Author Interview: Amanda Connolly

Get the inside scoop on ‘The Lure of Wolves and Whispers’!

Amanda Connolly is the author of our July Romantasy ‘The Cost of a Crown’ featured book: The Lure of Wolves and Whispers. Read on to get the inside scoop from inspiration to favourite scenes and more!

What sparked the initial idea for the story?

It came to me so quickly! There was a lightning bolt moment where I just had this idea, I heard this character, and I was like, I just have to write this story right now! I started writing it in January 2024, and I actually wrote the first half of it in about two and a half months. It poured out of me because I knew what the story was, I knew where the plot was going, and I knew who Maeve was immediately. It was also a time for me that was really difficult. I was dealing with a lot of professional burnout and grief, and I also had back-to-back injuries that were really devastating and meant that I couldn’t do a lot of the running and the weightlifting I usually do to keep me sane. This book was a bit of an outlet for me, it was a catharsis to be writing in that time. Maeve has a lot of nerve pain throughout the book, and that’s really a direct manifestation of some of the affects that I was dealing with and learning how to adapt to myself.

Which came first, Maeve or the plot, and how did this shape the story?

Maeve definitely came first, I had her voice in my head. With everything that I write, I know it’s not ready to start writing if I can’t hear the characters in my head. That held true for me in this book, and it has also held true for me when writing the second book as well. I’m very character focused. I do plot books quite heavily as I go into them, but I do really focus on what the characters are going through and what they’re thinking, trying to put myself in their headspace and think about how I can braid their emotional journey through the book along with the romance and everything else that needs to be in there.

This is an Irish-inspired tale, steeped in folklore. Did you have to do any research to create this magical world?

Yes, there was a lot of research. For those who don’t know, I’m a dual Canadian-Irish citizen. My family is from Ireland, and so writing this book was deeply inspired by the mythology and the folklore that I had grown up hearing from my grandparents. I was also just wanting to explore the legacies of the violence and the challenges that Ireland has had to deal with that I myself have had a close up view of through my own family. I really felt that it was important to reflect that in this book, but also the linguistic element is a huge part of the story. There are two languages used throughout the book, to hide messages that have been buried or oppressed, and both of those come from a more ancient form of writing in Ireland called Ogham. You can still find Ogham stones across Ireland and parts of Scotland today, so that was a direct draw into the book as well, because I wanted people to learn more about it and go find out themselves more about the resilience. Eireician, the language thoughout the book, is modelled on Irish, and I wanted to hide little easter eggs. If you are Eagle-eyed and doing your research and looking up some of the links to the Irish language there, then there are teasers and hints that you will find throughout the series!

Magic is forbidden in Eireann, and buying it comes with a cost. How did you make magic so tempting despite the danger?

Readers will notice that there’s only a light touch. We don’t see a lot of magic in this world, but it’s deliberately so. This is a three-book series, there’s a lot of world left to explore and a lot of history and politics left to uncover. For me, having magic be something that feels a little bit distant, that doesn’t feel like it can magically solve your problems, that is very volatile and difficult and comes with a very heavy price, was so important to weave through the story. It just feels too easy when books are like, here’s some magic that can solve all of your problems! It just had to have a cost for me, because it’s still pivotal to what Maeve is doing, to her journey, and to what she’s sacrificing over the course of the books.

We adore Maeve! She is tenacious and not afraid to speak her mind. Were there any challenges to writing a morally grey heroine whilst also showing her vulnerability?

I love a morally grey woman in fantasy. We don’t always get to see women be morally grey, or be really unapologetic in how they are morally grey. I really wanted Maeve to be someone who we know from the get go is going to make difficult decisions. She’s going to make decisions that are difficult for us to understand and that we wouldn’t make ourselves. She has a very clear internal moral code, but that doesn’t necessarily align with what society or the law or the broken system in this world says is the right thing to do. Everything to her is about saving her sister, and morality is really a flexible line towards that goal. She’s quite machiavellian, in a way, in how she pursues that goal. Maeve is not a character who is seeking power, ambition, or revenge, she is just so deeply motivated by the bonds of sisterhood. This is a romantasy, but it is not driven by the love interest in this first book, but instead by the love for her sister. That was the way into her vulnerability, to try to understand what she is willing to sacrifice to save the person that she loves most, and how she grapples with the consequences of her actions in pursuit of her goal.

