I’m so incredibly pleased (honestly, I’m on a cloud) about getting to interview Margaret Owen for the second time on The Nerd Daily! She is the incredible author of The Merciful Crow and its sequel The Faithless Hawk. If you haven’t picked up either of these titles, I definitely suggest it. If you’re looking for stories about fierce young women who’ll just about topple a nation to defend her people, this is the one you want on your list. I promise you have not read anything like this before. Also, if you’re at all enticed by cats, there are CATS in this book, and they have exactly the personality you think they would. Now, on to the interview!
Could you tell us about yourself and about The Faithless Hawk?
There’s not much to say about me, other than I was a semi-cryptid shut-in before it was cool! (And by cool I mean safe and healthy. Please continue to social distance.) I currently live in Seattle with two enormous cats, and I decided to be an author when I was in fourth grade. (I did take a couple detours along the way.)
As for The Faithless Hawk, it’s my second book! I can’t believe they let me write more than one. It’s also the sequel to The Merciful Crow, so you’re going to be very confused if you pick it up first. The duology is about a girl named Fie, who was born into the lowest of her nation’s castes, the Crows. As the only caste immune to a deadly plague, but also the only caste not born with an innate magic, the Crows are limited to containing the plague and burning the dead for a living. Fie is being raised to lead her band of Crows when, one day, the crown prince and his bodyguard drag them into an elaborate plot to flee the prince’s usurping stepmother, who plans to unite the rest of the nation against the Crows.
The Merciful Crow was about privilege, systemic oppression, and who really pays the price of upholding abusive systems. The Faithless Hawk continues those themes, but also pushes Fie in new ways: now that she has certain weapons and powers other Crows don’t, what is the right way to use them—and who gets to decide that? And later, as she decides to confront the queen herself, she also has to grapple with the reality that the problem may not be solved by slaying one monster in a fancy crown.
If you could choose any of your characters to self-isolate with, who would you pick and why?
On the one hand, I’m already more or less self-isolating with Barf, because she’s based on my cat Boo. (He’s taking it like a champ.) On the other, if I could go with someone more pragmatic, I would probably pick Corporal Lakima. She would be a good housemate, I think. Always does her dishes, wears headphones to listen to music, will join in on dance parties under limited circumstances. (The circumstances are: the music has to be Lizzo.)
How does one go about becoming a Cat Master/ Deputy, because I’d love to be deputized!?
Very rigorous screening process involving belly rubs! But realistically, I think the process for hiring any new palace servant would involve sitting down with a Crane witch for a very thorough series of questions designed to root out would-be assassins. The Cat Master would also need to be familiar with general caretaking for cats—can’t have them carrying fleas around, or yacking up a hairball on the queen, after all—and willing to put up with quite a lot of scratches.
What part of the day does Fie look forward to the most?
Mornings for sure. As a chief, any time she’s awake, she’s on the clock, answering questions or addressing problems. If she wakes up early she has a bit of time to herself.
Which scene gave you life while you were writing it? (if it’s not too spoilery)
MANY of them! Some I’d been planning for years, and others snuck up on me. But the one that was the most rewarding to write is major spoilers, so all I’ll say is that I made myself a Merciful Crow laptop decal back in 2018 with that scene in mind. If you look very closely, you can see the words “Instead it sent a Crow,” and for very good reason.
So many more cats in The Faithless Hawk? Did you have a favorite? (mine was Mango/Jasifur, lol)
The new cats are all based on my friends’ cats! So I can’t pick favorites without incurring their wrath, haha. That said, the debate over Mango/Jasifur was not something I’d planned on, but definitely a fun surprise while drafting.
Is there anything about the Crows that didn’t quite make it into the final edits of the books?
I think we covered mostly everything, partially so the ending would make sense. I would have loved to show a couple more Crow shrines, though, and maybe some of the walking songs.
Is there anything you can share about your current work in progress?
Right now, I’m sticking to what I’ve shared on Twitter! Luckily, that’s a lot, because I have no sense of propriety. It’s a loose retelling of the fairy tale The Goose Girl, by way of Untitled Goose Game. (The working title was, in fact, Untitled Goose Girl.) For folks who aren’t familiar, the fairy tale is about a princess who travels to a distant kingdom to marry their prince, only for her wicked maid to steal her identity along the way. The princess is forced to work in the palace as a goose girl until the maid’s deception is discovered; the maid dies horribly, the princess marries the prince, the end.
My book, funnily enough, isn’t about the princess. It’s about the wicked maid, who has spent the last year impersonating the princess while her betrothed’s away, using her access to high society parties to pull a string of jewel heists. Then in one very eventful evening, she: a) learns her terrible fiancée is on his way back to marry her in two weeks, b) also discovers a pair of highly-trained investigators are now on her trail, and c) crosses the wrong local deity, leaving her cursed to turn into jewels herself…if she can’t make up for what she took before the full moon.
So, you know. Standard Sunday night!
How are you practicing self-care right now?
I’m fortunate in that I was able to tackle working through stress last year, so I went into the pandemic already knowing what my signals for anxiety were, and how that manifested in bad work habits. For example, when I’m anxious, I view all my tasks as monumental efforts that can only be resolved through a long, hyper-focused slog. That way they become so overwhelming, I can justify putting them off… but then that also becomes a source of anxiety, as work piles up.
When I recognize that I’m avoiding a task, I look for smaller steps I can take, to trick myself out of being overwhelmed. Maybe cleaning my entire living room is too much right now, but picking things up so I can vacuum? That’s manageable, and maybe I’ll even vacuum. Or drafting an entire blog post is daunting, but I can write an outline, and maybe the first 200 words. It’s all about reducing the first step to something you’re comfortable with.
I know it sounds weird to say “my self care is doing chores,” and I certainly do things like play Animal Crossing (see below) and chat with friends for pure fun! But for me, self care isn’t just face masks and scented candles; it’s about taking care of the space I’m inhabiting, and managing my work in a healthy way.
So I noticed you play Animal Crossing, what’s been your favorite thing to do so far?
I really like building little areas on the island that are their own self-contained spaces: a café next to the museum that’s clearly a study spot, a little scenic hill set up with a plein air painting spot, a tacky karaoke bar (so many palm tree lights!) I think my favorite spot is the star market, which is a little ravine blanketed in layers of white/gold, blue, and purple/black flowers, with market stalls holding various star pieces and star-themed objects.
How can we support this amazing sequel? Any events we can share, or pre-order info?
We’re currently setting up a launch event with Third Place Books with time TBD! But if you preorder the book, you can submit your receipt to Fierce Reads, and they’ll send you a poster I painted myself! I’m also drawing character cards that will be exclusive to preorders from Third Place Books.
