Oh man... well, after that... I'm going to have, you know, there are going to be people upset at me one way or the other, so... But I'll stop there... (laughter)
Evonne Lau: But I think that's what makes such a good series, and such a good book, because people are so invested! We're so invested in the characters, and with you. And I think that that's what also people want, like that community... when the world sucks outside...then they kind of want to dive into a reality that feels like, that it's a little bit more controlled. It's not... (laughs) but it's just puts us into a world, where you actually can have a happy ending. And then hopefully, from there, inspire action into the reality that we currently are living in. And we can definitely feel that. And we can definitely see that. And even just having these open conversations, right? About a lot of these topics, be it in a character or be it. And, um, uh, what's actually happening in our government. Or our day to day, I think it's just so important to get into the minds of everyone in next generation...to re-look at that world that way. And remove the conversation off of toxic social media and...get to the truth. And I think that's what your books are about, like really "what is the truth?" Everyone's got their own truth. So I just really thank you for just bringing that through and riding that to the end, and I'm with you. I, I just, honestly, I cannot wait. Um, what do your daughters think about your book series?
Laurie Forest (guest): Well, they were teenagers when I was writing this...so they would say, you know, two of them really like it. And they're like, you know, "you're my mom... so I, kind of, have to turn off the fact 'you're my mom' reading the romance parts"... but, they actually helped edit them a little bit. They've been very supportive. Two of my kids are not that into fantasy. Um, they're, you know, they've read different things, but, um...so that's fine too. But one thing that's been very interesting is the series...I think, the opportunity to work with, for each of the books, sensitivity readers, which actually has been a great experience. Kind of had a team of readers from all different backgrounds. Most of them are authors too, but they're from many different cultural backgrounds. So, um, you know, trying to tackle some of these heavy topics. Um, but the series has actually been rewritten... like the books have been rewritten based on the feedback I've gotten from people. For example, I'm diving into Tristan's love story in the next book...I have two sensitivity readers, who themselves are gay men, and they've looked over that story and they gave me feedback. They, themselves, dealt with a lot of prejudice based on their sexuality, growing up....so they had, we had some great conversations. We delve into some immigration issues, obviously, very pro immigration and pro supporting immigrants. But because we delve into that a little bit more in the next book, I'm actually going to get a chance to work with a sensitivity reader, who also is an immigrant. So the conversations that I get to have with people and get to modify this book...it's, it's kind of exciting because the books have really been kind of a team effort.
And I, I can't tell you how much better these books have been after rewriting them, based on that feedback. So, that's been incredibly enriching because I've learned so much from all these other people that have been involved in the series.
Evonne Lau: I didn't even know that that was something that we could do as, as authors. How do you reach out to sensitivity readers?
Laurie Forest (guest): Well, I have beta readers from all different backgrounds. And I do reach out to people I know, authors I know who I know have unique perspectives perhaps based on their experiences. Like their own experiences of racism, for example. And one of my earliest sensitivity readers, her parents fled the Holocaust... and a lot of different people... And like also there's professional sensitivity readers, who might have a special understanding of different topics. For example, if you were, if you wanted to write a book about a character from Mexico, you could hire a sensitivity reader who could just check your facts about Mexico. And make sure that you're not making any errors and you're not making any...you're not doing anything that could potentially be offensive to somebody unknowingly. And so my publishing house also hires, usually two sensitivity readers. And it's just been great...because the conversations are amazing. Yeah, it's been great experience for me.
Evonne Lau: I'm wondering how I can sign up? For me to be a beta reader?
Yan Wang: Can we read it first? (laughs) That's what she's asking! (laughs)
Laurie Forest (guest): I don't know if you want to see my messy first drafts, or even 10th drafts. Um, yeah, I'm starting to get excited about Demon Tide though...I've got a lot of points of view on this one and I...I do love the center of the book. Because I think...I put a lot of romance into the center of the book with lots of different couples in this ... (laughs) It was so much fun to write! And there's this kind of festival in the Eastern realm...there's a astronomical thing that happens there over this...the star, that's kind of purple actually, right at the right angle to turn the moon purple. It's just kind of like, a religious tinged, Valentine's Day. But it actually...there's actually an effect on people that actually makes it easier to express love...you know, love for people and, kind of, open your heart up. So it's kind of fun to write. I had a great time. So yeah, you'll see a lot of purple on my social media... (laughs)
Yan Wang: I'm smiling so big! I'm so excited! Actually, I always wanted to ask authors, um, is it difficult to write love scenes? Especially when you get to the sex scenes, right? Being a mother, being you know, your friends and your family are going to read it? Does it make it more difficult to write those scenes?