What drew you to using this sibling bond as the catalyst for Maeve’s story?

I think there is something so strong about the bond we have with siblings. You grow up together, you have your whole lives together, but you’re still two completely different people. You can be very different and take very different paths in your life, and yet you can still have that inexplicable connection and bond that you really can’t replicate with anyone else in your life. I really wanted to show the importance of sisterhood, especially in a world that is trying to pull you down. There was nothing else that made sense for me to have her risk everything for.

Let’s talk Wolf – the mysterious and dangerous rebel leader who we can’t get enough of! How did you go about writing him?

He was so tricky but fun to write because he has so many secrets! He keeps his secrets close, has a really interesting past, and I’m always on my toes trying to figure out what he’s going to do at any given moment. I think with writing him, I had to make sure I was giving enough of an insight into his background so that readers could understand why he is the way he is, why he is so hardened and why he is so abrasive, even. But at the same time, I had to try to show the vulnerability in him without giving too much away. He’s been through so much, and looking at that without giving too much away was really a challenge for me. But I’m so excited for readers to see more of him in later books!

What was your favourite thing about writing sizzling romantic tension?

This book is very much a slow burn romance. They don’t see each other for the first time and become instantly attracted, they actually kind of hate each other for a good portion of the book as they are very reluctantly tied together. It takes a long time for them to get to know each other and to start to let their guards down and that, to me, is the most fun! I love that tension, I love the Pride and Prejudice of it, the Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. That’s the original ‘I think hate you, but wait, I don’t actually’ right?! That element is so fun to play with because it ties into the plot, it lets you weave everything together, and I once heard in a podcast, though I can’t remember who said it, that writing a romance is like braiding roses. So as an author, I have two stems, two characters, and they have all their thorns that are pricking each other, and they’re all interwoven as I’m wrapping their storylines together. I’m always thinking about how I can use that tension, like where are they going to prick each other, where are they going to hurt each other, where are they going to twine really beautifully together, and have it feel like a really natural thing for readers. That’s the guiding approach I take with romance when I write, and I hope that it pays off!

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

I had a very long journey to get published. It took me roughly thirteen years by the time this book came out, with over five hundred rejections on five previous manuscripts. It was a long road to get here and it took a lot of work, and that’s something that is really important to talk about when we talk about getting published. There are people that it happens for very quickly, and that’s wonderful and I hope it happens to everyone! But if it doesn’t happen to you right away, that’s okay! It doesn’t mean that it won’t happen. For me, that time was so valuable because it forced me to really go back to the drawing board, to educate myself on the craft, and to learn how to read with a critical eye as opposed to reading just as a reader. You’re always thinking of the plot beats you’re seeing, the story structure, things you like seeing be done and things you’d like to see done differently. That learning is so valuable to becoming a stronger writer, and it’s an active process! You’re never done, you’re always still learning. Your agent and your editor are also an incredible resource to help you do better, and I know without a doubt that I am better for the time it took me to get here! Be resilient, and learn to adapt to friction in your path. That’s not a bad thing, you just have to sharpen a little bit and push yourself a little bit harder, but you will get there!

What is your favourite thing about the FairyLoot Exclusive Edition of The Lure of Wolves and Whispers?

When I got my physical copy in the mail, I cried! I couldn’t believe it, there’s just so much that I absolutely adore. First of all, the colour! You guys nailed the colour on this one, green is such an important colour to this book and with the Irish-inspired mythology, it’s just the perfect shade. I love the character art, too. As I reader, I’ve never been particularly drawn to character art, but since becoming an author and having the experience of working on the character art with the artists, I found it so much fun! I had no idea how cool and fun and rewarding that would be, to see them brought to life in a way that mirrors what’s in my head so well. It feels so utterly magical to have that come to life, and I think your team just did an absolutely phenomenal job on everything. Every single detail is just so well thought out.