We chat with author Stephanie Burgis about Wooing The Witch Queen, which is the first installment in the Queens of Villainy series and introduces a wicked sorceress paired with a nerdy wizard working together in a magical library, mixing together romance, fantasy, magic, and a touch of humor.
Hi, Stephanie! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Sure! I grew up in East Lansing, Michigan, devouring my dad’s massive collection of f/sf novels pretty much simultaneously with 19th-century gothic lit and historical romances, and it all came together to make me the writer I am now. After meeting my (British) husband at the Clarion West writing workshop in 2001, I moved to the UK, and we’ve now been settled in Wales for about 15 years, surrounded by castles and coffeeshops.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I was obsessed with stories from the time I was a toddler, according to my long-suffering parents, who read me the same picture books many thousands of times and then took me to the library at least two or three times a week throughout childhood. I was seven, though, before I finally realized that real people were actually writing those stories – that “writer” could be an actual adult job to aspire to! – and from then on, it was my dream.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading:
Mercer Mayer’s Professor Wormbog in Search for the Zipperump-a-zoo! - The one that made you want to become an author: All of them!
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: I just finished reading an early copy of Fran Wilde’s A Philosophy of Thieves, and it was so fun (full of heists and adventures but also really fascinating worldbuilding) that I actually had a dream about it after finishing.
Your latest novel, Wooing the Witch Queen, is out February 18th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Gender-flipped gothic fantasy rom-com.
What can readers expect?
A villainous bi witch queen as the heroine (who fiercely cares for her unusual found family) and a sweet cinnamon roll scholar as the hero (who happens to be an archduke in disguise and on the run)
Where did the inspiration for Wooing the Witch Queen come from?
I grew up devouring gothic romances from Jane Eyre through Victoria Holt’s whole ouevre and all the later paranormal romances involving dangerous, powerful, sinister guys who lurk in their castles or countryhouses and fall for the sweet, innocent, younger heroines (usually hired on as governesses for their wards and often discovering their own power by the end of the book) – so I thought it would be really fun to flip that trope around and let the heroine be the sinister, magically powerful and universally feared one in the partnership while the hero is the ingenue who gets to grow into his strength by the end of the book.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
So many! But my favorite bits were probably either the scenes with the heroine’s found family or the scenes that involved all three Queens of Villainy: Saskia (this book’s heroines) and her two dangerous new allies (one fae queen and one literal ice queen). I love all three characters and their sparky, push-pull dynamic!
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
Honestly, the biggest challenge in writing as a parent is always, simply: time. Uninterrupted time, especially! But I was lucky enough to be able to go on a writing retreat with a friend to Gladstone’s Library, here in Wales (a residential library where you sleep and eat on-site and write amongst the books!) which was absolutely crucial for me in working out a plot tangle in the first draft of the novel.
What are some of the key lessons you’ve learned as a writer since your first novel published?
One of the most important is never to get too attached to the title I give a book when I’m first drafting it! Wooing the Witch Queen is my 11th traditionally published novel, and like almost every single other novel I’ve sold, the title went through a lot of permutations after it was bought. All of my editors (at various publishers) have been lovely about not forcing any titles I don’t love, but they always (nicely) push me to think harder and figure out the perfect title for each book in dialogue with them – and I’ve been happy with the end results each time, even when they’re very different from my original conception.
What’s next for you?
I’ve just turned in the first draft of Enchanting the Witch Queen, which stars the second queen of villainy in this trilogy (an ally of book 1’s heroine), and I’m looking forward to editing that as well as starting to write the third book (Melting the Ice Queen)! I also have a new short story, “Mail Order Magic,” coming out from one of my favorite magazines, The Sunday Morning Transport, in early March.
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up in 2025?
Ooh, so many. I’m very excited for Sarah Beth Durst’s next adult novel with Bramble, The Enchanted Greenhouse after loving her book The Spellshop. I’m so impatient to read Sangu Mandanna’s A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping – Sangu’s one of my favorite authors in every single genre she writes in! I’m addicted to Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series, so I am desperate for the next installment, Atonement Sky. I read an early version of Deva Fagan’s House of Dusk and absolutely loved it, so I can’t wait to read the final version when it’s published later this year. And Nnedi Okorafor’s The Death of the Author looks amazing.
