Ep 45 Callie Hart Quicksilver Tell All! | Author Interview

We’ve been keeping a BIG secret from you… our book besties… and today is finally the day we get to reveal it! We interviewed Callie Hart!! *Insert happy screaming here.* We are SO excited to share this SPOILER FREE author interview with you, so stick around if you’re interested in listening to us chat with the one and only Callie Hart, author of the New York Times bestselling romantasy book: Quicksilver!

This amazing book is officially available on Paperback and Kindle now, with hardback copies dropping in August! Quicksilver is book one in the Fae and Alchemy trilogy with book 2 slated to come out on November 18th of this year. Oh and did we mention Netflix is making a movie or TV series adaptation of this book?! 

Callie is an Amazon, USA Today, and New York Times bestselling author, and Quicksilver is also currently a Goodreads Choice and best of Booktok pick. Callie has historically written many dark romance books in the academia, motorcycle club, and mafia realms but we're so glad she decided to dive into fantasy! 

We get the behind the scenes 411 into Callie’s writing process, the history and creation of Kingfisher, what’s on the horizon with Netflix and future books, and why it’s so important to never give up. We also share a fave and fail Quicksilver edition, and find out which characters Callie herself would smash or pass!

Check out Callie’s Newest Book Quicksilver:

Preorder the Hardcover here | * https://amzn.to/42BwuHE

Preorder Quicksilver 2 here | * https://amzn.to/4gn0I4M

Callie’s Other Published Books | https://calliehart.com

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Want MORE author interviews? ⬇️

Check the official Author Interview with Lindsay Straube of Split or Swallow! Now a Barnes & Noble & Amazon best seller titled: Kiss of the Basilisk!  https://youtu.be/fknhocSNIKM

Watch our Author Interview with Indie Dark Romance Author Ember Nicole here | https://youtu.be/tHV9rXSTBpY?si=OwxdMVfPmtFkcYu6

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Besties and the Books Podcast
• 2:19 Introducing Today’s Guest Author Callie Hart
• 3:27 Callie Harts Fav and Fails of Writing QuickSilver
• 9:22 What is Quicksilver’s Plot?
• 14:12 Inspirations and Process of Writing and Publishing Quicksilver
• 27:09 Were You Always a Writer?
• 30:09 Any Other Authors or Books That Have Inspire You As An Author?
• 32:33 Let’s Talk About Kingfisher
• 37:58 Let’s Talk About Saeris
• 40:35 Themes In Quicksilver
• 43:29 Let’s Talk Side Characters
• 45:10 Let’s Talk Future Callie Hart Books
• 50:10 What Do People In Your Real Life Think of This Book
• 58:39 OMG The Quicksilver Audiobook…
• 1:02:53 Quicksilver Netflix Adaptation

