Q&A With Alexandra Beaumont 

Mickey Mikkelson connected me with author Alexandra Beaumont. Alexxandra Beaumont is a fantasy novelist with a passion for folklore & playing instruments. Alexandra’s lyrical books weave together myth, magic & intrigue that by the sound of it has me intrigued as I do like magical stories. I know many of you, my readers enjoy them too. When she isn’t writing she is exploring the wild lands of the UK. 

Q: Alexandra, I enjoy reading stories with magic in them and I know you enjoy writing them. Would you please give a brief description about each of the books you wrote?  

A: Certainly! I started with a book called Testament of the Stars, where I combined one of my favorite periods of British history – the Elizabethan era – with astrology as a religion and developed a fantasy world based on that principle. The Elizabethans believe stars could set a person’s fate, so I took that to its extremity and created a cult-like society where people drank the blood of fallen star-rocks and used it to divine the future. That is, at least, until they push it too far and it all goes wrong…

My next book, which is coming out in August, is Dissonance of Bird Song and is quite a different book. This is a historical-fantasy tale set in Bronze Age England where a small settlement of people relies on an enchanted mist which they inhale from the lungs of birds to survive. When Eseld and her sister’s mist begins to run out, Eseld sets out to find a cure and save her sister from being locked away as a pariah for running out of mist. What she discovers is a deeper, twisted mystery than she ever expected.

Q: Are you currently writing your next book now? If so, can you reveal any details?

A: I am planning out the sequel to Testament of the Stars, which I am still establishing the format of because I want to do something quite unusual with it. If you read the Testament, you will understand why, but what I will say is it will aim to take an unreliable narrator and tell their story in a very interesting way.

Q: You are from and live in the UK. Where are your favorite places in the UK? I plan on & hope to see the world someday. I love asking people when we do Q&As about their favorite places in the world that they’ve seen!

A: The UK is often undersold, and people don’t realize what gems we have here. I always recommend Scotland, particularly Smoo Cave, which is a sea cave and formed a lot of inspiration for both of my books which feature mysterious caves. I could go on for hours with this one, but another place I really love is Hawkstone Park Follies which is a truly magical country park with strange buildings and unusual tunnels to explore. My last one is an adorable hidden gem called St Nectan’s Falls. If you go there, you will understand why. It feels as if it has jumped from the pages of history and legend.

Q: Who are your favorite fantasy authors? What lessons do you hope readers learn after reading your stories? 

A: Naomi Novik. All of the books I’ve read by her have stuck with me in different ways, but my favourite is her Temeraire series for the vibrant alternative take she has on Napoleonic war – basically Hornblower with dragons! I also really loved a fairly new author called Alexis Henderson, who wrote a very fast-paced gothic book about witches called The Year of Witching. I read that in about a week.

In terms of what I would like readers to learn after reading my books – that we have to fight for what is right, and stick by it no matter what. I also try to show that there is good and bad in everyone, and often both protagonists and villains in my books walk a tightrope of right and wrong and sometimes people change dramatically and become different people as the story progresses. Basically, I am trying to show that we should be compassionate based on the situation and that no-one is born good or bad – what we are exposed to changes us.