We chat with author Annabel Campbell about The Outcast Mage, which follows a mage bereft of her powers who must find out if she is destined to save the world or destroy it.
Hi, Annabel! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi! I’m a Scottish writer and I live in a small village between Edinburgh and Glasgow with my husband, baby son, elderly border collie, and Queen Ada (my cat). I have a PhD in cardiovascular science, and for my day job I’m a medical writer.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
It’s always been there, I think, as long as I remember anyway. My parents found this stapled homemade book from when I was very young which had some questionable illustrations and a ‘spot the difference’ on the back (spot the similarities would genuinely be harder) – I’d charged £5 for it, which was bold. Like many writers, I wrote my share of terrible fanfiction. My first ‘novel’ at age 13 was definitely not Lord of the Rings, only it totally was – there was even an elf called Venolas (he died tragically though).
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: The Penguin Who Wanted to Find Out by Jill Tomlinson (if we exclude the magic key books from learning to read)
- The one that made you want to become an author: Magician by Raymond E Feist
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: So many, but most recently, The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Your debut novel, The Outcast Mage, is out January 28th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Magic, mystery, dragons, politics, adventure
What can readers expect?
The Outcast Mage is very much a love letter to that classic epic fantasy but hopefully with a more modern feel to it. So it’s got that classic adventure vibe, but set amid the growing political unrest in the magical city of Amoria. There’s a multi POV cast, including a young mage who can’t use her magic, a senator on the council of mages, a powerful wizard, a snarky priest, and a mysterious stranger who is tracking something terrible across the continent. There’s found family, magical academia, political unrest, a little romance, and something ancient and terrible beginning to stir.
Where did the inspiration for The Outcast Mage come from?
I started writing The Outcast Mage when I was 14 (a looong time ago), and though it changed beyond recognition when I came back to it as an adult, the core inspirations probably stayed the same. The glass roof over the Round Reading Room in London really inspired that idea of a city under glass, and I was definitely inspired by the books I was reading back then – Trudi Canvan, Raymond E Feist, Garth Nix. I’m sure Avatar the Last Airbender influenced me in terms of elemental magic, and then as an adult, I really wanted to take those classic fantasy tropes and mess with them a bit.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
My wizard mentor character, Haelius Akana, was probably the most fun to write. He’s your classic magical mentor, powerful, smart, seems like he should have all the answers. But I really wanted to dig into ‘what if he doesn’t have any of the answers?’ He’s a hot mess. He tries to do the right thing, but with so much magic, his actions have huge consequences – and he already carries the scars of his past mistakes.
Can you tell us a bit about your process when it comes to worldbuilding?
Some of it was taking the slightly crazy setting I’d written when I was younger and trying to figure out how to make it work! For the most part, I think my worldbuilding comes about as the characters live their lives. The world grew out of their experiences: what do they do here? Who are their families? Where do they live? Some of the setting is inspired by traveling to the Middle East – my husband is from that part of the world and he helped me create something that, although it’s an entirely fictional second world, draws on personal experiences.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge for me was that between starting this book when I was very young and coming back to it much (much) later, I gave up writing for a long time. I lost all confidence in it and didn’t think it was something I could do. I got back to writing through writing for fun – I wrote fanfiction, met other writers, attended SFF conventions, and realised that writing was a huge part of me that I didn’t want to give up. Eventually, that brought me back to writing The Outcast Mage.
What’s next for you?
The Outcast Mage is the first book in The Shattered Lands trilogy, so I’m currently working on book 2. I’m really excited about it! The stakes are higher, the characters are out in the wider world discovering more mysteries and finding answers they didn’t necessarily want to know. It’s a lot of fun. Other than that, I have a Scottish folklore story I’m playing around with, and really I just hope that I can keep writing!
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up in 2025?
So many! 2025 looks like an amazing year. I’ve already read an ARCs of A Song of Legends Lost by MH Ayinde and The Bookshop Below by Georgia Summers, both of which are so good they gave me the shivers – I can’t wait to get my hands on final copies of these. Love and Other Paradoxes by Catriona Silvey is this lush romance with some time travel shenanigans. And I can’t wait to read Dark Crescent by Lyndsey Croal (Scottish mythology short stories), The Needfire by MK Hardy (Scottish gothic horror romantic vibes), Six Wild Crowns by Holly Race (Tudor DRAGONS), and The Lotus Empire by Tasha Suri (the final part of the Burning Kingdoms trilogy). And I need to stop there or I will carry on all day.