Transcript

0:00

[Music] hey you guys this is Ashley and I'm Liz and this is the besties in the books podcast hey hey what's up what's up we have a very special spoiler-free author interview episode for you guys today we are just freaking out like we're just so excited we've been like holding this inside and now you guys get to finally know So today we're chatting with the one and only Callie Hart pause pause for Applause so uh Cali Hart is the author of The New York Times bestselling Romany book Quicksilver we've got our copies out mine's up there just so you guys know it's officially available on paperback and Kindle now hardbacks dropping in August Quicksilver is book one in the Fay and Alchemy Trilogy with book two slated to come out on November M 18th of this year and then also just because I'm sure most of you guys already know this um but did we mention that Netflix is making a movie or TV series like adaptation of quicksilver like it's so crazy it's so awesome and we're hoping to maybe if we can find out a little more something about that today um we simply cannot wait and just as I said before you know this whole episode EP will be spoiler-free so if you haven't read Quicksilver yet if you're considering you know wanting to you want to know a little more about it maybe you want to know a little behind the scenes you know then you can feel free to stick around um because we won't be spoiling any of the book for you this time but before we get into that we just want to say thank you so much for being here thank you guys so much for joining us today make sure you like follow And subscribe anywhere you likes listen to your favorite podcast including YouTube we're over there visually if you want to see everything and you want to see Callie's beautiful face then go ahead and check that out it's also over on Tik Tok and Instagram at Bess thee books podcast and while you're there follow cie over on Instagram at cart author on Instagram go give her a follow there too you guys all right so here we go here we go with the accolades my favorite part CU I feel like it makes you guys uncomfortable but it must be said because you guys are amazing so let's just bring her on Cali Hart the creator of quicksilver but as I put here here to make sure to say who are we really really super interested in talking about the fact that she created Kingfisher the MMC that all of us are obsessed with we need more info about king fisher like let's be honest um you know cie is an Amazon USA Today and New York Times bestselling author and Quicksilver is also currently a Goodreads choice and best of book talk pick so pretty freaking awesome pretty cool um Callie has historically written many dark romance books in Academia motorcycle club and Mafia Realms but we're so glad she decided to dive into fantasy so here we are welcome Callie thank you so much appreciate it thanks guys welcome welcome thank you so much for joining us today we're so excited to kind of pick your brain about some of the behind the scenes about writing this book and just that Journey for you Liz and I do a little thing on our weekly podcast called fave and fails we kind of make them themed sometimes sometimes of the week so we want to put you on the spot here and talk about your fave and fail Quicks Edition what was your favorite part about the process of writing this book and maybe your least favorite part about it sure yeah I'm like already scouring my brain like oh what am I going to my fail yeah absolutely um about the writing process itself or about the story or anything you want it to be choose your own Adventure my favorite part I don't know I mean it's been such a long time in the making this story and um there were specific scenes uh that I had been playing out in my head for years as I was like you know writing other books and and you know doing my grocery shopping and things like that these scenes would repeat in my head and I was just like constantly thinking about you know how how amazing it would be to finally sit down and write those scenes so getting to do that like you know there's a scene where they're together in in the sitting room they've kind of like had a little spot um and they don't really say anything but she just holds his head that's seen for some reason like has just been with me for so long that writing that was such like you know was incredibly satisfying um obviously the um kind of like no spoilers but you know what happens at the end with one of the particular characters and a reveal that that occurs there it's like a big deal for me you know I was waiting to um to have that moment and again another scene with that same character where you know she's expecting someone else to be brought to her and and this person shows up and um those moments you know there's so many of them like you know the moment when he comes out of the Quicksilver for the first time and and she he see she sees him and you know all of these little Beautiful Moments that I've been thinking of for so many years finally actually getting to like see those come to life on the page as I'm writing them it's just really beautiful for me um fail wise uh I don't know that's always a tough one isn't it um I I mean this this book was a product of what felt like failure you know like I um was at a point in my career where I was incredibly burnt out and very um tired and kind of Jaded by what I was writing I was loving what I was writing but i' just been been writing the same kind of content for a really long time um and I had burnt myself out on it so like I felt like I was failing when I was writing um you know the last couple of books that I put out I'm still incredibly proud of those books but like you know my energy was really low um and I and I was at a point honestly where you know I was really having to think about whether I was going to be able to continue being a writer um you know financially physically mentally um and as I say this book has been playing out of my head for so many years I was like okay well if this you know if I've got one book left in me then I'll be damned if it's not this one um and I you know I I had really no idea how it was going to perform I keep telling people this you know it's such a weird thing but like it was my Hail Mary and I just didn't know how people were going to respond to it because obviously this is not my wheelhouse genre um and I I was just like if people pick it up and love it and and like it then that's great and if they don't that's okay too because then I'll have the book um and when I released the book it did not do well for you know probably a month six weeks you know and most authors know that once a book comes out if you kind of like get through the the first couple of weeks um and you don't see you don't catch that algorithm on Amazon you know it's kind of dead in the water at that point it's very hard to revive a book um after you know not a a big kind of release push so I kind of had accepted at that point that you know technically the release had been a failure and that the book was done and I you know I had done the thing and I said I was going to do it and um and I did and I was still incredibly proud of the book um but I had kind of accepted that maybe I wasn't going to continue being an author and then you know overnight it just went so deeply grateful that fail turned into a win for me and I'm very grateful for that yes yes oh that's what we we love a fail that can be flipped around and boy are we glad that you took that risk and did it cuz we obsessed yeah that's amazing like what a good lesson too in just like being happy with the things that you're creating because you're happy with them but then when other people see that how cool that can be too that's so exciting yeah yeah you kind of like you know I have made the mistake in the past of writing to Market and it's never a good idea um so you know I was very proud that I wrote this for myself and and it was exactly the book that I wanted it to be and you know I'm very very lucky and very very grateful that you know it resonated with other people as well I'm I'm so grateful to everyone you know on book talk that really took this thing and ran with it and made it into what it is today um but yeah I I still super glad that I wrote it for for me yeah yeah oh that's awesome dude so cool and burnout dude it's real it real it can really take the wind out of your sales and so good on you for taking that risk thank you so so what do you think like what do you what should people expect when they're getting ready to read Quicksilver like what should people expect from the story like how would you summarize the plot if you were like I don't know just like telling it to like a friend like hey this is what you know it's kind of about without spoiling anything yeah for sure um so it is a it's really a story about found family at the end of