Q: What inspired you to write your first book?
A: In August of 2019, I went to Dublin for World Con. While I was there, I went on tours of Ireland, falling in love with the tragic history of the Emerald Isle, the magical way the tour guides shared their accounts, the ruins and functioning historical sites, the forests in the north, as well as the resiliency and humor of the Irish people.
I also loved the Ballad of Tam Lin. I always thought the Queen of the faeries was betrayed and that making a promise to a fae and breaking it would have consequences. So, I combined the tours and that concept for this tale.
I started doing research into the Ulster Cycle and came up with an entire series based on these myths of love, sacrifice, betrayal, and in my series, ultimately redemption. All the characters you meet in Tam Lin: A Modern Queer, Retelling have a story in the series that sprang from this novella.
Q: What are your current projects?
A: Warrior Tithe is the story of Fergus and Aoife, two side characters in Tam Lin. I wrote a story within a story framework of the couple in the present and how they came to serve Mab in the past. Two books in the Faerie Tales series will be from their perspective. I’ve also brought Cu Roi mac Daire from the Ulster Cycle as a villain in this story. Warrior Tithe will be up for preorders in February and will debut in March 2021.
Eastside Hedge Witch is my other project. I’m in the developmental edits stage of that story. This book is very different in tone and is a full-length novel. It’s paranormal women’s fiction with a middle-aged protagonist. I had so much fun writing and writing in a humorous, tone. Crossing fingers and toes the publishing house I’m working with will publish it this year.
Q: Do you see writing as a career?
A: I see writing as a passion. I love crafting stories, coming up with fantasy worlds, my own take on supernatural creatures and magic-world building. I see revising, editing, and publishing as a career, or the business side of writing.
Q: Which famous person, living or dead, would you like to meet?
A: Taika Waititi. He’s brilliant. He can take a profoundly tragic or a complex subject, such as the foster care system and the treatment of ex-cons and explore with humor. I think it is much harder to write comedy than tragedy. I’d love to meet him and pick his creative brain.
©T.J. Deschamps