Laurie Forest (guest): Well, those are actually a lot of fun to write, actually. Um, and you know....I think, no, I, I think, I think that the reaction in people discussing those is funny sometimes. But, um, it was interesting. Lukas and Elloren scenes in The Shadow Wand...um, I thought for sure they were gonna sensor that! My editor actually added some things to it...so that's process to me! (laughter) Cause this is why, A, we did actually really make sure...um, we worked very hard to make sure that that was supporting the idea that loving consensual relationships are important. And to make sure that that came through. And I think we succeeded in that.
Yan Wang: I think you did. It's beautifully written.
Laurie Forest (guest): Yeah. everyone seems to be Team Lukas, pretty much now. So I think we succeeded maybe too much... (laughter)
Yan Wang: So, not knowing that you had these sensitivity readers that kind of help you with understanding these characters, and what they go through...I can better understand now, why these characters feel so relatable. And then Evonne and I were just discussing how I feel like...because I...so she read the books, and I listen to Audible. And Julia Whelan, is my favorite narrator on Audible. She really brings every character to life. I was telling her, when I'm listening to these books...I feel like I'm listening to my friends talking...because your book's very conversational. There's a lot of conversation and a lot of dialogue...so I feel like I'm listening to my friends talking! That's why I went through it so many times last year. Because whenever I'm stressed, I'll have it on. And I feel that I'm listening to a really interesting conversation from my friends...I'm laughing, I'm crying... You know, so I can see now why they feel so relatable. This is why. But it sounds like you also base characters on people that you know. Like you said you knew somebody in college who was a lot like Diana. So is there a character based on each person? Or is it a mix of characters that you pulled together?
Laurie Forest (guest): Some characters are based on actors and actresses that I think are amazing. Uh, like there's a French actor that I based Yvan on... um, and I put some pictures on social of him. Oh gosh, I'm trying to think...yeah, just all sorts of people... I, kind of, cast the movie in my head...and so sometimes I will pull up my character, an actor I like... I'll just be playing and playing the scenes in my head with the actors. Occasionally someone I know... mostly actors and actresses. The whole movie's running in my head... they can just take that and put it on the screen! (laughs)
Evonne Lau: I hope they do! I really hope they do! I think that this could be something really special. Netflix is doing a lot of these books series... I'm into that! Netflix, if you're listening, I want to be on that team. (laughter)
Yan Wang: Yes! I really hope movies...TV, like Netflix, HBO, even the CW! Like any, when you want to pick it up? I'm so willing to watch it because I want to see these characters. I want to see people with purple skin and green skin. (laughs) A big question I have is, "How did you come up with the name, The Black Witch Chronicles?"
Laurie Forest (guest): Speaking about the Gardnerians, being kind of, I mean, a little bit like Puritans.. like in their look... Um, they're just kind of that idea of that...just wearing these just extremely conservative, like that, you know, down-to-the-ground dressings, full and black. And, uh, just it's something their enemies had called, Elloren's grandmother. And it turned into something that they just ran with. Like, yeah, "The Black Witch, she's dressed all in black". I don't know, it just seemed like a cool name, so we went with it (laughs)
Evonne Lau: I am, very much, invested in Yvan...and hoping that I, I can read more about him and just different points of views. Have you thought about even coming out with different books? More than the prequels? I know that Light Mage, as well as Wand Fasted,, were other people's [POV]. Is that something that you would also like to add to the series?
Laurie Forest (guest): Yeah, I really would... I think, you know, COVID's sucking a lot of my time right now... um, but, hopefully we'll get past this. I have a lot of ideas for side books...and Tierney, I'm really liking too. I wish I did have...uh, you know, 10 extra hours in every day. Um, but I did definitely spend weeks...
Evonne Lau: Incredible...like, I forgot how long they said that JK Rowling actually wrote Harry Potter... but it just takes time, right? Like building these worlds and characters? But we're going to be fans for life. So I expect to be reading these books till I'm 50-60! (laughs)
Laurie Forest (guest): Well, this is good inspiration for me to finish the series strong! (laughs) I'm starting to really love the next book. So I'm hoping that other people will like it too...
Evonne Lau: I'm sure they will. And the fact that, again, that you just do so much on your day-to-day, and you're still so committed to this world...it's incredible. And we, thank you so much. Thank you.
Laurie Forest (guest): Thank you for your kind words. I, you know, I'm really thinking a lot about the environment right now...and also just, you know, things are, I think it's on a lot of our minds. Just with the challenges up ahead...it's a challenge for me writing the series too...of where do we find hope that you know, all of us together, you know? And so I guess that's really the question in my mind. But we definitely moving into Dryad territory. Um, obviously we're moving in that direction and there's this, you know, obviously this problem growing between Elloren, and this sticky question of the Forest, not being aligned with her. So there are some environmental themes coming, so we'll see how that plays out...and the love triangle!