the day there are lots of other moving parts to it but that's the the Crux of the matter um it is a story of a human girl woman she's 24 um struggling to survive in a very oppressive realm that is you know desert like and water is very scarce uh she care cares for her brother who's a bit of a numb skull uh always getting himself into trouble has a little bit of a gambling problem um so she's constantly bailing him out of trouble and you know stealing to survive making sure that they have enough food and water you know to live um and it's a day byday thing uh and one day she steals something that she really shouldn't have and she is taken before the queen and you know the queen is not very friendly toward her and essentially um you know says she has to be executed so during the midst of that occurring she accidentally opens a portal between her realm and the F realm Ofelia which you know she did not know existed um has been a thing of myth and Legend her whole lifetime um where you know she opens this portal and in in comes death essentially she thinks he's death she thinks he's D she's dying um and obviously this is where we meet king fisher uh and he saves her she's on death store takes her through to his realm um where she is immediately thrust into all kinds of Mayhem and chaos and fake politics and all of the things that she thought were you know not real she magic is real the f are real like magical creatures and um she is caught up in a conflict that's been raging in aelia for a really long time she discovers that she has power that's required to help them win the the war essentially um and it all kind of unravels from there uh you know king fish is a a bit of a punk um it is an enemies to lest story so there is definitely a strong element of him being a bit of an a-hole um and uh you know we were introduced to a bunch of Side characters who I you know I just adore each and every one of them they each have their own part to play in the story um and yeah uh Adventures chaos Mayhem and to yeah yes the side characters it's yeah that's one of the things that I loved the most I think about this book was I was almost like I don't know who I I can't choose a favorite cuz they're all so great and I just really really enjoyed that a lot thank you yeah I had I had the best time writing them you know they each had very distinct personalities to me um and they had a role to play and that you know obviously broadens and and you become even more aware of that in books 2 and three um but writing the side characters you know they especially caran you know I I I know that people love caran uh which I'm very grateful for um because he's just so much fun to write you know like he is a japster and and a bit of a [ __ ] and a clown but he has depth to him too um which you really get to see in book to which I just cannot wait to share with you guys back in November when it comes out but yeah like riding carrying was just a pure joy um but Rand and lth too and yeah the whole gang yeah that was perfect oh yeah we love him he's great Good comic relief too you know just when we need it you throw him in there for us we love it yeah I've never been like a comedic writer like you know a number of times throughout my career people have said oh you know if you thought you write like a something you know rumcom or like funny and I'm like I don't do I can't do funny like I'm just not a funny person um but kion's his own Beast you know and he I don't know where I was channeling channeling him from but uh yeah he's just you know he's kind of ridiculous and it and it and his moments of silliness or like you know his attitude or his sass or his like comebacks they're just like really nice moments of levity and in really kind of suspenseful moments as well which I I think kind of gives the reader a moment to take a breath before they go back into something really dark or intense um and that's just really fun to do as well so yeah yeah totally H so what kind of like inspired you if anything in particular to create Quicksilver it I've been asked this question obviously a million and I I always say the same thing because it's true you know I there wasn't any one thing that inspired me you know I I love reading High fantasy Epic Fantasy um that's been my bread and butter you know since I was a child and I read The Hobbit when I was little you know um but it's the characters that I that this story kind of like unfolded around you know I I first you know had King Fisher and cus come to me and I had these moments that were playing out in my head like and I didn't know who they were these characters or what was happening with them and and like what was the world around them and things like that none of that had come you know to fruition in my mind at that point but I knew who like I was beginning to know who the characters were and that was what I really focused on at first and you know as I got to know him better and her better I was like well like who is he that he would do this and who is she that she would react this way um you know and how do they come together and what is their Dynamic and how you know what how did their differences um make them stronger and things like that and the world kind of like expanded around them that in that way which was super like interesting and a really fun way to write for me because I I normally you know have an end point with the story first and then everything else um moves backwards from there but this was really truly about the characters and I just loved that it was really fun yeah yeah oh and we also yeah you did such an incredible job building that world around them and the magic system and everything it was so so awesome to read about so cool appreciate that thank you so you already talked a little bit about this but why don't you kind of share with us like how long did it actually take you to write Quicksilver like once you started writing it and then was P actually the process of publishing it a long one like how did that process go so it's all kind of upside down um I had maybe I think over the years written like these moments down like okay I you know like I would wake up and be like oh my god I've got to write this down and like you know I'd get 300 words of a scene like this this this and I had this document that probably had like 5,000 words in it of that it was like nonsense um and then I you know I had that sitting on my desktop for a very long time um uh and then in November of last year uh 23 sorry not 24 I keep forgetting we're 25 now November 23 I sat down and I was like okay like this was after Thanksgiving I opened that file and I like pieced it out and I was like okay this B goes here this B goes here this um and then I just started and all of December um and January I wrote so 2 months officially um you know I I did have that um slight framework at the beginning but I really did plot this book um I spent a long time piecing it out um so every time I sat down I knew what I was writing and I think that really helped me um because historically I've always been a paner I've never been organized when it comes to writing I've always just been like let's see where we go today you know and that that definitely wasn't the vibe with this book I knew I needed to be very Mindful and very like you know considered in what I was doing so I made sure that that happened which is you know I I have ADD like Rec recently diagnosed um so my brain is like hurting cats anyway so that was really really tough for me um so yeah January um I was done and I spent a long time sitting with it because I really did know that this had to be an important release for me so typically in the past I've you know immediately released something because I've been like so excited to share it and that was definitely the case with this book I wanted to do that but I wanted to try traditional publishing I'd been offered you know contracts many times in the past but I'd always just you know I loved Indie publishing I love self-publishing I loved the freedom that it gave me um and I love the community and I just really was happy with what I was doing but I I needed a change um um I needed help you know when you're an indie author you are responsible for everything and it is crushing sometimes it's really like crippling cuz you know we all say the same thing I just want to write but that's never never an option so um that was a huge part of my burnout too and I was just like okay I really want to try and get um a traditional deal just so that I could get some backup um and have a team to work with you know so I I uh I tried I got I had an agent that I hadn't actually you know I'd signed with this agent a long time ago um and I hadn't actually given her anything you know uh and she's amazing um but it fantasy is not her wheelhouse so she gave me passed me to her client and she she was like I'm not sure I can