Every year, the fae choose a mortal queen to rule them. But what happens to the queens? Why has no one seen them after they’re chosen? What are the fae hiding?
While scrolling Instagram, I stumbled upon a clean YA fantasy author who wrote hooking tales full of twists and turns. I decided to pick up one of her books, Mortal Queens, and fell in love with it! If you’ve been craving a unique fae fantasy romance with unexpected twists, this book is for you!
I reached out to Victoria McCombs with a few questions about her novel, and she agreed to an interview! If you’ve read the book and are curious about her behind-the-scenes process (or just want to learn more about the story), keep reading for an exclusive interview with Victoria McCombs!
1. What originally sparked the idea for this story?
There are so many books about the fae realm, specifically where a girl is taken from the mortal realm and brought into the fae realm. Usually she’s paired with a fae king and we have the forced marriage trope where they eventually fall in love. My idea began with that base. I pretty quickly abandoned the forced marriage trope and made the queen the highest ranking in the realm. I added seven fae king, but she was never paired with any of them. Making the queens the highest ranking then created the other ranks: kings, ambassadors, lords, houses…and parallels with chess took root. Chess became a bigger part, and a lot spiraled from that.
2. Is there anything in your original idea that changed as you wrote Mortal Queens?
I knew I wanted her to hide messages in paintings. But originally, the fae realm was very dark, mysterious, and silent. No one spoke. Hence her need for hiding messages in paintings, which her and a boy were sending back and forth to each other. I soon learned I couldn’t (and didn’t want to) write a book with such little actual dialogue, but I wanted the messages in paintings to stay. The visions from Dhalia formed from that.
3. The unique world of the fae kept me questioning everything! How did you come up with this intriguing realm?
A lot of it was picking out unique aspects. The number of earrings you wore showed your rank. People would hide their faces behind masks. The different five mortal islands. All those world-building aspects came before the base plot. Then I decided the mortal queens would go missing every two years, and a plot formed through that.
4. Are there any characters you personally relate to?
I relate to Talen the most. He wants to be a good friend, to work hard, to be everything to everyone and stretches himself as thin as possible so he can be useful. He’s a people pleaser just like me.
5. What was your greatest challenge while writing this story?
The biggest challenge was creating something so familiar to people (fae stories) but making it unique. Readers pick up the same story over and over again because they like the tropes and the sense of familiarity, but they are always looking to be surprised. It’s a balancing act trying to give them both nostalgia and something new.
6. What’s something you want readers to take away from the story?
I want them to feel inspired to keep fighting for the life they want, even when things get hard and your fate seems sealed in stone, you can still fight to have the life you dream for. Thimothée Chalamet said something in an interview that summarized this idea well. He said “Life isn’t coming at you, it’s coming from you.” It’s really stuck with me.
I had a blast talking to Victoria McCombs and learning more about the unique world she created in Mortal Queens! If you’d like to learn more about her other books, you can find her website here or her Amazon page here (not affiliate links).