The Nerd Daily recently had the chance of chatting with Esme Symes-Smith, debut author of the upcoming middle grade fantasy novel Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston! Featuring a nonbinary knight as a protagonist and a fierce battle for acceptance, we of course couldn’t wait to chat with Esme about their debut novel, their favourite middle grade tales and so much more!
Hi, Esme! Thanks for joining us! Why don’t you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Thank you for having me! It’s an honor!
So, I grew up in the Southwest of England, in an area that really inspired the landscape of Callie’s world. I was very embedded in all things magical, from books and stories, to the ancient moors in Devon and Cornwall. I have always loved story-telling, and spent the majority of my adolescence writing for my friends. It was inevitable that I would end of chasing the dream of publication!
I moved to the US in 2013 after meeting my wife the previous year through Sherlock fanfiction, and since then I have done NaNoWriMo religiously, collected a glorious found-family of my own, and settled down into a life that is all my own. Sometimes you need an ocean’s worth of space to find yourself!
Lightning round: what was the first song you can remember listening to, the first book that made you feel seen and a compliment you never get tired of giving others?
- Song: Puff The Magic Dragon
- Book: WENDY by Karen Wallace
- Compliment: ‘This reads like fanfiction’
Tell us about your experience as a debut author! What are you most excited about once readers can hold Callie’s story in their hands and what might make you feel a bit anxious?
I have been absurdly lucky with my debut experience! Every day, I’m truly blown away by the care and dedication the team at Labyrinth Road has given to me and Callie. I’m still waiting for the shoe to drop, or to wake up from what feels like an impossibly sweet dream, but so far I guess it’s real??
I’m super excited for readers to get caught up in Callie’s head, and I hope that sharing that PoV will let a little of Callie’s fierce determination rub off! I think we all need a friend like Callie fighting in our corner! I’m always anxious that I’m going to inadvertently hurt the readership this book is for. I know this story is not an easy one, and our characters face so much hurt and cruelty. It was important to me to portray this struggles accurately and unflinchingly, and I hope my author’s note prepares readers enough, but I always worry that someone will head into this story unarmed.
Now, tell us about Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston! What can readers expect?
A fun adventure mixed with a heavy story about fighting bigotry and abuse, where winning doesn’t always feel like winning but the triumphs are worth striving for. Ride-and-Die friendships, messy recovery and heaps of righteous indignation!
Also biscuits (the British kind), first crushes, and dragons!
Callie faces a lot of bigotry in the royal capital of Helston but doesn’t let anyone get in the way of their dream of becoming a knight. What do you want readers to take away from Callie’s resilient fight for a better Helston?
That for as long as there is hope, those who abuse their power and try to crush us cannot win. It’s hard—I wrote Callie during 2020 and the book is embedded with all my 2020 rage at the cruel, wanton unjustness of the world. There are so many moments where the fight feels hopeless and impossible, to the point where it might not even be worth it to keep going. Edwyn, in particular, is the embodiment of this mindset, where it’s safer and easier to give into the status quo. But Callie’s arrival in Helston blows that wide open. The book is really about the Helston kids’ arc from hopeless to hopeful, and Callie is the bridge; the proof that there is life on the other side of trauma. Whether it’s looking at the bigger picture of Helston’s bigoted society, or the more personal conflicts between the children and their parents, it was crucial to me that the book gives everyone hope without condition. Everyone is permitted the chance to redemption. Except Peran. Peran can go stand in a corner by himself.
Callie’s story also features some fan-beloved tropes such as found family. What are your favorite tropes to read and write about?
I’m a sucker for disaster bis and himbos, and Nick is an absolute dream in that regard. I adore complex redemption arcs, villain origin stories, and sunshine/raincloud dynamics. With a background in fanfic, Sir Callie is created for trope-blocks!
There are so many moments in Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston that made my heart soar – from the way Callie (and their dads) embraces their new friends to how they continuously grow with every step they take in becoming a knight. Did you have a favorite scene or plotline while writing the novel?
Edwyn’s arc will always be precious to me, especially as it’s very much the beginning of his story. Growing up, I feel like fiction always drove home that those who have suffered abuse have to forgive and let go and come out shiny in order to be worthy of a happy ending. As an angry, messy kid, that was really hard. Edwyn’s journey is very winding in a ‘one step forward, two steps back’ kind of way, but he is still equally worthy of love as the others.
With November being National Novel Writing Month, do you have any tips or tricks for aspiring authors out there?
FINISH THE BOOK! No, seriously, get to The End. It is the single most empowering moment, finishing your first novel-length work, and it truly makes you feel like anything is possible!
With Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston releasing soon, are you already working on the sequel? If so, can you tell our readers a bit about what’s in store for Callie and their friends?
Book 2 is DONE! I’m so excited to share it, and I can’t believe we have to wait a whole year! I love Book1 with my whole heart, but Book2 is probably the most Esme thing I have ever written!
A few things readers can look forward to are Trans dragons, questioning the nature of stories, magical queer community, familiar characters in unfamiliar shapes, and a lot of drama.
Last but not least, do you have any book recommendations for us?
YES!
- Shad Hadid and the Alchemists of Alexandria by George Jreije.
- The Last Hope in Hopetown by Maria Tureaud
- We Are The Song by Catherine Bakewell
- And some 2023 books to look out for:
- Heroes of Havensong by Megan Reyes
- Don’t Want To Be Your Monster by Deke Moulton
- Alex Wise by Terry J. Benton-Walker
- Jude Saves the World by Ronnie Riley