kind of fit this in with my schedule um not quite sure that it's for me so I was like fair enough okay had my heart crushed a little bit but you know she was very graceful really lovely um so I was just like okay I'm going to self-publish It screw it and I and I waited a long time I waited till June um because I was so scared to put it out I was just like oh my god um you know doubting myself um questioning whether I was ready whether I had all my ducks in a row da D um put it out in June June 4th um um holding my breath uh nothing happens um heartbreak you know all of the things um you know I say nothing happens and that's not fair you know I I think I got um I think it ranked it it it came out and ranked at like 101 which was devastating at the time because you know I just really wanted that top 100 uh and to get to like one point away like one away I was was but you know I took it on the chin and I was like you know still so proud of this story and people were being so lovely about it all of my readers who um you know had read my dark romance stuff and had been reading me for 10 years you know they were saying you know this is not my genre but I absolutely love this like you've changed my mind I'm going to go and read other fantasy novels now which I was so humbled by which was so incredible um and then I was just like one day I was like okay I'm going to give this like one more College try um I'm going to like you know I I had not utilized Tik Tok I was scared of Tik Tok I did not know how to use it to you know as a tool to share you know my work I I had always struggled with it and convinced myself that I was bad at Tik Tok and I couldn't do it um I was like I just got to try you know um so I did my research and I went and found 30 um book book talkers like that had you know um good good platforms with good interaction and that were reading this kind of content that I genuinely thought would enjoy the book and I emailed them and I just said hey you don't know me but like um if you have any interest in reading this book I would love to send you like a nice beautiful like shiny Edition uh and in the meantime here's the ebook if you want to read it and 15 of them got back half of them uh and said sure I'd like to read it sounds great it sounds exactly like my kind of book so I was like great here you go and I sent them the ebook and I um I kind of didn't really expect much but then immediately they were like holy sh bad word like and they started talking about it and they they knew each other and they were talking about it online as well and that was just the the beginning of like this meteoric Ascent for the book which I watched happen with complete amazement and dis Bel um and just you know so much gratitude yeah so just super excited that you know I I got to wake up one morning and I was just like holy smokes what is happening and it's all just kind of gone from there so that was in uh I believe like late June um then I just started getting offers for for traditional publishing from that point on and I got an amazing agent who is just incredible at her job um Caitlyn Mahoney W she is an absolute Spitfire and I would be lost with without her she like navigated a 10 auction deal which is insane um and has just like you know without her this book would still be kind of bouncing around in The Ether but um yeah so that's kind of you know we signed that um deal with forever in September I think um and by December they had traditional like published copies on shelves which you know people might not understand but that is like an phenomenal feat for them to have gone in four months to get hundreds of thousands of copies of this book on shelves across the nation which it's just mind-blowing so yeah very grateful yeah you had a wild 2024 didn't you I sure did I sure did what a wild ride yeah that is so cra crazy that's awesome congratulations like congratulations man you know I appreciate it thank you yeah I'm so I keep pinching myself I'm like man do I have like a brain tumor or something and I'm imagining all of this is this not real yeah I mean I remember just like you know just scrolling aimlessly as one does on Instagram even and it's just like Quicksilver Quicksilver Quicks silver like where did this come from what is this about oh my gosh it's amazing you know and now walking the aisles of Target there it is Boom Barnes& Nobles boom fat stack so that's awesome that is so awesome I hope that you are so proud of yourself cuz that is amazing thank you it's huge I think it's also just like you know if you're in this like book space you know and you're we're talking with Indie authors a lot and just authors in general and you know a lot of us you know have aspirations in the space whether it be to write something ourselves or to you know do a podcast where we get to interview authors like you or whatever it's just a really nice reminder that like you know sometimes giving it that last little bit that you think you have and just seeing what you can do is really worth it you know absolutely yeah the the whole like uh you can only fail if you give up mindset has stood by me has stood you know has stood by me like for a long time um cuz there have been many opportunities for me to give up on this thing it's hard it's hard as all get out you know I I have so much respect for my co like my peers in this field like you know we bust our butts you know um there's definitely you know every reason for us to give up um but sometimes it is just like that last one thing that you try that turns it around or makes you know gives gives you a little room to breathe so just keep going guys yeah yeah definitely what kind of drove you to you know decide to write more fantasy or Roman toy coming from a dark romance space um and I mean if you want to elaborate on that you absolutely can like if there were other factors that kind of inspired that kind of transition absolutely um so in when I first started writing I put my first book out in 2012 and it was a paranormal romance novel uh which I I you know thought was the best thing since sliced bread and it was absolutely terrible um but I was just so excited to have written my first book and um you know I finished I I wrote three books in that series uh and they did okay um for the time you know paranormal romance was very popular around that time um and then I decided I wanted to write like a dystopian story and and I I'm so deeply proud of that story it's called Halo uh it's under my my original pen name which was Frankie Rose my real name is Frankie um so Halo came out in 2014 I think and it did Super well it did like um it was featured book of the week with eye books and it it was number one um and I I just loved it and but I was still I haven't been always been a writer you know I I had plenty of other jobs before I was writing and at the time I was working retail uh two jobs while I while I was just desperately trying to get paid for being a writer um and a lot of my cohorts my my peers at the time were um started writing dark romance Mafia and MC and I was just like H I don't think it's for me you know I really love World building I love fantasy I love magic I love you know all of these like other elements of these stories that I'm telling um but then I also really wanted to you know pay my rent with my work and not have to go work retail um not that there's anything wrong with working retail but I just really wanted to sit at my desk all day and make stories up so um I started writing dark romance and I realized how quickly I loved it um you know and I and I created my series blood and Roses which you know immediately gave me the opportunity to quit my job you know I was paying my bills with that with that series and I was just so in love with um this the characters zth and Sloan um and so yeah I mean I always recommend blood and Roses to to readers if they if they do have like a little sliver on that Ben diagram of like the the genres that they enjoy um because it is quite dark not as dark as Haley's book which I see up there on your shelf but um yeah uh yeah there's there's some really like some of my favorite moments of my writing are in that in that series um um it's very kind of like hairpin break neck like Mafia sexy Crime Boss kind of deal um but I've written then from that point on you know I started writing standalones I've got contemporaries that are um dark as well so there's between here in the Horizon and Calico then I started doing dark Academia with the Crooked sin series with Riot house um and then ream which has the biggest plot twist I've ever written second biggest um yeah I love a plot twist so there there's just so many books that I you know I'd love to share with people they each have their own little place in my heart so awesome we love that yep so do you have any favorite authors or books that you know are either smaller and