We chat with author Kaylee Archer about Witch of the Wolves, which follows Cordelia Levine who must unravel the secrets of her dual heritage—half witch, half werewolf—and face her desire for the one creature who holds her future in his hands.
Hi, Kaylee! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
When I’m not reading or writing, I’m either gaming or forcing myself out of my chair and into the world—hiking, biking, kayaking and enjoying all the wild places.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I’ve been writing since I was a child. I grew up reading everything I could get my hands on, and started writing my own stories as soon as I could.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- The one that made you want to become an author: Watership Down by Richard Adams
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
Your debut novel, Witch of the Wolves, is out September 30th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Twisty, passionate, heartfelt, quirky and bloody.
What can readers expect?
Witch of the Wolves is one part paranormal romance, two parts urban fantasy and one part historical thriller. So expect a strong romance, lots of danger and death, battles and betrayals, all set against a Victorian-era backdrop.
Where did the inspiration for Witch of the Wolves come from?
I have a deep and abiding love of both paranormal romance and urban fantasy, and as the romantasy genre started heating up, I began seeing more of my favourite supernatural elements returning, and so I thought it might be time to dive in myself.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Is it wrong to say I loved writing the scenes that are the worst for my main characters? The betrayals and the battles? I adore writing romance, especially banter, but I’ve always had a special place in my heart for the action scenes.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
My challenges are mostly of my own creation J With Witch of the Wolves, after it sold to a publisher, I started questioning the historic aspects. In that initial draft, there was more history and the language was what I call fictional historic (not necessarily how people spoke in 1890, but what sounds like 1890 to us.) I wasn’t seeing a lot of historically set romantasy that felt and sounded as historic as I’d done that first draft. So I took a sharp right (with my publisher’s approval) and modernized the language and removed the “history bits”. In my head, it’s still firmly set in 1890 with all the correct fashion etc, but it aims more for a fantasy Victorian vibe than true history.
What’s next for you?
Up next is the next book in the series, The Witch Queen’s Curse. I’m waiting for copyedits on that, so it’s done and in production, and I’ve started book 3.
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed reading this year? Are there any you’re looking forward to picking up?
Fave books of 2025 would be The Reformatory by Tananarive Due (historical horror), The Legendborn Cycle trilogy by Tracy Deonn (contemporary fantasy), Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas (historical horror romance) and The Wild Huntress by Emily Lloyd-Jones (Welsh fantasy).
Next up on my list is T. Kingfisher’s Hemlock & Silver.
