Q&A: Constance Sayers, Author of ‘A Witch In Time’

A young witch is cursed to relive a doomed love affair through many lifetimes, as both troubled muse and frustrated artist, in this haunting debut novel.

We had the pleasure of chatting to author Constance Sayers about her debut novel, A Witch In Time. Described as being “perfect for fans of A Secret History of Witches, Outlander, and The Time Traveler’s Wife”, Constance chats about its inspiration and the research she conducted with the novel set in various time periods and places, along with book recommendations and more!

You can find Constance on Twitter, Instagram, and her website.

Hi Constance! Could you tell us a little about yourself?

I was born outside of Pittsburgh and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh before moving to Washington, D.C.  I’ve lived in Washington now for 25 years, so it really feels like home.  I got my M.A. in English from George Mason University.  During the day, I am the president of a media company.  On the weekends, I’m a giant foodie and wine lover.  I also live with an obstinate Welsh Terrier and would have a dog farm if I could.

Originally, I went to college for music, but changed my major and really didn’t look back. My parents wanted me to be an opera singer.  Now, I write a lot about music and musicians, but growing up, I was a terrible pianist.

Your debut novel, A Witch In Time, publishes on February 11^th. If you could only use five words to describe it, what would they be?

Curse Gone Wrong Through Time

Now tell us a little more about A Witch In Time! What can readers expect?

It’s a bit of a sweeping novel about a young girl, Juliet LaCompte, in 1895 France whose neighbor is a famous Parisian artist.  She’s his muse and each summer he paints her, but their relationship takes an inappropriate turn. As a result, her mother, a local witch, curses the painter and accidently draws both her daughter and another entity into the spell, dooming the trio return again and again—first in Belle Époque Paris, then Hollywood and the 1930s, then Los Angeles in the 1970s. The story starts in modern-day Washington DC and the hope is that this version of Juliet can break the curse before it’s too late.  The relationships change between them during their lives so it’s a bit like a love triangle through time.

Did anything inspire you to write this novel?

It all started with a painting.  My sister brought home a print from William Bouguereau (The Broken Pitcher).  She thought the girl in the painting looked exactly like me.  I’ll admit, there is a photo of me from seventh grade that is a pretty good likeness.  This print hung on my sister’s wall for years and I was always so drawn to it.  At one point, I wondered how cool it would be if it had been me. From there, the idea of this book started to form. Prior to that, I hadn’t written fantasy.  Everything—my short stories and first novel—were all gritty rural noir pieces so this was a big departure for me.  It doesn’t matter what I write though, all of my concepts for books start as “what if” types of narratives. I love that.

Your novel incorporates reincarnation and features various time periods including 19^th century France, 1930s Hollywood, and 1970s Los Angeles. Why these time periods and places?

I’m such a history buff, but I’d never written a novel based in another time period.  When I was beginning to think about this book, I happened upon Alexander Chee’s Queen of the Night.  That book is so dear to me because Chee’s world in the novel is so beautiful that it became an inspiration.  I knew that my book had to start in France around the turn of the century, so I just dove in armed with every history book on Belle Époque Paris that I could get my hands on. When I read the early drafts of those chapters I was really surprised at how authentic they felt to me.  Separately, I’d been wanting to write something about the 1930s Hollywood. I’m a big fan of William Powell, Carole Lombard and Jean Harlow, so that was the next story to come together.  The 1970s were a time when my earliest memories were formed, so I’m quite nostalgic for them and I wanted to try and capture the feeling of my 1970s.

With the different time periods and settings, what research did you have to do?

My graduate degree required a lot of research on literary themes and periods so I have a pretty good process that I’ve worked out over the years. I always start with books to get a feel for the time period. For Belle Epoque Paris there were about 4-6 non-fiction books that really helped set the political and cultural landscapes of the time. I also read a lot of Emile Zola novels (L’Assommoir being my favorite), to get a sense of fiction that was actually written at the time.  In researching this book and the next, I’ve traveled to Paris several times.  I’m a big believer in laying eyes on my settings.  In both Paris and Los Angeles, I hired private historical guides to take me to locations.  This really helps fill in any gaps. My one regret in this book is that I didn’t make it to Challans, but I spent a fair amount of time this summer in the Loire Valley so I’m hoping that location can substitute. By the time I got to the 1970s section, I knew that I wanted to take the characters out of Los Angeles, so Taos was a great setting.  I was running out of time for research, so I did a quick trip to Taos in the dead of winter and spent a lot of time working with my friend, musician Parthenon Huxley, on how an album would have been made in the 1970s.  I was definitely looking for that Fleetwood Mac creation of Rumors feel.  I read books on both the creation of “Rumors” and the Fleetwood Mac “White Album” as well.

Is there a favourite scene or character that you really enjoyed writing and bringing to life?

Hands down, Sandra.  When I ask readers which character they most identify with, or like the best, most say Nora. I get that. She’s plucky and driven.  Sandra is often the least favorite character for most readers, yet she’s the most necessary because she matches Luke in ways the others don’t. I just don’t think you get to resolution of the book without her.  Sandra asks serious existential questions about what they are and pushes Luke to interesting consequences. I loved her flaws and found her to be the character who grew the most—so I’m more attached to her than any of the others. It is also the section that I had to re-write a second time.

What’s your writing process like?

Usually, I have an idea that I want to explore.  I’ll do an outline, but I’m not tied to it.  What I find is that as I start writing (and researching at the same time), there are surprises that arise in the book and I let them happen.  During this phase, I don’t reign myself in at all.  It could be interesting historical connections or characters that pop out of nowhere and seem to write themselves. When I’m in first draft mode, I write 1,000 words a day, faithfully. Those are ugly times for me looking at a blank page. Sometimes the work is easy and other times, I’m struggling just to get 500 words on the page. If I have something extra to write (momentum), I typically leave it for the next day so I’m excited to get back to the page.  My first drafts are always rough.  Then, I go back and start layering on details and fleshing out each scene.  The next two drafts are the most fun for me and I will change up a chapter quite significantly here.  After the third draft, I send it to my core group of readers. I’m looking for different things from each of them.  Then, I take another pass at edits from their feedback. I always know when a book is “done” and ready to go my editor for her feedback.

What’s next for you?

I’m working on a novel about a circus with dark origins set in Paris in 1925.  So, more research.

Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for us?

I’m dying to get my hands on Alma Katsu’s The Deep—she’s been such a mentor to me and I love that she’s developed a mystery around the Titanic’s sister ship, The Britannic.  I’m loving Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Gods of Jade and Shadow right now.  I both read books and listen to audiobooks on my commute into downtown Washington, so I’ve always got a few titles going simultaneously.  I just listened to The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith and I didn’t want it to end.

Will you be picking up A Witch In Time? Tell us in the comments below!