you want to shout out or like maybe anybody you know that really has inspired you as an author yeah I mean I half of them dead but sure um no I uh you know I I just read a lot of high fantasy um that's my personal genre what I read for myself um I don't tend to read a lot of Romans because I don't want to be colored by anybody else's work in my own work um so I I read very straight fantasy typically I'll read Patrick rothus not dead um I'll read um you know I I love uh PS Brown like his you know Red Rising series is just stupid so good um also not dead but I love talking and like you know he's just the OG he's the goat you know someone said a really cool quote to me the other day that were just like all fantasy stands on the shoulders of Lord of the Rings and it's so true like everything does like that that man's mind just must have been crazy um but I love Haley you know she's like such a badass HD Colton like her stuff is really dark so please read the warnings before you choose to step into that world but Zade is like you know one of the OG daddies like um yeah I'm trying to think who else I don't know I love Sarah Kate she's just like a phenomenal writer she's so prolific um yeah if I think of anyone else I'll I'll up it's hard cuz there's so many probably right it's like narrowing it down it's tough yeah it's like one of those questions you know when someone's like what's your favorite book and your brain just goes like just like potato Toaster What like I forgot my entire life suddenly with this question so yeah thank you for coming and answering our questions because I know how that goes for me at least yeah um well let's take it back to Quick Silver for a second and talk about our new daddy king fisher was his character inspired by anyone in particular in your life or what you've seen anything that sparked that little joy that we get to read upon now I'm so like you know I always feel so bad saying no to this question but like I don't borrow things from my real life life to um like you know I really want my work to be itself um and he is definitely himself uh he was the first you know as I say the first part of this book that came to me and he like I hate talking about characters like they're real people because it sounds just nutty but like you know they they do feel that way to us like it is just because we spend you know so many hours out of a day with these characters that have to feel real to us otherwise it doesn't work so you know I really spent a lot of time with him um and I think that's how you know how he might feel like more fleshed out than some of the other characters that I've written in the past I don't know but um yeah you know I just spent such a great deal of time with him working on this book and over the past you know I I when I started like taking those notes and writing stuff down for the series it was 2017 2018 like here and there um so I've been thinking about him since then and and you know he's like you know as time has passed he's become more and more and more and more and more of a real thing in my head so like yeah yeah personally I really appreciate him I feel like you know sometimes when we have like a very grumpy MMC it can be a little bit harder to connect with him because you know as a character he's very closed off for a lot of different reasons and for some reason I just I liked him immediately and I felt like we were really getting to know him even though we didn't really know a lot about him in the beginning you know what I mean and so that was unique yeah um I wanted to like you know have him be this I mean there's no real grumpy Sunshine thing going on here like she's not sunny um uh but you know like I I really you know he is grumpy arrogant rude you know all of the things um but I wanted there to be little pieces of him that shown through like and for you to kind of be like oh no like there were Redemptive moments to this character like um and you see like that he cares about his friends no matter you know how grumpy he is and rude and um these little moments that give you hope for his soul that he's not just this awful awful you know son of a gun that um you know you just get you're going to hate the whole way through um and I've Loved how that has progressed into book two cuz you get a totally different side of him in book two as well which has just been so much fun to write awesome I cannot wait I cannot wait yeah without like spoiling stuff it's so hard but I just loved seeing their Dynamic you know evolve throughout the book and certain things that happen were just so like unique and cool to the story like I'll just say something about tattoos and the way those go on like dude so cool like whoa I have to reread that again so cool yeah so like when I wrote that like I I I'm such a visual person you know when I'm writing it it really is like I'm seeing it play out completely in my brain and I and I just had this vision of like how cool that would look you know in in a scene you know if it was a show or a movie to see that happen and it just be like such a cool moment and for her to not understand why it was happening um and then the realization that it was still there the next day and being mad about it and then his reaction and his response like there's a moment there that I will talk about that maybe a small spoiler so maybe ear muffs for people if you don't want to hear it but like that Mo that morning after he comes back for he sends back for her her and she comes through um the port the shadow gate and they're talking about that shadow the sorry the tattoo and she says you know you know there are plenty of tattoos I want to get for myself um I don't want one you know that you've given to me and and he was like well cover it then and she was like yeah okay I could do that I didn't realize I could and he's like yeah and he gets halfway through saying that he would he doesn't care and then he can't finish the sentence because he can't lie so you know it's just a little like piece of showing you know that he does care and that it would bother him if she got rid of the tattoo um yeah it was just little fun moments like that that I liked playing with little sprinkle spr Les we love those yeah so what about sarus do you relate to her like how do you feel about her character like yeah just tell us about that yeah so I always always always no matter the genre or um you know what story I'm telling I the female main character is always going to be a strong assertive like independent sassy woman who can stand on her own to feet um and that was definitely what I I wrote for sarus you know she I wanted her to be um a completely fully formed human being uh not in need of like a man to come along and and complete her in any way um you know she has a strong defined personality she she takes care of business she gets [ __ ] done she um is confident and capable um and that is so important to me because I am like cognizant of who is reading these books and these women um you know often like often times in these roles in books are kind of like virginal or um really like weak and need defending and that is not the type of woman that I will ever write um so sarus was always going to be a complete Helen um and I wanted she needed to be strong to stand up to him you know because there there are a million moments in this book where he would completely destroy her um if she didn't turn around and say no um despite the odds St it against her and the fact that you know he could do whatever he wanted or you know he he tricked her into this you know scenario where he was in complete power over her spoiler sorry and um but she still stood up and said no um and you know as a dynamic for them to work I really she needed to be a very strong character um she needed to be take no[ __ ] and she needed to challenge him because you know he is King Fisher and he is like um you know such a huge Larger than Life character in a lot of ways um so yeah I felt like she had to be the same to to be his counterpart um and I hope I um I balance them well it's always like a tire rout walk with things like that but Oh I thought it was perfect I loved her just as much as I loved him and I feel like that's also rare especially in the beginning of a series I feel like for me because as you said lots of times when we're reading fantasy in the beginning I feel like a lot of times the fmc's can be like they have to figure out their power and come into it and while sarus does that to a degree she's already powerful and confident going into it and so I really appreciated that cuz I felt like she was more relatable yeah yeah yeah yeah I really uh I I knew like I wanted to show exactly who she was in that first chapter of of the book you know and in in that first chapter you know you find out that she's a thief that she's you know oppressed that she's willing to go to extreme LS to protect