Interview with Brittany M. Willows, author of Bloody Spade

Hi, hello friends! I hope you’ve had a wonderful weekend, and are ready for another week of blog posts and reading. Today, I’m very incredibly excited to be interviewing Brittany M. Willows, author of Bloody Spade. A full review of Bloody Spade will be coming to the blog very soon, but continue reading to see what we chatted about!

A girl full of heart
A thief touched by darkness
A boy with a fiery temper
An unwitting servant of evil

The era of magic was once thought to be a myth, but after the Reemergence ushered forces both dark and light into the mundane world, it has since become a harsh reality. Now those affected by this strange power—a specialized group of Empowered called Jokers, known collectively as Cardplay—must protect their world from the darkness that threatens to consume it, all the while fighting for equality in a society clinging to normalcy.

But the Reemergence was only the beginning.

When another influx occurs on the seventh anniversary of that fateful event, an unfortunate encounter at ground zero lands Iori Ryone, a teenage boy in possession of a corrupt and legendary magic, in the care of recent Joker graduate Ellen Amelia Jane. From him, she learns the Reemergence may not have been the inevitable natural disaster it first seemed.

Someone is trying to tear down the barrier that separates the magical realms from the mundane. The question is, can Cardplay stop them before it’s too late?

Bloody Spade is the first installment in an urban fantasy duology that follows a cat-eared thief and a spirited girl as they try to navigate his wild magic, her hotheaded brother, a sinister plot, and the feelings they’re developing for each other.

Links for Bloody Spade: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | Indiebound

Hi, and welcome to the tea party! First of all, tell us a bit about yourself and Bloody Spade!

Hi, thank you so much for having me! I’m Brittany (“Bri” for short), and I’m a self-published scifi/fantasy/post-apocalyptic author from rural Ontario, Canada. Bloody Spade is my third novel to date—an urban fantasy that serves as my first step into the YA category. While it’s only just now coming out in novel form, this story has been with me since 2009 and I am ecstatic to finally be sharing it with people.

Are there any content warnings we need to know about?

There are a few, yes. Chiefly, this book deals with a lot of grief surrounding the loss of parents, as well as trauma resultant of kidnapping and physical abuse/torture. The violence can also get intense at times with some gore and a bit of body horror where the magical disease and monsters are concerned. A full list of content warnings can be found in most (if not all) of its descriptions at online retailers + Goodreads!

When writing Bloody Spade, did you have a specific writing routine? Any parts you liked writing the most?

Haha, to be honest, I kind of threw routine out the window with this one. I used to try and meet daily word count goals and such, but life has been pretty hectic since 2019 when I first started drafting it, so I basically just crammed in time and words whenever I could. Zero-drafted it in a little over a month and a half, spent about a year and a half cleaning up my mess so I could send it off to beta readers.

I do have a few favourite scenes! The bullet extraction, the polygraph scene, and the arena duel are definitely high on my list. The bullet extraction because it’s the first time the two main characters properly interact, plus it’s full of banter and hurt/comfort goodness. The polygraph scene because it put Iori in an interesting position, having to reveal some of the rawest parts of himself to a total stranger (and I really enjoy Mira Hodge as a side character too, even though she doesn’t show up often). And the arena duel was a pain in the butt to write, but the taunting and tension and the chaos was something I was looking forward to for A WHILE, so it was well worth the struggle.

One of my favourite parts of Bloody Spade is the use of magic, specifically the magic system you’ve created – did anything in particular influence you? Was it hard writing such an intricate magic system?

Funnily enough, until I started drafting, the magic system was always intended to be super simple. It kind of developed naturally after I decided to categorize power types! Speaking of which, the hardest part has actually just been naming the different categories. Aquatic, cryogenic, pyric, photic, pneumatic—a lot of the element-based ones were easy, because they’re mostly real words that just took a bit of googling to find. There are a few that don’t have a real word for me to use, though, so I’ve had to whip something up from scratch that fits the naming style I’ve been using (like “materic,” which is what I only very recently decided to call the category Pavati Varma’s creation ability falls into).

As for what influenced me . . . nothing in particular, just anime in general, I guess! I’ve long been a fan of the wild, quirky, and wide variety of powers anime shows feature (i.e, D.Gray-Man, Shugo Chara, My Hero Academia), and that was something I wanted to include in my story too. It’s been a fun system to work with so far, for sure!

Speaking of magic, can we expect to see more variation of powers in the sequel? Are there any you can hint at for the readers now?

Yes, absolutely! Along with our Keeper characters learning new techniques, some of the other lesser-known Jokers will get a chance to show off their moves as well. For one, we’ll be seeing Sabaa Faizan in action with Thunderhead (her magic’s callsign). Hers falls into the same category as Iori’s: acoustic, which allows her to manipulate sound. But in her case, it’s to create concussive sonic booms using her hands.

I’m also planning to show off the pyric abilities of two new characters: the Hein twins, a pair of yoyo-weilding Cardplay students who have existed nearly as long as this story has but didn’t quite make the cut for book #1. Trying my best to ensure their roles are sufficient enough to keep them in the sequel, but we’ll see once I’m through with revisions!

If you could switch places with any of your characters, which would it be?

Oh, Tatiana for sure—the wind-bending, boisterous, matchmaker best friend. I think she’s gone through the least hardship out of the whole cast, her family is delightful, and she shares my love of cosplay and conventions and gaming. Her moms also own a cafe, which means occasional free drinks and snacks!

If your characters were attending a tea party, what would they bring and what flavour of tea would they drink?

Iori’s tea of choice is chai! Especially with a hint of vanilla. The only thing he’d bring to the party is himself, because the poor boy would be at a loss trying to think of anything else.

Ellen would go for my personal favourite tea: orange pekoe with a splash of milk and honey. She would probably contribute to the sweet treats.

Alexander’s not a big tea drinker, but if he had to choose, probably something strong with no sweetener. I honestly don’t know what he’d bring, but he’d probably be accompanying Ellen there (same as Iori), so her contribution might as well be his! haha

Lastly, Kyani would fancy herself a cup of black tea with sugar and mint, and she’d probably just bring a bouquet of flowers as a gift.