Charlie N. Holmberg Interview - Spellbreaker ~ JeanBookNerd

Photo Content from Charlie N. Holmberg

Charlie N. Holmberg is the award-winning author of the Numina series, The Fifth Doll, and many others. Her Wall Street Journal bestselling Paper Magician series, which includes The Paper Magician, The Glass Magician, and The Master Magician, has been optioned by the Walt Disney Company. Charlie’s stand-alone novel, Followed by Frost, was nominated for a 2016 RITA Award for Best Young Adult Romance. Born in Salt Lake City, Charlie was raised a Trekkie alongside three sisters, who also have boy names. She is a proud BYU alumna, plays the ukulele, owns too many pairs of glasses, and finally adopted a dog. She currently lives with her family in Utah.

ISBN-10 : 1542020093

ISBN-13 : 978-1542020091

Publisher : 47North (November 1, 2020)

Paperback : 303 pages

Praise for SPELLBREAKER

“…romantic and electrifying…the fast-paced plot and fully realized world will have readers eager for the next installment. Fans of Victorian-influenced fantasy won’t want to put this down.” —Publishers Weekly

“Those who enjoy gentle romance, cozy mysteries, or Victorian fantasy will love this first half of a duology. The cliffhanger ending will keep readers breathless waiting for the second half.” —Library Journal (starred review)

“Powerful magic, indulgent Victoriana, and a slow-burn romance make this genre-bending romp utterly delightful.” —Kirkus Reviews

What is the greatest thing you learned at school?
Honestly, grammar. I got a really solid foundation in grammar at a young age and it really helped me throughout my life, writing-wise and otherwise.

Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way?
My two greatest influences are Hayao Miyazaki (Studio Ghibli) and Brandon Sanderson. Both of them create the kinds of stories I love. They think outside the box. I was able to take two semesters of creative writing from Brandon at BYU, and they were incredibly beneficial to my writing and my career.

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.
I mean, in truth, it’s the fact that people I don’t even know read and love my stories. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around that. I’m so grateful to every reader (even those who don’t like my books!)

Second, my biggest brag point: that Disney has the film rights to my debut trilogy. :)

What do you hope for readers to be thinking when they read your novel?
I hope they find something new and different in a setting they can feel comfortable in. I try to think outside the box with every story I write, but I never want to be confusing or obtuse. I simply hope they like the story!

If you could be born into history as any famous person who would it be and why?
Oh man, there’s a question. My very first thought was Jane Austen, though I don’t think I’d actually want to mimic her life. (And let’s be honest, I would dearly miss technology being born any time before the 1950s.) It might be interesting to be born as Mary Magdalene or another woman from the New Testament, just to be able to see Christ and ancient Jerusalem for myself. That would actually be pretty incredible.

A world of enchanted injustice needs a disenchanting woman in the newest fantasy series by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Paper Magician.

The orphaned Elsie Camden learned as a girl that there were two kinds of wizards in the world: those who pay for the power to cast spells and those, like her, born with the ability to break them. But as an unlicensed magic user, her gift is a crime. Commissioned by an underground group known as the Cowls, Elsie uses her spellbreaking to push back against the aristocrats and help the common man. She always did love the tale of Robin Hood.

Elite magic user Bacchus Kelsey is one elusive spell away from his mastership when he catches Elsie breaking an enchantment. To protect her secret, Elsie strikes a bargain. She’ll help Bacchus fix unruly spells around his estate if he doesn’t turn her in. Working together, Elsie’s trust in—and fondness for—the handsome stranger grows. So does her trepidation about the rise in the murders of wizards and the theft of the spellbooks their bodies leave behind.

For a rogue spellbreaker like Elsie, there’s so much to learn about her powers, her family, the intriguing Bacchus, and the untold dangers shadowing every step of a journey she’s destined to complete. But will she uncover the mystery before it’s too late to save everything she loves?

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