All about the romantasy debut The Spellshop
Who is Sarah Beth Durst?
Sarah Beth Durst is the award-winning author of over twenty-five books for adults, teens, and kids, including The Spellshop, The Lake House, and Spark. She won an American Library Association Alex Award and a Mythopoeic Fantasy Award and has been a finalist for SFWA’s Andre Norton Nebula Award three times. Several of her books have been optioned for film/television, including Drink Slay Love, which was made into a TV movie and was a question on Jeopardy! She is a graduate of Princeton University and lives in Stony Brook, New York, with her husband, her children, and her ill-mannered cat. Visit her at sarahbethdurst.com.
What is The Spellshop about?
Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she hasn’t had to.
She and her assistant, Caz, a magically sentient spider plant, have spent the last eleven years sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite. But when a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz save as many books as they can carry and flee to a faraway island Kiela was sure she’d never return to: her childhood home. Kiela hopes to lay low in the overgrown and rundown cottage her late parents left her and figure out a way to survive without drawing the attention of either the empire or the revolutionaries. Much to her dismay, in addition to a nosy — and very handsome — neighbor, she finds the town neglected and in a state of disrepair.
The empire, for all its magic and power, has been neglecting for years the people who depend on magical intervention to maintain healthy livestock and crops. Not only that, but the very magic that should be helping them has been creating destructive storms that have taken a toll on the island. Due to her past role at the library, Kiela feels partially responsible for this, and now she’s determined to find a way to make things right: by opening the island’s first-ever secret spellshop.
Her plan comes with risks — the consequence of sharing magic with commoners is death. And as Kiela comes to make a place for herself among the kind and quirky townspeople of her former home, she realizes that in order to make a life for herself, she must learn to break down the walls she has built up so high.
Interview
What was your inspiration for The Spellshop?
I wanted to write a book that felt like wrapping yourself up in a fuzzy blanket, a cat on your lap and a mug of hot chocolate in your hands while the snow gently falls outside. Or like watching the sun set over the ocean while dolphins play in the distance.
But the very first bit of inspiration — the very first note in my brainstorming file for THE SPELLSHOP — actually was: “sentient succulent.”
This led to Caz, who is the library assistant and best friend of my main character — he’s a slightly-anxious talking spider plant, and I love him with all my heart.
(In case you’re wondering, you do get to meet a sentient succulent several chapters in!)
What drew you to writing?
I’ve always thought of books as magic — they’re these little rectangles that have the power to transport you away from whatever is upsetting you or causing you stress and take you on a journey… and then bring you back again, safe and sound, maybe slightly changed. I’ve always wanted to be a part of that magic.
I decided I wanted to become a writer when I was ten years old. (Before that, I didn’t realize an ordinary person could become a writer. I guess I thought they all sprang to life fully-formed like Athena out of Zeus’s head. Or I thought they were just all dead.) Anyway, I have this crystal-clear memory of reading ALANNA by Tamora Pierce and thinking to myself, “If Alanna can become a knight, I can become a writer.”
What made you want to write a cosy fantasy?
We’ve all been through a lot over the past few years, and I really wish I could just give everyone a hug. Since that’s logistically impractical, I decided to write a book that feels like a warm hug.
My goal was to give readers as much wonder and enchantment as I could squeeze into a few hundred pages. Also, I wanted to write about people being kind to one another. After I got the offer from Bramble to write THE SPELLSHOP, I remember telling my husband, “I get to write a book about nice people!”
At its core, THE SPELLSHOP is about kindness, empathy, and forming connections with others. I think the world could use more of all three.
How did you choose which character to centre the story around?
I knew I wanted to write about a rogue librarian before I knew what her story was. I could picture her: surrounded by spellbooks, content to never leave the library, with only her assistant (and best friend — the sentient spider plant) for company. I wrote the first chapter without knowing what they’d find when they sailed away from the library… though I did know there would be merhorses!
I craft characters based on what kind of person will be shaped the most by what they experience. In this case, for Kiela, she’s been sequestered in her library for the last decade. She has no family, no friends beyond Caz, and she thinks that’s all fine. She needs to discover there’s more to life — more to herself — than she ever knew.
What was your process for writing The Spellshop?
I like the write by what I call the Rule of Awesome. With every scene, my process is to ask myself, “Given what’s occurred, where we are, and who the characters are… what’s the most awesome thing that can happen next?” You can create an entire novel just by asking yourself that question over and over again.
Also, I eat a lot of chocolate.
What is your approach to world and character building?
My favorite way to develop a world is to make a single decision and then follow it where it logically leads — let the world grow organically. I also love to layer the world with its own folklore, legends, mythology, and history.
As for characters… Occasionally, they pop onto the page fully formed, but often I conduct auditions. I try out the character with different personalities until I land on a voice that feels like the right fit.
Later, once I start getting further into the writing, the characters, story, and world all evolve together — feeding into and off of one another.
How would you describe The Spellshop in five words?
Five adjectives: cozy, cottagecore, gentle, sweet, delicious.
And five nouns: rogue librarian, sentient spider plant.
Did you have a favourite moment in the book to write?
I loved every second of writing this book! If I had to choose… I think the scene where Kiela rides a merhorse (half horse and half fish) was my favorite to write. Her very kind neighbor (with nice eyes and an amazing smile) herds merhorses, and he invites her to ride one.
“The merhorse picked up speed, jumping through the waves like a dolphin. Kiela clung to her mane, feeling as if she were holding on to seaweed, slippery but soft. She let out a shriek as Sian leaped over the top of a large cresting wave, and then she laughed as they sailed down the other side.
“She’d never felt anything like this. It was terrifying. And wonderful.
“She felt as if her blood had become the wind, and her breath had become the sea spray. She tasted salt, and she tasted freedom. Both were glorious.”
What was your favourite book growing up?
I loved both BEAUTY and THE BLUE SWORD by Robin McKinley. I read them so many times that I nearly memorized them. I also loved HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE by Diana Wynne Jones, DEEP WIZARDRY by Diane Duane, THE DARK IS RISING by Susan Cooper, and DEALING WITH DRAGONS by Patricia C. Wrede. (I know you said “book” singular, but how can anyone choose just one?!?)
Do you have a favourite genre to read?
Fantasy. Specifically, the kind of fantasy that’s laced with hope and wonder. I love the feeling you get when you sink into another world and then emerge with the conviction that our world is a little bit more magical than it seemed before — and that you are a little bit stronger than you were before.
I believe fantasy is (or can be) a literature of hope and empowerment, and I love both reading it and writing it.
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