We chat with author Lyra Selene about A Crown So Silver, which is the second installment in the Fair Folk series and set during a deadly trial on a mysterious snowy island ruled by a trickster king.
Hi, Lyra! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi, Nerd Daily—thanks so much for having me! I’m Lyra Selene, fantasy author of the YA Amber & Dusk duology and the adult Fair Folk trilogy, beginning with A Feather So Black and continuing with A Crown So Silver, out everywhere this week! I write stories about brooding landscapes, twisted magic, the price of power, and the alchemy of love. I like to think of my books as magic spells—lyrical but uncanny, glamours to beguile the senses and whisk you away to somewhere wonderful and achingly untouchable.
In my mundane life, I live in New England with my husband, daughter, and tyrannical dog in an antique farmhouse that’s probably not haunted. I write from a tiny upstairs office cluttered with coffee cups and piles of books I refuse to organize.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I genuinely cannot remember a time when I wasn’t obsessed with reading and writing. As a kid, I memorized my library card number so I could rattle it off to the librarians while checking out literal stacks of books. My childhood journals are full of half-baked stories—most notably, an ongoing saga about a warrior princess named Jade and her trusty unicorn steed. The only surprise is that it took me so long to figure out I wanted to be a writer!
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: I have a distinct memory of my mom reading me a lushly illustrated fairytale about people wearing outlandish hats (I’ve tried to track down the book with zero success!)
- The one that made you want to become an author: Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy series!
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Most recently, Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan!
A Crown So Silver is the second installment in your Fair Folk series and it’s out January 21st! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Frostbound trials; love, destiny, transformation.
What can readers expect from the sequel?
Readers can expect everything they loved about A Feather So Black, only with more expansive world-building, new characters, higher stakes, and even more romance!
In this sequel, Fia—a changeling princess with a mysterious past—must leave behind everything she’s known in the human realms to travel deeper into Tir na nÓg with her new husband, Irian. But the Silver Isle proves less a safe haven than a dangerous ordeal. Both Fia and Irian soon become embroiled in the brutal Tournament of Kings as they vie for its prize—the mystical Oak King’s Crown—against Fia’s sister Eala and a magically enthralled prince Rogan. They’ll have to navigate shifting loyalties, deadly games, long-buried magic, and their own conflicting motivations as their love is tested yet again.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring further?
Yes! I don’t want to give too many spoilers, but there’s a side character from the first book who takes a more central role in the sequel. They leapt off the page with such a strong voice and irrepressible personality that I couldn’t resist giving them a bigger role than I originally intended. I had so much fun writing them that I actually decided to give them a number of POV chapters in the third and final book of the series!
Did you face any challenges with writing? How did you overcome them?
With this book in particular, I did struggle a bit with “middle book syndrome.” The second book in a trilogy is by nature a bridge—a continuation spanning the introduction of the first novel with the ultimate conclusion of the third, while also necessarily containing its own story arc. There were times when I wasn’t sure how to balance the characters’ development, the world-building, and the overall plot in order to write a satisfying installment that operates within a larger series.
Ultimately, I first wrote the story I needed to tell myself and then relied on my amazing critique partners and editors to help me shape it into its final form! I’m really pleased with the end result and I hope everyone else will be too.
What’s next for you?
The third book and finale to the Fair Folk trilogy will release in 2026. Stay tuned for a title and cover reveal later this year!
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up in 2025?
There are so many amazing novels releasing this year, but topping my list at the moment are Upon a Starlit Tide, by Kell Woods; A Dance of Lies, by Brittney Arena; and Grave Flowers, by Autumn Krause!