her family and like survive um and she'll do like stupid stuff to make sure that you know the people she cares about are taken care of um yeah and I wanted people to see that without magic without weapons without you know any other acutal to get her through that just her own wits and her insane climbing abilities yeah I was going to say I mean she knew how to fight and yeah I mean all on her own you know which I thought was great so other than that whether there any other themes in this book that you put into uh that were just like extra meaningful to you um there's a lot of like moments of feminism in the book dirty word for some people I know but like you know I I just love that king fisher is a feminist you know he really is and like we love a guy that's a feminist you know a guy that'll treat a woman like an equal because we are that kind of thing um you know I really um this is a huge theme in book two as well like there are many moments in the book where um he could kind of like cuddle or suppress her but he doesn't he does let her stand on her own two feet and and learn and like defend herself and and grow Etc um that kind of like push and pull like relationship between someone who really cares about someone who wants to protect them but allows them to grow and like doesn't get in the way of that um so that kind of thing but yeah found family is always a big um thing for me like you know and we've spoken at length about the side characters but for me personally like my I've been away from I I'm from the UK originally but I moved to Canada and then I moved to Australia and I've been in the states for a very long time now so you know half my life I've been out outside of the country and outside of away from my family I haven't had you know a holiday with a family member in 20 years so um found family is a a really big deal to me it's very important and you know we have orphans Christmases and um you know friends givings and things like that and the those moments with the people that you find along the way um are really beautiful and super important to me so that was always going to be a huge part of the book um and is a huge part of most of my books so um apart from that my mind is blanking I feel like that's great because it's like I mean we put it right here one of the best parts of this book were all the extremely well-developed Side characters um almost to the point where I'm just like I mean I included it in here as a question like are we going to get to know them better down the line you know might we get Side Stories perhaps with some of the side characters and their own stories because we just fell in love with them absolutely um yeah I you definitely see way more um we have a whole host of you know new characters as well in book two like you know small part characters but um some newer characters as well that are that are going to be playing you know pretty big roles in the story as it progresses um but yes absolutely 100% everyone's going to get their moment to shine um you know we are like right now it's projected as a Trilogy a three books story but that is King Fisher and Sarah um I've always said that I want to do two side character books after the trilogy um but who knows I mean this thing could go on forever and ever and ever and ever and ever this could be like we live time long so I'm not going to do that don't worry I'm not going to be like it's 15 books guys uh we don't honestly that's fine with me our never adding tbrs we don't mind don't coming I don't know um someone asked me the other day like would I ever write a series like we of time long like 14 books and I was like my immediate response was no way because I you know the idea of like committing to one style of Storytelling and a certain set of characters for that length of time is so incredibly daunting but also kind of boring you know as a writer you want to be able to explore other you know styles of Storytelling like or um you know completely different stories like sci-fi you know I really would love to write a Sci-Fi at some point um yeah I don't know maybe one day like now that you know I cuz I come back to this story all the time in my head as I'm like piecing things out and you know I make these connections and I'm like oh that's so good I should write that and then I'm like that's a whole story so we'll see I mean maybe the publisher will just be like you've got to stop and they they won't let me but we'll see we'll see I mean if the readership is there and they want it then I've got plenty to write in this world so yeah it it is not over now we've talked about a couple little teasers for book two is there any other teasers you would like to put out there about book two that comes out in you said November right now is the expected date uh November 18th um we are going to be having a title reveal very soon I I believe I have a date for that but I can't share it right now right but um yeah it's coming real soon um you'll be getting a full blur um so I'm not going to ruin anything by you know sharing the blur right now um it's just one of those things you know you can't really spoil what's coming I will say you know like found family is like very much underlined in this story um they are thrown into a number of scenarios that are life and death um they are constantly having to figure out like the lay of the land now that Sarah is in this new very unique position like no spoilers from the end of book one obviously but things are very different for her now so she has a lot of things to figure out um you know life looks looks a lot different um there are games that have to be played um to kind of make Headway there are like other issues that are um affecting the group that have to be dealt with so you know there's like into like character like conflict then there's like overarching really bad conflict that's affecting everybody um so yeah I you know the from from page one it is all gas like there's not not a moment to breathe in this book that's how it felt like for me anyway writing it because like it's just like boom boom boom boom boom but um there are some beautiful moments that I've really you know really loved writing some really deeply romantic moments um and some very sexy moments and um a lot of Easter eggs for what's to come in book three and Beyond as well if I do get my way and I do get to write those character side character books um so yeah there's a lot a lot of moving Parts with book two we're excited as if we could have be more excited you made us even more excited so I know there you go I love that I love it when it's like it's just pedal to the metal craziness the whole book like that speaks to me because I want to just I I guess I'm addicted to the chaos I don't know I need to feel that you know me too me too it's hard with you know you know book one is always like you know a beloved installment of a story because you meet the characters for the first time they fall in love they they kiss they you know they have sex they tell each other that they love each other and it's always such a bad and then book two is kind of a tough act to follow because um a book one is a tough act to follow rather I should say because you've had those moments you know so like maintaining um that level of chemistry and connection between the characters is very difficult in book two and I have spent Ive sweat blood making sure that that does not lapse in this second installment that it actually increases instead of like you know find a kind of like status quo that that can happen sometimes in book two you they don't try anymore it feels like it's like oh okay it's just done now that they're together you know yeah I that's I'm still making them work for it but in a good way yeah good so you know speaking of kind of the romance part of this so what do your people in real life think of your writing in this book and you writing dark romance in general I mean they they most of the people because I'm so transient you know because I move have moved through so many different countries in my adult life a lot of the people that I you know have made friends with here in the states have only ever known me as an author that writes this kind of content so like they met me this way or um you know this has just always been an accepted part of you know the dynamic and what I do from from the word go so um yeah it's it's just you know normal I think they don't really care they tease me a little bit sometimes especially now when they're like you know sending me pictures from my book and Target they like you I can't escape you and I'm like good that's so cute that kind of thing but no one you know no one's really surprised by anything CU it's just you know they've known the whole time um the only time that it's ever been like that I've ever cared about anyone's opinion about what I'm doing would be my grandmother um and