Evonne Lau: Yeah, I mean, like I said, love triangles are one of my favorites! (laughter) I feel my heart, it just jumps out of the page and that's my favorite part of reading books. That's what I live for. And, you know, honestly, I was telling Yan, I hadn't stayed up until 5:00 AM, like reading past midnight, underneath the covers, since high school. So you bringing me back into that world is just so inspiring. I hadn't read a fiction book for over a year, and I didn't realize how much my heart needed this. So I really hope that when people listen to this podcast and when we expose them to you and just your community, that we can really bring this to life. And just gather more attention for you.
Laurie Forest (guest): Well, that's incredible to me! So thank you because that's a magic thing to find in a book. Um, I know for myself that I wanted to stay up way too late reading. So that's, that's incredible that you felt that way, thank you.
Evonne Lau: Yeah, and you said that you also read books too... what books are you reading?
Laurie Forest (guest): Oh, gosh, I've always got about 15 going...I am really into Laini Taylor's work right now. I love her books, Smoke & Bone. And she does a lot of magical teeth in their books...so as a dentist... (laughter)
Evonne Lau: I'm going to put that one next on my list!
Laurie Forest (guest): You'll love her books! You know, she actually does stock some heavy themes in her books...but she does an amazing job with her love stories. And, Strange the Dreamer is, you know, like nothing you've ever read before. And there's a love story that has some amazing scenes...so creative! Where there's these couples romance each other in dreams, these magical dreams. So Strange the Dreamer is an incredible book. Oh gosh, Julie Kagawa, is in my label. She's an incredible person, but she also writes these amazing luxor series, Shadow of the Fox. She's a wonderful person to talk to about Japanese mythology. She has so many interesting stories in her mind. And she's taken Japanese mythology and she has turned it into a fantasy series. It's not only an amazing story, the Shadow of the Fox series. It had me looking up all these myths, because it brought them to life, and it was very exciting. So that's a great series to check out. Oh, I could go on and on...Jay Kristoff, if you like dark, really dark... Nevernight. I'm really enjoying that a great deal. Um, so yeah, I could go on and on.
Evonne Lau: And we're going to link those, all those books down so that everyone else, who also wants to read, and get involved, can also follow along too. I'm just expecting myself to not be sleeping, for the next couple months (laughs) Because like you said, there's no time between the job, what you want to do for your own internal passions, and what you also want to do to drive that creative force. Uh, there's just no time...so I might succumb to the audio book series just to do other things...clean the house while listening to a book series... (laughs)
Laurie Forest (guest): There's so many people that actually... the books they choose are the ones that Julia Whelan reads. They just love her as a reader so much...so that's really what they choose, is just what she reads. And it was funny, I was talking to Julia about that... I was like, "you've got the most amazing fan club". They just choose books.you read. I can totally see why. Yeah.
Evonne Lau: That's Yan!
Yan Wang: That's how I found your books! I literally searched "Julia Whelan", and I look at all the books she's narrated. And like, 90% of my books are all read by her. (laughs)
Laurie Forest (guest): Do you know she has a book? It's amazing, it's called My Oxford Year.
Yan Wang: Yes, I also...I love her book. It was beautiful.
Laurie Forest (guest): I love the book. Yeah. I loved her. You know what I love too? It's funny, when she was my narrator...because she went to Oxford, she loves Oxford, obviously. And I pictured Oxford when I did my university in The Black Witch. So it was interesting... we both had this love of Oxford.
Yan Wang: So do you get to choose the narrator that you want for your book?
Laurie Forest (guest): Well, I was asked... there was three, that I was given. When I was asked to choose, and the minute I heard her voice, I was like, "Oh my goodness, this woman is genius." And yeah, I was actually intimidated to hear her narrate The Black Witch. I actually had wait a bit, a few months, to listen to it... because I was so intimidated by how professional and how amazing it was. I don't know! It took a while for me to feel it, like I was a real author... It brought it to another level.
Yan Wang: Oh, you are a real author! And she is a real actress! And you know, like I said, 90% of my books are read by her. And even though the voices may sound similar between books, but the characters are so clear. Like I never get confused, which book I'm listening to because she is THAT good at it. And I feel like I'm listening to a movie, right? It's one person, but I feel like there's 20 people talking. (laughs)
Laurie Forest (guest): Yeah, her pacing is great too. She just really feel like you've just entered another world.
Yan Wang: Yes, absolutely. I love her.
Laurie Forest (guest): You know, I'm curious, like what do you both do for your professions? I'm curious, if you don't mind saying?
Yan Wang: Yeah, I work in site merchandising. So when you go to a website, and you look at how things are laid out, or you look at campaigns that they are running like for Valentine's Day and all the products that's related... that's what I do.
Laurie Forest (guest): Oh, ok cool!
Evonne Lau: And I'm a product developer. So I used to be a chemist for a big CPG company. Yeah. Making skincare and cosmetic formulations. And so now, I take that to the next level, and I work with different labs to be able to do that now.
Laurie Forest (guest): Very cool. I would give you some chemistry in the next book. I have a chemist friend and he's pretty well rounded chemist. And I asked him, "can you help me come up with a realistic, chemisty, happening...that I can have in this book. That we could take things in a kitchen, and explode dragons with them?" And we had a lot of fun with that. We have a lot of fun... (laughs) We based it on a copper thermite like explosion. So I don't know. You might enjoy being a chemist! (laughs)
Evonne Lau: Definitely love, love it. I love any type of scenes , that you can recreate in real life like that. For example, whenever there are food scenes...I'm very interested in food scenes! Um, and chemistry explosions, might be one of those... (laughs)
Laurie Forest (guest): Yes. exploding dragons! We tried to base it in some real world chemistry. So yeah, we were being a little nerdy with the science in that. So you'll spot that. (laughs)
Evonne Lau: Awesome!
Yan Wang: And actually going back to Evonne's story about when she, she read your book... actually, it's really funny! I think we had just finished recording a podcast and it was on a Friday. And then she goes "okay, I'm going to start reading The Black Witch tonight. I'm like, "okay." And the next morning, we are talking and we're recording another episode... and then afterwards she goes, "yeah, and I stayed up till 5:00 AM - I finished the book!" I was like "What?!" (laughs)
Evonne Lau: Okay, so to preface to everyone out there, I tried to be good, right? Like I had a long day, I started at 10pm, thinking that I'm going to read one chapter, we're going to close it...we're going to put it down...that never happened! I'm like one more, 15 minutes. I even have the alarm, on the screen time on my phone. Because guys, if it was a real book, I would have never stopped, it would've never met a question. But even with the digital Kindles and the digital books where you have screen time, I even try to limit myself on that. I just ignored the limit for the whole day. That's what I've been doing - ignoring limits, for these Chronicles and these books. (laughter) And I love rereading books, just like Yan. So it's something that I just get more into and I dive in even deeper. So it's very easy for me to fall in love with something very good. (laughs)
Laurie Forest (guest): That's awesome. Thank you. (laughter)
Yan Wang: So, Laurie, I have one last question for you. And I know this is not a fair question to ask you because all of these characters are children, but I have to ask...who is your favorite character? If you had choose...let's say who's your top three? Top three.
Laurie Forest (guest): Oh gosh. It changes. It changes like weekly ... at this particular moment, I'm really enjoying writing Tierney's character a great deal. Because she's so feisty and she's just kind of curmudgeonly. I don't know, but she's also very noble... so I really like that. And I'm really enjoying writing all the Death Fae. They're kind of my favorite characters right now, those characters. So, yeah. And one of the people in the love triangle, but I won't say...
Yan Wang: Okay, well, Laurie, thank you so much for coming on our podcast! This was really, really fun! Like I said earlier, we never get to talk to the authors that we love. So, this is such a treat! Um, so I'm very excited...I cannot wait for Demon Tide to come out, and I cannot wait for Battle for Erthia. And I hope you continue writing, like Evonne said, we expect to be reading your books until like 50-60! (laughs)
Laurie Forest (guest): Thank you so much! Yeah. It's just such, it's so great meeting you guys... just an honor that you like the series that much. So thank you so much.
Yan Wang: Thank you. Well, I hope you have a great weekend and take some time to relax as well as write.
Laurie Forest (guest): Thank you so much and I'll see you on social media.
Yan Wang: Yeah, you're on social media. Oh, actually one more thing, tell our audience how they can find you.
Laurie Forest (guest): Oh, yeah sure, I am on Twitter and Instagram, a lot of what I post is there. I have a Facebook page on Laurie Forest. And if you friend me, I will friend you back. Um, sometimes it takes me a few days to do that because I'm kind of spotty on social. Because I'm writing a lot and working most of the time. But yeah, I always love to meet new people and meet new friends on social. So yeah.
Yan Wang: Yes, you are very responsive on social, which again, I don't know how you find the time...so I'll give you the time back! (laughs)
Laurie Forest (guest): It's so much fun. Like you always meet great people like you guys. You're welcome. Have a great weekend.
Yan Wang: You too. Bye bye.
Laurie Forest (guest): Take care. Bye bye.