she's been reading like Danielle Steel and and like soft you know spice since before I was born so who cared there like I I hid it from her for a little while cuz I was like oh my God I don't want her to think badly of me and I was living in Australia when I first put out my really first really spicy story and she like I had a you know my new pen name cie Har and I she didn't know about it for a long time and then eventually I told her and my sister gave her the the book and she read it and she was obsessed she was kicking her legs and squealing she was so you know the only person I ever cared about she ended up becoming my biggest supporter in that so I love that so sweet there have been many times when people have gone oh what do you write and I you know in a in a scenario where you know you're out and about and you say oh I'm a writer I'm an author and they say what do you write and I say oh you know I write romance or and immediately their eyes shut and they go somewhere else and they're like you know the judgment is real sometimes you know people are like what do you write you say romance and they're like oh so you're not a real writer SC sure whatever dude like normalize just screaming in those people's faces yeah exactly just scream and run away it's just water off the duck's back you know um it's one of the biggest industries in in you know it's one of the biggest genres in I think it's only like you know second to like crime suspense and that's because of the likes of James Patterson and and Tom Clans and things like that who were just like selling millions of books yeah but other than that it's us ladies out here keeping publishing a float so mhm that's right that's absolutely right you know if people get one thing out of your book when they read it like what do you hope that thing will be like from Reading Quicksilver I've had a lot of people actually reach out to me recently like um you know everyone seems to be going through it a little bit at the moment with like you know just the state of the world in general and how hard life can be sometimes um especially you know we've just had the holidays and that can be a really difficult period for people sometimes I get a lot of messages from people saying thank you because it gave them an escape from you know worrying about things or or feeling things or whatever um and that's what what the book is meant to be you know at the end of the day regardless of you know whether how things are you know personally for a reader like it's always designed to be an escape um for you to like disappear into a magic realm for a couple of hours and like get to it create that movie for yourself in your mind um that's all I ever really want it to be so it I'm always super honored when people reach out and tell me that you know you know it gave them a little bit of a reprieve or like it took them somewhere else that was fun to be so yeah absolutely I think something too that I really appreciated about Quicksilver was like you know with fantasy books we read a lot of fantasy over here sometimes it can take me like I don't know maybe 10% sometimes even 20% to like really get into a story you know it's building up I'm kind of trying to feel everything out and see I swear with Quicksilver it was like page one and I was like here we go it's locked and loaded I'm fully invested I'm obsessed and so I loved that about this book so thank you for that thank you um it it's I know that a lot of readers are polarized on that because you know a lot of people will say oh it's a slow book at the start um and I would hate to make sweeping statements I mean there's a lot going on in the book but I think you know there's a you know I don't want to make sweeping statements and I don't want to make a generalization but often I find that people people who say that um are more like Romany readers who like fantasy they're not fantasy readers which is fine you know it's absolutely fine but but you know there's a huge amount of information that has to be given to someone in this book before they get to the romance part and that I do not deny that um and some people want romance from the first page and you don't get it till the 30% Mark and that's where people it picks up for people so like that just like you know one of those things um you know you introduced to two new worlds in the first 30% of this book like you know multiple fight scenes the introduction of Mag a magic system like there's a lot going on um but there's no romance so it definitely like there are certain people and that's totally fine who prefer to have romance a little earlier in a book um and they miss it in in Quicksilver but you know I like to think that um it makes up for it later and it's super important to have that groundwork and that Foundation um laid in the First Act of this book so that everything else flows smoothly for the rest of the series so like you know it's just a part of it but for me you know we open on action like you know she's in a scene she's climbing a freaking wall she's escaping like you know um we meet Ken pretty quickly and I knew I was messing with people a little bit there when I wrote him in the first act cuz when you meet a a male character at the very beginning of a book typically they're the main love interest so I was kind of like H they're going to think kion's the guy um spoiler sorry he's not but yeah there's a lot going on in the first third of that book so yeah yeah that's what I thought too I mean I just loved that it was like we just got to know Sarah so quickly so soon um and I mean I remember I like laid down and I was like okay I you know I'm kind of tired I might get through a chapter or two before I fall asleep or have to go to bed and I was like no absolutely not like I'm just keep on going thank you thank you yeah no it's hard like you know every author will tell you the same thing like you know we we have to introduce this person to you uh and and help you understand who they are as quickly as possible so like you know I I needed to in that first chapter tell you exactly who she was what her Mo motivations were what she was capable of um what her moral compass you know which way that pointed um you know the people around her who like you know all of these things that have to happen in the space of you know 4,000 words um but you know I was determined that by the end of chapter one you would know exactly who you were dealing with um and I hope that I accomplish that but I feel like you did I yeah I can see that 100% thank you let's talk about the audio for a second we're obsess cuz it's so good like freaking out because I did both I did the physical and bounced to the audio and then I was like oh my goodness this is fantastic so 10 out of 10 topped tier and we're just curious did you have a say at all in who was cast for the narrators um yeah like so Podium uh I've been working with them for a really long time they're phenomenal what they do they are experts at audio production um and they really know what they they really know what they're doing so you know they they came to me with um you know not even that many I think maybe two or three um suggestions for each role for for um King Fisher and sarus and um immediately when I heard Antony I was just like duh no braer and then Stella again as well like she's a phenomenal like voice actress she she has done so many amazing um narrations and stuff especially with Podium uh and again no-brainer so you know very quickly there was no there was never going to be any contention from my end on that decision um and it was more of a case of like oh man I really hope we can get these guys um and we were very lucky that we did um they both did a phenomenal job anony is just obviously like his delivery on some of those lines I was just like oh my God I wrote that Jesus Christ I love that and normally you know I don't listen to my audio books I just cannot do it like I'm to in my head I I'm I'm analytical and picking things apart and like wishing I'd written things differently or like you know um embarrassed by the spicy scenes and stuff like that I'm just like oh my God I can't hear it out loud um but with this one I felt it sounds so stupid to say but like I really felt Beyond like outside of like the fact that I had created it they had just done such a phenomenal job of acting out the story and the way that they presented it that I was completely removed from it and I just got to enjoy and it was such a fantastic experience um and I listened to the spicy scenes and holy smokes I was just like oh my God I hope my grandmother doesn't listen to this fantasy is not her Jam so she wouldn't she wouldn't listen to this one but yeah uh yeah they knocked it out of the park seriously and getting to use some of those clips on like you know the promo that I shared and like the little reels that I made for it was just like you know I every time I'm scrolling I hear like that one that the the one with Carrie and and da is kind of popular right now which is amazing I and I every time I like scroll and I hear it I'm like oh my God it doesn't feel like it's mine anymore cuz it's become this like sound that um did you hear that that blonde that that pretty blond so yeah I can't remember V but like it makes me laugh every single time and it's so synonymous with that moment in my brain now it's like changed my brain chemistry around that whole scene oh that's so fun it's like I was telling everyone I'm like Go download the audio read the a like please read the audio like it's so good and um one of my friends asked me she's like well what are you doing are you bouncing back and forth between you know the Kindle version and the book version and the audio and I was like oh no the audio is so good I'm literally reading it on Kindle while listening to it in my ears at the same time time so I could digest both simultaneously yeah I I've never done that before maybe I should maybe that would be a fun like exercise to sort of split my brain like that oh it was great it was top tier experience so thank you everyone yeah if you're like a subtitle reader when you watch shows and stuff boom there you go yeah all right I'm going to have to give that a shot I'm going to try it out so to segue into this because we're freaking out inside everyone is dying to know can you tell us anything about the Netflix adaptation no fair yeah we figured you wouldn't be able to but yeah no I mean what an idiot I would be to say anything um no we're there're still a very you know this is early stages um there are meetings happening right now um writers uh the next on the agenda for like you know um we would go writers fun writers then directors then start looking at casting so we've got a long road ahead of us you know nothing's going to happen overnight um but as I get information I will share it with you guys as I'm cleared to do so um you know I all I can say is that you know there's a lot of excitement on both sides me and them uh which is very cool um to be working with people who are so like enthusiastic and excited about a project um yeah like Elizabeth the the producer is phenomenal she just did um alien Romulus um and I am so excited I'm going to I'm going to absolutely abuse every second that I get to spend with her so that I can learn from her because she is such a Powerhouse she is incredible um Christina at Netflix again just an like phenomen phal Creator um and creative person like I'm just blown away that I get to work with these people and and like the idea that I get to see this thing come to life oh my gosh so ex I will say you know we've had meetings about casting and I know that people are very excited about that or very nervous like you know I've seen an awful lot of people saying like some dubious things about casting and like the likes um and you know I obviously can't say any names but like they're very serious about you know who they're getting to play these roles that's all I'll say can you tell us like who would be like your dream Fan cast for king fisher and sarus in like a perfect world or is that too I come because maybe we'll get those guys or maybe they'll see and then they'll be like oh I don't know I don't know I definitely have a favorite person and and we are hopefully going to pursue that person so I don't want to say um yeah yeah um yeah yeah oh we get we get that we get that we had to put it in there we had to ask the people are asking so we're just trying to ask for them but it's okay we get it I love hearing your guys F costings you know that's what I really care about who do you see playing those roles I mean well everybody thinks you know what is the there's all those memes around of um why am I blanking on his name see I'm doing that thing uh Henry C is like in in a wig and playing everyone like Kevin from the office I mean Dwight from the office like he's just everyone like the dog the everything so other than that I'm really bad with names so I don't have anybody in particular but what about you Liz no I mean literally that's who I picture probably uh like 99.9% of the time and then I feel like that other little tiny percent is just like maybe Aaron Taylor Johnson and that's it like those are my mmc's my head all the time so you know I just will just be surprised it it'll be exciting and then as far as Sarah goes like I don't know cuz I feel like sometimes some of my favorite fmc's when I see them in the movie or TV version are no one that I would have ever expected and then they end up being amazing you know I'm like ooh when I hear something or I'm like oh I would never have thought of that person but then when they get in there and they make it their own and you're like oh man they just knocked it could never it could never have been anyone else so yeah we'll see we'll see I can't wait to share with you guys I'm I'm like chomping at the bit yeah who's ever going to go in there and like Embrace their character like to the fullest that's who we want to see you know I'm just like super excited about caring obviously like I'm obviously excited about King Fisher and Sarah but like I think you know kion's going to have to be like a complete unknown because I can't think of anyone and I never have been able to think of anyone that would really pull the role off so should we wrap it up with a Smasher pass let's do it all right we like to keep our Smasher passes more unhinged over here a little less obvious you know so our first one is going to be Mr Malcolm smash or pass Malcolm yeah and it doesn't have to okay let me clarify our smash or passes because like we will literally do like you know Fantastical creatures you know like a dragon or something so it's more it doesn't have to be like the looks whatever you choose like it could just be The Vibes like whatever you want to think of it as and it doesn't have to be a literal smash but just smash or past Malcolm okay I'm going to say smash just CU he's a complete psycho but he's very attractive yeah and he's got like a very like kind of uh he's got a little bit of a kink Vibe I think so yeah smash so he'll keep it interesting okay yeah what about you Liz um I because he's vampire I say smash yeah smash it's as simple as that yeah smash smash is all around yeah smash is for Malcolm all right Liz has a little bonus one that we were dying to know the answer to yeah so this is an either or so it's like a you have to choose between Carion and renis who do you choose for smash smash for car in Smash yeah I was feeling that from this interview Vibes I'm like I'm thinking it's got to be caring I Love You Ren I'm sorry see I am a I'm obsessed with Ren fist he I'm obsessed with him and then listening to his accent on the audio book like whatever like he top tier for me yeah what about you Ash yeah you know well at the first half it would have been renis and then Ken surprised us all so I'm going to say smash for Ken W I'm so excited for the next book oh my gosh it's so I'm so excited to reread this book especially with like just knowing there's little Easter eggs within it too yeah do you know how weird it is to like have this whole world just like percolating and like simmering away and and not to be able to tell anyone about it is horrible I'm so sure oh my goodness all the will power going into the those secrets you have to keep right now so many all right well I feel like that about covers all the interview questions we had are there any last things that you want to share with us or add to the conversation just a deep you know heartfelt thank you to to you guys and to everyone that has read this book in the last year like since June last year like what a ride um y all have changed my life uh I I can't believe I get to share this with you guys and that we can all like chat about this crazy world that just came out of my brain somehow um it's such an honor and I'm so grateful thank you thank you thank you thank you for taking that risk and putting it out there yeah for us now we get this treasure this little treat I love it thank you so much for joining us today as well we loved having you and being able to pick your brain about this book and your just entire journey in the book world so thank you so much and thank you guys out there for listening to this special interview with Cali Hart make sure to head over to Instagram and follow CI Hart author so you can get all those little sneak peek she was talking about in little teasers that will come in anticipation of the on the horizon thank you guys so much make sure to like follow And subscribe anywhere you like to listen to your favorite podcast including YouTube at Bess in the books podcast as well as Instagram and Tik Tok and you guys we'll see you in the next one Tuesday bye thank you again you bye[Music]